Vietnam 12-Day Luxury Small-Group Tour from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City with Ha Long Bay Cruise & Optional Cambodia Extension
Discover Vietnam’s sublime emerald waters, ancient towns, flavoursome cuisine and diverse cultures during a 12-day luxury small-group tour (max. 16 travellers). Home to lush landscapes, labyrinthine towns and mouthwatering cuisine, Vietnam is a world of contrasts, exceptional experiences and sensory overload. Uncover it all while staying in five-star accommodation, sharing your experiences with a small group of like-minded travellers. Accompanied by English-speaking local guides, cruise peaceful rivers, traverse stunning scenery by coach, enjoy included domestic flights and visit Vietnam’s highlights, including UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites, temples and attractions.
Be awe-struck by Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, explore the grand architecture of Vietnam’s most atmospheric town, Hoi An, learn of the country’s long and illustrious royal history in Hue and gaze over a surreal seascape dotted with limestone islands from the deck of a traditional junk boat on an overnight cruise of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ha Long Bay.
- 11 nights of luxury accommodation including Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi – MGallery, The Pilgrimage Village Hue, Le Pavillon Hoi An and New World Saigon Hotel
- Daily breakfast and select dining experiences as specified in the itinerary
- Domestic flights between Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City
- An overnight stay onboard a traditional junk boat on the spectacular Ha Long Bay
- A cruise on the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda
- Visits to Vietnam’s top attractions, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed My Son Sanctuary, Cu Chi tunnels, Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Cao Dai Temple, Hoa Lo Prison, Tomb of Tu Duc and much more
- Complimentary bottled water, cold towels, hand sanitiser, face masks and wet wipes throughout
- Private airport transfers and air-conditioned transportation throughout
- The services of expert English-speaking local guides
- Sightseeing and entrance fees
Your journey takes you to: Hanoi — Hạ Long Bay — Hue — Da Nang — Hoi An — Ho Chi Minh City.
Mekong Delta and Cambodia extension available: Want to make the most of your time in Southeast Asia? Select the extended 17-day tour, which will also unveil the wonders of the Mekong Delta and Cambodia, including a scenic boat ride and dinner on the Mekong River, flights to Siem Reap, guided tours of Banteay Srei, Angkor Thom and Bayon, and sunset gondola cruise along Angkor’s ancient moat with drinks and canapés.
Your includes:
- 11 nights of luxury accommodation
- Daily breakfast and select dining experiences as specified in the itinerary
- Domestic flights between Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City
- An overnight stay onboard a traditional junk boat on the spectacular Ha Long Bay
- A cruise on the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda
- Visits to Vietnam’s top attractions, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed My Son Sanctuary, Cu Chi tunnels, Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Cao Dai Temple, Hoa Lo Prison, Tomb of Tu Duc and much more
- Complimentary bottled water, cold towels, hand sanitiser, face masks and wet wipes throughout
- Private airport transfers and air-conditioned transportation throughout
Optional Mekong Delta and Cambodia Extension
Want to really make the most of your time in Southeast Asia? Select the extended 17-day tour, which will unveil the wonders of the Mekong Delta and Cambodia. Visit the Vietnamese countryside town of Bến Tre, board a boat for a scenic ride along the Mekong Delta, drop by the Cai Rang Floating Market and the French colonial-style house of Binh Thuy, then enjoy dinner on the Mekong River. After flying to Cambodia and exploring Siem Reap, admire intricate Angkorian carvings at Banteay Srei, Angkor Thom and Bayon, visit Angkor Wat, and savour a sunset gondola cruise along Angkor’s ancient moat with drinks and canapés.
Your tour starts in Hanoi, Vietnam (HAN) for both the standard and extended tour, and ends in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (SGN) for the standard tour or Siem Reap, Cambodia (REP) for the extended tour.
Flights to and from Vietnam are not included in your package and must be purchased separately. If your chosen tour departure date is guaranteed at the time of booking, you may be able to purchase flights immediately. If your tour departure date is not yet guaranteed (still pending minimum numbers), flights should not be booked until you receive an update on the status of your tour.
Please books your flights to arrive in Hanoi before 4pm on Day 1 and depart any time after 10am on Day 12 or Day 17.
Private roundtrip airport transfers are included in your tour on the first and last day only.
You MUST complete your booking form within 7 days of booking. Following its completion, our Tours Concierge will be in touch to assist with any additional arrangements – including flights.
Important: Please allow for travelling time from international countries. International flights are not included in your package and must be purchased separately. It is your responsibility to make your own travel arrangements and ensure that you arrive in Hanoi on your chosen tour start date.
