Vietnam - Hanoi, Halong Bay & Da Nang

The journey at a glance

6 days, shaped around you.

1. Day 01

   Arrival in Hanoi - Old Quarter & City Highlights

   Noi Bai Airport → Hanoi (private transfer)

   

   Xin chao! You are met at Noi Bai International Airport by your private driver and transferred to your hotel in central Hanoi. After check-in, your guide collects you in the early afternoon for a half-day of the city's layered past - the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, founded in the 11th century, with its quiet courtyards and stelae of stone tortoises, then Hoa Lo Prison Museum, built by the French and later known to American prisoners of war as the 'Hanoi Hilton'. The evening is free for the Old Quarter's thirty-six streets and your first bowl of pho.

   • Airport pickup
   • Private transfer
   • Temple of Literature
   • Hoa Lo Prison Museum
   • Old Quarter at leisure

   The city tour runs 13:30-16:30. Flights landing after midday may need this half-day moved - tell us your flight times and we will rebalance the schedule.

   Hanoi - central 3-star hotel, Superior room

2. Day 02

   Hanoi to Halong Bay - Overnight Cruise

   Hanoi → Halong Bay (~08:00 pickup)

   

   After breakfast, depart Hanoi for the coast, the road running out through the Red River Delta past rice paddies and village life. At Halong you board a traditional sailing junk. The afternoon belongs to the Bay of the Descending Dragon - caves, floating fishing villages, quiet beaches and limestone towers standing out of emerald water. Lunch is served on board; afterwards, join the chef's Vietnamese cooking demonstration or simply take the sundeck and watch the light change. Dinner follows, with squid fishing and a film on deck for those still awake.

   • Red River Delta drive
   • Board traditional junk
   • Cave & floating village cruising
   • Cooking demonstration
   • Sunset on the sundeck
   • Squid fishing

   The overnight cruise operates on a seat-in-coach basis with other guests. Cruise itineraries are weather-dependent - the operator may amend the route on the day for safety.

   Halong Bay - traditional junk, deluxe cabin Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner

3. Day 03

   Halong Morning, then South to Da Nang

   Halong Bay → Hanoi → Da Nang (flight)

   

   Breakfast on deck with the bay in front of you. Mid-morning the tender takes you out among the islets to the Frog Pond, where you can kayak, swim, or simply drift. Brunch is served on board as the junk makes its last run across the water. The cruise docks at Tuan Chau Harbour late morning; the coach leaves for Hanoi around noon and arrives mid-afternoon. Your driver collects you and transfers you to the airport for the short flight south to Da Nang, where a driver is waiting on arrival.

   • Frog Pond kayaking
   • Swimming in the bay
   • Brunch on board
   • Coach to Hanoi
   • Flight to Da Nang
   • Airport transfer

   The Hanoi → Da Nang domestic flight is not part of the land package. We are happy to book it for you at cost. Allow 2.5 hours before a domestic departure.

   Da Nang - central 3-star hotel Breakfast · Brunch on board

4. Day 04

   Coconut Jungle, Hoi An Old Town & Lanterns on the River

   Da Nang → Cam Thanh → Hoi An → Da Nang

   

   Collected from your hotel around noon and driven south to Cam Thanh Coconut Village, where the war-time waterways are now a maze of nipa palm. Here you learn to work a round bamboo basket boat and try the local fishing techniques - genuinely good fun, and a real look at how people live here. By mid-afternoon you are in Hoi An Old Town: the Phuc Kien Chinese Assembly Hall with its dragons and bright gates, a 200-year-old merchant house that has outlasted both weather and war, a performance at the Traditional Arts House, and the 400-year-old Japanese Covered Bridge. Dinner is Hoi An's own cooking. Then, at dusk, a boat on the Hoai River to release flower lanterns onto the water - the image most people carry home from Vietnam.

   • Cam Thanh basket boat
   • Phuc Kien Assembly Hall
   • Ancient merchant house
   • Traditional Arts performance
   • Japanese Covered Bridge
   • Hoai River boat & lantern release
   • Night market

   Carry light cotton clothing and a hat - the basket-boat ride is in open sun and you may get splashed.

   Da Nang - central 3-star hotel Breakfast · Hoi An speciality dinner

5. Day 05

   Ba Na Hills, the Golden Bridge & Fantasy Park

   Da Nang → Ba Na Hills → Da Nang (07:30 pickup)

   

   An early start for the mountain. The cable car to Ba Na Hills is among the longest and highest in the world, and the ride alone - out over forest with the Da Nang coast falling away behind you - is worth the morning. At the top stands the Golden Bridge, a ribbon of walkway held in two vast weathered stone hands, and beyond it Le Jardin d'Amour's nine gardens and Linh Ung Pagoda. A second cable car carries you to the French Village for street music, the Campanile and the Carnival show. Lunch is a buffet at the hilltop restaurant. The afternoon is yours in Fantasy Park - the Lava Train, Helios waterfall, the Moon Kingdom, and ninety-odd games and rides included with entry.

   • Ba Na Hills cable car
   • The Golden Bridge
   • Le Jardin d'Amour
   • Linh Ung Pagoda
   • French Village & Carnival show
   • Buffet lunch
   • Fantasy Park

   Ba Na Hills sits at altitude and is markedly cooler and often misty - carry a light jacket even in winter.

   Da Nang - central 3-star hotel Breakfast · Buffet lunch

6. Day 06

   Da Nang - Departure

   Da Nang → Da Nang International Airport

   

   A slow last morning - breakfast, a walk on My Khe beach if your flight allows, and time to pack. Your guide and private driver collect you from the hotel and see you to Da Nang International Airport. Hen gap lai - until we meet again.

   • Breakfast at leisure
   • Hotel check-out
   • Private airport transfer with guide

   Standard check-out is 12:00. Allow 3.5 hours before an international departure. Late check-out is on request and payable directly at the hotel.

   Departure Breakfast