Hanoi, Ha Long Bay & Saigon, 5 Nights

You land at Noi Bai Airport, where you are met and driven to your hotel in Hanoi. Rooms are available from the hotel's standard check-in time. The afternoon is a private tour with your guide. It starts at the Ho Chi Minh complex: the mausoleum, seen from outside because it is closed in the afternoons, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh's stilt house and the One Pillar Pagoda. A walk through the Old Quarter follows, past its trading streets, old shophouses and French-era buildings, ending at your hotel. You stay overnight in Hanoi. No meals are included today.

After breakfast and check-out the cruise's shuttle bus takes you from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of around 2,000 limestone islands and islets. You board around midday and lunch is served as the boat heads out. The afternoon includes a guided visit to one of the bay's caves and a stop at an island, for the beach or a short climb to a viewpoint. Back on board there is sunset on deck, a cooking class and dinner, with squid fishing in the evening for those who want it. You sleep on the boat. The exact programme depends on the cruise chosen, and an English-speaking guide stays on board. Meals included today: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The day starts with tai chi on the sun deck, with tea and coffee as the boat moves on through the islets. There is time to kayak or take a bamboo boat in to the foot of the cliffs. You check out of the cabin at about 9:00 and brunch is served on the way back to shore. The boat docks at about 11:00 and the shuttle bus returns you to Hanoi for the transfer to Noi Bai Airport. The flight to Saigon should leave after 17:30; it is not part of the package and is quoted separately. On arrival you are met and driven to your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. Meals included today: breakfast and brunch.

A shared guided day, with pick-up at about 7:30 and return at about 19:00. The morning covers the Independence Palace, also called the Reunification Palace, then Notre Dame Cathedral, seen from outside while restoration continues, the Central Post Office and the War Remnants Museum. Lunch is at a local restaurant. The Cu Chi tunnels are about an hour and a half from the city by bus. A short film explains how the network was dug and how people lived in it during the war. You then walk the site with the guide: living quarters with kitchens and bedrooms, storerooms, a weapons workshop, a field hospital, a command post and the concealed trap doors. Tea and cassava, the wartime staple, are served at the end. The firing range is optional and paid for on the spot. You stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh City. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

A shared guided day trip, with pick-up at about 7:30 and return at about 17:30. At My Tho, on the Mekong, you visit Vinh Trang Pagoda, built in the late nineteenth century, then board a sampan past the four islands named Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix and Tortoise. On Unicorn Island you walk the lanes between the orchards, taste the fruit and hear a performance of southern folk songs. A hand-rowed sampan takes you along the Thoi Son canal to a bee farm and a coconut-candy workshop, with honey tea to try. After lunch you can cycle around Tan Thach village or rest in a hammock before the drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

After breakfast and check-out the time is your own until a driver takes you to Tan Son Nhat Airport for your flight home. The package services end at the airport. Meals included today: breakfast.