Vietnam Discovery

Day 1: Arrive Saigon

Meet and greet at airport upon arrival and transfer in to hotel. Saigon, surely one of the most evocative place names in Asia and definitely one of the most extraordinary cities in the world.

The most Western in atmosphere of Vietnam's cities, Ho Chi Minh City (to use it's official name - although to residents and visitors alike it is universally and affectionately known as Saigon) has a population of 5 million, and a booming free-market economy.

It is a city of amazing contrasts: elegant new international hotels, exclusive restaurants and trendy bars side-by-side with roadside noodle stalls, street children and vociferous cyclo drivers. Golf courses, bowling alleys and shopping malls vie for space with fruit and vegetable markets, pagodas and karaoke rooms.

Bustling, booming, crowded, noisy - all words that barely scratch the surface of the addictive and often mesmerising chaos that is Saigon. And yet there are the elegant colonial French boulevards and buildings, the Cathedral, the riverfront, the quiet moments at a sidewalk café watching the world literally go by you at breakneck speed. Saigon.

A city that is almost indescribable and completely unforgettable.
Rest of the day is at leisure
Dinner tonight is at local restaurant to enjoy a traditional music performance
Overnight Hotel in Saigon
(Dinner)

Day 2: Cu Chi Tunnels and Highlight of Saigon

This morning journey out of the city centre to the Cu Chi regions, where you will visit the vast underground network of tunnels built first as a defence against the French, and later expanded during the American war.

It was from here that the North Vietnamese waged their guerrilla warfare and you will marvel at their ingenuity and resilience. See secret trapdoors, underground kitchens, living areas and meeting rooms.

The more adventurous may explore the deeper second, and even third level tunnels For those preferring to remain above ground, there is ample opportunity to view excavated areas from above.

Your guide will advise you of the length and level of difficulty of each tunnel before entering - some are easily accessed by stairs.

We recommend good walking shoes and sun protection for this tour and advise you may get a little dirty! Return to Saigon for lunch at local restaurant. Afternoon you will do a highlight of Saigon city tour.

In this essential highlight tour, visit the former Presidential Palace, which is now preserved as a museum, including the underground communications bunkers, headquarters for the Saigon Government during the American War.

Continue to the History Museum, which houses an excellent display tracing the origins of the indigenous Vietnamese. Take the opportunity to see a delightful performance of Water Puppetry in the grounds.

Visit Notre Dame, an impressive neo-Romanesque cathedral in the centre of city, the 'wedding cake' styled hotel d'ville and Dong Khoi street, formerly the centre of haute couture in Saigon when it was known as Rue Catinat.
Overnight Hotel in Saigon
(Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 3: Saigon &ndash Danang / Hoi An

This morning departure transfer hotel/airport for flight SGN/DAD. One of the most ancient cities in Vietnam, Danang was the centre of the Cham Dynasty from the 2nd century and today boasts the largest and most impressive collection of Cham artefacts anywhere in the world.

Danang's rich cultural history, it's proximity to the extraordinary ruins of My Son, it's atmospheric riverfront promenade, it's world-famous Cham Museum all continue to draw visitors.

Unwelcome visitors have made their mark here too, Danang was the first landing point for the invading French troops and again decades later for the US Marines.

Close by Danang is China Beach, immortalised for many by the US television show and still one of the most spectacular beaches in Asia. Also nearby are the Marble Mountains, the 5 craggy limestone peaks that are said to represent the 5 elements of the universe.

A climb inside through the hundreds of natural caves and grottoes is a must. Upon arrival, visit the Cham Museum in Danang, once centre of the ancient Cham civilisation. Hindu in origin, the Cham people left a legacy of excellent sculptures, now housed in the only museum if its kind in Danang, as they were pushed south by the advancing Vietnamese invaders.

Continue to the Marble Mountains for a photo stop before checking in to your hotel in China Beach (or Hoi An). These five rocky outcrops are said to represent five natural elements, and are the source of many intriguing legends, as well as housing temples and once even an army hospital! You will see skilled artisans carving all manner of statues from marble sourced locally at the mountains' base. Lunch at local restaurant.

Afternoon you take a Hoi An walking tour. Just a short drive from Danang, the unique trading town of Hoi An was a civilisation cut off by destroyed rail lines and a silted river, leaving it untouched by war and frozen in time.

See architecture reminiscent of traders of a bygone era - Japanese, French, Chinese, and Indian, as well as beautifully preserved ancient houses. No cars are allowed to pass through Hoi An, rendering it an excellent walking village.

Visit the unique Japanese covered bridge and a Chinese communal house. Shop for art at one of the numerous galleries and enjoy the riverside ambience.
Overnight Hotel in Danang or Hoi An
(Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 4: Danang / Hoi An &ndash Hue

This morning you drive overland to Hue city. Visitors to Hue are often taken aback to discover that the sleepy provincial town of Hue was once the religious, economic and cultural epicentre of Vietnam, the mighty Imperial headquarters, and the political capital of the country until 1945.

