Bamboo sojourn: 17-day slow Vietnam journey

Arrive at Noi Bai International Airport, where a local representative welcomes the group and assists with the private transfer into central Hanoi. Guests arriving on different flights are met individually, while the guide joins the principal arrival or meets the group at the hotel.

After check-in, the rest of the day is free to recover from the international journey. Depending on arrival times, guests may take a short independent walk near the hotel or simply settle into the property.

A welcome dinner is arranged when the flight pattern allows the group to gather comfortably. The evening remains relaxed, with no formal sightseeing scheduled.

Begin at the Temple of Literature, founded in the 11th century and closely associated with Vietnam's Confucian educational tradition. The guide explains how scholarship, examinations and social advancement shaped Vietnamese society.

Continue to Ba Dinh, the political heart of modern Vietnam, for the Ho Chi Minh historical complex. Depending on opening conditions, visit the mausoleum area, Presidential Palace grounds, Ho Chi Minh's stilt house and the One Pillar Pagoda. Here, the guide explains the historical setting and Ho Chi Minh’s continuing place in national memory and public life.

After lunch, return to the hotel. The entire afternoon is free for rest, a spa appointment, a nearby cafe or independent time in the city.

In the evening, attend a traditional water puppet performance. Dinner follows at a local restaurant.

Begin later in the morning with a guided walk through Hanoi's Old Quarter. Walk through selected former trade streets, merchant houses and communal spaces, with time to see the district’s continuing commercial life.

Along the way, pass family businesses, food vendors and religious spaces that now share the historic neighbourhood with tourism. Pause for Vietnamese coffee or hot tea before continuing to lunch.

The afternoon is free. Guests who would like an additional cultural visit may add the Vietnam National Museum of History, subject to opening hours.

Leave Hanoi after the morning rush and travel south through the Red River Delta to Ninh Binh.

Visit Hoa Lu, the capital of Vietnam during the Dinh and Early Le dynasties in the 10th century. The temples sit beneath limestone formations at the edge of the surrounding agricultural landscape.

After lunch, continue to the countryside hotel or resort and check in. The afternoon remains open for the gardens, the pool, a gentle walk near the property or simply time to enjoy the rural setting.

No cycling or additional sightseeing is scheduled today.

After breakfast, explore the countryside by bicycle, with a supported vehicle alternative available for guests who prefer not to ride. Follow quiet lanes through villages, rice fields and limestone valleys, stopping along the way to observe the working landscape.

Depending on local access, stop with a household or community host to learn about everyday rural life, agriculture and changing livelihoods.

After lunch and a pause, continue to Trang An. A small rowing boat carries guests through rivers, caves and enclosed limestone valleys closely connected to the surrounding agricultural landscape.

Return to the hotel in the late afternoon. The evening is free.

Depart early from Ninh Binh because the road journey to the cruise harbour normally requires approximately four to five hours, depending on traffic and the vessel's boarding point. An early departure is required to reach the cruise harbour in time for boarding.

Board the overnight vessel in time for lunch as the cruise begins its passage through Ha Long Bay or a quieter neighbouring section of the wider bay system.

The afternoon includes one light activity selected by the cruise operator, which may be kayaking, a small-boat excursion, a cave visit or time on deck. Keep the rest of the afternoon relaxed after the road transfer.

Return to the vessel for sunset, dinner and an evening among the limestone islands.

Begin with the quiet morning atmosphere of the bay. Guests may join an optional early activity before breakfast, or remain on board and enjoy the scenery at their own pace.

The vessel continues through the limestone landscape before returning to port in the late morning. Brunch is served before disembarkation.

Transfer to the appropriate regional airport for the flight to Central Vietnam. Depending on the operating schedule, the arrival airport may be Hue or Da Nang, followed by a private road transfer to the hotel in Hue.

No formal sightseeing is scheduled after arrival. Guests may have a light dinner and rest.

Begin later and spend the day in Kim Long, a historic residential area along the Perfume River once associated with mandarins, royal relatives and influential families of the Nguyen period.

Travel primarily by bicycle along flat roads and quiet lanes, with a supported vehicle alternative for guests who prefer not to cycle. Visit garden houses where architecture, ancestral spaces, fruit trees, herbs and household traditions remain closely connected.

Meet local residents and learn how family history, food, gardens and traditional ideas of wellbeing remain part of daily life. Depending on the host and season, pause for tea, seasonal snacks or a small household demonstration.

Share a home-style Hue lunch and stay for tea or conversation with the hosts before returning to the hotel. Return to the hotel in mid-afternoon, leaving the remainder of the day free.

Visit Hue's Imperial City in the morning, the former political and ceremonial centre of the Nguyen dynasty.

