What this trip is really like
A week that ends on the beach: the capital and a night on the water first, then two nights in Da Nang with Hoi An's lanes in the evening and Ba Na Hills for a day. We add the fish market at dawn and a mi quang stall the driver swears by.
You spend the first three nights in Hanoi, with a full day of sightseeing and an overnight cruise out to Ha Long Bay. From there a short domestic flight takes you to Da Nang, where you settle into one hotel for two nights instead of pushing on to another city.
The second half rests on what Da Nang itself offers: the Cham Museum and Marble Mountain on the day you land, lanterns after dark in Hoi An, and a full day up at Ba Na Hills. Choose it if flying home from the middle of the country appeals more than pressing on southwards.
Trip highlights
- Full-day Hanoi city tour and overnight Ha Long Bay cruise
- Domestic flight from Hanoi to a two-night Da Nang base
- Cham Museum and Marble Mountain on arrival in Da Nang
- Evening walking tour of Hoi An's Old Town
- A whole day at Ba Na Hills, taking in the Golden Bridge and Fantasy Park
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Hanoi
Boulevards under trees, buildings from the colonial period and pagodas beside still lakes form the first impression of the capital. Flights tend to land in the afternoon or evening, which leaves room for a walk among the shophouses and food stalls of the Old Quarter if you are not ready to stop.
Day 2 — Hanoi on foot
The day runs through the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature, then Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shore of West Lake. Lunch is followed by the Museum of Ethnology, and it all ends at Hoan Kiem Lake with time to drift through the Old Quarter.
Day 3 — To Ha Long Bay, night on board
Collection is at 8am for the drive out across the rice fields and villages of the Red River Delta. On board the junk you pass Dinh Huong, Ga Choi, Dog and Sail Islands, call at a pearl farm and paddle into Luon Cave, with a swim off Ti Top Island before sunset and dinner served on deck.
Day 4 — Bay in the morning, return to Hanoi
The morning starts with Tai Chi on the sundeck, then the boat calls at Surprise Cave, reached up roughly 100 steps and walked through in about an hour. Brunch follows, and after a pass by Ga Choi Island, Binh Phong Mountain and Tortoise Island you step ashore at Tuan Chau port for the drive back.
Day 5 — Fly to Da Nang, Cham Museum, Hoi An after dark
A morning departure from Noi Bai Airport gets you to Da Nang in roughly ninety minutes. Once checked in, the afternoon goes to the sandstone sculpture in the Cham Museum and to the cave shrines and lookouts of Marble Mountain.
After dark you walk the Old Town at Hoi An: Tan Ky House, the Chinese assembly halls, the Japanese Covered Bridge and the old market, before returning to Da Nang for the night.
Day 6 — Ba Na Hills day
Ba Na Hills — a hill station people sometimes compare to Sa Pa or Da Lat, transplanted to the centre of the country — is reached by one of the longest cable car systems in Southeast Asia. You visit the wine cellar in the French Village, the Golden Bridge with its flowers and its two enormous stone hands, Linh Ung Pagoda and Fantasy Park, and look down over the city from Linh Tu Pagoda on King Peak, 1,487 metres up.
Day 7 — Departure from Da Nang
Your last morning is free until the transfer to Da Nang International Airport, ending a week that put the capital and the bay alongside two nights in one central base rather than adding a third region.
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
- 7 days / 6 nights
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