Why travel this route
Most first trips to Vietnam try to do the whole country in ten days and end up as a blur of airports. Eighteen days is the point where the map starts to make sense: you feel the food change as you move north, you meet the same landscape from three different angles, and you get a rest day when you need one.
We run this trip privately, which means the pace is yours. Add a day on the beach, cut a museum, swap a flight for the overnight train — the route below is a starting point, not a fixed departure.
- Start in Ho Chi Minh City with the War Remnants Museum, the old post office and a coffee stop that locals actually use
- Go underground at Cu Chi and out to the Cao Dai temple at Tay Ninh for a service that has to be seen
- Spend a night on the water in the Mekong Delta and reach a floating market before the tour boats do
- Break the journey with two days on the sand at Nha Trang, with an island boat trip if you want one
- Cycle out of Hoi An through the herb gardens and fishing hamlets that ring the old town
- Read imperial Vietnam at Hue: the citadel, the Minh Mang tomb and the Perfume River
- Trek between Thai villages and rice terraces in Pu Luong, three nights away from traffic
- Finish on Bai Tu Long Bay, the quiet half of Ha Long, with kayaks and a seafood dinner at anchor
Where you sleep, night by night
Nights are shown as we normally book them. Everything here can be lengthened, shortened or reordered.
| Stop | Nights | Why we stop here |
|---|---|---|
| HCMC | 2N | Vietnam's loudest, fastest city — colonial facades, war-history museums and an endless appetite for coffee. |
| Mekong Delta | 1N | A flat maze of channels, orchards and floating markets where daily life still happens on the water. |
| Nha Trang | 2N | A long curve of sand with islands offshore, snorkelling, and a seafood scene locals take seriously. |
| Hoian | 2N | A lantern-lit trading port turned UNESCO town, ringed by rice fields, herb gardens and fishing hamlets. |
| Hue | 2N | The Nguyen capital: a walled citadel, royal tombs scattered along the Perfume River, and Vietnam's most particular cooking. |
| Pu Luong | 3N | A nature reserve of water wheels, stilt houses and rice terraces cut into limestone ridges south of Mai Chau. |
| Ha Long Bay | 1N | Thousands of limestone towers rising out of jade water, best seen from a small boat on the quieter Bai Tu Long side. |
| Hanoi | 1N | A thousand-year-old capital where lake-side boulevards, shophouse alleys and street-food corners sit side by side. |
What you actually do
Nothing here is strenuous. The two harder days — the Pu Luong trek and the Hoi An cycle — both have a shorter version.
- Cu Chi tunnels and Cao Dai Great Temple
- Boat through the Mekong channels and a dawn floating market
- Island trip and snorkelling off Nha Trang
- Basket boat and a cooking class near Hoi An
- Imperial citadel and royal tombs in Hue
- Village-to-village trekking in Pu Luong
- Countryside cycling in Hoi An and Pu Luong
- Overnight cruise on Bai Tu Long Bay with kayaks
Good to know before you book
Domestic flights cover the long hops (Saigon–Nha Trang, Da Nang–Hanoi) so no day is lost to the road. Pu Luong accommodation is simple by design — stilt houses and small eco-lodges, not resorts.
Plan this trip with us
Tell us your dates, how many of you are travelling and what you would like to change. A trip planner in our Hanoi office replies within one working day with a day-by-day plan and a price.