Mekong River Journeys: 7 Itineraries

Seven ways to cross the Mekong’s borders

Most operators sell Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos as three separate countries with a flight or a bus transfer stitched between them. We build a smaller set of trips the other way round, starting from the river and letting the border crossings fall wherever the water actually crosses one. The shortest of these is a five-day hop from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh by boat. The longest runs fourteen days from the Golden Triangle in northern Thailand down through Laos and Cambodia to the delta in Vietnam, following close to the full length of river that a traveller can realistically cover on one trip.

Every itinerary here uses a genuine river crossing, a river cruise, or an overland route that runs close enough to the Mekong that you’re never far from it for long. None of them are padded with an extra city just to make the day count look bigger. If a stop isn’t on or near the river, it isn’t on this list, and a single-country trip through our Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or Thailand pages is very likely the better fit instead.

The seven journeys

Chau Doc to Phnom Penh by River

5 days / 4 nights. The shortest way to cross the border by boat, from the Vietnamese delta straight into the Cambodian capital.

The Mekong Delta and Angkor

7 days / 6 nights. Delta canals and floating markets, then the temples of Angkor, with Phnom Penh as the hinge between them.

Saigon, the Delta, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

8 days / 7 nights. A fuller version of the same route, with more time in Saigon and the delta before crossing into Cambodia.

The Lower Mekong: Siem Reap to Saigon

9 days / 8 nights. The same countries run in reverse, starting at Angkor and finishing in the delta and Saigon.

Laos and Cambodia Along the Mekong

10 days / 9 nights. Luang Prabang and the Lao stretch of the river, continuing overland into Cambodia and Tonle Sap.

Mekong Source to Sea: Laos to the Delta

12 days / 11 nights. Three countries in one run, from Luang Prabang down through Cambodia to the Vietnamese delta.

Golden Triangle to the Nine Dragons

14 days / 13 nights. Our longest route, from the Thai-Lao-Myanmar meeting point down to the delta’s nine river mouths.

Compare the routes

Journey	Length	Countries	Best months
Chau Doc to Phnom Penh by River	5 days / 4 nights	Vietnam, Cambodia	Year-round; dry season (Dec–Apr) gives the smoothest river crossing
The Mekong Delta and Angkor	7 days / 6 nights	Vietnam, Cambodia	Dec–Apr for reliable Angkor touring; Sep–Nov for the delta’s flood-water canals
Saigon, the Delta, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap	8 days / 7 nights	Vietnam, Cambodia	Dec–Apr; avoid late Mar–Apr if the delta leg matters most to you
The Lower Mekong: Siem Reap to Saigon	9 days / 8 nights	Cambodia, Vietnam	Dec–Feb for the best combination of Angkor weather and delta conditions
Laos and Cambodia Along the Mekong	10 days / 9 nights	Laos, Cambodia	Nov–Feb; Dec–Feb also gives the best odds of seeing dolphins at Kratie
Mekong Source to Sea: Laos to the Delta	12 days / 11 nights	Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam	Nov–Feb; this route touches almost every season-sensitive stop on the river
Golden Triangle to the Nine Dragons	14 days / 13 nights	Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam	Nov–Feb, both for weather and for the Kratie dolphin season along the way

Choosing the right one

Direction matters more than it seems. The river runs downhill from Laos through Cambodia into Vietnam, so a route like Siem Reap to Saigon travels downstream with the current, while Chau Doc to Phnom Penh runs against it. Neither is faster or slower in practice, since these are motorised boats and vehicles, not rafts, but the direction usually follows whichever end of the trip is easiest to fly into. If your international flight lands in Ho Chi Minh City, start in the delta and work outward; if it lands in Bangkok or Phnom Penh, it often makes more sense to start there instead.

Length is really a question of how many countries you want in one trip. The five-day and seven-day routes suit a two-country add-on to a longer Vietnam or Cambodia holiday. The ten-day and twelve-day routes are built for travellers who want Laos properly represented rather than skipped, since Luang Prabang and the southern Lao river towns need real time to be worth the detour. The fourteen-day route is for one trip covering four countries; treat anything shorter as a taste of the region rather than the whole of it.

The land border between Thailand and Cambodia is currently closed and has been since 2025, with no confirmed date to reopen. Any itinerary that connects the two directly, such as the classic overland run between Bangkok and Siem Reap, currently has to be flown rather than driven. Our Golden Triangle to the Nine Dragons route sidesteps this by threading south through Laos instead of crossing straight from Thailand into Cambodia, but if you’re combining Thailand and Cambodia on your own itinerary outside our set routes, plan on a flight for that leg and confirm the border situation again close to your departure date, since it can change.

Book a Mekong journey

Every route above can be shortened, extended or combined with a beach stop or a single-country stay before or after. Send us your travel window, where your flights land, and which countries matter most to you, and we’ll adjust the itinerary rather than asking you to fit one of ours exactly as printed.

Plan a Mekong journey

Frequently asked questions

Which of these trips is best for a first visit to the Mekong?

The Mekong Delta and Angkor, at seven days, gives you the clearest two-country introduction: the delta’s canals and floating markets on one side, Angkor’s temples on the other, with Phnom Penh in between.

Can I do these journeys in the opposite direction to how they’re listed?

Yes. Most of these routes work in either direction; we’ve simply written them starting from whichever end most travellers fly into. Tell us your arrival city and we’ll flip the itinerary if that suits your flights better.

Do any of these trips include Thailand?

One does: Golden Triangle to the Nine Dragons, our longest route, starts in northern Thailand and travels overland through Laos into Cambodia and Vietnam, avoiding the closed Thailand–Cambodia land border by routing through Laos instead.

How much of each trip is spent actually on the water?

It varies by route. The Chau Doc to Phnom Penh journey includes a genuine river crossing by boat; others use the Mekong for shorter transfers, day trips and cruise stretches rather than the whole route. Each tour’s own itinerary page sets out exactly which days involve a boat.

Is low water in the dry season a problem on any of these routes?

It can affect river cruise boarding points on the Cambodian stretch between roughly January and April, when some operators shift from Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham. See our [river cruises](mekong/river-cruises) page for how this plays out on each stretch.

Can children join these multi-country trips?

Yes, on most routes. The river crossings use standard passenger or tourist boats with life jackets provided. The longer, four-country route is a lot of ground to cover with young children, so for families we’d usually suggest one of the shorter two-country journeys instead.

Mekong river journeys