Morning
Land at Hanoi Noi Bai (HAN)
Noi Bai International Airport sits 35 km north of the centre; allow 45 minutes by taxi into Hoan Kiem.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: Metropole Hanoi
15 Ngo Quyen, in the French Quarter. Open since the turn of the twentieth century and a two-minute walk from the Opera House.
Lunch at Bun Cha Huong Lien
24 Le Van Huu. Grilled pork in fish-sauce broth with cold noodles; the Obama combo set is still on the menu. Lunch is the reliable window.
Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
Dinh Tien Hoang. Cross the red Huc Bridge to the island temple, then walk the lake loop to shake off the flight.
Egg coffee at Cafe Giang
39 Nguyen Huu Huan, down an alley. Serving ca phe trung since 1946, and the place the drink is most associated with; order it hot.
Evening
Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre
57B Dinh Tien Hoang. A 50-minute show over a waist-deep pool, with live musicians at the side. Book ahead; it runs every day of the year.
Dinner at Spice Garden
The Metropole's own restaurant off the pool courtyard. The easy first night when you have been awake for twenty hours.
Morning
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
2 Hung Vuong, Ba Dinh. Mornings only, and it closes two days a week plus an annual maintenance period, so check before you build the day around it. No bags, no shorts, no photos inside.
One Pillar Pagoda
Chua Mot Cot, Doi Can. Inside the same Ba Dinh compound, five minutes on foot from the mausoleum exit.
Temple of Literature
58 Quoc Tu Giam. Vietnam's first national university, founded in the eleventh century; the doctors' stelae on stone tortoises are the thing to see. Open 8:00-17:00.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch at Cha Ca Thang Long
19-21-31 Duong Thanh. One dish only: turmeric fish fried at your table with dill and spring onion. Lunch and dinner, no booking needed.
Hoa Lo Prison
1 Hoa Lo, Tran Hung Dao. The French colonial gaol later nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton. Open 8:00-17:00 daily; take the audioguide.
Silk shops on Hang Gai
Hang Gai, the Old Quarter's silk street. Tailors here will make a shirt in a day if you are back before the flight south.
Evening
Bia hoi on Ta Hien
Ta Hien, the beer corner. Plastic stools on the pavement, fresh draught poured daily; busiest from about 7 PM.
Hanoi Opera House at night
1 Trang Tien. Floodlit after dark and next door to the hotel; a short French Quarter loop before bed.
Morning
Road transfer to Tuan Chau
Cruise van collects from the Old Quarter around 8:00; the Hai Phong expressway puts you at the marina by late morning.
Board the Orchid Classic
Lot 32, Tuan Chau International Port. Check-in and welcome briefing around 11:45, then a speedboat out to the junk.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch under way
Served as the boat leaves the Ha Long shipping lane and turns south into the quieter Lan Ha water.
Kayak at Ao Ech
A ring of karst around a flooded lagoon in Lan Ha Bay. Kayaks are included; the paddle in takes about an hour.
Cooking demo and happy hour
Spring-roll demonstration on the sundeck, then drinks at the bar while the sun drops behind the islands.
Evening
Dinner on board
Set seafood menu in the saloon. March evenings on the water are cool, so bring a layer up on deck.
Squid fishing off the stern
Rods and deck lights are set up after dinner. Low odds, good fun, and the anchorage is silent by 10 PM.
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Morning
Tai chi on the sundeck
Sunrise session before breakfast, weather permitting. March mornings here are often hazy rather than blue.
Trung Trang Cave, Cat Ba
A 300-metre limestone passage through the hill on Cat Ba Island. Low ceilings; the crew hands out torches.
Brunch on the way in
Served while the boat cruises back to Tuan Chau; disembarkation is around 11:45.
Afternoon / Day
Van back to Hanoi
Roughly three hours from the marina; the cruise drops you in the Old Quarter around 15:00.
Back at the Metropole
15 Ngo Quyen. Same hotel, second stay; leave the bulk of your luggage here while you are on the boat.
Dong Xuan Market
Dong Xuan, at the north end of the Old Quarter. Three floors of wholesale everything; the ground floor is the useful one.
Evening
Dinner at Le Beaulieu
15 Ngo Quyen. The Metropole's French dining room, reopened after refurbishment. Book a table and dress up a little.
Morning
Drive south to Ninh Binh
About 95 km on the CT01 expressway, two hours door to door. Leave by 7:30 to beat the Trang An boat queue.
