Discover Vietnam

Itineraries

• Day 1 UK to Hanoi
• Today we’ll fly to Hanoi.
• Day 2 Hanoi
• On arrival in Hanoi, we’ll transfer you to your hotel. After time to settle in, get to know your travelling companions overa drink and dinner this evening.
• Day 3 Hanoi
• Hanoi is Vietnam’s vibrant capital, and this morningwe include a tour here. See the restored Opera House, the One Pillar Pagoda and Ba Dinh Square, where silent sentries guard the marble and granite mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh lies instate.
  A great way to experience this lively city is aboard cyclos Vietnam’s answer to the rickshaw. Step aboard your cyclo in the afternoonfor a tour of the ancient quarter, or 36 Streets district as it is also known. This is a souvenir hunters’ paradise, where old homes and temples vie for attention alongside shops selling silk clothing, silver products and more. The rest of the day is at leisure for you to sample local eateries and try traditional cuisine.
  This evening we offer an optional excursion to a water puppet show, a wonderful Vietnamese tradition that’s been going strong since the 11th century. We’ll head to the Thang Long Theatre, which sits beside Hoan Kiem Lake, and the performance we’ll see tells stories of village life and local history and is accompanied by traditional music and dance. The show takes place in a waist-deep pool of water, and how it is done exactly is steeped in mystery. Afterwards you can put forward your theories over dinner in a nearby restaurant.
• Day 4 Halong Bay
• UNESCO-listed Halong Bay is truly beautiful and today we’re going to explore it in style. We’ll board a traditional boat for an overnight cruise amongst its idyllic waters. As we sail, we’ll be able to admire the dramatic limestone peaks that rise sharply out of the sea, and we’ll even enter one ofthe vast caves to gaze at the gigantic stalactites and stalagmites that have formed over centuries.
  On the boat we’ll enjoy a lovely seafood lunch, and this evening, dinner is also served on board before you retire to your cabin in this unique overnight accommodation.
• Day 5 Hue
• You’ll wake to stunning views of Halong Bay today, and you can enjoy a morning at leisure on the boat. You could take part in a Tai Chi session on deck, or maybe you’ll just choose to sit and take in the gorgeous scenery with a cup of coffee before we disembark.
  We’ll then transfer to the airport for our flight to Hue, theformer capital of Vietnam.
• Day 6 Hoi An
• We’ll get out and explore Hue this morning on an included tour of its main highlights. We’ll take in the beauty of the Thien Mu Pagoda, which boasts a stunning setting overlooking the Perfume River. We’ll also see the elaborate royal tombs of Tu Duc, considered one ofthe most beautiful sites in Hue,and Khai Dinh, whichsits on the side of a mountain and is accessed by climbing more than 100 steps.
  Later, there’s time to rest your legs as we take ascenic journeyby road to Danang and on to HoiAn.
• Day 7 Hoi An
• Discover beautiful Hoi An on a walking tour of this ancient riverside town, which is quite simply the most enchanting place on the Vietnamese coast. We will wander among its quaint streets, wherewe’ll see highlights including the Japanese Covered Bridge, a 200-year-old merchants house and the 15th century Chuc Thanh Pagoda. If you’d like to explore further, why not join an optional bicycle ride past homes, vegetable gardens and fruit orchards before we reach a quaint village where the locals will offer us a warm welcome.
  Later today enjoy a visit to STREETS International’s Oodles of Noodles project, a scheme which supports street kids and disadvantaged young people by providing them with training for a career in the hospitality industry. You’ll meet some of the students, learn about different types of noodles and then have a go at making some yourself. Afterwards, a delicious meal of Mi Quang noodles will be served.
• Day 8 Hoi An
• During a free day you could spend time enjoying the facilities at your hotel or exploring the town and its vibrant temples and markets in the company of your fellow travellers.
  Alternatively, if you’d like to discover more we offer a fabulous optional excursion to My Son. This is a major religious centre in the Champa Kingdom, and the cluster of ruined Hindu temples you will see were constructed between the 4th and the 14th century AD and dedicated to the god Shiva.
• Day 9 Ho Chi Minh City
• Today we’ll fly to Ho Chi Minh City. Better known as Saigon, it is a city of amazing contrasts, where evidence of former French colonisation remains and sits alongside the fascinating culture of a predominantly Buddhist population.
  Free day at leisure until dinner at a local restaurant.
• Day 10 Ho Chi Minh City
• The Cu Chi Tunnels are an amazing series of underground passages first constructed in the late 1940s by the peasant army fighting the French and later extended by the Viet Cong rebels. You can see them today on our optional excursion. Alternatively, explore Ho Chi Minh City at leisure before joining our afternoon tour of the city’s highlights. We will visit the former Presidential Palace, the War Museum and the famous shopping street formerly known as Rue Catinat, we will also make a stopat the market if time permits. We end our tour with a tasting at East West Brewing, the city’s first craft beer brewery. Your farewell dinner tonight is served in a local restaurant.
• Day 11 Mekong Delta
• The River Mekong descends for 3,000 miles from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea and is constantly busy with sampans, barges and houseboats. As we journey into the depths of the Mekong Delta on today’s included excursion, our first stop will be at Cai Be, where we will board a boat to cross the water before cruising through lush forest, narrow inlets and canals to a local restaurant for lunch. We will also visit local workshops along the way to see how the locals live in this facinating part of Vietnam.Those choosing to extend their holiday with the Cambodia add-on will continue to Can Tho for an overnight stay. The rest of the group will return to Ho Chi Minh City
• Day 12 Ho Chi Minh City to UK
• Today we’ll transfer to the airport for our return flight to the UK.
• Day 13 UK
• You’ll arrive back in the UK today.Please note that the itinerary for 2020 will differ slightly from that shown here. The welcome dinner will take place at Koto Restaurant, a social enterprise that provides training to disadvantaged and street children. KOTO has trained over 700 students in Hanoi and Saigon, with 200 of them currently enrolled. Come on a culinary journey and enjoy the aroma and the flavours of Vietnamese and South-East Asian specialties, before sitting down to enjoy a three course meal where you will have the opportunity to try a selection of traditional dishes.