Thanks to the tropical climate, the long coast and mountain ranges, Vietnam is blessed with a variety of culinary offerings and maintains a reputation as one of the healthiest cuisines in the world that still packs a punch.

Vietnamese food relies on fresh fish, vegetables, rice and a myriad of verdant herbs and spices. Also seek out the national drinks: Vietnamese coffee is served iced and sweet with condensed milk, and beer hoi (local beer, brewed daily) is served on most street corners in the north out of large plastic jugs that are perfect for sharing.

Food is cheap in Vietnam, and you can generally avoid the spicier food if you wish. Western food is readily available almost everywhere.

Vegetarian food is widely available; however, the offering is fairly similar in most places. Please advise at time of booking if you have any dietary requirements.

Explore the capital’s soul on a guided visit to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university, before wandering the Old Quarter’s 36 guild streets where craft traditions still shape the storefronts. Along the way, learn how Confucian ideals and French-era planning left their mark on the cityscape.

Pause at the storied Long Bien Bridge—a French-built span scarred yet steadfast—where you sip a drink in a repurposed rail-side café as carriages clatter past. This blend of scholarship, street life, and living history reveals Hanoi’s layered character in vivid, everyday scenes.

Cruise Ha Long Bay aboard a traditional junk boat, gliding between forested limestone karsts rising from jade-green water. Enjoy a freshly prepared seafood lunch, time for a sheltered swim, and a short, steep hike to an island viewpoint that rewards effort with sweeping panoramas.

As dusk settles, claim a chair on the top deck to savor the sunset over the karsts and the hush of anchorage. A UNESCO-listed seascape famed for myth and geology alike, Ha Long’s labyrinth of islets offers a rare sense of calm and scale beneath a vast sky.

Walk the moats and lotus ponds of Hue’s Imperial Citadel and Forbidden Purple City, seat of the Nguyen dynasty. Amid gate towers and ceremonial halls, your guide evokes courtly life and the wartime damage that still whispers through these atmospheric ruins.

Continue to the tranquil Tu Duc Mausoleum, a poetic retreat of pine groves, lakes, and pavilions. Here, architecture and landscape harmonize to honor an emperor famed for verse, offering quiet space to pause for photos and reflection in Vietnam’s most elegiac royal complex.

Savor a creative plant-based lunch at An Nhien Garden, a serene, family-run haven passed down for 22 generations. Dishes spotlight seasonal produce, delicate broths, and herbs snipped from the courtyard, reflecting Hue’s refined palate and temple-side culinary traditions.

Discover how Buddhist influence shaped the city’s vegetarian repertoire—light, balanced, and elegantly plated. Attentive service and a tranquil setting make this meal a cultural window as much as a feast, celebrating craft, hospitality, and the rhythms of a historic garden home.

Climb into the limestone outcrops of the Marble Mountains to explore cavernous sanctuaries once used as Viet Cong hospital caves. Steps lead past hidden pagodas and cool grottoes where incense curls in the half-light.

Reach natural windows and ledges for breezy coastal panoramas stretching toward My Khe Beach and Da Nang. Steeped in folklore and layered history, these elemental peaks—named for the five elements—offer a striking contrast of spiritual calm and wartime resilience.

Stroll the timber-framed lanes of Hoi An Ancient Town, a UNESCO-listed trading port where Chinese assembly halls, merchants’ homes, and craft shops tell of spice routes and silk fortunes. Cross the emblematic Japanese Covered Bridge and browse the riverside market’s baskets of herbs and lanterns.

Inside select heritage houses, note carved beams, mother-of-pearl inlay, and centuries of flood marks. As evening nears, the lantern-lit waterfront glows—an evocative setting to appreciate Hoi An’s blend of cultures and its enduring artistry in tailoring, woodwork, and cuisine.

Join a hands-on cooking class amid the Tra Que herb gardens on Hoi An’s outskirts. Guided by a local chef, pick fragrant leaves, learn knife techniques, and balance sweet-salty-sour-spicy notes before plating your creations for a relaxed garden-to-table lunch.

Discover how the village’s mineral-rich soils shape signature aromas, and why herbs are the heartbeat of central Vietnamese cuisine. This is immersive, earthy, and delicious—an edible primer on freshness and finesse.

Paddle a kayak across glassy channels to skirt limestone islets and hidden coves, far from the main cruising lanes. With your guide setting an easy pace, this low-impact adventure reveals cliff textures, birdsong, and the bay’s intimate scale at water level.

This experience is offered at additional cost and can be booked on tour, subject to conditions in the bay. It’s an active complement to the junk cruise, rewarding curiosity with tranquil corners and mirrored reflections.

Cruise the Perfume River past gardens, pagodas, and riverbank life as musicians perform traditional Hue music, the refined courtly sound associated with Vietnam’s former imperial capital. The gentle flow and lilting melodies lend an elegiac beauty to twilight on the water.

Available at additional cost and bookable on tour, this optional outing complements the citadel visit by highlighting Hue’s artistic heritage and contemplative mood, best enjoyed from the open deck of a dragon boat.

Visit Ba Le Well, a 10th-century source linked with Hoi An’s culinary lore, and sample specialties prepared with its famously clear water—think crisp rice paper rolls, grilled skewers, and herb-bright sauces. It’s an edible link to Cham-era heritage.

Offered at additional cost and bookable on tour, this lunch highlights how an ancient well still flavors daily life, from refreshing pitchers to the local pride behind celebrated dishes like cao lau.

Taste the capital’s flavors as you meet your tour leader and travelling companions over a convivial Vietnamese dinner at a trusted neighborhood restaurant. Expect bright herbs, balanced broths, and charcoal-kissed specialties that showcase northern techniques and the city’s market-fresh produce.

Gain an appetizing introduction to Hanoi’s culinary identity—from zesty dipping sauces to fragrant rice noodles—while your host outlines local dining etiquette and regional staples. This hosted meal sets the tone for the journey, pairing authentic dishes with stories that illuminate Vietnam’s table culture.