We’ve pulled together a selection of bucket-list itineraries for a trip to this pearl of south-east Asia, together with the tour operators who can make it happen
vietnam is the adventure of a lifetime: exotic, ancient and extravagantly beautiful. The great thing about this warm, friendly country is the variety it offers: you could dive into the urban bustle of Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi’s old quarter for a few days, then spend the rest of your holiday touring ancient temples, spotting animals in the rainforest, chilling out on the beach, hopping your way through tropical island archipelagos or venturing up into the mountains to meet hill tribes and traditional villages.
The best time to visit Vietnam is generally from around December to March, as the rainy season in Vietnam can be hot, stormy and – no surprise here – unbelievably wet.
We’ve put together a selection of different itineraries here, covering both the classic sights as well as others that are more off the beaten track. Getting around by public transport is perfectly possible in Vietnam — in fact, it’s part of the fun, whether by train, bus or boat.
1. Vietnam Highlights itinerary (18 days)
This is an itinerary that takes you from the top to the toe of this fascinating country, introducing Vietnam’s special landscapes, ancient cultural sites, bustling markets and sweeping beaches.
You’ll start in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the south of the country, based on the Saigon River. The largest city in Vietnam, it has wide boulevards and French architecture, and a host of attractions — it’s worth spending at least a couple of days here. Visit Notre Dame Cathedral, with its pair of bell towers, and the Central Post Office, built in the late 1800s and with some striking neo-gothic and Renaissance styling. The Independence Palace was once the residence of the president of South Vietnam and its gates were rammed by a tank when Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975. You can learn more about the Vietnam War at the War Remnants Museum, before hunting for a bargain at the characterful Ben Thanh Market, which runs throughout the day but is also an atmospheric spot at night. The street food is excellent — as it is so often in Vietnam.
On day four, move 100 miles south-west to Vinh Long province to take a cruise on the Mekong Delta, journeying past farming villages and thick forests. Stay the night in the city of Can Tho, where the waterfront — brightly lit at night — is packed with floating restaurants and bars. Next day you’ll head back to Ho Chi Minh, but first you should join the throng at the Cai Rang Floating Market. This is one of the biggest markets of its kind in the delta, a place of energy and noise, with small boats zipping along lanes formed by large boats at anchor. You can find all sorts of goods from mangos and pineapples to dried fish and coconut candy, and traders hang samples of their wares on tall poles at the bows of their boats.
The following day, head to the famous Cu Chi tunnels, 30 miles north of Ho Chi Minh. This network of tunnels was used by the Viet Cong during their campaign against American forces during the Vietnam War. The tunnels were deeply uncomfortable, infested with rodents and insects, but they proved hugely effective. You can go down inside a stretch of tunnel — its opening especially enlarged for tourists — and see examples of the makeshift weapons used by the Viet Cong, including pits full of spikes and traps made from old deckchairs.
On day seven, either drive or fly the 300 miles north-east to Nha Trang, a stirring section of coastline often referred to as the Riviera of the South China Sea. Here you can relax on sandy beaches or go snorkelling along the reefs, take a cruise to get a closer look at the islets off the coast, or visit Buddhist temples and archaeological remains from the Champa kingdom, which lasted from the second century until the 17th.
From here, it’s a ten-hour drive (or a train/plane to Da Nang, where you can get a transfer) to Hoi An, a Unesco-listed trading port with bundles of character. Visit sights such as the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall and the wonderfully ornate covered Japanese Bridge in the old town, and soak up the atmosphere of the town at night when everything is lit with lanterns. Make a short hop north to Tra Que, a farming village set amid lush rural surroundings.
It’s an hour’s drive west on day ten to see the My Son temples, a staggering cluster of Hindu temples built during the days of the Champa kingdom, and set in a valley deep in the rainforest. For many years these cultural treasures lay hidden, and they suffered much damage during bombing of the area by the US during the Vietnam War. Archaeologists are continuing to uncover and restore the ruins.