Trang An boat route
Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. Rowed sampans thread flooded caves and river temples; the short route runs about 1.5 hours.
Afternoon / Day
Goat and com chay in Tam Coc
Tam Coc village by the boat pier. The two local specialities are de nui, mountain goat, and com chay, crisped scorched rice.
Hang Mua viewpoint
Khe Dau Ha, Hoa Lu. Just under 500 stone steps to the dragon ridge above the Tam Coc paddies. Allow 30 minutes up.
Bich Dong Pagoda
Ninh Hai, Hoa Lu, a short ride from Tam Coc. Three pagoda levels built into the cliff, reached through a cave. Free entry.
Evening
Drive back to Hanoi
Two hours north, arriving in the Old Quarter around 19:30. Pack tonight for the flight south.
Confirm the morning flight
Check in online for Hanoi to Da Nang and book an airport car for 07:00. Noi Bai is 45 minutes out.
Morning
Car to Noi Bai airport
Leave Hoan Kiem by 07:00. The airport road runs over the Nhat Tan bridge and takes about 45 minutes.
Fly Hanoi to Da Nang
HAN to DAD, roughly 1 hour 20 minutes and flown many times a day. The Reunification Express covers the same ground overnight in about sixteen hours if you prefer rail.
Afternoon / Day
Transfer to Hoi An
Da Nang airport to Hoi An is 30 km along the coast road, about 45 minutes by car.
Check in: Anantara Hoi An
1 Pham Hong Thai, on the Thu Bon riverbank. A ten-minute walk along the promenade into the ancient town.
Banh mi at Banh Mi Phuong
2B Phan Chu Trinh. The queue moves fast and the pate-and-pork classic is the one to order. Open from early until late evening.
Evening
Lanterns along the Thu Bon
Bach Dang riverfront. The silk lanterns go up at dusk every night; sampan rowers sell short river loops from the steps.
Dinner at Morning Glory
106 Nguyen Thai Hoc. Ms Vy's street-food kitchen since 2006 -- white rose dumplings, cao lau, clay-pot fish. Reserve.
Morning
Buy the Ancient Town ticket
Sold at booths around the old quarter. One ticket admits you to a set number of heritage houses, halls and museums.
Japanese Covered Bridge
Chua Cau, at the west end of Tran Phu. Reopened in 2024 after a long and much-argued-over restoration; go early, before the tour groups.
Tan Ky Old House
101 Nguyen Thai Hoc. A merchant house lived in by the same family for seven generations; flood marks are cut into the wall.
Afternoon / Day
Tea at Reaching Out
131 Tran Phu, open 8:00-20:00 daily. A quiet teahouse in an old Hoi An house, staffed by deaf and hearing-impaired servers; you order without speaking.
Fitting at Yaly Couture
358 Nguyen Duy Hieu, one of four Yaly shops in town. In-house workshop and cutters; leave a day between the measure and the collection.
Hoi An Central Market
Tran Phu at the river end. Wet market in the morning, spice and fabric stalls all day, food court at the back.
Evening
An Hoi footbridge at dusk
Cross to the An Hoi sandbank for the view back at the lantern-lit waterfront. Best light about 20 minutes after sunset.
Dinner at Vy's Market Restaurant
In the Hoi An Eatery building, a short walk from Morning Glory and run by the same group. Open kitchens laid out like a street-food market.
Morning
Drive to My Son
About 40 km inland, an hour each way. Leave by 6:30 to be at the gate when it opens and beat the heat.
My Son Sanctuary
Inland from Hoi An, in the Thu Bon valley. Brick Cham temple groups built between roughly the 4th and 13th centuries; buy the ticket online or at the gate, and an electric shuttle runs from the entrance to the ruins.
Afternoon / Day
Tra Que Vegetable Village
Cam Ha, 3 km north of the old town. Herb beds worked by hand and fertilised with river weed; growers run short planting sessions.
An Bang Beach
Hai Ba Trung, 4 km from the hotel. The least developed of the Hoi An beaches; loungers come with a drinks order.
Collect the tailoring
358 Nguyen Duy Hieu. Second fitting and pickup; leave time for one alteration before you fly on.
Evening
Cao lau in the old town
Hoi An's own noodle: chewy, smoky, dressed rather than souped. Only made here, with water from the Ba Le well.
Last riverside walk
Bach Dang. Saturday nights are the busiest of the week on the waterfront; the sampan lanterns run late.
