Vietnam Honeymoon, 6 Nights: Ha Long Bay to Hoi An

Into Hanoi from Noi Bai and a slow first evening: a walk round Hoan Kiem lake as the lights come on, the Old Quarter on foot, a cyclo if you want one, and dinner at a courtyard restaurant in the French quarter rather than a tour of anything. The city day is not on this itinerary; the point of Hanoi here is to arrive somewhere old and quiet before the bay.

The expressway east to the harbour, about two and a half hours, to board around midday. Lunch as the boat moves out among the islands, then the afternoon at your own pace: Sung Sot cave with the group or a kayak in a lagoon on your own, a swim from the boat, and the sunset from the top deck with the karst turning grey against the sky. Dinner aboard, and a cabin with a balcony over the water where the only sound is the anchor chain.

Tai chi on deck for the early risers, the bay in first light, breakfast under way, and the harbour at about eleven. The vehicle takes you to Noi Bai for the afternoon flight to Da Nang, and twenty minutes later you are at a resort on the beach, with the evening for the sea, the pool and dinner in the resort. The only long day on the itinerary, and it ends on a beach.

A late breakfast and a drive out onto the Son Tra peninsula, the green headland north of the beach: the Linh Ung pagoda with its 67-metre Lady Buddha looking back over the bay, the monkeys in the forest, and the coast road with the sea below on both sides. Back for lunch and the couple's spa session at the resort in the afternoon. The evening is the Dragon Bridge on the Han river — fire at nine on Saturday and Sunday — and dinner on the riverside.

Down the coast to Hoi An, 28 km, past the Marble Mountains, with a stop for the stair and the cave for those who want it. Check in and an afternoon in the Ancient Town — the Japanese Covered Bridge, the merchant houses, a coffee by the river — then dusk, when the lanterns come on and the rowing boat takes you onto the Thu Bon among the candles set afloat on the water. Dinner is the candlelit table in a courtyard of the old town.

Bicycles from the hotel through the paddies to the Tra Que herb village, where the market gardens grow the herbs Hoi An cooks with, and on to An Bang beach for the late morning. In the afternoon a cooking class for two — the market, then a kitchen — or the beach again. The last evening is the old town once the day visitors have gone, when the lanterns are lit for the people who live there.

A slow breakfast, a last walk by the river, and the drive to Da Nang airport, about 45 minutes, for the flight home or onward. A Ba Na Hills day or a third Hoi An night can be added on request; the itinerary as sold deliberately leaves the last morning empty.