North & Central Vietnam

Six days across the north and centre of Vietnam, from the cyclo lanes of Hanoi's Old Quarter to the two-hundred-year-old merchant houses of Hoi An, with a night aboard a wooden junk in Ha Long Bay in between. Land touring is by private air-conditioned vehicle, and a domestic flight links the delta to the central coast. It suits first-time visitors after the country's headline sights, and is one of our Vietnam holiday packages quoted on request.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Hanoi And The Water Puppets

You are met on arrival and transferred to your hotel to check in and rest. Late in the afternoon a cyclo carries you through the Old Quarter, and the evening goes to the water puppet show, an art form born of Vietnam's rural festivals in which the artists stand waist-deep in water to make the puppets move, talk, laugh and dance. Dinner is at a local restaurant, the only dinner of the trip taken on land, and you overnight in Hanoi. Travellers with less time often look instead at the five-day North of Vietnam Explorer itinerary.

A Night Aboard A Junk In Ha Long Bay

Day two is a three-hour drive through the Red River Delta to Ha Long City, then onto a refurbished wooden sailing junk. You cruise between the limestone cliffs and emerald water of this World Heritage Site, with a fresh seafood lunch on board, swimming, caves and sunset from the boat. Dinner is served on board and the captain anchors for the night near a remote island, leaving the evening for night fishing or the stars. Next morning brings an early dip, sunrise at sea and kayaking in quieter corners. The cruise is join-in rather than private, the English-speaking guide is on board only on these two days, and bay programmes differ by cruise.

Ba Na Hills And The Golden Bridge

Around midday you return to the harbour and drive about three hours to Noi Bai Airport for the flight to Da Nang, then on to your hotel in Hoi An for three nights. Next morning a car and guide collect you soon after 08:00 for the cable car up to Ba Na Hills and the climbing train through the forest. You take in Le Jardin d'Amour and its nine gardens, Linh Ung Pagoda and the Golden Bridge, then the French Village, Chua Mountain and Linh Chua Linh Tu Temple. Buffet lunch is at 12:30 and Fantasy Park fills the early afternoon before the cable car down at 15:00.

Hoi An Old Town

The last full day begins at Cam Thanh village and the Bay Mau Coconut Forest, where you ride a thuyen thung, a round bamboo basket boat, and learn to fish as the locals do. A cooking class follows: you prepare your own lunch under local guidance and eat it with your hosts, then a herbal foot massage. The afternoon walks the Old Town, past merchant houses that have withstood two hundred years of weather and war, the Japanese Covered Bridge, built more than four centuries ago to link the Japanese and Chinese communities, and the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall. The evening brings the hour-long Hoi An Memories show. For a longer route, see the nine-day Panorama of Vietnam itinerary.

GOOD TO KNOW

Included: accommodation on a twin or double sharing basis, five breakfasts, four lunches and two dinners, all private air-conditioned transfers, an English-speaking guide for guided time only, all entrance fees, the Ba Na Hills cable car, taxes and service charges. Dinner on days three, four and five is at your own expense. Flights, airport taxes, insurance and your Vietnam visa are excluded, as are Tet, Christmas and New Year surcharges and the compulsory gala dinners on 24 and 31 December. Tipping for the local guide and driver is compulsory, at a set per-person daily rate that varies with group size. One of our inquiry-only holiday packages.