Morning
Hoi An to Da Nang
30 km up the coast road, about 40 minutes. Stop at the Marble Mountains on the way rather than doubling back.
Marble Mountains
81 Huyen Tran Cong Chua. Five marble hills full of cave shrines; take the lift up and the stairs down. Bring cash for the ticket and the lift, which are charged separately.
Afternoon / Day
Check in: Furama Resort
103-105 Vo Nguyen Giap, on the My Khe beach strip in Ngu Hanh Son. One of Da Nang's long-established beachfront resorts.
Museum of Cham Sculpture
02 2 Thang 9, on the Han River. The great collection of Champa stone carving, much of it lifted from My Son a century ago. Open daily.
Linh Ung Pagoda, Son Tra
Hoang Sa road up the Son Tra peninsula. The 67-metre Lady Buddha faces the bay; the drive up is the other half of it.
Evening
Dinner at Madame Lan
4 Bach Dang, by the river. A yellow colonial-style house doing central Vietnamese dishes, open 6:30 to 21:30 every day.
Dragon Bridge fire show
Bach Dang riverfront. The dragon breathes fire and water at 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Be in place by 8:30.
Morning
Drive to Ba Na
25 km west into the hills, about 45 minutes. Go on the first cable car of the day before the cloud comes in.
Golden Bridge and Ba Na Hills
Sun World Ba Na Hills, Hoa Vang. Cable car to 1,400 m for the stone-hands bridge, the French village and the gardens.
Afternoon / Day
Lunch on the mountain
Buffet halls sit beside the cable-car station at the top. Nothing special, but you are back down by early afternoon.
Down to Da Nang airport
An hour from Ba Na to the terminal. DAD sits inside the city, so the run in is short.
Fly Da Nang to Saigon
DAD to SGN, about 1 hour 20 minutes over 610 km. Tan Son Nhat is 8 km from the centre and the traffic in is slow.
Evening
Check in: Hotel Continental Saigon
132-134 Dong Khoi, opposite the Municipal Theatre. Built in 1880, and the grande dame of the old colonial centre.
Dinner at Hoa Tuc
74/7 Hai Ba Trung, set back in a courtyard off the street. Modern Vietnamese, open 11:00-22:00 every day.
Morning
War Remnants Museum
28 Vo Van Tan. The hardest hour of the trip and the one that explains the rest of it. Open daily; go first thing, before the coach groups.
Reunification Palace
135 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia. The 1960s presidential palace, frozen as it was in April 1975. Go down to the command bunker.
Afternoon / Day
Saigon Central Post Office
2 Cong Xa Paris. Still a working post office under the barrel-vaulted hall. The Notre-Dame basilica opposite has been under long-running restoration, so expect the exterior only.
Thien Hau Temple, Cholon
710 Nguyen Trai. An eighteenth-century Cantonese sea-goddess temple, hung with slow-burning coils of incense. Free to enter, daytime only.
Binh Tay Market
57A Thap Muoi, the wholesale heart of Chinatown. Built in the 1920s around a courtyard; go for the atmosphere, not bargains.
Evening
Saigon Skydeck
2 Hai Trieu, 49th floor of the Bitexco tower. Come at dusk to watch the motorbike rivers light up below.
Dinner at Cuc Gach Quan
10 Dang Tat, in a restored old house north of the centre. Home-style Vietnamese cooking on a long menu. Book -- it fills most nights.
Cu Chi Tunnels and Out
Morning
Drive out to Cu Chi
Around 70 km northwest, 90 minutes by road. Ben Duoc is the further and much quieter of the two tunnel sites.
Cu Chi Tunnels at Ben Duoc
TL15, Phu Hiep, Cu Chi. Daytime only, and the ticket desk shuts well before the site does. Carry dong -- cards are not reliable out here.
Afternoon / Day
Back into the city
Same 90 minutes in reverse, worse traffic. Aim to be back by early afternoon with bags already at the hotel.
Lunch at Ben Thanh Market
Le Loi, Ben Thanh. The food aisles at the back do banh xeo, bun thit nuong and ca phe sua da at stall prices.
Coffee and pepper to take home
Ben Thanh's dry-goods rows sell robusta, Phu Quoc pepper and fish sauce; agree the price before it is bagged.
Evening
Collect bags and settle up
132-134 Dong Khoi. The Continental holds luggage after checkout; allow an hour to the airport in evening traffic.
Fly out of Tan Son Nhat (SGN)
Long-haul departures run late evening. International check-in is Terminal 2, and the queue starts three hours out.
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