Return to Hoi An for the night, and next day drive 80 miles northwest — via the winding Hai Van Pass, a breathtakingly scenic coastal route through the mountains — to the city of Hue. There you can spend a couple of days exploring the extraordinary Unesco-listed historical sites. Admire the seven-levelled Thien Mu Pagoda, which dates to the start of the 17th century, the imperial tombs on the river banks, the walled Imperial City and the crumbling palaces of the Forbidden Purple City. Be sure to take a sunset cruise on the Perfume River.
Hanoi — the capital of Vietnam and its second-biggest city — is a flight north, and your base for days 13 and 14. Its French colonial past is evident in the architecture and boulevards, and this is also one of the country’s primary cultural hubs. Each street of the atmospheric Old Quarter originally had the workshops and houses of people specialising in particular trades — one street for silk merchants, another for jewellers and so on — and a handful maintain the tradition. Hanoi sights to see include the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square where the lauded president was buried in 1969, the Stilt House which was once his home, the One Pillar Pagoda — one of Vietnam’s most important temples — and the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, which tells the cultural story of the country’s people.
Conclude your trip with an excursion to Unesco-listed Halong Bay two hours to the east, a lovely sweep of rugged coast with a wealth of caves, limestone pillars and other intriguing rock formations, pretty islets, and striking turquoise water. You can take a cruise on the bay — and even spend the night aboard the boat — before returning to Hanoi for the flight home.
2. Southern Vietnam itinerary (seven days)
This is an epic, week-long trip from Hoi An in central Vietnam down to Ho Chi Minh City, travelling on the country’s excellent trains, and combining fascinating cultural sites with proper beachy downtime — and the chance to throw yourself into the nightlife too.
You’ll start in Hoi An (a 45-minute transfer from Da Nang airport), the fabulously well-preserved port settled by merchants between the 15th and 19th centuries. The river flows alongside pagodas and old shop houses, and there are many sites to see, including the elaborate Japanese Bridge, Phuc Kien Assembly Hall and Tan Ky ancestral house. Take a bike ride out past farms in the surrounding countryside, with water buffalo in the fields, or hop over to enjoy the sand and sun at An Bang Beach.
The following day, head over to the Ba Na Hills, a mountain resort to the west of Da Nang. Sitting 1,500m above sea level, it brings incredible views of the sea and surrounding peaks, and the journey there is a joy too — aboard the world’s longest non-stop cable car (spanning a distance of three and a half miles). Once there, you can walk the Golden Bridge — with its pair of giant hands, appearing to support it — to the incredible gardens. Do stop too at the Linh Ung Pagoda on the Son Tra peninsula, with its vast, smiling Bodhisattva Guanyin statue sitting on a lotus flower plinth.
From Da Nang, you’ll take a train to Qui Nhon, sleeping in a cabin on the overnight service. Qui Nhon province has more ruins dating to the Champa civilization — which dominated the coastal area of central and southern Vietnam for 1,000 years — than anywhere else. To get a taste of the religious and artistic culture of the Champa people, visit Thap Doi, with its 11th-century sandstone temple ruins and sculptures. Afterwards you can hit the beach — Ky Co Beach is the place to head, a beautiful spot with clear water and wonderful snorkelling among the corals.
Next, it’s a four-hour drive south to Nha Trang, but stop along the way at Ganh Da Dia, a series of intriguing basalt columns that formed after volcanic activity millions of years ago. The literal translation of its name is “sea cliff of stone plates”, but the formation is more commonly known as Vietnam’s Giant’s Causeway. When you reach the resort city of Nha Trang, take a relaxing soak in the egg-shaped pools at the 100 Egg Mud Bath, a spa with a stunning mountain backdrop. There’s a swimming pool with waterfall and a Jacuzzi on the site, and you’ll find other attractions to keep you entertained, including an Adventure Zone, a Highland Culture House, and a selection of restaurants.
After a night in Nha Trang, you can spend the day exploring the city, strolling the promenade or taking to the beach once more. Its bay is ranked as one of the prettiest in the world, and the snorkelling and scuba diving here is top-quality — as is the seafood served in its restaurants.
Tonight you’re on the train once more for a sleeper service to Ho Chi Minh City, the final stop on your journey. This thriving, colourful city is Vietnam’s largest, with a host of sights to see – from Notre Dame Cathedral and the Independence Palace to the War Remnants Museum. You might take a walking tour through the French quarter, pick up a souvenir at Ben Thanh Market or take a trip out to the infamous Cu Chi tunnels. When evening falls, enjoy a last hurrah with a drink or three in the city’s bright and buzzing bars.
