Vietnam and Cambodia: Local Life and Landmarks - 19 Days

After arriving at Noi Bai Airport and completing the arrival formalities, proceed to the arrivals hall, where your driver will be waiting with a name sign. If you cannot find your driver, ask at an airport information desk and call the emergency contact numbers provided by your travel consultant. Your driver will meet you there and take you to your hotel. After checking in, the rest of the day is free.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Discover a less familiar side of Hanoi: neighbourhoods where daily life has grown up alongside the railway. Your guide introduces these communities and their important local markets, following the access arrangements in place on the day.

Pick-up is planned for around 08:00, with the final time to be confirmed. Visit the food market on Kham Thien Street to learn about ingredients used in Vietnamese cooking. Continue through narrow residential lanes towards Le Duan for a view of the railway neighbourhood from permitted areas. Depending on the timetable and access conditions, you may see a passing train. Continue towards Hanoi Railway Station, whose architecture combines colonial and socialist-era features.

Walk through further residential neighbourhoods and pause for refreshments on Cua Dong Street. Transfer to Gia Lam station for a train ride to Long Bien, then visit the lively market beneath Long Bien Bridge. This French-built bridge played a strategic role in the Vietnam War and suffered heavy bombing; some original sections remain.

Please note: the programme gives slightly different suggested start times, so your exact pick-up will be confirmed. Allow approximately four hours for the excursion.

Your guide will collect you between 07:30 and 08:30 for the journey to Ninh Binh province, around 120 km from Hanoi. A break of approximately 20 minutes is planned for 09:30.

At 10:30, visit Hoa Lu, a former Vietnamese capital. Learn why the capital later moved to Hanoi and explore the 17th-century temples honouring Kings Dinh and Le.

Around 11:45, enjoy a buffet of regional dishes such as goat and fried rice, with vegetarian choices available.

At 13:00, visit Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Take a boat trip through its green waterways and limestone scenery, exploring caves on the planned route such as Sang, Toi and Nau Ruou. The surrounding landscape featured in Kong: Skull Island.

Around 15:30, continue to Mua Cave. Climb nearly 500 steps to the top of Lying Dragon Mountain for wide views over Tam Coc.

Depart for Hanoi between 16:30 and 17:00, with arrival at your hotel expected around 19:30.

Start early for the journey to Sapa. If departure is before breakfast service, ask your travel consultant to arrange a packed breakfast with the hotel. The bus is expected around 06:30, with the exact time confirmed the previous day. The journey takes approximately 6.5 hours.

Your guide will meet you on arrival and accompany you to your hotel for check-in and lunch. After a break, begin a short walk around 14:30 to Cat Cat, a Black Hmong village in a valley below Fansipan. Learn about village life, then walk down to the waterfall and the hydroelectric station built during the French colonial period. Take photographs of the bridge and falls before walking uphill to meet your bus back to Sapa.

Overnight in Sapa.

Meals: breakfast and lunch.

Walking distance: approximately 3.5 km. Duration: around 2.5 hours. Difficulty: easy.

Walk around 6 km southeast of Sapa through the Muong Hoa Valley to Y Linh Ho, a Black Hmong village. Continue approximately 2 km downhill to Lao Chai for lunch with a local family. Walk through rice terraces to Ta Van, a Dzay village, where you stay overnight. Discover traditional house design, local customs and daily life, then enjoy dinner and time to appreciate the valley setting.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast, continue on a walk of around 14 km to two villages home to Red Dao and Hmong communities. Along the way, see a waterfall and a rattan bridge, then walk through bamboo forest to the main road. Transfer back to your hotel in Sapa for a quick shower and to prepare for the return journey. Departure for Hanoi is planned around 16:00, with arrival around 21:30.

Discover UNESCO-listed Halong Bay, with limestone scenery, time to relax on board and the activities included in your cruise programme.

After breakfast, check out and meet the cruise team in your hotel lobby between 8:00 and 9:00 am; the exact time is confirmed the day before. Arrive at the pier around midday and take a transfer boat to your cruise ship. After a welcome and check-in, lunch is served as you sail between the islands.

Depending on the cruise route, afternoon activities include swimming, kayaking or a cave visit. You can also relax on board. Towards evening, the boat anchors in a scenic spot, with time to enjoy the sunset before dinner.

Overnight on board.

Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Please note: poor weather may lead to changes or cancellation if boats cannot leave port. Your travel consultant will arrange an alternative.

