What this trip is really like
One extra day turns the ten-day route into something better: a night in Hue with dinner in a garden house, and the drive south over the Hai Van Pass with a stop at Lang Co lagoon, which we would choose over the tunnel every time.
Take the usual run from the capital down through the bay and the centre to Saigon, then give Hue a night of its own, with a boat on the Perfume River past pagodas and royal tombs. The extra day is spent on the road south over the Hai Van Pass — scenery rather than another airport.
Only two sectors are flown, into Hue at the start and out of Danang at the end, which keeps things moving. What the eleventh day buys is history, not a beach or a second resort. Pick this one when the imperial past interests you as much as the standard highlights, rather than simply wanting the ten-day trip stretched.
Trip highlights
- A full day in Hanoi
- An overnight Halong Bay cruise, with Sung Sot Cave
- Hue's Perfume River boat trip and imperial sites
- The Ba Na Hills cable car and the Golden Bridge
- Hoi An's Ancient Town
- The Cu Chi Tunnels and a Mekong Delta excursion
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Hanoi, evening around Hoan Kiem
You land at Noi Bai International Airport, roughly 45 minutes from the Old Quarter. Boulevards from the French era, old temples and a scatter of lakes make the capital a city for walking slowly. Once you have checked in the day is yours — recover from the flight, or head out into the trading streets.
Day 2 — Hanoi on foot, from the Mausoleum to the guild streets
A full day covers the main sights: the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda, and the Temple of Literature, which was the country's first national university. The Museum of Ethnology after lunch fills in the background on the country's ethnic communities, and the day ends back in the Old Quarter with a circuit of Hoan Kiem Lake.
Day 3 — Drive to Ha Long Bay, board for the night
Collection is between 8:00 and 8:30am, and the road out crosses the paddies and villages of the Red River Delta. Aboard a traditional-style junk you pass Dinh Huong, Ga Choi and Sail Island, with a stop to swim near Ti Top Island. Dinner is served on deck as the light fades, and there is squid fishing before you turn in.
Day 4 — Bay in the morning, back to Hanoi
Tai Chi at sunrise is optional. Sung Sot Cave, among the largest grottoes in the bay, takes about an hour on foot. Brunch is served as the junk returns past Ga Choi and Tortoise islands to Tuan Chau International Passenger Port, where a car waits for the drive back.
Day 5 — Fly to Hue, the river in the late afternoon
A domestic flight lands at Phu Bai International Airport, and from there it is a short drive into the old imperial capital. After check-in comes a boat on the Perfume River, calling at Thien Mu Pagoda, Hon Chen Temple, the Forbidden City and Dong Ba Market — the royal and religious landmarks gathered into a single afternoon.
Day 6 — Over the Hai Van Pass to Da Nang, Hoi An by night
The road south climbs the Hai Van Pass, pausing at Lang Co Beach, with Minh Mang Tomb, the Cham Museum and Marble Mountain along the way. The day runs on into the evening at Hoi An's Ancient Town, where you walk to the Tan Ky old house, the Assembly Hall, the Japanese Covered Bridge and the market by the river before returning to Danang.
Day 7 — Ba Na Hills day
One of the most modern cable car systems in Southeast Asia carries you into the cool air of Ba Na, billed often enough as Danang's answer to Sa Pa or Da Lat. There is the wine cellar in the French Village, the Golden Bridge on its giant stone hands, Linh Ung Pagoda and the rides at Fantasy Park; a second cable car continues to King Peak at 1,487m, where the view runs over the city and Quang Nam province, before the drive back to your hotel.
Day 8 — Fly to Ho Chi Minh City
A short flight links Danang with Tan Son Nhat International Airport, where you are met and driven to your hotel. The rest of the day is free — rest, or start on downtown Saigon before the programme resumes tomorrow.
Day 9 — Cu Chi tunnels
Few wartime sites in the country draw more visitors than the Cu Chi Tunnels, dug and used by resistance fighters across decades of conflict. Your guide leads you through parts of the network and explains the tactics and the daily life inside it — context that a display case on its own cannot give.
Day 10 — Mekong Delta by boat
Some two hours southwest lies the delta, the country's rice bowl. A boat along the Vam Xep canal reaches a small islet, where the walk passes orchards and villages, with stops at a bee farm and a family workshop making coconut candy. A horse cart and a rowboat under shaded canals close the day before the drive back.
Day 11 — Half a day in Saigon, then the airport
Half a day on foot, your vehicle following behind, takes in the former Presidential Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Saigon Post Office, Dong Khoi Street, the Continental Hotel and City Hall — the colonial heart of the city. The transfer to Tan Son Nhat International Airport follows.
What's included
- Your rooms, twin or double with breakfast, in the hotel grade you pick with us — family-run guesthouses where they exist, small hotels elsewhere
- Every meal the day-by-day marks as included; we lean towards places locals eat rather than hotel restaurants
- A guide from the region who speaks English and grew up with the places on the route
- Your own air-conditioned car or minivan with driver for every transfer and touring day
- Entrance fees to every site named in the itinerary
- The boats, cruises and activities written into the plan
- Government taxes and service charges — the quote we send is the amount you pay
Not included
- Flights and trains, international or domestic — we quote these separately so you can see the real cost
- Visa fees and visa arrangements
- Travel insurance, which we ask every guest to carry
- Drinks, laundry, phone calls and anything else personal
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades
- Tips for your guide and driver — customary here, at your discretion
- Extra sightseeing or vehicle use beyond the written plan
- Costs caused by weather, road closures or other events outside anyone's control, settled on the spot
- Bank transfer charges
Book this trip
- Days
- 11 days / 10 nights
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