Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long Bay, Da Nang & Saigon, 9 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.

You leave Hanoi early, at about 6:00, on a shared sleeper bus. The road follows the highway to Lao Cai, with comfort stops, then climbs through terraced valleys to Sapa, arriving at about 13:00. After a welcome drink, lunch and check-in, a local guide leads the walk down to Cat Cat, a Black H'mong village in the valley at the foot of Fansipan. You see the waterfall and the hydroelectric station built by the French, then climb back out; the walk is about 2.5 kilometres and takes about two hours. Dinner is included, and the evening in Sapa town is your own. Meals included today: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast you are taken to the cable car station for the ride up Fansipan, known as the Roof of Indochina. From the upper station at about 2,800 metres you visit the pagoda and climb the remaining 600 steps to the summit, with about an hour and a half for the views and photographs. You return to Sapa town to check out and have lunch, and the sleeper bus leaves for Hanoi at about 14:00, with two comfort stops, arriving between 20:30 and 21:00. You stay overnight in Hanoi. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

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 Da Nang 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 Da Nang. Meals included today: breakfast and brunch.

The morning is free. The shared afternoon tour picks up at about 12:00 and returns at about 19:30. The first stop is Cam Thanh coconut village, where you ride a round bamboo basket boat through the water-coconut palms and try the local way of fishing. In Hoi An's old town the guided walk takes in the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall, one of the old merchant houses (Phung Hung or Tan Ky), a show at the traditional performing arts house and the Japanese Covered Bridge, built more than 400 years ago. Dinner is a local speciality. At about 18:00 you take a boat on the Hoai River and release a flower lantern, then have time in the lantern-lit streets and the night market. You are driven back to your hotel in Da Nang. Meals included today: breakfast and dinner.

A shared guided day, with pick-up at about 7:30 and return at about 17:30. At Ba Na Hills you ride the cable car up the mountain, a single span of more than 11 kilometres. At the top are the Le Jardin d'Amour flower gardens, the Golden Bridge held up by two giant stone hands, and Linh Ung Pagoda with its tall seated Buddha. After lunch there is time in the French Village square and Fantasy Park before the cable car down. The alpine coaster, the wax museum, the wine cellar and the coin-operated games are not covered by the entrance ticket. You stay overnight in Da Nang. Meals included today: breakfast and lunch.

After breakfast and check-out a driver takes you to the airport for the flight to Saigon. The flight itself is not part of the package and is quoted separately. On arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport you are met and driven to your hotel. A morning flight is needed today. The afternoon is a private tour with your guide: the Independence Palace, also called the Reunification Palace; Notre Dame Cathedral, seen from outside while restoration continues, and the Central Post Office beside it; then the War Remnants Museum. The tour ends at Ben Thanh Market, with free time among its craft, souvenir and food stalls. You stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh City. Meals included today: breakfast.

The shared morning tour picks up at about 7:30 and returns at about 14:30. 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. The rest of the afternoon is free. You stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh City. Meals included today: breakfast.

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.