Watch the sunrise over Halong Bay and enjoy breakfast as the boat returns towards the harbour. An early lunch is served before disembarkation. Transfer to Hanoi afterwards and spend the rest of the day exploring independently.

Overnight in Hanoi.

Meals: breakfast and lunch.

After breakfast at your hotel, enjoy free time until your private airport transfer. Fly to Da Nang, the gateway for your onward transfer to Hoi An.

Pick-up from your centrally located Hoi An hotel is at 08:15. Visit the Museum of Folk Culture, Tan Ky Old House, the Japanese Covered Bridge, the Fujian Assembly Hall and a craft workshop.

At 11:00, join a one-hour lantern-making class. Have lunch at a local restaurant around midday, then return to your hotel at approximately 13:00.

Between 08:45 and 09:00, leave the meeting point and visit Hoi An's colourful market to choose ingredients for your cooking class.

Between 09:35 and 10:00, cycle through rice fields and enjoy a welcome drink.

From 10:05 to 11:15, visit an organic herb garden, learn about traditional growing methods and try some gardening yourself.

Between 11:20 and 13:00, enjoy another welcome drink and join a cooking class to prepare traditional village dishes, which you then eat for lunch.

From 13:00 to 14:00, relax with an herbal foot massage in a peaceful riverside setting before saying goodbye to the team.

Hoi An is a lovely place to explore independently. You might hire a bicycle from your hotel, visit the surrounding countryside or relax at An Bang Beach. Wander through the Ancient Town, especially in the evening when its lanterns glow. The town is also known for its tailors and shoemakers; if you would like something made, discuss the fitting and completion times with the shop.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Meal included: breakfast.

Enjoy your remaining time in Hoi An before your private driver takes you to Da Nang Airport for your flight to Ho Chi Minh City. Your driver will meet you on arrival and take you to your accommodation. The rest of the day is free.

Your guide will collect you at 08:30. Before setting off, receive a short safety briefing for riding as a passenger on a scooter, then begin exploring.

Ride through neighbourhood streets with buildings from the 1960s, guitar-making workshops and small local restaurants. In the side streets, large apartment blocks reveal another side of the city. Walk from Nguyen Thien Thuat Street towards Ban Co Market to experience lively everyday Saigon and its opportunities for street photography.

Continue into Districts 10 and 5, where shops, street-food stalls and passing cyclos form part of daily life. Along Hai Thuong Lan Ong and Trieu Quang Phuc streets in Chinatown, explore traditional clinics and herbal-medicine shops, watching the traders at work. Visit Thien Hau Temple.

For lunch, try a Saigon favourite such as com tam, broken rice, or bun bo, a beef noodle soup. Return to your hotel around 13:30.

The Mekong Delta supplies Vietnam with rice and fruit and is often called the country’s rice bowl. Mangrove-lined waterways, workshops and orchards offer a glimpse of rural life in southern Vietnam.

After breakfast, meet your driver between 7:30 and 8 am; the exact time will be confirmed the day before. Travel by shuttle bus to My Tho, visit Vinh Trang Pagoda, dating from the late 19th century, then take a sampan ride among the river islands.

On one of the islands, walk through the countryside and orchards, taste tropical fruit and listen to traditional folk music. Continue along Thoi Son Canal to another village, where you visit a coconut-sweet workshop and a bee farm. Enjoy honey tea, sweets and the peaceful surroundings.

After lunch in a local restaurant and a short break, cycle through Tan Thanh village. If you prefer not to cycle, relax in a hammock or take a walk. Return to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving at around 5:30 pm.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Meals: breakfast and lunch.

After breakfast at your hotel, enjoy free time until your private airport transfer for the flight to Siem Reap. This flight is included.

After breakfast, travel out of town to Banteay Srei, known for its intricate, well-preserved carvings. Stop at Preah Dark village along the way, then visit Banteay Samre to see reliefs depicting stories of Vishnu and Krishna.

This afternoon, explore Angkor Wat, one of the world's great temple complexes. Its vast grounds, moat and enclosing walls reveal the scale of this extraordinary Khmer monument.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

After breakfast, explore Angkor Thom, including the South Gate, Bayon Temple with its stone towers and faces, the former Royal Palace enclosure, Phimeanakas, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King. Continue to Preah Khan, the large Buddhist monastic and teaching complex that King Jayavarman VII dedicated to his father.

This afternoon, explore Ta Prohm, where enormous fig trees and vines entwine with the temple's stonework. Finish the day with sunset at Phnom Bakheng.

Overnight in Siem Reap.

Enjoy free time this morning until your transfer to the airport at the agreed time for your flight home.