Vietnam Tour 7 Days: Three Regions, Saigon to Da Nang and Hanoi

A driver is waiting at Tan Son Nhat with your name on a board and takes you into District 1. The first stop is Cho Lon, the Chinese quarter in District 5, where the market lanes sell dried seafood, herbs and fabric by the roll. A few streets away stands Thien Hau Pagoda, built by Cantonese traders for the goddess of the sea, its roof crowded with ceramic figures and its courtyard hung with coils of incense.

Later you board the water bus at Bach Dang Harbor for a run along the Saigon River. From the open deck you see Bitexco Financial Tower and, further upstream, Landmark 81, the tallest building in Vietnam. The driver then takes you back for the evening, which is free.

An early drive takes you northwest to the Cu Chi Tunnels, the underground network dug during the war. After a short film you walk the site with your guide, look into the living quarters and command posts, and crawl a widened stretch of tunnel if you wish. Tea and boiled cassava, the staple of the people who lived down here, are served before you leave.

From Cu Chi the road turns south to My Tho on the Tien River, one arm of the Mekong. A motor boat takes you out to four islands, where you switch to a hand-rowed sampan for the narrow canals under the water palms, cycle a lane through the village, see coconut candy being made and taste the season's fruit with honey tea. You are back in Saigon by evening.

After the morning flight north to Da Nang, a driver takes you down the coast road to the Marble Mountains, five limestone and marble outcrops named after the elements. Steps lead up Thuy Son to pagodas and shrines set into the rock. At its foot is Am Phu Cave, laid out as a Buddhist vision of hell and judgement, with a narrow climb out towards the light.

In the afternoon you cross the city to the Son Tra Peninsula, known locally as Monkey Mountain, where the Lady Buddha statue stands 67 metres tall and can be seen from most of the beach. The road continues up the peninsula to a viewpoint, and you stay for sunset over the bay and the city lights coming on below.

A drive of under an hour west brings you to the foot of Ba Na Hills, a French-era hill station at around 1,400 metres. The cable car, one of the longest in the world, climbs through cloud forest for about twenty minutes. At the top you walk out on the Golden Bridge, a footpath opened in 2018 that appears to rest in two giant stone hands, and wander the terraces of Le Jardin D'Amour flower garden.

Higher up are Linh Ung Pagoda, with its tall seated Buddha, and Linh Chua Linh Tu Temple on the summit of Chua Mountain. The French Square recreates a village of cobbled lanes and shuttered houses, and Fantasy Park has indoor rides and games. The Debay wine cellar can be visited (optional, extra cost). Our guides tell everyone to bring a layer: the summit is several degrees cooler than the coast.

A short flight takes you from Da Nang to Hanoi, and a driver meets you at Noi Bai for the run into the capital. The city day starts at Tran Quoc Pagoda, which stands on a causeway island in West Lake and is the oldest in the city. Next is the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 and home to the country's first university, with its five courtyards and stone stelae carried on the backs of turtles.

The last stop is Hoa Lo Prison, built by the French at the end of the 19th century and later used for American pilots, who called it the Hanoi Hilton. The evening is free in the Old Quarter. A guided walking food tour of six or seven dishes, with a stop at Train Street, can be added (optional, extra cost).

Ha Long is about two and a half hours east of Hanoi by road. At the harbour you board a day cruise ship and sail out into the bay, where close to two thousand limestone islands rise from the water, with a buffet meal served as the boat moves among them. The first landing is Sung Sot, the Surprising Cave, three chambers of stalactites and stalagmites inside Bo Hon Island.

Back on the water you take a kayak or a bamboo boat through the low arch of Luon Cave into a lagoon closed in by cliffs. At Titop Island you can swim from the beach or climb the steps to the peak for a view across the bay. The afternoon ends with tea, cakes, wine and fruit on the sundeck as the sun goes down, and your driver brings you back to Hanoi in the evening.

The last morning is yours. If your flight leaves late enough, there is time for a final coffee in the Old Quarter, or for the shops that were closed when you walked past the night before. Your driver then collects you and takes you to Noi Bai International Airport for the flight home.

If you would rather stay on, we can add nights in Hanoi or a short trip to Sapa or Ninh Binh before you fly; tell us when you book and we will fit it in.