Vietnam: North to South
Templates · 15 days · 7 stops
Hanoi to Saigon — a Ha Long Bay cruise, a night train down the coast and lantern-lit Hoi An.
- Hanoi
- Ha Long Bay
- Ninh Binh
- Hue
- Da Nang
- Hoi An
- Ho Chi Minh City
Day 1 · Home → Hanoi
Home→Hanoi
Day 2 · Hanoi
Day 3 · Hanoi
Day 4 · Hanoi → Ha Long Bay
Base in the Old Quarter's tangle of trade streets. Bun cha for lunch — grilled pork in a bowl of dipping broth — then egg coffee upstairs at a Giang café, thick as custard.
Hoan Kiem Lake at dawn with the tai chi crowd, the Temple of Literature, and the water-puppet theatre in the evening.
Day trip to the Perfume Pagoda or the Bat Trang ceramic village, or just lose an afternoon to the train-track alley and a bia hoi stool at dusk.
Hanoi→Ha Long Bay
Day 5 · Ha Long Bay → Ninh Binh
Overnight on a wooden junk threading the limestone karsts — a moving stay, not a transfer: kayak into a hidden lagoon, swim off the deck, and eat fresh squid as the sun drops behind the towers.
Tai Chi on the sun deck at dawn, then a cave visit before the cruise turns back for the harbour.
Ha Long Bay→Ninh Binh
Day 6 · Ninh Binh
Day 7 · Ninh Binh → ON THE TRAIN
The dry Ha Long — row-boats through the Trang An caves poled by foot-rowers, rice paddies walled by karst.
Cycle to the Bich Dong pagoda and climb the Mua Cave steps for the dragon-ridge view over the Tam Coc river bends.
Ninh Binh→Hue
Day 8 · ON THE TRAIN → Hue
Day 9 · Hue → Hoi An
The Reunification Express south by night — clatter into the old imperial capital by morning. Walk the moated Citadel and the Thai Hoa palace, then a bowl of bun bo Hue, lemongrass-hot.
Hue→Da Nang
Da Nang→Hoi An
Day 10 · Hoi An
Day 11 · Hoi An
Day 12 · Hoi An → Ho Chi Minh City
The Hai Van Pass by rail hugs the coast — one of the great train stretches — then a short hop to the lantern-lit old town. Get clothes tailored on day one so they're ready before you leave.
Cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, eat cao lau and white-rose dumplings, and float a candle on the river at the monthly full-moon lantern festival if the dates align.
Cooking class morning at a herb-village market, then a lazy An Bang beach afternoon on a rented bicycle.
Hoi An→Ho Chi Minh City
Day 13 · Ho Chi Minh City
Day 14 · Ho Chi Minh City
Day 15 · Ho Chi Minh City → Home
Saigon's roar — the War Remnants Museum in the morning, then the Reunification Palace and a banh mi from a corner cart, coffee over ice at a rooftop above the traffic.
Day trip to the Mekong Delta: sampan through the coconut-palm channels at Ben Tre, or the Cu Chi tunnels closer to town.
Ho Chi Minh City→Home