A visa may be required for the destination you are visiting. It is each traveller’s responsibility to ensure they are holding a current visa. Please take the time to visit our preferred vendor website Visas Direct to assist you with any visa application requirements and processes. If you require any supporting documentation when applying for your visa please let us know and we would be more than happy to assist. Click here to visit the website.
Need flights? Australian customers can now purchase flights with or without accommodation packages. We are working hard to launch this functionality in other markets. For now, our dedicated flights concierge can assist with all your flight requirements. Contact sales@luxuryescapes.com.
Time zone: GMT+7
Telephone: +84
Currency: Vietnamese dong (VND)
Accessing money: ATMs are widely available with credit cards widely accepted within the city. Cash is advised when visiting rural areas.
Language: Vietnamese
Climate: Vietnam has a tropical climate dominated by the monsoon season. The temperature in Vietnam typically ranges between 21°C and 35°C throughout the year.
Day 1: Arrive Hanoi
Today, you arrive in Hanoi, where you will be met on arrival at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) and transferred to your accommodation, Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi — MGallery, located just a short stroll from the city’s grand opera house. Depending on your arrival time, the afternoon is at your leisure — why not take the opportunity to swim in the indoor pool or relax at the spa?
This evening, meet your tour leader and the rest of your group for a delicious dinner at a local favourite restaurant with an included drinks package.
Accommodation: Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi — MGallery (Deluxe Room)
Meals: Dinner
Day 2: Hanoi
On a private excursion, discover the colourful history of Vietnam’s capital, rich with culture thanks to an eclectic mix of influences — including French, as is evident in the old colonial buildings and tree-lined boulevards. You’ll also learn about the life and times of former Prime Minister Ho Chi Minh, who played a key role in the nation’s journey towards independence.
Meet your local guide in the morning and embark to sights including a walk around the grounds of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh’s Stilt House, the Presidential Palace, Hoa Lo Prison and the One Pillar Pagoda (note: some sights may be closed).
In the afternoon, explore a Ly Dynasty temple dedicated to the God of the North, and enjoy an in-depth experience of the Temple of Literature (Vietnam’s first university, built in the 11th century) with an expert in Vietnamese culture, history and education. Finish the day with a ride on a three-wheeled cyclo through the network of narrow, 15th-century streets of the Old Quarter, and stroll beside Hoan Kiem lake.
Accommodation: Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi – MGallery (Deluxe Room)
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 3: Hanoi — Hạ Long Bay
Today, leave the city behind to discover one of the wonders of Vietnam on an overnight cruise in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed waters of Hạ Long Bay. Be sure to have an overnight bag packed in anticipation (your remaining luggage will be kept at the Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi – MGallery). Upon arrival to Hạ Long City (a two-and-a-half-hour drive with a break en route), meet the crew before boarding the beautifully crafted sailing vessel, styled after a traditional Vietnamese junk boat. After a quick safety briefing and refreshing welcome drink, enjoy lunch as the dramatic beauty of the bay unfolds around you, with hundreds of limestone karsts majestically rising out of the emerald waters.
In the afternoon, visit a floating pearl farming village and learn how pearls are harvested and processed here. Afterwards, choose to venture out on a kayak (at own expense) or stay on the boat for afternoon tea. Continue onwards to Sung Sot Cave to see this impressive cavern, before being invited to join a cooking demonstration with the onboard chef. This evening, enjoy dinner followed by an evening at leisure, where you can try your hand at squid fishing, watch a movie, stargaze or tuck in early.
Accommodation: Paradise Elegance (Deluxe Balcony), Hạ Long Bay
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 4: Hạ Long Bay — Hanoi — Hue
Wake to the peaceful sounds of the gentle breeze and water lapping against the boat before enjoying an optional tai chi session on the sundeck. Later, visit Ti Top Island, where you will be able to climb to the top of the hill for a spectacular view over the bay. Breakfast is served while cruising back to the pier.
After disembarkation, be transferred to Hanoi Airport for your flight to Hue. On arrival, take a private transfer to the hotel with your local guide and check in to Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort & Spa.
Accommodation: Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort & Spa (Superior Room), Hue
Meals: Breakfast
Day 5: Hue
After breakfast, visit The Imperial City, a walled palace and well-preserved remnant of the vast citadel and royal quarters that once existed on the site. In the early 19th century, Emperor Gia Long consulted geomancers to source the best location to build a new palace and citadel, and this site was chosen. Tens of thousands of labourers were recruited to dig the 10km moat and earthen walls that form the outer perimeter of the citadel. Then, visit the Hue Museum of Royal Antiquities, a museum dedicated to Vietnam’s imperial past and arts of the era. Next, take a short drive to visit the Tomb of Tu Duc — designed by the Emperor himself — as well as an incense-making village and the French-influenced tomb of the 12th Emperor Khai Dinh.
