What this trip is really like
Two weeks lets the trip breathe: a third night in Da Nang for the Cham Islands, a highland night in Da Lat with coffee farmers, and the coast road down to Mui Ne's fishing harbour before Saigon.
Everything the Hue itinerary contains is here, with the hill-town scenery of Da Lat, the sand at Mui Ne and a boat out to Cham Island added between the centre and the south. The order runs: capital, a night on the bay, Hue, Danang and Hoi An, then Da Lat, Mui Ne, and finally Saigon with the delta.
Flights handle the two long jumps — into Hue at the start, and out of Danang towards the highlands — while the legs down to the coast and on to Saigon are driven. Take this version when you have a fortnight or more and want the mountains and the beach as two distinct stops layered onto the full heritage-and-cruise route.
Trip highlights
- An overnight Halong Bay cruise, with Sung Sot Cave
- Hue's Perfume River and imperial-era sites
- The Ba Na Hills cable car and the Golden Bridge
- A Cham Island speedboat excursion and Hoi An's Ancient Town
- Da Lat's hill town and the Mui Ne sand dunes
- The Cu Chi Tunnels and a Mekong Delta boat trip
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Hanoi
Noi Bai International Airport is about 45 minutes from the Old Quarter. What you find is a compact centre dotted with lakes and easy to walk, colonial streets running past temples several centuries old. After check-in the day belongs to you: sleep off the flight, or head straight out into the trading streets.
Day 2 — Hanoi on foot
A full day covers the landmark sights: the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda, and the Temple of Literature, the country's first national university. The Museum of Ethnology follows lunch with context on the country's ethnic diversity, and the day ends back in the Old Quarter with a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and the lanes behind it.
Day 3 — To Ha Long Bay, night on board
Your guide collects you 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 swim stop near Ti Top Island. Dinner is served on board as the sun drops over the bay, and squid fishing is offered before you head to your cabin.
Day 4 — Bay in the morning, return to Hanoi
Tai Chi on the sundeck at sunrise is optional; Sung Sot Cave, among the largest grottoes in the bay, takes about an hour on foot. Brunch is served while the junk makes its way back past Ga Choi and Tortoise islands to Tuan Chau International Passenger Port, where a car is waiting for the drive back.
Day 5 — Fly to Hue, boat on the Perfume River
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 — Hai Van Pass to Da Nang
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, before you check in for two nights on the coast.
Day 7 — Ba Na Hills
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 — Cham Islands by boat, Hoi An in the evening
Twenty minutes by speedboat from Cua Dai harbour puts you on Cham Island, where a local guide takes you round the Cu Lao Cham museum, the boat-shelter cove at Au Thuyen and Hai Tang Temple, built two centuries ago, with lunch and a swim at Bai Bac beach. On the way back you stop in Hoi An's Ancient Town for a walk past the old houses, the assembly hall and the Japanese Covered Bridge before returning to Danang.
Day 9 — Fly to Da Lat, coffee country
A domestic flight carries you inland to Da Lat, the hill station the French built at around 1,500m. After check-in the afternoon covers Lang Biang Mountain, Datanla Waterfall and the flower gardens — a cool change of air after the coast.
Day 10 — Down to Mui Ne by road
Roughly four hours of driving brings you down from the highlands to Mui Ne on the south-central coast. Once you have checked in the rest of the day is free for the beach.
Day 11 — Dunes at dawn, fishing harbour
The morning is free, and in the afternoon a jeep takes you round the local landmarks: Suoi Tien, or the Fairy Stream, a working fishing village, and the White and Red Sand Dunes, arranged so that the dunes come last, at sunset.
Day 12 — Road to Ho Chi Minh City
About five hours on the road returns you to Saigon, where you are met at the bus station and driven to your hotel — from here the trip turns to the tunnels and the delta for its final days.
Day 13 — Cu Chi tunnels and Saigon's centre
The Cu Chi Tunnels, dug by resistance fighters through the country's wartime decades, fill the morning. After lunch comes half a day among the colonial buildings downtown: the former Presidential Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Old Saigon Post Office, Dong Khoi Street, the Continental Hotel and City Hall.
Day 14 — Mekong Delta day
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 15 — Departure from Saigon
The last morning is free for shopping or a final walk before the transfer to Tan Son Nhat International Airport, ending a trip that started two weeks earlier at the other end of the country.
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
- 15 days / 14 nights
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