Saigon – Cu Chi – Mekong Delta – Da Nang – Ba Na Hills – Hoi An – Hue
The south end of the country first, at ground level: the tunnel network at Cu Chi in the morning, the museums and French-era buildings of Ho Chi Minh City in the afternoon, then a full day of boats, orchards and coconut candy in the delta. The last Saigon evening is spent on the river, and a night flight moves you to Da Nang for the cable car up Ba Na Hills, Hoi An after dark and the drive over the Hai Van Pass to Hue. Day nine is left free.
Day 1
Met at the airport and driven to your hotel. Nothing else is scheduled: the first evening is free to walk the streets around the hotel, eat where you like and sleep off the flight. Your guide confirms the next morning's pick-up time when you arrive.
Meals: No meals included
Day 2
Out at 07h00 for Cu Chi, where the guide walks you through the underground network the Viet Cong dug and used: field hospitals, weapon workshops and command posts, and sections of tunnel you can go down into yourself. The rifle range, firing an AK-47, is optional and paid on the spot. Lunch is back in the city. From 13h00 the afternoon is the War Remnants Museum and its exhibits from both Indochina wars, then Notre-Dame Cathedral, built by French colonists between 1863 and 1880, and the Central Post Office beside it from the same period. The day ends at 17h00 at Ben Thanh Market or wherever suits you.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 3
A shuttle takes you to My Tho wharf at 07h30, and a motorboat runs out onto the Tien River past floating fish farms and under the Rach Mieu cable-stayed bridge that ties Tien Giang to Ben Tre, four islands on either side. You stop at Unicorn Island for a honeybee farm and honey tea, then ride an electric cart to a fruit garden for whatever is in season and a set of southern folk songs. A rowing boat carries you down a narrow water-coconut canal. Over in Ben Tre you watch coconut candy being made, and lunch at 12h00 is delta cooking. At 14h00 the boat heads back, stopping at Vinh Trang Pagoda, and you reach Saigon by 18h00.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 4
The day is yours until the evening. Boarding starts at 18h00, with music and dancing on deck and a programme that changes with the night. At 20h00 the dinner party opens and the ship casts off up the Saigon River, past Nha Rong Wharf, where Ho Chi Minh left the country to look for a way to free it, then Bach Dang Wharf and Khanh Hoi Port, turning back at the Phu My Bridge. Both banks stay lit and busy, wharf above and boats below. The ship berths at Saigon Port in District 4 at 21h15, and the flight to Da Nang leaves at 22h30.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 5
A private car meets the flight and takes you to your hotel in Da Nang. Nothing is scheduled: the day is for resting after the night flight and finding your way around the city at your own pace. Dinner is included.
Meals: Dinner
Day 6
The pick-up window in central Da Nang is 07h00 to 08h15, with a stop at a craft village on the way at 08h30 while the tickets are sorted. The cable car — a single-rope line, the longest of its kind — lifts you to the French Village between 09h45 and 10h00. The morning covers the Lunar Castle, Eclipse Square and a film at the Mat Bay theatre, and buffet lunch is held from 11h45 to 13h00. The afternoon is looser: mini shows, the golden Sun World globe, Fantasy Park, then at 14h45 a short cable car hop to the Golden Bridge and the Le Jardin flower garden. From 16h15 you come back through the Time Gate to the bus.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 7
Collected at 13h00 and driven to Cam Thanh, where the water runs between stands of nipa palm and a local fisherman hands you a paddle: basket boats first, then the traditional way of setting a net. From 14h30 the old town on foot — the Phuc Kien Assembly Hall, an ancient house at Phung Hung or Tan Ky that has stood two hundred years, the Museum of Folk Culture, a performance at the Traditional Performing Arts House and the Japanese Bridge, over 400 years old, with its carvings explained. Dinner is local. At 18h00 you take a boat out on the Hoai River, set a lantern on the water and finish in the night market.
Meals: Breakfast, dinner
Day 8
Pick-up is between 08h00 and 08h30, and the road north climbs to the top of the Hai Van Pass, where you stop for the view over Da Nang on one side and Lang Co's white beach on the other. Khai Dinh's tomb at 11h30 was built between 1920 and 1931 for the twelfth Nguyen emperor and mixes Western and Eastern building in a way none of the other tombs do. Lunch at 12h30 is Hue food. The Citadel, a UNESCO site, follows at 13h30, then Thien Mu Pagoda at 15h00, the tallest in Vietnam. From 16h00 the Hai Van Tunnel takes you back, into Da Nang about 18h30.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Day 9
No fixed schedule after breakfast. Some guests spend the day on the beach, some go back to Hoi An, some use it to shop. Tell your guide the night before and we can put a car and driver at your disposal.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 10
Breakfast, check out and a private car to the airport at the time your flight needs.
Meals: Breakfast
Knees should be covered at the Hue Citadel. Entertainment on the Saigon River cruise changes with the evening's theme. The Saigon to Da Nang flight late on day 4 is not included and is booked separately.
Send your dates, the number of travellers and the hotel standard you want. We confirm availability and send a full quotation — no payment is taken online.
Saigon to Hue in ten days: Cu Chi, the Mekong Delta, a river cruise and Hoi An
Saigon – Cu Chi – Mekong Delta – Da Nang – Ba Na Hills – Hoi An – Hue
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