Vietnam’s South & Centre: Tunnels, Sampans & Mountain Mist in 6 Days

An early pickup begins in the morning at Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, built on the site of the former Norodom Palace and designed by architect Ngo Viet Thu. You continue past the elegant structures of the French colonial era — the Notre Dame Cathedral and the historic Central Post Office — before the War Remnants Museum, whose collection covers both Indochina wars in considerable depth. Lunch follows at a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, depart for the Cu Chi Tunnels, around an hour and a half from the city. A short introduction and film explain how the network was dug and how people survived underground through the war years. You then explore the surviving passages — living quarters with kitchens and sleeping areas, storage rooms, weapons workshops, field hospitals, and command centres, along with the concealed trap doors built into the maze for defence.

Tea and cassava, the staple food of the guerrillas, are served afterwards, with the shooting range available for those who want it.

Note: pick-up and drop-off cover centrally located accommodation in District 1. Return times depend on traffic and weather.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

An hour and a half along National Highway 1, through open rice fields, brings you to the rural district of Trung Luong and on to My Tho.

You begin at Vinh Trang Pagoda before boarding a boat for a leisurely cruise on the Tien River, taking in the four islands — Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Tortoise — the fish rafts moored along the water, and the Rach Mieu Bridge above. A walk along the village road leads to an orchard, where seasonal fruit and honey tea are served to the sound of Southern Vietnamese folk music performed by locals.

The afternoon moves to narrower water: a hand-rowed sampan through the Tan Thach canal, a visit to a coconut candy mill, and a second rowing boat along a small canal shaded by water coconut palms. Lunch is at a local restaurant before a motorboat returns you to the main vessel for the drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Note: pick-up and drop-off cover centrally located accommodation in District 1. Return times depend on traffic and weather.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

After a relaxed morning, a private transfer takes you to the airport for the flight to Da Nang. You are welcomed on arrival and taken to your hotel to check in.

Around midday, your guide collects you for Cam Thanh Coconut Village, where you step into the role of a local fisherman, learning traditional fishing techniques and how to row the distinctive Vietnamese bamboo basket boat through the tranquil coconut palm waterways.

In the early afternoon you continue to Hoi An Old Town, beginning at the Phuc Kien Chinese Assembly Hall with its bright gates, dragon statues, and elaborate rooftops, then Hoi An Central Market and a family altar where your guide introduces the practice of ancestor worship. The town’s remarkably preserved merchant houses — Phung Hung and Tan Ky among them — have withstood two hundred years of weather and war, and your guide explains the trading families who lived within them.

The Museum of Folk Culture and a performance at the Traditional Performing Arts House follow, then the Japanese Bridge, built more than four hundred years ago to connect the Japanese community with the Chinese who lived across the water, with time afterwards for the handicraft shops, art galleries, and smaller laneways where much of Hoi An’s charm still lives.

Dinner is served in town, with Hoi An specialties on the table. Afterwards, a boat ride on the Hoai River brings the day to its close, releasing flower lanterns onto the water in a wish for good fortune, with Lantern Street glowing around you and the night market opens for as long as you wish to wander.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner.

Overnight in Da Nang.

An early departure from Da Nang city centre takes you up to Ba Na Hills, known as the Sa Pa of central Vietnam, at an altitude of 1,487 metres above sea level. The ascent is by cable car, a system holding four Guinness World Records, with the mountain scenery opening beneath you as you rise.

At Gare Marseille station you reach the Golden Bridge, an architectural wonder curving through the sky like a sash, alongside Linh Ung Pagoda and Le Jardin d’Amour gardens. A second cable car carries you to the summit and the French Village, a replica of classical France in a cluster of squares, cathedral, town, and inns, with performances by European and American artists throughout the day. Buffet lunch is served at Ba Na Hills.

The afternoon is free for Queen Mountain and Fantasy Park, with its thrill rides and games, and for the Wax Museum and its collection of more than forty figures. The cable car returns you to the valley in the mid-afternoon for the drive back to Da Nang.

Note: the Ba Na Hills programme may be adjusted according to your requirements or the conditions on the day. Entrance to the Wax Statue Museum, the France Wine Cellar, the roller coaster, climbing game, prize games, and the 10D cinema are not included.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.

Overnight in Da Nang.

On the last day of the journey, enjoy free time at leisure until your private transfer to the airport (driver only, without guide) for your departure flight. Return home with a heart full of memories and a camera roll full of unforgettable moments.

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