Walk through the royal complex as the guide introduces court life, state ritual, architecture and the changes that followed during the colonial and wartime periods. Walking through the Citadel’s gates, palaces and ceremonial spaces adds the formal world of the Nguyen court to the previous day’s visit among Kim Long garden houses.

After lunch, return to the hotel for a long rest. No additional afternoon visit is scheduled.

In the evening, travel through Hue by cyclo, passing illuminated streets and quieter neighbourhoods before a vegetarian dinner drawn from the city’s Buddhist and household chay traditions.

Enjoy a slow morning before leaving Hue for Hoi An. Travel south through the coastal landscape, with views toward Lang Co and the Hai Van area.

Stop for lunch along the route, with short scenic or comfort stops as needed before continuing to Hoi An.

Arrive in Hoi An during the afternoon and check in. Allow time to rest before a short orientation walk through the old town in the cooler early evening.

Dinner is at leisure, giving guests the option to remain in town or return to the hotel.

Begin in or near the historic centre with a lantern-making workshop. Under the guidance of a local craft instructor, guests learn about the structure and assembly of the fabric lanterns now closely associated with Hoi An, completing a small piece to take away.

Continue to a local market or the gardens of Tra Que, depending on the final operating plan. Walk through cultivated plots and learn how fresh herbs and vegetables are used in Central Vietnamese cooking, with time to meet growers when local access allows.

Join a hands-on cooking session using regional ingredients, followed by lunch featuring the dishes prepared during the class.

Return to the hotel in the early afternoon. The rest of the day is free for swimming, shopping, a spa treatment or independent time in the old town.

There is no scheduled departure today. Today is completely free for guests to enjoy Hoi An at their own pace.

Guests may return independently to the old town, spend time at the beach or pool, visit a tailor, arrange a spa treatment, sit in a cafe or simply follow the rhythm of the neighbourhood around the hotel.

The guide and operations team can provide practical suggestions and transport support where required, but there is no compulsory programme. An optional hosted dinner may be arranged for groups that prefer to gather in the evening.

Keep the morning light before checking out and transferring to Da Nang International Airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City.

Upon arrival, meet the local team and transfer privately to the hotel in central Saigon. Luggage and room arrangements are coordinated in advance so the group can settle in without an additional programme immediately after the flight.

If the flight schedule permits, take a short late-afternoon orientation walk through the central district, introducing the city's colonial commercial core, public spaces and contemporary street life.

The evening remains relaxed, with dinner arranged or left independent according to the final flight timing.

Begin the morning with Market to Market, a signature walking experience through central Saigon. Follow a guided route through central Saigon’s markets, trading streets and food stops, seeing how traditional commerce sits alongside modern development.

Walk through older market streets, narrow trading lanes, food counters and neighbourhood spaces before continuing toward Ben Thanh Market. Selected tastings and street-level observations help explain the communities and economic layers that have shaped central Saigon.

Move between formal markets, family businesses and street trade while the guide points out Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian and European influences in the city’s commercial life.

The walk concludes around lunchtime. After lunch, the remainder of the day is free for independent sightseeing, shopping, a rooftop drink or rest at the hotel.

Choose one of two wartime programmes according to the group’s interests. Each option is planned as a complete day.

The Cu Chi programme leaves the city in the morning to visit the tunnel landscape and see how underground engineering, rural communities and wartime survival came together. Guests are not required to crawl through confined sections, and the shooting range is avoided. Return to the city after lunch, leaving the afternoon and evening free.

Alternatively, remain in Saigon for an urban route linking Phở Bình, a preserved weapons bunker and the War Remnants Museum. At each stop, the guide explains how wartime networks operated beneath ordinary city life and how the conflict is remembered today.

Whichever option is selected, return with enough time for a free late afternoon or evening.

Leave Ho Chi Minh City in the morning and travel south to Ben Tre, entering a landscape of small roads, waterways, coconut gardens and rural settlements.

Begin at a working local market or riverside community before travelling by motorised boat along the larger waterways. Observe homes, agricultural activity, small docks and the movement of goods through the delta.

Continue into the coconut-growing countryside by a small local vehicle, walking or light cycling according to the group profile. Visit family enterprises or household producers and see how coconut, fruit cultivation, local transport and small-scale trade support rural livelihoods. Obligatory shopping stops are avoided.

A hand-rowed sampan may be included for a quieter passage through palm-lined canals. Lunch is served in a small local or home-style setting using regional and seasonal ingredients.

Return to Ho Chi Minh City in the late afternoon. The evening is free for a farewell dinner.

Breakfast is served at the hotel. Rooms remain available until the standard check-out time unless a late check-out has been arranged.

Guests with later flights may keep the morning free for cafes, shopping or independent exploration near the hotel.

At the appropriate time, transfer privately to Tan Son Nhat International Airport for the onward flight.