Vietnam Tour 9 Days: Hanoi, Hue, Hai Van Pass, Hoi An and Saigon

A driver meets you in the arrivals hall at Noi Bai and drives you into the city, around 45 minutes on the expressway and over the Red River. Nothing is scheduled today, so the hours after you arrive belong to you.

The old streets are a short walk away. Each was once named for the trade sold on it, and many still are, so you pass a street of tin boxes, then one of silk, then one of bamboo ladders. A first bowl of pho or a plate of bun cha from a pavement kitchen is the usual way to start, and a loop of Hoan Kiem Lake fills the evening.

Your driver collects you in the morning for the road east to the coast, about two and a half hours on the expressway. At the harbour you board Le Journey Cruise and the boat moves off while a seafood meal is served in the dining room.

The afternoon is spent sailing between the limestone pillars. Ha Long has close to 1,600 islands and islets and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. You go ashore to walk through one of the caves, lit from inside, before the boat drops anchor in a quiet corner for the night. The crew runs extra activities on board in the evening, which you can join (optional, extra cost).

You wake on the water. The boat makes a second loop among the islands while the bay is still quiet, then turns back towards the pier late in the morning, with a meal on board before you step off.

Your driver takes you straight to Noi Bai Airport for the flight to Hue, which takes a little over an hour. In Hue another driver is waiting and brings you into the city, which sits on both banks of the Perfume River. The evening is free; the walking streets near the river are the easiest place to start.

Hue was the seat of the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 until 1945, and the day is built around what the emperors left behind. You start on the water: a dragon boat carries you up the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda, whose seven-storey tower is the city's best-known landmark. Back in town you walk the Imperial Citadel on the north bank, a walled city within a city where the court lived and worked, then go on to Dong Ba Market, the largest in Hue.

After a meal of local dishes, the afternoon goes to the tombs outside town: Khai Dinh, a steep hillside mausoleum finished in 1931 with mosaic-covered walls inside, and Minh Mang, an older and calmer complex of lakes, courtyards and pines. On the way you stop in two craft villages, one making conical hats, the other incense sticks.

The drive south is the day itself. First stop, in the rice fields just outside Hue, is Thanh Toan, a covered wooden bridge with a tiled roof that a village built in 1776. Further on you pause at Lang Co, a long curve of beach on a lagoon below the mountains, before the road climbs the Hai Van Pass: about 21 km of bends between Hue and Da Nang, with the sea on one side and forest on the other. Our drivers take it slowly and stop at the top, where the old gate still stands and you can see both bays at once.

Past Da Nang you climb the steps of the Marble Mountains, five limestone hills with pagodas and caves cut into them, and reach Hoi An in the afternoon. The old town, a UNESCO site since 1999, is yours for the evening.

The day is spent in Cam Thanh, a river village a few kilometres east of the old town where the water palms grow thick along the channels. You begin at a local market with your cook, choosing the herbs and fish for later, then take a round bamboo basket boat through the palms, the way the fishermen here have moved for generations. You try their work too, casting a net from the boat, and the rowers spin the baskets for anyone who asks.

Back on land the cooking class takes you through a few Vietnamese dishes from scratch, and you sit down to eat what you made. The afternoon and evening are free in Hoi An, which lights its lanterns along the river after dark.

The car from Hoi An to Da Nang International Airport takes about 40 minutes up the coast, and from there you fly south to Ho Chi Minh City. At Tan Son Nhat another driver meets you and brings you into District 1.

The rest of the day is unplanned. If you want to see the French-era centre with a guide, an afternoon can be added (optional, extra cost): the War Remnants Museum, Independence Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, Ben Thanh Market and Chinatown. Several of these stand within a short walk of each other, so you can also take them in on your own.

You drive southwest to My Tho, about two hours, where the Tien, a northern branch of the Mekong, widens into the delta. After Vinh Trang Pagoda, a 19th-century temple that mixes Vietnamese, Khmer and French details, you board a boat and cross to Unicorn Island. You walk the lanes between orchards and taste the fruit of the season while a small group plays and sings the folk music of the south.

Next a sampan, rowed by hand, carries you up Thoi Son Canal between walls of water palm, and the stops continue with a bee farm for honey tea and a family workshop where coconut candy is cooked, rolled and wrapped. You can cycle the lanes of Tan Thach Village or rest in a hammock while the others ride. A meal in a local kitchen sits in the middle of the day before the boat and the car bring you back to Saigon.

Your final morning is free until the driver comes for the airport. Depending on your flight time, the market near the centre is a good place for last gifts, and a Vietnamese coffee, strong and poured over ice and condensed milk, is the right way to finish nine days in the country.

The transfer to Tan Son Nhat takes 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. If you would like to stay longer, we can add extra nights in the city or a beach extension before you fly home.