2 Weeks in Vietnam: 14 Days, Hanoi to Sapa, Ha Long and Saigon

A driver is waiting at Noi Bai with your name on a board and takes you into Hanoi, a run of about 45 minutes that crosses the Red River. The rest of the day is free to settle in and sleep off the long flight.

With any energy left, head for the Old Quarter on your own: 36 narrow streets, each once given over to a single trade, with pavement kitchens setting out their stools as the light goes. The street stalls are the easiest place for a first taste of Hanoi food.

A drive of around two hours south brings you to Ninh Binh, where limestone towers stand up out of flat rice land. Hoa Lu comes first: this was the royal capital in the tenth century, and two temples to the Dinh and Le kings remain on the old site.

From there you cycle through the villages and rice fields around Hoa Lu, then board a rowed boat at Tam Coc on the Ngo Dong River. The ride lasts about an hour and a half and passes under three low caves, often with the rower working the oars with her feet. Last comes Mua Cave, where 500 stone steps climb to a viewpoint over the whole river bend. The team's advice is to go up before the sun is on the rock and carry water. You drive back to Hanoi in the evening.

You leave Hanoi by car for Sapa, five to six hours on the expressway up the Red River to Lao Cai and then the climb into the hills. Sapa sits at around 1,500 metres and is noticeably cooler than the capital, so keep a jacket within reach.

The afternoon is yours. The town is compact: the market, the old stone church built under the French and the small lake are all within a short walk of each other, easy to see on your own, and the terraces open out below the main street.

A whole day walking in the Muong Hoa valley, about 12 km in all. The path drops from the town to Y Linh Ho, a Black Hmong hamlet above the river, then follows the water and the earth banks between the terraces to Lao Chai, a larger Hmong village where you stop at midday. Your guide sets the pace and stops wherever there is something to see or someone to talk to, and the village entrance fees are covered.

The walk ends at Ta Van, where Giay and Hmong families live in wooden houses on stilts along the river. Instead of going back to town, you spend the night in the home of a Giay family. Expect mud after rain and plenty of steps up and down the terrace walls; the reward is the view back across the valley from the far side.

The second trek heads further down the valley to Giang Ta Chai, a village of the Red Dao, whose women wear a tall red headdress and are known across the region for their herbal baths. The path runs through a stretch of bamboo forest, passes a waterfall that is at its fullest after the summer rains, and crosses the river on a rattan suspension bridge that sways a little underfoot.

It is a shorter walk than yesterday, starting from your hosts' house in Ta Van. A car meets you at Giang Ta Chai for the run back up to Sapa, and from there you drive down to Hanoi, arriving in the evening.

A car takes you east to Tuan Chau Marina on the Ha Long coast, about two and a half hours from Hanoi, where you board your cruise boat. It sails out among the limestone pillars that rise from the bay in their thousands, a landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1994.

In the afternoon you visit one of the bay's best-known caves, reached by a short climb from a landing stage. Then you take a kayak out or swim near the floating villages and their floating shops, both part of the cruise. As the light goes the boat anchors in a sheltered spot; the crew's evening activities on board are optional and paid separately, and you spend the night on the water.

The day starts on deck, where a tai chi session is offered before the bay fills with other boats (optional, extra cost). The cruise then moves on to a second limestone cave, reached by a short walk up from the landing.

By late morning the boat is back at the harbour and your driver is waiting for the road to Hanoi. The afternoon and evening are free in the city, which leaves time for a water puppet show or a last walk around Hoan Kiem Lake before the trip turns south.

A travel day. Your driver takes you to Noi Bai for the leg south to Da Nang, the main gateway to the centre of the country. From Da Nang a car brings you down the coast to Hoi An, about 45 minutes.

You arrive with the afternoon free. Hoi An's old town was a trading port from the 15th to the 19th century and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999. It is closed to cars for much of the day, so the lanes of yellow merchant houses are best taken on foot, and the lanterns come on along the river as it gets dark.

A free day in Hoi An with four extras on offer (optional, extra cost): a guided wander through the old town, a fitting at one of the tailors who can make a suit or a dress in a day or two, a traditional outdoor theatre performance, and the lantern ceremony on the Thu Bon River, where you set a candle in a paper lantern afloat from a small boat.

Left to yourselves, the town rewards slow walking: the Japanese Covered Bridge, the assembly halls built by Chinese merchant communities, and the riverside market in the morning. An Bang beach is a short ride away for anyone who wants sand and sea.

Day 10 is a guided day in the countryside outside the town, and all of it is included. It starts at a local market, where you pick out herbs and vegetables for the cooking class with your guide, then a car takes you to Cam Thanh, a village of water coconut palms near the river mouth.

There you ride through the palm channels in a round bamboo basket boat, the kind local fishermen still use, before a hands-on class where you cook several Vietnamese dishes and sit down to eat what you have made. The car brings you back to Hoi An afterwards.

A car takes you from Hoi An to Da Nang airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in the country and still called Saigon by most of the people who live there. A driver meets you at Tan Son Nhat and takes you to the centre of District 1.

The rest of the day is free. Saigon is louder and faster than Hanoi, with wide French boulevards and motorbikes in numbers that take a day to get used to. On your own, Nguyen Hue walking street and the lanes around Ben Thanh Market make an easy first walk, with food stalls to try as evening comes.

A drive of about two hours south-west takes you to the Tien River, the Mekong's northern branch, near My Tho. A motor boat crosses to the four islands that sit mid-river, named Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix and Tortoise after the four sacred animals.

On Thoi Son, the Unicorn island, you listen to a short performance of southern folk music, visit a family that keeps bees for honey, and board a hand-rowed sampan for the narrow canal under the water palms. The day ends with a cycle ride along the lanes of Tan Thach village, between orchards and canals, then boat and car return you to Saigon.

A guided day among the landmarks of central Saigon, most of them within walking distance of each other. Independence Palace, also called Reunification Palace, is the 1960s building where the war ended on 30 April 1975, kept with its meeting rooms, bunker and telex machines in place.

Nearby you see Notre Dame Cathedral, built in red brick shipped from France, from the square outside, then walk through the Central Post Office and its iron-framed hall. The afternoon is given to the War Remnants Museum, a hard but honest record of the war from the Vietnamese side, with aircraft and tanks in the yard and photographs inside.

The last morning is free until your transfer to the airport. Two things worth doing with the time you have: a Vietnamese iced coffee, strong drip coffee over condensed milk and ice, at a pavement cafe, and a final round of souvenir shopping at Ben Thanh Market or the shops along Dong Khoi.

Your driver collects you from the centre and takes you to Tan Son Nhat, around 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Extra nights in Saigon or a beach extension can be arranged when you book.