This journey is real. Yours will be your own version of it.
Twelve days, and the shape of the trip changes halfway through.
The first week runs out of Hanoi and back. A private food walk on the first evening, six to eight tastings through lanes that do not appear in guidebooks. An open jeep through the French Quarter and around West Lake to Tran Quoc, the oldest pagoda in the city, founded in the sixth century. Then the three great day journeys: overnight northwest to Sapa, where a cable car climbs 1,400 vertical metres to the highest point in mainland Southeast Asia; east to Ha Long Bay for a night at anchor and a kayak into a lagoon at seven in the morning; south to Ninh Binh, where limestone towers rise out of rice paddy and the boats are rowed by hand.
Then it moves. The central coast gives Hoi An, a fifteenth-century trading port small enough to walk end to end and at its best once the lanterns are lit, and the Golden Bridge above Da Nang. The south gives Saigon and the delta.
At a glance · this journey as it runs
Duration
12 days, 11 nightsDeparts any day, year round
Destinations
7 stops, 7 spotsHanoi, Sa Pa, Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, Da Nang, Hue & Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City
Tour pace
Medium
Physical rating
Easy
Getting around
Private van, Domestic flight + 2 domestic flightsCan be reworked overland if you would rather not fly
Best season
February to April
Indicative from
From USD 1,750 per person
Route
Twelve days, and the first half never leaves Hanoi for long. The city works as a hub: overnight northwest to Sapa and the cable car up Fansipan, east to Ha Long Bay for a night at anchor among 1,969 limestone islands, and south to Ninh Binh for the tenth-century capital at Hoa Lu and a rowboat through Trang An. Four very different landscapes, all within a day of the same hotel. Then the country opens out. A flight to the central coast for Hoi An's ancient town and the cable car up to the Golden Bridge above Da Nang, and another south to Saigon, where the war is still legible underground at Cu Chi and the Mekong starts ninety minutes from the centre.
About this trip
This is Vietnam in its most complete form - north, center, and south, linked by a route that flows geographically and experientially. You'll start in Hanoi, climb to Sapa's highlands, cruise Halong Bay and Ninh Binh's river caves, wander Hoi An's ancient streets, and finish in the vibrant energy of Ho Chi Minh City. 12 days, 7 destinations, zero itinerary stress - every flight, hotel, guide, and transfer is locked in before you land.
The journey, day by day
Written out the way it runs, so nothing is left to your imagination. Read it, note the days you would keep and the ones you would skip, and a local expert reshapes the rest around you.
Vegetarian and vegan routes available with advance notice.
What this journey includes
•Accommodation for all nights mentioned on tour
•Breakfast for all days in Hotel
•Lunch & Dinner mentioned on tour
•Entrance tickets, domestic flight - Vietnam Airlines & transportation mentioned on tour
•Tips for waiters and drivers
•Personal expenses and souvenirs
•Additional food & drinks beyond the included tastings
•International flights
This covers the journey as written above. Once your version is set, your local expert confirms in writing exactly what sits inside your quote and what does not, before anything is agreed.
Is this journey a good starting point for you?
The honest version
Both internal flights are included. Without them, the same route by road would lose you four or five days sitting in a car.
A good starting point if you are
•Twelve days is long enough to give Sapa, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh a full day each. Shorter trips have to pick one or two. You also keep the same Hanoi hotel for most of the first week, so there is very little repacking. Private guide and driver throughout, and both internal flights are in the price.
Say so early if you
•There is a lot of travelling. Two of the eleven nights are spent on the move, one on a sleeper bus and one on the boat. Sapa in particular costs two overnight bus rides for a single night up there. Some days are spent at big built attractions like Ba Na Hills rather than quiet places. If you would rather see one region slowly, a shorter regional trip will suit you better and we can put one together.
The next step asks for real detail. Your dates, who is travelling, how you like to move, what you would change about this route. It takes a few minutes to fill in, because a local expert writes your itinerary from those answers rather than sending you a file. Nothing is booked or charged at this stage.
Before you get in touch
Travel Budget Planner
•This is the price for the journey as written, not a quote for your trip.
•A local expert customises the detail with you. Hotels, cruise, pace and inclusions are decided in that conversation, and the final price follows from it.
•Rates move with the season, with availability and with how far ahead you travel. Treat the number above as a guide.
•Child pricing depends on age and height and is confirmed case by case.
Cancellation policy
•Non-refundable
•Tickets can be kept on hold and rescheduled within 365 days
•Date changes subject to airline regulations and may incur additional fees
•Hotel and cruise cancellations follow each property's own policy
•Free cancellation up to 2 days before departure
•50% fee before 6:00 PM the day prior
•100% fee after 6:00 PM the day prior
•Free cancellation up to 7 days before departure
•50% fee within 4 to 7 days before departure
•100% fee within 3 days of departure
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