After lunch at a local restaurant, enjoy a relaxing cruise along the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda, before stopping at Dong Ba to discover a traditional Vietnamese market.
Accommodation: Pilgrimage Village Boutique Resort & Spa (Superior Room), Hue
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 6: Hue — Da Nang — Hội An
Leave the charms of Hue behind as you embark on a scenic overland journey to Hội An. On the way, pass Lang Co Beach, drive to the top of Hai Van Pass and see My Khe Beach in Da Nang. After checking in, the rest of the day is at your leisure.
Accommodation: Le Pavillon Hội An (Deluxe Balcony Room)
Meals: Breakfast
Day 7: Hội An
Early this morning, head to a small farming village to meet a local vegetable farmer and learn about organic and traditional methods. After a refreshing welcome drink, experience a typical day on the farm and learn about various equipment and its uses. Then, join the farmers in the field, fertilising the soil for sowing or crop cultivation. Next, pick some vegetables and herbs and head to the kitchen to begin preparing a local specialty, before enjoying your self-made light snack.
Afterwards, explore the charms of Hội An by foot. Stroll through winding streets and past rows of traditional houses — including the Old House of Tan Ky and the traditional Fujian Assembly Hall. Cross the impressive 400-year-old Japanese covered bridge and continue to a local studio that makes traditional lanterns to learn the centuries-old craft and make your very own.
Accommodation: Le Pavillon Hội An (Deluxe Balcony Room)
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 8: Hội An
After breakfast, visit the UNESCO World Heritage-listed My Son Sanctuary, one of the most significant examples of Hindu influence in Southeast Asia. Consisting of dozens of red brick towers and temples, this elaborate complex is the former capital and religious centre of the Champa kingdom, dating between the seventh and 13th centuries.
The rest of the day is enjoyed at leisure.
Accommodation: Le Pavillon Hội An (Deluxe Balcony Room)
Meals: Breakfast
Day 9: Hội An — Da Nang — Ho Chi Minh City
This morning, transfer to Da Nang International Airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City. On arrival, you’ll be met and transferred to your hotel for check-in and time at leisure.
Accommodation: New World Saigon Hotel (Premier Room), Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast
Day 10: Ho Chi Minh City
Today, gain insight into Ho Chi Minh City’s dynamic past on an excursion. Uncover stories at the Reunification Palace, the former palace of President Thieu and his predecessors. Today a museum and venue for official receptions, it features the private rooms of the president, the ‘War Room’ where the strategies of the South Vietnamese forces were organised, and the room where the North Vietnamese army finally took control in 1975. Then, visit your choice of the History Museum or the War Remnants Museum. Later, learn of Vietnam’s spiritual side at the Cao Dai Temple.
After lunch at a local restaurant, drop by Vietnam’s exciting Chinatown, known locally as Cho Lon. Explore a neighbourhood market and taste some of their traditional specialities before enjoying a cup of Vietnamese coffee at a charming local café. Continue further to discover an incense-filled temple built in 1809 and learn about Chinese religious rites and customs. Make an offering to the temple and light a spiral incense cone before continuing to a nearby district to meet artisans who create small Buddhist amulets and statues used for worship, making your way through a nearby street that houses over 180 Chinese medicine stores.
Accommodation: New World Saigon Hotel (Premier Room), Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 11: Ho Chi Minh City — Củ Chi
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel before heading one-and-a-half hours northwest to explore one of the region’s most well-known wartime landmarks – the Củ Chi tunnels. Located in an area known during the American War in Vietnam as the ‘Iron Triangle’, the intriguing network of underground tunnels — which are several stories deep in some areas — provided shelter and an effective source of infiltration for the Viet Cong.
On a private tour, hear fascinating personal stories before descending into one of the tunnels. Afterwards, visit a local terracotta factory before returning to Ho Chi Minh City. At night, come together for one final farewell dinner with an included drinks package.
Accommodation: New World Saigon Hotel (Premier Room), Ho Chi Minh City
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 12: Depart Ho Chi Minh City
Wave goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City this morning as your 12-day tour comes to an end with a transfer to Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN).
