Trip overview
Nineteen days is enough time to move slowly through Vietnam before crossing into Cambodia and Laos, rather than sprinting a highlight reel. The first stretch covers Hanoi, the limestone karst of Ninh Binh and a night afloat in [Ha Long Bay](destinations/ha-long-bay), then swings south through [Hoi An](destinations/hoi-an), Ho Chi Minh City and the canals of the Mekong Delta.
From there the route flies into Cambodia for two full days around Angkor, then on to Laos for river towns, waterfalls and the calm of [Luang Prabang](destinations/luang-prabang) before ending in the capital, Vientiane.
It suits travellers on a longer break who want real coverage of the region rather than a single-country dash, and who don't mind five internal flights stitching the legs together. Mornings start early on several days — sunrise over Angkor, dawn alms in Luang Prabang — so pack for early starts as much as long drives.
Highlights
- A night afloat aboard a wooden junk moored among Ha Long Bay's limestone islands
- A walking tour of Hoi An's riverside old town, including the Japanese Covered Bridge
- The Cu Chi tunnel network outside Ho Chi Minh City
- A full day on Mekong Delta waterways, including the Cai Rang floating market
- Sunrise at Angkor Wat followed by Angkor Thom and the Bayon's carved faces
- Dinner with an Apsara dance performance in Siem Reap
- Dawn alms-giving and a cruise to the Pak Ou caves in Luang Prabang
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Day by day
Day 1 — Arrival in Hanoi
Land in Hanoi and clear the arrivals hall to meet your guide. The drive into the city runs about 45 minutes; check in and rest, since nothing else is scheduled today.
Meals: none
Overnight in Hanoi
Day 2 — Hanoi: old quarter and imperial relics
A full day on foot and by cyclo. Start at the exterior of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, then the wooden stilt house and the One Pillar Pagoda nearby. The Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first national academy, comes next, with lunch built around bun cha — the grilled pork and noodle dish that made headlines when a former US president ate it here in 2016.
Afternoon takes in Hoan Kiem Lake and the red bridge to Ngoc Son Temple, where a preserved giant turtle sits in the main hall, before an hour-long cyclo loop through the Old Quarter's trading streets.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Hanoi
Day 3 — Ninh Binh: Hoa Lu and Tam Coc
Drive south to Ninh Binh, once the seat of Vietnam's earliest independent dynasties. At Hoa Lu, temples honour the Dinh and Le kings who ruled here around a thousand years ago. After a local lunch, a sampan carries you along the Ngo Dong River through limestone gorges to Tam Coc — a slower, quieter way to see the same karst scenery that draws crowds further north.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Overnight in Ninh Binh
Day 4 — Ha Long Bay: overnight on the water
Roughly three hours of driving through rice paddies gets you to the pier, where a wooden junk is waiting to weave slowly between the bay's islands for the day. Lunch happens on deck, and the afternoon is left open for whatever activities that particular boat and the weather allow. Anchor drops after dark for the night.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight on board
Day 5 — Cruise to Hoi An
An optional Tai Chi session on the sundeck opens the morning, followed by breakfast as the boat returns to the pier. From there, a short domestic hop lands you in Hoi An, with the rest of the day free after check-in.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Hoi An
Day 6 — Hoi An: farm village and old town
Morning visit to Tra Que, a vegetable-growing village on the edge of town, where you learn the raised-bed methods used here and stay on for a lunch cooked by the family who farms it.
Back in town, a walking route covers a centuries-old merchant house, the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall built by Fujian traders, the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge over the canal, and the busy riverside market — everything that made this port worth a UNESCO listing in 1999.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Hoi An
Day 7 — My Son Sanctuary, then south to Saigon
Around 45 kilometres inland, My Son Sanctuary holds the brick remains of more than 60 Cham temple structures raised between the 4th and 12th centuries under the Champa kingdom, and carries its own UNESCO listing from 1999. Afterwards, transfer to Danang for a flight south to Ho Chi Minh City.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Day 8 — Ho Chi Minh City: Cu Chi and the old centre
Morning at the Cu Chi tunnels, the network of hand-dug passages guerrilla fighters used as shelter and supply routes during the war. It's a compact, physical site — some visitors find it a heavy morning, but it explains the war years better than any museum panel.
Back in the city for a half-day loop after lunch: quick photo stops outside the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office, followed by a wander through a Chinatown market and past Thien Hau Temple.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City
Day 9 — Mekong Delta: canals and orchards
Drive out to Tien Giang province's Cai Be district for a day spent mostly on the water. Depending on the season, stops can include a family workshop that has hand-made rice paper for decades, a short bike ride out to mango orchards around Hoa Loc village, and a home visit where you help roll local sweets and drink tea with the family. Lunch is served aboard the boat as it heads toward Binh An island, followed by a stretch in a small rowboat along narrow canals.
