Slip into Saigon’s momentum as you meet your Tour Director for an orientation walk to a bustling local market. Thread past flower stalls and spice pyramids, then fuel up with a street-side breakfast—perhaps bánh mì or a steaming bowl of ph?—paired with Vietnamese coffee brewed the traditional phin way.

Along the way, get the lay of the land for landmarks, neighborhoods, and hidden cafés. The city’s layered history and open-armed hospitality set the pace for your exploration.

Glide upriver by wooden boat to the mouth of Phong Nha Cave, entering a cathedral of stone where a subterranean river threads through vast chambers. Lantern-lit hulls drift beneath rippling stalactites as you boat along the Son River into shadow and echo.

Learn how this landscape anchors the UNESCO-listed Phong Nha–Ke Bang karst region, prized for its geology and biodiversity. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cycle or transfer to Tra Que Herb Village for a hands-on look at organic gardens perfuming Hoi An’s cuisine. Join a farm-to-table cooking class to chop, sizzle, and plate classics—bright, herb-led dishes that showcase the village’s basil, mint, and perilla.

Between courses, learn time-honored watering methods and unwind with a soothing herbal foot massage using local botanicals. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Drift through the nipa palms of Hoi An’s water coconut forest in a circular bamboo basket boat. Local boatmen steer into shaded channels alive with birdsong and the soft rustle of fronds, revealing a brackish world once used as a wartime hideaway.

Try your hand at traditional net casting or a gentle boat spin, and capture kaleidoscopic reflections on tranquil water. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Travel to the countryside to explore the Cu Chi Tunnels, a vast underground network once used for supply routes and shelter. See hidden trapdoors, narrow passageways, and clever ventilation chimneys that reveal remarkable wartime ingenuity.

Choose to crawl through narrow sections designed for visitors and view exhibits explaining life below ground. Context-rich guiding connects the sites you see in the city with the conflict’s rural front lines. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cruise the quieter cousin of H? Long as you cruise Lan Ha Bay amid a maze of limestone karsts and emerald channels. Settle onto the deck for an onboard lunch with sea-breeze views, passing floating fish farms and pocket beaches folded into the cliffs.

Trade decks for paddles to kayak into hidden lagoons and sheltered coves unreachable by larger boats. Glassy water, echoing grottoes, and the soft slap of waves set an unhurried tempo to Vietnam’s most storied seascape.

Step underground to walk through subterranean passageways at the Vinh Moc Tunnels, a coastal network carved by villagers during wartime. Narrow corridors open onto family alcoves, storerooms, and meeting spaces that reveal how an entire community endured beneath the earth.

Hear stories of wartime village life and ingenious ventilation, all set close to the beaches they once called home. The visit offers sober perspective and quiet respect for resilience forged on Vietnam’s central coast.

Ride the legendary Hai Van Pass, where mountains plunge to sea in a ribbon of switchbacks and viewpoints. The name means “Ocean Cloud,” and it fits—the road skims misty ridgelines with sprawling mountain-meets-sea views over Lang Co Lagoon and Da Nang Bay.

Expect time to pause for photos and reflection at windswept lookouts and historic ramparts. This is Vietnam’s coastline in widescreen: jade water, forested slopes, and the sensation of flying along the spine of the land.

• 1 Dinner (D)
• 1 Lunch (L)
• 1 Breakfast (B)

• Hanoi: Take Hanoi one bite at a time on a street food walking tour through the Old Quarter. Expect busy lanes, sizzling stalls, and a running commentary from a Local Guide who actually knows where the good stuff is. Come hungry.
• Hanoi: Hit up the legendary Train Street, grab an egg coffee, and settle in for the main event — a train rolling through so close you’ll feel the breeze. It’s chaotic and so very iconic.
• Lan Ha Bay: Hop on a boat and spend the day gliding through Lan Ha Bay’s limestone karsts and calm, glassy water (Halong’s cooler, quieter cousin). Best part? You’ll get to enjoy a delish lunch onboard – all with epic views in the backdrop. 
• Lan Ha Bay: Paddle time! We’ll jump in kayaks and weave through hidden corners of Lan Ha Bay — slipping into quiet lagoons and threading between the karsts where the big boats can’t go.
• Phong Nha: Step underground at the Vinh Moc Tunnels and walk through the maze-like network where families once lived during the war. It’s a real eye-opener. 
• Phong Nha: We’ll cruise the Hai Van Pass for those unreal coastal views — mountains on one side, ocean on the other, and plenty of photo op moments.
• Quy Nhon: Want a glimpse into rural Vietnam? We’ll stop at Bich Hoa Tam Thanh Village for a quick culture reset — colourful streets, local life, and a slower pace.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Come discover the Ho Chi Minh City with an orientation walk with a Local Guide. We’ll drop by a local market, then lock in an authentic Vietnamese coffee (of course!) and a proper local breakfast to match.

Contiki

Explore Hanoi’s character-filled lanes on a culinary wander as you join a guided orientation walk through the Old Quarter. Duck past steaming woks and sizzling grills to sample Hanoi street food—think crisp bánh mì, fresh herbs, and tangy pickles—while your guide shares the guild-town origins of these 36 streets.

Cap the outing on the city’s famed Train Street with a velvety egg coffee in hand. Feel the rumble as a train inches past café stoops, a burst of old-meets-new energy that captures the capital’s fearless rhythm.

Visit the country’s first full-scale mural village at Bích H?a Tam Thanh, where fishermen’s homes bloom with color. Alley walls become canvases—sea-life scenes, portraits, and playful motifs that trace everyday stories along a quiet stretch of sand.

Discover how a community art project revitalized a coastal hamlet, bringing pride and visitors while preserving the rhythm of local life. Cameras ready: painted doorways, bobbing coracles, and salt-bleached fences make a vivid Vietnamese tableau.

Visit the Tháp Ðôi Cham Towers, elegant 12th-century brick sanctuaries rising from a palm-dotted park in Quy Nhon. Intricate bas-reliefs and lotus motifs speak to the artistry of the Champa kingdom and its Hindu influences.

Admire the warm, time-worn masonry and the towers’ distinctive, tapering silhouettes—an evocative link to Champa heritage along Vietnam’s central coast. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.