That this glorious architectural masterpiece of a city should have been reduced almost completely to rubble as a result war is indeed a tragedy in the truest sense of the word.

Thirteen Nguyen Dynasty Emperors ruled Vietnam from Hue. They built a fortress around the ancient city, a huge Citadel, with walls 10 metres thick, modelled on Beijing's Forbidden City.

Even this seemingly impenetrable defence though was useless during the Tet Offensive of 1968, when the proud city of Hue was reduced to ruins. Hue today has regained it's royal demeanour and is a calm, peaceful and relaxed place to visit.

The remaining French colonial garden houses and villas, the quiet streets, the riverbanks, the outlying tombs and pagodas that escaped damage - all give Hue a unique atmosphere of tranquillity.

Check in to your hotel upon arrival and lunch at hotel.

Afternoon visit to Imperial Citadel and Dong Ba Market In the very early 19th Century, when the Nguyen Dynasty administered Vietnam from Hue, the Emperor Gia Long commenced construction of a mighty citadel from where he could both live and rule.

The resulting Imperial Citadel was modelled on the Forbidden City in Beijing, however unfortunately suffered much damage during years of war. Many of the pavilions, bridges, libraries and great halls are now being carefully restored with help from UNESCO.

Marvel at the legends of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors who built the fortress and lived within its moated walls for nearly 150 years.
Overnight Hotel in Hue
(Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 5: Hue

This morning you will have a touring of Emperors of Contrast (Tu Duc and Khai Dinh's Tombs). Visit first the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, resplendent in traditional architecture, paved walkways, resting pavilions overlooking tranquil lotus ponds, and a small forest for hunting.

In stark contrast, continue to Khai Dinh's Tomb. Remembered as the 'Puppet Emperor' because of his affiliation with the French, this tomb was designed with colonial flair, and a glass mosaic frieze dominates the interior.

Lunch at local restaurant before taking a flight to Hanoi. Meet at the airport upon arrival and transfer to your hotel. Vietnam's capital is described by almost all who go there as "an old-fashioned city".

Old-fashioned in style, it is a city of lakes, parks, trees, villas, mansions and an area called the Old French Quarter where crumbling houses are crammed into narrow alleyways that are still named after the goods that were traded there - Silk Street, Gold Street, even Fried Fish Street!

Old-fashioned in atmosphere, Hanoi has sidewalk cafes, pavement barbers, less traffic than Saigon, less frenetic rushing about, less noise, simply less people. Wide tree-lined bicycle-filled boulevards, elegant colonial French mansions, the grandeur and solemnity of Ho Chi Minh's monumental Mausoleum, the incongruous rustic simplicity of the house in which 'Uncle Ho' lived out his final years, the barely concealed misery of the Hoa Lo Prison, the 'Hanoi Hilton' where so many prisoners of war were incarcerated, the religious pride that constructed the beautiful temple of Literature compound - it's all here in Hanoi, a microcosm of the Vietnamese culture.
Overnight Hotel in Hanoi
(Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 6: Hanoi

Morning continue visit Ba Dinh Square, where silent sentries guard the marble and granite mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh lies in state. (Subject to opening times the interior of the mausoleum can be visited)

See the simple cottage where Uncle Ho lived and worked. Nearby, visit the Ho Chi Minh Museum, an extraordinary tribute in abstract form to the life of the 'father of the country' and the evolution of Vietnamese independence. French architecture is a feature of Hanoi, and the nearby former Governor's Residence is a fine example.

See also the One Pillar Pagoda, and hear the legend of its construction, born from the love of an emperor in the 11th Century. Lunch at local restaurant. Afternoon Hanoi city tour including Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple, Army and Historical Museum, Hanoi 36 Ancient Streets.

Enjoy an orientation of the tree-lined streets of Hanoi, resplendent with French colonial architecture, including the recently restored Opera House.

Pass by Hoan Kiem Lake, also known as Lake of the Restored Sword from the legend that surrounds it en-route to one of the city's fascinating museums (Army, History or Fine Arts, depending on your preference).

Continue to the Temple of Literature, built in 1070 and then dedicated to Confucius, it is a serene retreat from the busy streets outside, and later became Vietnam's first university.

Then take to the streets on foot for a walking tour of the Ancient Quarter or 36 Streets District. This densely populated corner of the city was once a centre of commerce where goods were sold under the street name of a particular guild. Still a thriving community of sellers today, you will see street names such as Sugar Street, Tin Street and Paper Street. Ancient homes and temples are interspersed with stores in this souvenir hunter's paradise!
Overnight Hotel in Hanoi
(Breakfast, Lunch)

Day 7: Hanoi departure

Departure transfer from hotel to Hanoi airport for onward international flight
(Breakfast)