What this trip is really like
Hue gets its own night, which means dinner in a garden house and the Perfume River when the light is soft, before the drive over the Hai Van Pass with a stop at Lang Co lagoon on the way to Da Nang.
Plenty of itineraries treat Hue as a long day out from a base further south. Here you fly in from the capital and stay the night, with the Perfume River boat trip fitted into the afternoon you arrive. The result is a city you have actually spent time in rather than passed through — paid for with one night fewer in Da Nang than the alternative arrangement gives you.
Next day the road south crosses the Hai Van Pass and skirts Lang Co Beach, with Hoi An's old town on the way, before two nights in Da Nang built around the cable car and Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills. February to August is the drier half of the year for this route, which rewards anyone who wants some substance alongside the beach days.
Trip highlights
- A full sightseeing day in the capital and a night aboard on Ha Long Bay
- A flight straight into Hue, with a night in the city itself
- A boat on the Perfume River, calling at Thien Mu Pagoda and Hon Chen Temple
- The drive south over the Hai Van Pass, with Lang Co Beach on the way
- An evening on foot in the old town at Hoi An, en route to Da Nang
- Cable-car excursion to Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Hanoi
Colonial streets, temples on the lakeshore and an Old Quarter several centuries old make the capital an easy place to begin. The afternoon you land is usually kept quiet, with the trading lanes and food stalls of the Old Quarter there if you want to ease into the trip before the fuller days.
Day 2 — Hanoi on foot
A full day takes in the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature, then Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda out on West Lake. The Museum of Ethnology comes after lunch, and the day finishes at Hoan Kiem Lake with time on foot in the Old Quarter around it.
Day 3 — To Ha Long Bay, night on board
The road to the coast crosses the rice fields and villages of the Red River Delta before you board a traditional junk. Out on the water the route passes Dinh Huong, Ga Choi and Dog Island, calls at a pearl farm and paddles into Luon Cave, with a swim off Ti Top Island before sunset and dinner on board.
Day 4 — Bay in the morning, back to Hanoi
Tai Chi on the sundeck opens the day, 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 disembark at Tuan Chau port for the drive back.
Day 5 — Fly to Hue, boat on the Perfume River
A domestic service links the capital with Phu Bai International Airport outside Hue, where you are met and driven into town. That same afternoon there is a boat on the Perfume River, calling at Thien Mu Pagoda and Hon Chen Temple, and the night is spent in a Hue hotel rather than pushing on south.
Day 6 — Hai Van Pass to Da Nang, Hoi An in the evening
The drive south takes in Minh Mang Tomb, the Hai Van Pass, Lang Co Beach, the Cham Museum and the Marble Mountains, then stops in the evening at Hoi An's old town. On foot there you see the Tan Ky old house, the assembly hall, the Japanese covered bridge, the old wells, the market and the harbour on the riverside.
Day 7 — Ba Na Hills
One of Southeast Asia's longest cable-car systems carries you up to Ba Na Hills, described now and then as a cooler central answer to Da Lat or Sa Pa. The day covers the French wine cellar, the Golden Bridge on its giant stone hands, Linh Ung Pagoda, the Fantasy Park amusement area and King Peak at 1,487 metres, with Linh Tu Pagoda at the top.
Day 8 — Departure from Da Nang
The last day stays free until your transfer to Da Nang International Airport, closing a trip that gave the imperial capital a night of its own rather than a hurried round trip.
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
- 8 days / 7 nights
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