Unveiling Vietnam: Journey Through Hidden Gems – 13 Days

Drive into the delta and board your boat at the jetty. As you sail, the crew serve tea and seasonal fruit while life on the riverbanks drifts by. Stop along the way at small family workshops, including a brick kiln where everything is still made by hand, and pass the narrow monkey bridges and riverside towns on the way to a colourful Cao Dai temple.

In Sa Dec, wander through the outdoor market and visit the old house of Huynh Thuy Le, the real-life lover of the French writer Marguerite Duras, whose story inspired her novel and the film “The Lover”. Lunch is served on board as the boat follows a busy canal towards Can Tho.

Switch to a small rowing boat to explore the surrounding countryside along quiet waterways.

Your last stop of the day is a 19th-century family home, a “nha co”, where the owner welcomes you for a candlelit dinner in a truly rural setting. Afterwards, return to the boat as it sails on towards the Hau River for the night.

Rise at first light as your boat heads to Cai Rang Floating Market, the biggest in the delta, with breakfast served on board on the way. The river is crowded with barges piled high with fruit and vegetables, and traders hang samples from tall poles so buyers can see what they sell.

Continue to Ninh Kieu pier in Can Tho and leave the boat for the transfer to Can Tho Airport and your flight to Da Nang.

Your driver and guide meet you on arrival for the short drive to Hoi An, a peaceful riverside town. Check in to your hotel and enjoy the rest of the day at leisure.

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 shape clay on the wheel much as their families have done for generations.

Return to your hotel in the late afternoon, with the evening at leisure to enjoy the town’s lantern-lit streets, cafes and tailors.

Spend the day as you please: relax on the beach, browse the shops, or have something made to measure by one of the town’s skilled tailors. If you would like more, we can arrange a cycling trip through the countryside, a visit to the Cham temples of My Son, a lantern-making class, an eco tour or a trip to a craft village.

After breakfast, drive north over the Hai Van Pass, which climbs to nearly 500 metres through the mountains, with sweeping views of the coast below. Stop for a drink at Lang Co Beach, a long curve of sand facing the sea, before continuing to Hue, the former capital of Vietnam and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Explore Hue on a gentle guided walk. Visit the Imperial Citadel, seat of the Nguyen emperors, and the Royal Antiquities Museum, home to the court’s ceramics, costumes and furniture. Then head out to the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, a peaceful complex of pavilions and lotus ponds that the emperor also used as a retreat during his lifetime.

Transfer to Phu Bai Airport for the short flight to Hanoi, where your driver takes you to your hotel in the heart of the city.

Take a stroll through the centre with your guide, past the French-built Opera House and into the Old Quarter, ending at Hoan Kiem Lake and the red Huc Bridge that leads to Ngoc Son Temple.

Begin at the Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius and home to Vietnam’s first university. 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.

At Ba Dinh Square, visit the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, who led Vietnam to independence from French rule, then walk through the gardens to the Presidential Palace, his modest stilt house and workplace, and the One Pillar Pagoda.

Climb into a cyclo, a three-wheeled bicycle taxi with the passenger seat in front, for an unhurried hour through the streets, perfect for photos. Step off at O Quan Chuong, the last surviving gate of the old city, then walk through Thanh Ha market and the busy alleys to Ta Hien Street, where you can join the locals on a plastic stool for a glass of fresh beer.

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

Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel for the drive to Sapa, about six hours along a modern highway into the mountains.

After checking in, continue up to Tram Ton Pass, the highest road pass in Vietnam at nearly 2,000 metres, with views across the valley towards Fansipan, the highest mountain in Indochina, when the weather is clear. Stop at the Silver Waterfall, then visit O Quy Ho village, known for its gardens of vegetables, flowers, fruit trees and medicinal plants.

The rest of the afternoon is yours to relax or explore the small mountain town of Sapa.

After breakfast, set off with your guide into the hills. Choose a gentle walk of about 3 kilometres, a moderate trek of about 6 kilometres or a longer one of about 12 kilometres, through remote villages of the Hmong, Dao and Giay people.

Stop for a picnic lunch with views over the terraced valley.

Continue through the villages, meeting families at work in the fields and at home, before returning to Sapa in the late afternoon.

Your guide and driver take you to a local market, depending on the day: Coc Ly on Tuesday, Sin Cheng on Wednesday, Can Cau on Saturday or Bac Ha on Sunday. Hill tribe people come from miles around to buy and sell buffalo, vegetables and handmade textiles, dressed in their finest embroidered clothes.

After brunch, leave the northwest behind and drive back to Hanoi.

Your driver and guide meet you at your hotel for the drive of about two and a half hours to Halong Bay.

Step aboard your junk around midday and settle in over a seafood lunch as the boat sails out among the islands.

Cruise past some of the bay’s best-known islets, among them Ga Choi and Dinh Huong, and step inside one of its great caves, such as Thien Cung, Dau Go or Sung Sot. Later, drop anchor at a sheltered cove with a white-sand beach and cool off in the warm water of the Gulf of Tonkin.

Dinner is served on board, and the night is spent on the water, with only the gentle rocking of the boat for company.

Rise early for tai chi on the top deck, or simply watch the sun come up over the islands with a cup of coffee or tea.

Explore the nearby islands by rowing boat, then return on board for brunch and relax on the sundeck as the junk cruises slowly back to the harbour.

Your driver meets you at the dock for the transfer to Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and your flight home.