Luxury Vietnam Tour 2 Weeks: 13 Days Private, Hanoi to Phu Quoc

Your driver meets you at Noi Bai holding a name board and takes you into the city, about 45 minutes with normal traffic. The afternoon is free to rest after the long flight or to take a first walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, a few minutes from the Old Quarter.

The evening is the point of the day. Tam Vi is a small restaurant with a Michelin star, set up like an old tea house, and the cooking is northern Vietnamese: ham with periwinkle snails, several soups and other dishes you will not find on the tourist menus. We book the table for you; all you need to do is turn up.

You leave the city by road for the farmland to the west, towards Ba Vi. At Ri Village a tea-growing family shows you how to pick the top leaves and takes you through the drying and rolling that turns them into green tea. The second stop is Moc Village, where Mrs Chin runs a cooking class in her own kitchen: you prepare a few northern dishes and eat what you made. A walk through the village shows how tofu and conical hats are still made by hand, and a short bicycle ride takes you along the lanes between the rice fields.

The drive then continues to Mai Chau, a valley of the White Thai people in Hoa Binh province. On arrival at the Hideaway there is a welcome drink and fruit, and later a herbal foot bath made to a Muong recipe.

A short drive takes you to Suoi Lon, a village on the shore of Hoa Binh Lake, the reservoir behind the big hydroelectric dam on the Da River. A private boat is yours for the morning. The water fills the valleys between limestone hills, and the fishing families keep their catch in floating cages, which you stop to look at on the way.

Ashore you walk through Mo Rut, a small Muong village, then go on to Go Lao, a waterfall with a pool deep enough for a swim, so bring your swimming things. All the tickets for the day are in the price, and you are back at the resort by road in the afternoon with the evening free.

The day is on two wheels, on flat lanes between the rice fields of the valley. The first call is Nhot Village, where a White Thai family opens their stilt house and shows you how their everyday things are made: weaving on the loom under the house, embroidery, pounding rice by hand and the brewing of Happy Water, the local rice wine that comes out at every celebration. You can try your hand at each one.

From there you ride on through a string of villages, Chieng Sai, Cha Long, Van, Pom Coong and Lac, with the same stilt houses and the same green fields between them. The distances are short and you stop whenever something catches your eye. The afternoon is free at the resort.

Today you walk. The trek starts at Mai Ha Village and follows paths between the fields and along the hillsides to Kha Lake and the village of the same name. Along the way the guide stops at houses for tea, as the Thai do when a visitor passes, and you get time to talk with the families through the guide.

At Te Village another Thai family shows you round their home, and a picnic is laid out in Buoc or at a house along the way. The last stretch leads to Mai Hich, where the families still live from rice and weaving, and you spend the end of the afternoon among them before the car takes you back to the resort. The ground is mostly flat with a few gentle climbs.

This is a transfer day, and it is built to be a gentle one. After a last morning by the water you drive back to Hanoi, three to four hours by road through the hills of Hoa Binh and across the delta. There is no sightseeing on the programme: the one appointment is a foot massage at Hoa Anh Thao Spa in the city, which takes the drive out of your legs.

The rest of the evening is free. The Old Quarter is a short walk away if you want to eat out, and an early night makes sense before the bay tomorrow.

A car takes you from the Old Quarter to Tuan Chau harbour, where you board the Calista, a boat sold as a 6-star cruise, with a welcome drink and a briefing from the crew as it sails out. Ha Long is a UNESCO World Heritage site for the hundreds of limestone pillars that rise straight out of the sea, and the first meal on board is served as they slide past.

The afternoon takes in Sung Sot, the largest cave in the bay, then Titop Island, where you climb to the viewpoint and swim off the beach. Once everyone is back aboard the crew throw a sunset party, teach you to roll fresh rice noodles and lay out a barbecue facing the sea, with a herbal foot bath to close the evening. Squid fishing and karaoke are offered later (optional, extra cost), or stay on the sundeck.

The engines are still off at first light, and most guests are on the sundeck with a coffee as the sun lifts over the islands. The morning excursion takes you to a pearl farm in the bay, where you see how the oysters are seeded and the pearls sorted, and then into a kayak for a paddle close to the rock faces and into the quiet corners that the big boat cannot reach.

The Calista then cruises back towards Tuan Chau while the last meal on board is served, and your car is waiting at the harbour for the drive back to Hanoi. The evening is free in the capital, your last one in the north.

After the north, the island. Your driver takes you to Noi Bai for the flight to Phu Quoc, about two hours in the air down the whole length of the country. At Phu Quoc International Airport another driver meets you for the short transfer to La Veranda, a colonial-style resort with its own spa, where the rest of the day is yours: the beach, the pool or a treatment.

Phu Quoc is Vietnam's largest island, in the Gulf of Thailand off the Cambodian coast, and its dry season runs from November to April. Nothing else is planned, so the first evening is a good time to walk the sand and get your bearings.

A car takes you to An Thoi harbour at the southern tip of the island, where a speedboat is waiting for a day in the An Thoi archipelago. The first stop is Kim Quy Island for snorkelling over the reef, then May Rut Ngoai, where you swim and walk the beach. At Buom Island the coral is the attraction and you get a second snorkel, plus a spell of fish feeding from the boat.

The last island is Fingernail, with a beach to lie on, and the day's seafood barbecue is served at a good restaurant by the water. A fishing session of 30 to 45 minutes can be added (optional, extra cost). The speedboat brings you back to An Thoi and the car returns you to the resort.

Nothing is scheduled today. The simplest plan is the beach in front of the resort and the pool, with the spa for the afternoon. If you want to see more of the island, the night market in Duong Dong town is the place for grilled seafood and a wander, and the west coast is the side for the sunset, which drops straight into the sea.

Our team can arrange a car and driver for the day if you would like to go further afield, to the north of the island or the beaches on the east side (optional, extra cost). Tell us a day ahead and we sort it out.

Another day with no programme, which is the point of ending on Phu Quoc. Most guests use it for the beach and the spa, a long swim and an early evening on the sand with a drink. Those who want to move can ask us for a car and driver and explore on their own (optional, extra cost).

It is worth packing in the evening and settling any extras at the resort, as tomorrow is the airport. If two free days feel like one too many, tell us when you book and we swap one for a guided day on the island.

The last morning is free until your transfer. If your flight is late enough, fit in a final swim or a slow coffee on the terrace. Your driver then takes you to Phu Quoc International Airport for your flight.

If you fly home through Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, leave a comfortable gap for the connection, as the domestic and international terminals are separate in both cities. If you would rather stay longer, extra nights on the island can be added when you book, and we can also add a stop in Ho Chi Minh City on the way out.