Pristine Peaks & Pagodas: Vietnam Uncovered – 12 Days

Begin at the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace, where Vietnam’s recent history comes vividly to life. Continue past the ornate Opera House and City Hall to the red-brick Notre Dame Cathedral, then browse Ben Thanh Market, where vendors sell everything from spices to handmade crafts.

After lunch, head out of the city to the Cu Chi Tunnels, the underground network the Viet Cong used to shelter from American bombing during what the Vietnamese call the American War. Learn how soldiers and villagers lived, cooked and fought down here, and, if you wish, crawl through a section of the tunnels yourself.

Your driver and guide collect you after breakfast for the drive to Cai Be. Board your private sampan and glide past the riverside cathedral into the lively floating market. Stop at small family workshops and a longan drying house, then continue to the green islands among the winding canals to see how rice paper, rice cakes and coconut candy are made.

Enjoy lunch at an Indochine villa, in the shade of the fruit orchards.

Take a leisurely stroll to Ba Bon Bridge, where your driver meets you for the drive back to Saigon.

The morning is yours at leisure in Saigon.

Your driver takes you to the airport for the flight to Cam Ranh Airport, where your guide and driver are waiting.

Explore Nha Trang: the ancient Po Nagar Cham Towers, Long Son Pagoda with its great white Buddha on the hill, the Alexandre Yersin Museum, dedicated to the French scientist who settled here, the XQ workshop, where artists create exquisite hand-embroidered pictures, and the busy Dam Market.

Check in to the Evason Ana Mandara, set on a beautiful stretch of beach among tropical gardens overlooking the sea. Spend the rest of the day on the sand, then enjoy dinner with sweeping views of Nha Trang Bay, choosing between indoor, veranda or beach tables.

Set off by boat across Nha Trang Bay to some of the nearby islands, where you can swim and snorkel in clear, inviting water. Lunch of fresh seafood is served before you return to shore.

Explore Nha Trang at your own pace, and make time for a 90-minute treatment at the resort’s spa, set in a coconut grove beside the beach, with natural materials, traditional Vietnamese architecture and the sound of running water all around.

Transfer to Cam Ranh Airport for your flight to Da Nang, where your driver and guide meet you for the drive to Hoi An.

Join a family-run fisherman’s eco tour through the farmland and countryside around Hoi An. Learn to steer a round bamboo basket boat through the crowded waterways, and test your skills at fishing the local way.

Return to Hoi An for a private cooking lesson, learning the secrets behind the town’s best-loved dishes.

Wander the narrow, winding lanes of the ancient town with your guide, from the incense-filled Chua Ong Pagoda to the ornate Chinese Assembly Hall, where traders once met and worshipped far from home. Step inside the 200-year-old Tan Ky house, then cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, the town’s best-known landmark.

After lunch, a short boat ride takes you to a nearby island village known for its ceramics, where potters still shape clay on the wheel by hand.

Return to your resort to relax by the beach.

Spend the day as you please: by the pool, on the beach, at the tailors or in the cafes of the old town. If you would like to see more, we can arrange a visit to My Son, the holy land of the ancient Champa kingdom, or an eco tour of the countryside.

After breakfast, drive to Da Nang Airport for an early flight to Hanoi. Your driver and guide meet you at the baggage hall at Noi Bai Airport and take you to the Sofitel Legend Metropole, a grand French colonial hotel in the heart of the city.

Explore the Old Quarter by bicycle with your guide, weaving through narrow streets lined with tube houses and French colonial facades.

Dinner is served at Le Beaulieu, the hotel’s French restaurant, known for its classic cooking, regional specialities, famous cheese board and well-chosen wine list.

Begin at the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where the granite Mausoleum stands beside the modest stilt house in which the country’s founding father lived and worked. Nearby are the yellow Presidential Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda, rising from its pond like a lotus flower. Continue to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and home to Vietnam’s first university.

Head to West Lake for the ancient Tran Quoc Pagoda and the Quan Thanh Temple, then choose a museum: the History Museum, for the story of Vietnam through the ages, or the Museum of Ethnology, for the traditions of its many ethnic groups.

End the day at the water puppet theatre, a folk art born in the flooded rice fields of the Red River Delta.

After breakfast, your driver collects you for the drive through the rice fields and villages of the Red River Delta to the coast.

Step aboard the Violet and enjoy a seafood lunch as you sail into Bai Tu Long Bay, past the sculpted islets around Mat Quy and Am.

Arrive at Cua Van fishing village and glide by bamboo boat past floating homes, a small museum and the village school. Then visit Tien Ong Cave before returning on board.

Cocktails and canapes are served on deck at sunset, followed by dinner on board.

Join a tai chi class on the top deck as the sun rises over the water.

Choose between a cooking demonstration with the chef and a swim at Soi Sim Beach. On the way back, the boat cruises deep into Bai Tu Long Bay, past a pearl farm, Phao Dai islet, Tam Cung Cave, Hon Xep islet and Dau Moi Temple, and, tide permitting, through the setting used in the film “Indochine”. A buffet brunch is served before you reach the dock.

Transfer to Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport for your flight home.