Trip overview
Cut a night from Hanoi, not from the boat. That is the trick behind this itinerary: plenty of other six-day north-south plans solve the calendar problem by swapping the sleep-aboard cruise for a same-day version, and this one refuses that swap, taking the missing night out of the capital’s stay instead so Hanoi’s sightseeing is packed into a single busy day.
Once the group is back off the boat, a same-day flight south puts you in Ho Chi Minh City for two nights, split between the Cu Chi Tunnels and the old French quarter. It suits travellers for whom the overnight cruise is not up for debate but a seventh or eighth day simply is not on the calendar. Barring the wettest stretches in each region, June through September in the south and the sticky peak of summer in the north, the route runs smoothly most months.
Trip highlights
- A full day in the capital, from Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum to the Old Quarter
- One night aboard a junk on Ha Long Bay, with Surprise Cave the next morning
- A same-day flight south straight off the boat and into Ho Chi Minh City
- The Cu Chi Tunnels, the underground wartime network built during the resistance war
- Independence Palace, the War Remnants Museum and the old French quarter on foot
Your day-by-day itinerary
Day 1: Land in Hanoi (roughly 45 minutes and 25 km from Noi Bai Airport)
Pagodas at the water’s edge, French-era streets and a busy Old Quarter open the trip gently before the pace quickens, first east to the coast and then south. Landing-day afternoons are usually left open, and most travellers spend the time easing into the Old Quarter’s trading lanes.
Day 2: Full day in Hanoi
One packed day covers the Mausoleum and stilt house, One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature, moving on to Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda near West Lake. Lunch is followed by the Museum of Ethnology, then a final stop at Hoan Kiem Lake before an evening loose in the Old Quarter.
Day 3: Drive to Ha Long Bay, board an overnight cruise (about 3 hours, 170 km)
Collection is set for 8am, ahead of the drive out across paddies belonging to the Red River Delta. Once aboard, the junk passes Dinh Huong, Ga Choi, Dog and Sail Islands, stops at a floating pearl operation and pushes into Luon Cave, with a dip near Ti Top Island as the light drops, dinner served on deck once anchors are down.
Day 4: Surprise Cave, disembark, fly to Ho Chi Minh City (about 3½ hours, 190 km back to Hanoi)
Tai chi on the top deck opens the last morning aboard, then a climb of about 100 steps up into Surprise Cave. After brunch, and one last pass by Ga Choi Island, Binh Phong Mountain and Tortoise Island, the junk docks at Tuan Chau International Passenger Port; a car meets you for the transfer to Noi Bai for the same-day flight south, where a guide is waiting on arrival.
Day 5: Cu Chi Tunnels (about 1½ hours / 70 km to Ben Duoc, or 1 hour / 50 km to Ben Dinh, one way)
This day belongs to the Cu Chi Tunnels, dug and worked by Vietnamese resistance fighters through the long struggle for independence. A guide takes the group underground through the open sections, then through the exhibits that explain how the network was built, hidden and defended.
Day 6: Half-day Ho Chi Minh City tour, departure
Rooms are cleared by mid-morning, freeing up half a day on foot: Independence Palace, ticketed from 8:00 to 15:30 at 40,000 dong or 65,000 dong for the combined pass, then the War Remnants Museum on Vo Van Tan Street, open 7:30 to 17:30, entry 40,000 dong. The route continues past the old Saigon Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral, still wrapped in long-term restoration with no full reopening likely this decade, on to Dong Khoi Street, the Continental Hotel, the Opera House and City Hall, closing with the ride to Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
What’s included
- Hotels in the class you choose, twin or double occupancy, with breakfast each morning, or an equivalent property if the one named is full.
- All meals written into the day-by-day programme below.
- A private air-conditioned vehicle for every transfer and excursion in the programme.
- An English-speaking local guide at each stop on the route.
- Every boat trip, river crossing and cruise named in the itinerary.
- Entrance fees for the sites listed in the programme.
- Drinking water in the vehicle and on boat days.
- Government tax and service charge.
Not included
- International and domestic flights, and rail tickets.
- Visas, and any fee collected at a border post.
- Travel insurance.
- Meals and drinks that are not written into the programme.
- Personal spending such as laundry, phone calls, minibar, souvenirs and watersports.
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades.
- Anything added on the day at your request outside the printed programme.
- Gratuities for your guide and driver.
- Costs arising from weather, flooding, road closures or other events beyond our control.
- Bank transfer charges.
Booking this trip
- Days
- 6 days / 5 nights
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