Vietnam Romantic Getaways Honeymoon Vacation – 16 Days

Drive out of Saigon to Cai Be, a town that is half river, half land, and the perfect introduction to the delta. Here you see a floating market and the small family workshops along the banks, then step aboard the Cai Be Princess, a traditional riverboat built from bamboo, wood and rattan. As you glide along the canals, your crew serves tea and seasonal fruit while village life unfolds on either side.

Your cruise ends at Le Longanier, a colonial-style villa set in a tropical garden of fruit trees by the river, where lunch is served in a setting that feels straight out of old Indochina.

Take a short stroll along a little canal to Ba Bon Bridge, where your driver is waiting, and return to Ho Chi Minh City with a relaxing stop at a Mekong rest stop on the way.

Explore Saigon with your guide, from the temples and trading houses of Cho Lon, the city’s Chinatown, to the Reunification Palace, where the war came to an end in 1975, and the grand old Central Post Office, designed in the French colonial era.

After lunch, transfer to Tan Son Nhat Airport for the flight to Da Lat, the “City of Eternal Spring”, named for its mild climate and famous for its coffee, vegetables and flowers. Long a retreat for city dwellers escaping the heat of the coast, it is made for couples: tree-lined streets, French colonial villas and the romantic Valley of Love.

Check in and spend the evening at leisure, perhaps with a walk around Xuan Huong Lake to get a feel for this charming town.

Start among the blooms of the Da Lat Flower Park, then stop at the Art Deco Da Lat Railway Station and the summer palace of Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam. Continue to the Valley of Love, a pine-fringed lake long popular with honeymooners.

At XQ Historical Village, watch artisans create embroidered pictures so fine they look like paintings, and learn how each piece is stitched by hand. Next, visit Domaine de Marie, a pink-walled convent and church on a pine-covered hill, and then the Crazy House, a fairy-tale building of twisting stairways, spider webs and animal figures.

Finish at the Central Market and a local specialities shop, where you can taste artichoke tea and Da Lat’s homemade jams.

Visit Truc Lam Zen Monastery, high on a hill above the pines, then walk down the steps to Tuyen Lam Lake for a boat ride across its calm, forest-ringed water.

Drive for about three hours down to Nha Trang, a seaside city on the central coast, and spend the rest of the afternoon at leisure.

Enjoy the beach, a long swim in the warm water or a slow lunch by the sea. This is your honeymoon, and today is all yours.

Your driver picks you up early for the airport, with a breakfast box for the journey, and you fly to Da Nang. Your guide meets you on arrival for the drive to Hoi An, about 30 kilometres south, arriving in the late morning.

Check in to your hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure in this sleepy riverside town.

After a slow start, stroll through the ancient town with your guide. Cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, step into the ornate Chinese Assembly Hall and the incense-filled Chua Ong Pagoda, and visit the Tan Ky ancestral house, with French colonial buildings dotted between them.

End the day with a romantic boat ride along the Thu Bon River as the sun goes down over the old town.

Join a family-run fisherman eco-tour through the farmland and waterways outside town. Learn to steer a round bamboo basket boat through narrow channels of water coconut palms, and try your hand at traditional fishing techniques.

Spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach at Hoi An.

Leave Hoi An for Da Nang Airport and your flight north to Hanoi, where your driver takes you to your hotel.

As the Old Quarter comes alive at night, your guide takes you to Bia Hoi Junction, where locals and expats crowd onto plastic stools with glasses of fresh draught beer and shouts of “Mot, hai, ba, yo”. Then wander the narrow streets as your guide points out noodles, breads and snacks at pop-up kitchens that appear on the pavements after dark and vanish by morning. Sit down to a flame-grilled barbecue of skewered beef, chicken, tofu and vegetables, and finish with a scoop from Hanoi’s best-known ice-cream shop near Hoan Kiem Lake.

Begin at Ba Dinh Square and the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, who led Vietnam to independence from French rule. Wander through the gardens to the One Pillar Pagoda and the yellow Presidential Palace, and see the simple stilt house where he lived and worked. Continue to the Temple of Literature, home to Vietnam’s first university.

At the Museum of Ethnology, homes, costumes and everyday objects bring the country’s 54 ethnic groups to life. Back in the centre, climb into a cyclo for a ride through the Old Quarter, where many streets still trade in the goods they were named after.

Finish with a cocktail as the sun sets over West Lake.

Your driver and guide meet you in the hotel lobby early in the morning for the drive to Sapa on Vietnam’s longest highway.

Continue up to Tram Ton Pass, known as Heaven’s Gate, nearly 2,000 metres above sea level, with views across to Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina, when the weather is clear. Nearby, the Silver Waterfall tumbles down the mountainside in a long white ribbon. On the way back, stop in O Quy Ho village, where farmers grow vegetables, flowers, fruit trees and medicinal plants in the cool mountain air.

Set off on a trek through deep valleys stepped with rice terraces, passing remote villages where the Hmong, Dao and Giay people live and farm. Choose the trek that suits you: an easy 3 kilometres, a moderate 6 kilometres or a longer 12 kilometres.

Enjoy a picnic lunch in a hill tribe village, then take some time to explore it at your own pace.

Return to your hotel in Sapa.

After breakfast at your hotel, leave Sapa for the drive back to Hanoi.

After the journey, the rest of the day is yours to relax or explore Hanoi at your own pace.

Drive east through the farmland of the Red River Delta to Cat Hai Island in Hai Phong, where your cruise is waiting. Step aboard, unpack and settle into your private cabin.

A generous lunch is served on board as you sail into the less visited corners of the bay.

Swim in a secluded cove or kayak across water so clear you can see the bottom, then join an onboard cooking class to learn a few Vietnamese dishes.

Dinner is prepared and served by the cruise’s chefs, a romantic meal on the water to remember from your honeymoon.

Rise early for tai chi on the sundeck, when the bay is at its most beautiful.

After breakfast, head out to explore the area around Ao Ech, kayaking among the islands to discover the hidden corners of Lan Ha Bay. Back on board, check out and enjoy brunch as the boat returns to the quay.

Say goodbye to the crew and meet your driver for the transfer to Noi Bai International Airport and your flight home.