Trip overview
This is the route most travellers picture when they imagine a Vietnam trip: [Hanoi's](destinations/vietnam) old quarter and a night on [Ha Long Bay](destinations/ha-long-bay), the walled citadel at Hue, the lantern-strung lanes of [Hoi An](destinations/hoi-an), and the pace change of [Ho Chi Minh City](destinations/ho-chi-minh-city) before the trip slows down again in the [Mekong Delta](destinations/mekong-delta).
What sets it apart from a plain sightseeing loop is the detail built into the second half — a night cooking dinner with a Mekong family, a river-town homestay, and enough unstructured time in Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City to wander rather than tick boxes.
A workable choice for a first trip to Vietnam that wants proper coverage without the extra flights of a longer itinerary — this route uses one internal flight, from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City, plus the road transfers in between.
Highlights
- A cyclo ride through Hanoi's Old Quarter and a stop for bun cha and egg coffee
- A sampan ride through Tam Coc's limestone gorges near Ninh Binh
- A night at anchor aboard a junk in Ha Long Bay
- The Imperial Citadel and royal tombs of Hue
- A basket-boat lesson with fishermen at Cua Dai, outside Hoi An
- The Cu Chi tunnels and a Cao Dai noon ceremony near Ho Chi Minh City
- A Vespa-led night food tour through Saigon
- Cooking dinner with a local family on a Mekong homestay night
- Sunrise at the Cai Rang floating market in Can Tho
Reserve this trip
Tell us your travel dates and group size and we will hold the arrangements while the itinerary is finalised.
- Days
- 14
Sending this does not charge you. We hold the space and confirm within 24 hours.
Day by day
Day 1 — Arrival in Hanoi
Touch down in Hanoi and meet your guide beyond arrivals for the roughly 45-minute drive into the city. There's no sightseeing scheduled — settle in and rest after the flight.
Meals: none
Overnight in Hanoi
Day 2 — Hanoi: mausoleum, temple and Old Quarter
Begin outside the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, viewing the exterior only, then the wooden house on stilts where he lived and the One Pillar Pagoda just beside it. From there, on to the Temple of Literature, once the country's first centre of higher learning, founded under Confucian teaching.
Around midday, try pho — Vietnam's best-known noodle soup — with a cup of the city's rich egg coffee, before an afternoon at Hoan Kiem Lake, crossing the red Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple, where a taxidermied giant turtle sits in the main hall. Close the day with an hour-long cyclo ride through the trading streets of the Old Quarter.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Hanoi
Day 3 — Ninh Binh: Hoa Lu and Tam Coc
Reach Ninh Binh to visit Hoa Lu, capital of Vietnam in the early 10th century, where twin temples honour the Dinh and Le kings who ruled in the century after a thousand years of Chinese rule ended.
Afternoon takes a small sampan through Tam Coc — literally three caves — past limestone cliffs, quiet streams and rice paddies that give the area its nickname as Ha Long Bay on dry land.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Ninh Binh
Day 4 — Ha Long Bay cruise
Drive out to the bay, where a wooden junk is waiting to spend the day weaving between the karst islets. Lunch is served on deck, and the afternoon's activities depend on which boat you're on and how the weather behaves, before the junk settles at anchor for the night.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Overnight on board
Day 5 — Fly to Hue
An optional Tai Chi session opens the morning on the sundeck, followed by coffee and pastries as the boat cruises back to the pier for breakfast. From Noi Bai, fly south to Hue and settle in for the evening.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Hue
Day 6 — Hue: Perfume River and the Citadel
A morning boat glides along the calm Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda, before a short drive to the mausoleum of Emperor Tu Duc, set among pine-shaded ponds.
Afternoon moves to the Imperial Citadel, a walled complex of palaces, ceremonial halls, libraries and former royal residences dating to the Nguyen dynasty. If there's time before closing, finish at Dong Ba Market.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Hue
Day 7 — Over the pass to Hoi An
Meet your guide for the coastal drive south, crossing mountain passes with a stop at the photogenic fishing village of Lang Co. In Danang, a stop at the Museum of Cham Sculpture holds the country's finest collection of Champa-era stone carving.
Continue into Hoi An, a trading port UNESCO recognised in 1999 for its 15th- to 19th-century architecture, and leave the remaining hours open for a first wander of your own.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Hoi An
Day 8 — Basket boats and the old quarter
A morning built around Hoi An's fishing traditions: learn a few casting techniques, then paddle a round Vietnamese basket boat at Cua Dai village while local musicians perform ba trao, a folk style tied to the fishing life here. It's a hands-on, family-friendly session rather than a passive show, moving through coconut-palm channels once scarred by war.