By late afternoon the boat trip ends in Vinh Long, passing stilt houses and fish pens along the final stretch, before a road transfer to Can Tho for the night.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Can Tho
Day 10 — Cai Rang market, onward to Cambodia
Early boat ride out to the Cai Rang floating market, trading here for over a hundred years, where fruit, vegetables, coffee and even lottery tickets change hands boat to boat, each seller hanging a sample from a bamboo pole so buyers can spot it from the water. On the way back, a stop at a century-old house in Binh Thuy once used as a film location. Afternoon flight from Ho Chi Minh City across the border to Cambodia's Siem Reap.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in [Siem Reap](destinations/siem-reap)
Day 11 — Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom
Rise before dawn to watch the sun come up behind the towers of Angkor Wat, then head back for breakfast. Late morning belongs to Angkor Thom, the walled 13th-century city inside the complex: the South Gate, the Bayon's carved stone faces, the Elephant Terrace and the Leper King's terrace, ending at what remains of the Royal Enclosure. Come afternoon, a longer look at Angkor Wat itself — its bas-reliefs, corridors and overall scale.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Siem Reap
Day 12 — Banteay Srei, Ta Prohm and Apsara dinner
Drive out to Banteay Srei, a small pink sandstone temple known for its detailed carving of female deities, then back toward town via Ta Prohm, where fig and silk-cotton tree roots grip the ruined galleries. In the evening, dinner comes with a traditional Apsara dance performance.
Meals: breakfast, dinner
Overnight in Siem Reap
Day 13 — Fly to Luang Prabang
A short flight north lands you in Luang Prabang, spread across 58 villages, 33 of which sit inside the UNESCO World Heritage zone listed in 1995 for its blend of traditional Lao and French colonial architecture. The rest of the day is free.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in [Luang Prabang](destinations/luang-prabang)
Day 14 — Pak Ou Caves and the royal city
A slow boat heads upriver against the Mekong current toward the Pak Ou caves, two limestone chambers packed with thousands of gilded Buddha statues left behind by generations of pilgrims. Along the way, stop at Ban Xanghai, known for its rice whisky, and later at Ban Phanom, known for hand-weaving.
Afternoon covers the Royal Palace Museum (shut on Sunday afternoons), the low, sweeping roofs of Wat Xieng Thong — a reference point for classic Lao temple design — the stupa at Wat Visoun, and the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Luang Prabang
Day 15 — Alms-giving, villages and Kuang Si
An early, optional start lets you watch the daily alms procession, where saffron-robed monks collect sticky rice from kneeling residents — a ritual Laos still practises daily, unlike most of its Buddhist neighbours. Later, visit ethnic minority villages at Ban Ouay and Ban Thapene, with time allowing for a stop at Kuang Si Waterfall and its turquoise pools.
Return via Ban Phanom weaving village, then climb Wat Phousi at sunset for a view over the town and the river.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Luang Prabang
Day 16 — Road to Vang Vieng
The drive to Vang Vieng runs through mountainous northern Laos, with a stop at a viewpoint for lunch and a 360-degree outlook over the range. On arrival, a boat trip on the Nam Song River catches the sunset over the water.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Overnight in Vang Vieng
Day 17 — Tham Chang Cave and drive to Vientiane
Cross the Nam Song to Tham Chang Cave, once used by locals as a hideout from invading forces, with a short trek around the cave and nearby hill villages. Check out and drive to Vientiane, roughly four to five hours through mountain scenery.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in [Vientiane](destinations/vientiane)
Day 18 — Buddha Park and Vientiane city tour
Drive south of the city to Buddha Park, a riverside field scattered with more than 200 Buddhist and Hindu sculptures near the Friendship Bridge. Later, a city tour covers Wat Sisaket, with its thousands of miniature Buddha niches, and Haw Phra Kaew, former home of the Emerald Buddha image.
Continue to the sacred That Luang Stupa and the Patuxay Monument, Vientiane's answer to the Arc de Triomphe, before a stop at the COPE Visitor Centre, which documents support for survivors of unexploded ordnance left across Laos.
Meals: breakfast
Overnight in Vientiane
Day 19 — Departure
A final transfer to Wattay Airport closes out the trip.
Meals: breakfast
What's included
- Private vehicle and English-speaking guide for the ground portions of the route
- Hotels booked on a twin-share basis, breakfast included every morning
- Shared cabin on the Ha Long Bay cruise
- Private overnight boat in the Mekong Delta
- Every meal, sight and entrance ticket named in the day-by-day plan above
- Bottled water while travelling by road
- International and domestic flights, including the four internal legs on this route
- 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 for Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos where applicable
- Tips for guides and drivers
Good to know
Three countries and four flights in one trip means more logistics than a single-destination tour. Passports need to cover Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos entry requirements separately — check current visa rules for your nationality well before departure, since policies differ by country and change without much notice.
Pace is moderate to brisk: several early starts (Angkor sunrise, Luang Prabang alms-giving), a fair amount of walking at temple sites in heat and humidity, and a change of base every two to three nights on average. Comfortable, closed shoes matter more than a full evening wardrobe.
- November to April is the driest stretch across all three countries and the easiest time to plan around
- May to October brings heavier rain, particularly in the Mekong Delta and around Angkor
- Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng sit at higher elevation and can turn cool at night, even in the dry season
- This route can be reordered or shortened — talk to us about swapping countries or trimming days
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