Meals: Breakfast
Optional Mekong Delta and Cambodia Extension:
Day 12: Ho Chi Minh City — Bến Tre — Cần Thơ
Early this morning, leave the city behind as you explore a simpler way of life in the Mekong Delta region. Travel two hours through the Vietnamese countryside to Bến Tre, a village famous for its coconut production and network of crisscrossing rivers and canals. Board a xe loi (rickshaw) for a ride through the village before walking towards Huu Phuoc Bridge, where an elegant boat is waiting to take you for a scenic ride through palm-lined canals, before stopping at a brick factory to see how bricks have been made here by hand for centuries.
By bike, continue to a coconut spirit maker and learn how the drink is made. Then, make your way to the home of Mrs Huong and her family, who make a living by fishing, shrimping and picking fruit from local orchards. Enjoy tea in her garden before returning to the river for a ride in a rowing sampan.
After a five-course lunch at a riverside restaurant, cycle to Long My to meet Sau Tuong, a former Viet Cong soldier who fought the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. Then, return to Bến Tre and transfer to your accommodation in Cần Thơ for an evening at leisure.
Accommodation: Azerai Cần Thơ (Garden Room)
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 13: Cần Thơ
This morning, take a boat to the Cai Rang Floating Market — a hive of activity set on a waterway, where vendors sell their goods from boats laden with fresh tropical fruits, vegetables and other local produce. Delight in a local fruit orchard before returning to the hotel for breakfast.
Later, visit one of the biggest Khmer temples in Cần Thơ, then take a drive through the picturesque countryside to visit the historical house of Binh Thuy — a French colonial style mansion built in 1870, which has featured in several films including ‘The Lover’, based on Marguerite Duras’ autobiographical novel.
At twilight, board a traditional boat and set off on a leisurely dinner cruise along the Mekong River.
Accommodation: Azerai Cần Thơ (Garden Room)
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Day 14: Cần Thơ — Ho Chi Minh City — Siem Reap
Enjoy a day at leisure before making your way back to Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport (approximately three and a half hours) for your flight to Siem Reap.
On arrival, be met by a local representative and transferred by private vehicle to your luxury hotel, nestled in the heart of the city’s shopping and entertainment precinct.
Accommodation: Treeline Urban Resort (Deluxe Urban Room)
Meals: Breakfast
Day 15: Siem Reap
Wake early and drive through Cambodia’s rustic villages, rice paddies and old reservoirs on the way to Banteay Srei, built in the 10th century and known for its intricate Angkorian carvings. Soak up the serene atmosphere at this remarkably intact pink sandstone temple before lunch at a local restaurant.
In the afternoon, visit Ta Prohm, a beautiful temple that appears to have been reclaimed by nature. After, explore Ta Nei Temple — built under King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century — before seeing Preah Khan Temple, a cross-shaped temple built in 1191 to honour Jayavarman VII’s father, Dharanindravarman.
This evening, enjoy a mesmerising one-hour performance of theatre, dance, art and acrobatics at ‘Phare, the Cambodian Circus’. An active supporter of Khmer culture, ‘Phare, the Cambodian Circus’ also provides opportunities for local youths and those developing careers in the arts.
Accommodation: Treeline Urban Resort (Deluxe Urban Room)
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Day 16: Siem Reap
Visit the magnificent Angkor Wat — a legendary 12th-century temple built during the reign of King Suryavarman II. Here, admire the intriguing bas-reliefs which include depictions of the king in battle and images of Apsara dancers around the structure’s five towers.
You will transfer to APOPO, a non-profit organisation that trains African giant pouched rats (fondly nicknamed ‘HeroRATs’) to save lives by detecting landmines and tuberculosis. Visit their small museum and learn about the challenges of mine clearance in Cambodia and around the world.
Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before visiting Angkor Thom, a massive four-faced edifice guarded by a line of gods and demons carved from stone, and the former capital of the Khmer empire. Here, come face-to-face with the imposing 12th-century Bayon structure, before continuing to the Baphuon sanctuary and Phimeanakas Temple, a place of worship for kings. Then, visit the Terrace of the Elephants, an impressive two-and-a-half-metre tall wall used as a ceremonial stage, and the Terrace of the Leper King.
At sunset, drift along Angkor’s ancient moat in a traditional Khmer gondola with a glass of wine and selection of canapés. To round out your day, a farewell dinner awaits at the Urban Tree Resort with included drinks.
Accommodation: Treeline Urban Resort (Deluxe Urban Room)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Day 17: Depart Siem Reap
Wave goodbye to Siem Reap this morning as your 17-day tour comes to an end with a transfer to Siem Reap International Airport (REP).
Meals: Breakfast