3. Vietnam hiking, biking and kayaking itinerary (ten days)
This action-packed itinerary takes you to Vietnam’s coast, mountains and valleys, from rural landscapes with farming villages to the city lights of Hanoi. You’ll explore the country by bike, on foot and with paddle in hand, stopping to learn about local life and traditions along the way. It’s a trip made for those who want to get the blood pumping — you’ll be sea kayaking, cycling up to 40 miles in a couple of days, and taking on a six-mile hike — and as such it requires at least a moderate level of fitness.
Begin your adventure in Hanoi, the country’s capital — soak up the atmosphere of the Old Quarter, visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and drink in the views at Hoan Kiem Lake in the middle of the city, including the 18th-century Ngoc Son Temple, lying on its islet on the northern shore. Drop in to the Museum of Ethnology too, where you can learn about Vietnam’s different communities.
The following day you’ll drive five hours northwest to the town of Sapa in the Hoang Lien Son Mountains. From here, you can strike out on your first hike, a short excursion of under two miles to Cat Cat. This lovely village lying on a slope is home to the H’Mong hill tribe, who grow rice and corn here; you might get the chance to watch villagers hand-weaving brocade decorated with flowers and wildlife.
After a night in a homestay in Sapa, there’s more hiking on day three, starting at the village of Lao Chai to the south and trekking a total of six miles to Ta Van. You’ll pass through an unforgettable landscape of terraced farms (with crops of cassava, rice and maize cultivated by the highland tribe families who live here), misty mountain slopes, streams and waterfalls. On day four, you’re in hiking boots again, walking to the remote village of Su Pan, its four hamlets inhabited by people from the Black Hmong and Red Dao tribes, before heading back in the afternoon to Hanoi.
Spend day five picking up where you left off in Hanoi, exploring sites such as the Temple of Literature (dedicated to Confucius, and depicted on the 100,000 Vietnamese dong banknote) or taking a gentle bike ride around West Lake in Tay Ho District, where you can see the sixth-century Tran Quoc Pagoda — the oldest temple in Vietnam.
Next, head a couple of hours southwest for a bike ride to the Mai Chau valley. The contrast is stark between the intense bustle of city life and the peace to be found in the countryside. You’ll cycle through patchworked paddy fields and traditional villages of thatched stilt houses before reaching the village of Pom Coong. There are several homestays here, and you can eat lunch with a local family — the White Tai people are renowned for their hospitality, and the regional dishes are wonderful — and hear about the way of life in the valley. This is also the opportunity to buy some local crafts, hand-made on ancient looms, and perhaps try the famous Can wine that is served at group events and as a welcome drink for guests.
Get back in the saddle on day seven and cycle around 43 miles to Ninh Binh, an area that’s little visited by tourists but referred to (by those in the know) as “Ha Long Bay on land” because of the striking limestone monoliths that rise from the paddy fields, surrounded by rivers and full of caves. If there’s time, you could even take a trip on a sampan — a traditional flat-bottomed boat — on the waters of this Unesco-protected site.
Take a bus the following morning from Ninh Binh to Haiphong, from where it’s a ferry ride to Cat Ba Island in Lan Ha Bay. This is the biggest of the many islands that make up the Cat Ba archipelago, and has a growing reputation as a haven for active types, with a host of outdoorsy, nature-focused activities. You could spend the afternoon hiking in the national park, mountain biking around the island, visiting some of the caves, snorkelling off the coast or even trying some rock climbing. Or you could just relax on a beach.
On day nine, you’ll take to the water in a kayak, paddling around the secluded islands of Lan Ha Bay — which has similar limestone karst features to the nearby, world-famous Ha Long Bay — before settling in for a well-earned dinner and drink at one of the many restaurants and bars on Cat Ba Island.
On the final day of the itinerary, drive back to Hanoi. You’ll arrive in the afternoon, giving you time for souvenir-shopping in the markets or further sightseeing before your flight home.