Vietnam Family Tour: 9 Days from Saigon to Hoi An and Ha Long Bay

Your driver is waiting at Tan Son Nhat with a name board and brings the family into District 1. Nothing is scheduled for the rest of the day, which suits a family coming off a long flight: rest first, then a short walk once the heat drops.

The French colonial buildings of the centre are within a few streets of each other, and the covered markets are a good first look at Vietnamese fruit, fabric and snacks. Both are optional and done at your own pace, without a guide. Saigon traffic looks alarming, so hold hands at the crossings, walk slowly and the motorbikes flow around you.

Your guide collects you in District 1 for the drive northwest to Cu Chi, the tunnel network where villagers and fighters lived underground during the war. A short film explains how the tunnels were dug and used, then you walk the site with the guide and crawl a widened section past the old kitchens, sleeping areas and command posts.

Children usually fit through more easily than their parents, and anyone can skip the crawl and meet the group at the exit. You finish with tea and boiled cassava, the staple food of the tunnel years. Adults who want to can try the shooting range at the site (optional, extra cost). You are back in the city for a free afternoon.

After a transfer to the airport you fly to Da Nang, where a driver meets you for the short run south to Hoi An. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site of yellow shop-houses on a river that fills with lanterns at night. The afternoon is free.

At 9 pm the square on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street hosts an hour of folk music and dance in the open air, free to watch and part of the evening plan. Before or after the show the family can wander the lantern market, the silk shops and the riverside, or buy a paper lantern with a candle (paid on the spot) and set it afloat on the river, which small children love. These extras are optional and at your own pace.

A driver takes you to a lantern workshop, where an instructor tells the story of the craft and shows each of you how to bend the bamboo frame, stretch the silk over it and tie on the tassels that finish it. Every person goes home with the lantern they made, which folds flat for the suitcase, plus an extra one made by the instructor. Herbal tea and water are served while you work.

Our Hanoi team's tip: pack the lanterns flat in your hand luggage so they arrive unbent. A driver brings you back to the hotel, and the afternoon is free for a rest, more time in the old town, or a slow walk along the river when the lanterns come on.

A transfer takes you to Da Nang airport for the flight north to Hanoi, and a driver brings you to your hotel. In the evening a local guide walks the family from the hotel into the Old Quarter for a street food tour, and a car brings you back at the end.

The route runs through narrow alleys and market streets, stopping at small kitchens to taste six or seven dishes children usually take to: pho, crisp banh xeo pancakes, steamed rice rolls, grilled pork skewers, bun cha and a banh mi. The walk also passes Train Street, where the houses stand a step from the railway line.

Today you leave the city for Giang Bien, a farming village in the Red River Delta outside Hanoi. The visit starts at the Quan Tinh complex, where the communal house and the pagoda stand together, then the family settles into a local garden with a light snack.

Next comes the farm work, side by side with the villagers: preparing the soil, weeding, sowing and harvesting. In the kitchen you make two old village recipes, che lam and banh duc, and local craftsmen show you how they weave hammocks by hand.

A tea session closes the visit, with the customs of serving and drinking tea in a Vietnamese home, before the drive back to Hanoi.

The cruise shuttle collects you in the Old Quarter and drives to Tuan Chau harbour, where you board with a welcome drink and a safety briefing. You eat as the boat sails out among the limestone islands, then land at Sung Sot Cave, one of the largest grottoes in the bay, with lit walkways through its chambers.

Titop Island follows: climb to the viewpoint or swim from the small beach. Back on board there is a sunset party, a short class in rolling fresh noodle rolls, a barbecue on deck with the bay around you and a herbal foot bath. After dark the crew set up squid fishing from the stern, there is karaoke in the lounge, or you can sit out on the sundeck.

Early risers can watch the sun come up from the sundeck before the buffet. The morning brings kayaks, paddled among the karst with life jackets for everyone, and a visit to a pearl farm on the water, where staff show how the oysters are seeded and opened.

The boat cruises slowly back towards Tuan Chau while a last meal is served on board, and the shuttle returns you to the Old Quarter in the afternoon. The evening is free, and the lake and the night market streets are a short walk from the quarter.

The tour ends today. Depending on your flight time there may be an hour or two for a last walk through the Old Quarter streets or to pick up souvenirs at the markets nearby, both optional and without a guide.

A driver then takes you to Noi Bai International Airport, north of the city, for your flight home. If you would like extra nights in Hanoi or a side trip after the tour, tell us when you book and we will add it.