Back in town, a walking loop covers a well-preserved merchant house before crossing to the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall, built by traders from Fujian. Round it off at the Japanese Covered Bridge — roughly 400 years old — and the noise of the daily riverside market.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Hoi An
Day 9 — Fly to Ho Chi Minh City
Transfer to Danang for a flight south to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Nothing else is booked today — a good window to poke around the mix of French-era streets and modern towers on your own.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Day 10 — Cu Chi Tunnels and Tay Ninh
Morning at the Cu Chi tunnels, the underground network guerrilla fighters dug and used through years of war — a compact site, but one that leaves a stronger impression than most war museums.
Continue further out to Tay Ninh, seat of the Cao Dai faith, a religion blending Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism and Taoism under the symbol of a single divine eye. Time the visit for noon, when followers gather for their midday ceremony — an unusual stop that few other Vietnam itineraries include.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Day 11 — City landmarks and a Vespa night out
Morning covers the Independence Palace, marking the war's end in 1975, the War Remnants Museum, and a run of French colonial buildings — the Opera House, the Continental, the Central Post Office designed with input from Gustave Eiffel's firm, and the neo-Gothic Notre Dame-style cathedral.
Head into Chinatown for Binh Tay Market, known locally as Cho Lon, and the Thien Hau Temple, or take a detour through the flower stalls of Ho Thi Ky market. After some downtime at the hotel, the evening turns over to a Vespa-led food tour: pillion rides between two local restaurants, a live-music coffee shop, and a late bar where Saigon's younger crowd hangs out, drinks and food included throughout.
Meals: breakfast, dinner
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Day 12 — Into the Mekong: Ben Tre to Vinh Long
Leave the city behind for Ben Tre province, coconut country and your first stretch of the Mekong Delta. A boat on the Ben Tre River passes fishing activity and river transport, plus a stop to watch bricks fired the traditional way and a visit to one of the area's many coconut-processing workshops along the canal.
A motorised cart or bicycle carries you along shaded paths through rice fields and vegetable plots for a closer look at rural life, followed by lunch at a local restaurant. The afternoon drive pushes on into Vinh Long province, checking into a riverside lodge for the night.
Before dark, cook dinner alongside a local family, then follow torchlight to visit a former soldier who now makes his living as a musician — an evening of his stories and songs from decades spent in this stretch of the delta.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Overnight in Vinh Long
Day 13 — Coconut canals and cycling to Can Tho
An optional sunrise boat trip on the Mekong opens the day for those who want it. Later, a boat visits small family-run coconut operations where husks are stripped by hand to make rope, most of it sold on to buyers overseas — work still done largely by hand at low cost.
Late morning, swap the boat for a bicycle and pedal quiet lanes past ducks, sedge fields and stretches of bright-green paddy, stopping at a dragon-fruit orchard to taste the fruit straight off the plant. Check out from the homestay for the drive on to Can Tho; a sunset boat trip on the river can be added on request.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Can Tho
Day 14 — Cai Rang floating market and departure
Early boat ride to the Cai Rang floating market, trading here for more than a hundred years — fruit and vegetables mostly, though coffee stalls and even a lottery-ticket seller have joined the mix, each boat flying a sample from a bamboo pole so buyers can spot it from the water. Head back to the hotel for breakfast, then transfer out for the flight home.
Meals: breakfast
What's included
- A round-the-clock help line for the length of the trip
- Hotels on a twin or double-share basis, breakfast included daily
- A same-star alternative hotel if your first choice runs out of rooms
- Private air-conditioned transport following the day-by-day plan
- An experienced, English-speaking guide throughout
- All entrance fees named in the itinerary
- Two bottles of drinking water per person, per day
- International arrival and departure flights, plus domestic tickets
- Travel insurance and personal spending
- Early check-in or late check-out
- Surcharges on peak-season or public-holiday dates
- Meals not listed above, and drinks with meals
- Visa fees where applicable
- Tips for guides and drivers
- Anything not specifically named in the itinerary
Good to know
Central Vietnam's rainy season runs roughly September through December, heaviest around Hue and Hoi An — worth avoiding if outdoor time matters to you. February to April and August to October generally give the most reliable weather for this route.
The Mekong nights are the most different from the rest of the trip: a working homestay and a family kitchen rather than a hotel, with basic but clean facilities. It's the section most travellers mention afterwards.
- Walking is light to moderate — Hue's citadel and Hoi An's old quarter cover ground on foot, mostly flat
- The single internal flight, Hue to Ho Chi Minh City, keeps this route simpler than a multi-flight itinerary
- Basket-boat and cycling activities can be swapped for a slower pace on request
- This route can be extended into Cambodia or shortened to ten or eleven days — [get in touch](contact) to talk through changes
Plan your trip
Tell us your dates, your group and what you want out of the trip. We reply with a costed itinerary within one working day.
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
In pictures
