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 bia 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.

Meet your tour leader and fellow travellers over a Vietnamese welcome dinner at a local restaurant in Hanoi. Share your first impressions of the capital while getting to know the people travelling with you.

Hanoi’s cooking draws on fresh herbs, rice noodles and carefully balanced flavours. The meal offers a welcoming introduction to Vietnamese food culture, with your tour leader on hand to share local insights.

Explore Hanoi with your tour leader, visiting the Temple of Literature and walking through the Old Quarter’s historic streets. A combination of minibus travel and walking reveals two distinct sides of Vietnam’s capital.

Founded in 1070, the temple later housed Vietnam’s first university and preserves a legacy of scholarship. In the Old Quarter, narrow streets, shopfronts and street-food stalls give a closer view of the city’s everyday rhythms.

Cruise Ha Long Bay aboard a traditional-style junk boat, travelling among forested limestone pinnacles rising from green water. Enjoy the views from the rooftop deck and stop at a beach, where you can swim in a designated area or take a steep hike to a viewpoint.

This UNESCO World Heritage landscape is best appreciated from the water, where the scale and changing silhouettes of its islands come into focus. An overnight stay aboard brings the chance to watch sunset over the bay from the deck.

Explore Hue’s Imperial Citadel, walking within its fortified walls to see former ceremonial spaces, mandarins’ halls and the remains of the Forbidden Purple City. These spaces offer a tangible introduction to court life under the Nguy?n emperors.

Once reserved for the emperor and his household, the inner city suffered extensive damage during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Its surviving buildings and atmospheric ruins reveal both Hue’s imperial heritage and the impact of the Vietnam War.

Walk through Hoi An’s Old Town, a former trading port lined with wooden merchants’ houses and pagoda-style temples. Your guided exploration brings its compact historic streets and riverside setting into focus.

Hoi An’s architecture reflects centuries of exchange between Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and European traders. Around its market and shopfronts, the town remains a lived-in place rather than simply a collection of preserved buildings, giving its trading history a present-day setting.

Discover central Ho Chi Minh City on a walking tour that includes Ben Thanh Market, Notre Dame Cathedral and the War Remnants Museum. Busy streets and prominent civic landmarks offer contrasting views of this fast-moving metropolis.

At the museum, photographic exhibits document the Vietnam War and its effects. Some images are graphic, making this a challenging but significant visit for travellers seeking to understand a defining chapter of the country’s recent history.

Paddle through Ha Long Bay on an optional kayaking trip, viewing its limestone formations from close to the water. The slower pace offers a different perspective from the junk boat cruise, with time to take in the shapes and textures of the surrounding islands.

Kayaking depends on weather conditions and may not be available on every departure. This activity is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to local conditions.

Cruise Hue’s Perfume River, viewing historic sites along the banks while listening to traditional Hue music. The river provides a quieter vantage point on the former imperial capital and its relationship with the surrounding landscape.

Hue’s courtly past shaped distinctive musical traditions, and hearing them on the river adds cultural texture to the views. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit the centuries-old Ba Le Well on an optional tour in Hoi An. This modest landmark connects the town’s everyday life with one of its best-known regional dishes: cao lau noodles.

Local tradition holds that water from the well is essential to making authentic cao lau, whose chewy noodles are closely associated with Hoi An. The visit offers a focused look at how a local ingredient can become part of a town’s culinary identity. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Tra Que vegetable village outside Hoi An, where residents welcome visitors into their herb and vegetable gardens for hands-on activities. A local chef guides a Vietnamese cooking class using fresh village produce.

Tra Que’s gardens supply the herbs and greens that give many regional dishes their fragrance and freshness. Meeting growers and cooking with their produce makes this an especially direct introduction to the area’s food culture. The experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Join an optional Hoi An street food adventure to explore the town through its everyday eating culture. Local stalls and small eateries offer a way to encounter the flavours that make the former trading port distinctive.

Hoi An’s food traditions draw on fresh herbs, rice-based dishes and recipes closely tied to the region. A food-focused outing offers cultural insight alongside the chance to sample local specialities. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Cycle and take a boat ride on an optional Hoi An outing that combines two ways of seeing the area, with dinner included as part of the experience. The mix of land and water travel provides a broader perspective than a walk through the Old Town alone.

Hoi An’s setting is shaped by waterways as well as historic trading streets. Travelling at an unhurried pace leaves room to appreciate that connection. This organised activity is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit My Son Sanctuary on an optional day trip from Hoi An. Explore the remains of Hindu temples built by the Champa Kingdom in a valley surrounded by wooded hills.

This UNESCO World Heritage site preserves evidence of centuries of Cham religious life and architecture, despite damage to parts of the complex during the Vietnam War. Its brick towers and carved details offer a striking contrast to Hoi An’s merchant houses. The trip is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Explore the Cu Chi Tunnels on an optional excursion from Ho Chi Minh City. See part of the extensive underground network used for shelter, movement and storage during the Vietnam War.

Construction began in the late 1940s, and the tunnels later became closely associated with Viet Cong operations. The visit offers a direct, sometimes confronting insight into the conditions faced by people living and fighting in the area. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Visit Ho Chi Minh City’s Reunification Palace, also known as Independence Palace, for a closer look at a landmark of Vietnam’s modern history. Its preserved interiors evoke the building’s former role as the seat of South Vietnam’s government.

The palace became an enduring symbol of the end of the Vietnam War when a tank passed through its gates in April 1975. This optional visit is at additional cost and bookable on tour.