The Untouched Alternative to Halong Bay – 6 Days

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, the One Pillar Pagoda rises from its pond like a lotus flower, and the yellow Presidential Palace shows the French side of the city. Continue to the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and later home to Vietnam’s first university.

Head to West Lake for the ancient Tran Quoc Pagoda, set on a small island joined to the shore, and the nearby Quan Thanh Temple. Then choose one of the city’s museums: the History Museum for the story of Vietnam through the ages, or the Museum of Ethnology for the traditions of its many ethnic groups.

Your guide leads you into the Old Quarter for a street food walk, following the smells of charcoal grills and simmering broth to the city’s favourite stalls. Taste dishes shaped by centuries of Chinese and French influence, from steaming noodle soups to crisp spring rolls. End with a drink at a cafe overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake as it glows at night.

Leave Hanoi after breakfast, reaching the Bai Dinh Pagoda complex in the middle of the morning. Spread across the foothills of Dinh Mountain, with views over the river valley and its karst peaks, it is one of the largest Buddhist complexes in Vietnam. Walk with your guide past the 500 stone statues of the arhats, Buddha’s enlightened disciples, and see the two great bronze bells, one weighing 27 tonnes and the other 36, and the three bronze Tam The statues of the Buddhas of past, present and future. Climb higher for the 100-tonne bronze statue of Sakyamuni Buddha and a sweeping view across the region.

After lunch, continue to Trang An, a limestone massif of around 20 square kilometres rising sharply from the paddies, with hidden valleys, freshwater ponds and pockets of jungle tucked away among the peaks. Settle into a traditional sampan and be rowed along the river through a series of caves, among them Hang Toi (Dark Cave), Hang Sang (Bright Cave) and Hang Nau Ruou (Distillery Cave). Each passage opens onto another quiet, secluded valley, as if stepping into a different world.

Continue to your hotel in Ninh Binh for the night.

After breakfast, your driver and guide meet you in the lobby for a drive of around three and a half hours through the rice-growing provinces of Nam Dinh and Thai Binh in the Red River Delta to Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong.

A tender carries you to your cruise, where you are welcomed aboard with a drink and a safety briefing. Set sail past Da Chong islet and its French lighthouse, more than a century old, and enjoy lunch on board as you glide between Con Vit (Duck) and Gia Luan islets, a remote part of the bay away from the busier routes.

Continue to the Ba Trai Dao area of Lan Ha Bay, geologically part of Halong Bay but much quieter, with around 400 small, forested islands and pristine little beaches. Try a round bamboo coracle like those local fishermen have used for centuries, or kayak among the karsts and swim in the clear water. From December to March, you instead visit Viet Hai village, cycling along village paths through lush forest and past rice fields.

Back on board, watch the sun set over the Gulf of Tonkin or join the chef for a class in a few Vietnamese dishes. After dinner, lounge on the top deck with a cocktail as the water glistens in the moonlight, or try your hand at squid fishing.

Rise early for tai chi on the sundeck while the bay is at its most peaceful.

After breakfast, head out by canoe to explore the area around the Dark and Bright Cave. Return on board to check out, then enjoy brunch as the boat cruises back to Dinh Vu Pier.

Meet your guide for a walk through Hai Phong, a busy industrial port that has kept its French neoclassical streets, pagodas and temples. Begin at the Opera House, one of three theatres the French built in Vietnam, then pass the flower stalls of the city square and the statue of Le Chan, a woman general who fought under the Trung Sisters against Chinese rule in the 1st century. Wander the tree-lined streets to the Iron Market, Cho Sat, a sprawling market named for the iron and steel it was built with and a lively window on daily life downtown.

Drive back to Hanoi on one of Vietnam’s most modern highways.

After breakfast, drive about half an hour south-east of the city to Bat Trang, where the craft of ceramics has passed from one generation to the next for centuries and the village now ships its wares all over the world. Stroll past dozens of family-run pottery shops and kilns, and step into a workshop to paint a piece of pottery of your own.

Depending on your flight, there may be time at leisure before your driver takes you to the airport for your flight home.