Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh holiday in Vietnam
Highlights
Hanoi | Halong Bay river cruise | Evening Water Puppets performance | Overnight sleeper train | Hue | Historic Hoi An | Ho Chi Minh CityDescription of Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh holiday in Vietnam
Over the course of ten days on tour, Vietnam starts to open up before your very eyes with the hectic streets of Hanoi morphing into the ancient heritage monuments of Hue and Hoi An prior to the all too recent reminders of the past that you'll find in Ho Chi Minh City.Overnight train rides from Hanoi to Hue and boat cruises in Halong Bay add a touch of adventure to tours Vietnam with the domestic flight from Danang to Ho Chi Minh allowing travellers to experience the country from top to tail without having to spend too much time away from home.
As you'd hope from a destination for a ten day holiday, Vietnam presents a remarkable array of contrasts with French café culture and colonial architecture just as prevalent as sandy coves and limestone karst monoliths jutting out of clear blue waters.
This Vietnam tour is a fantastic introduction to the cosmopolitan cities and sublime scenery of Southeast Asia with friendly locals adding to a bewildering blend of fun activities and cultural enlightenment to sow the seeds for future travels for many more years to come.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates, prices & availability
Small group adventure
What is a small group adventure?It's a great way to travel! Whether you are travelling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.
Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.
Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travellers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travellers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.
Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.
So what can I expect on this trip?
This is a classic style of small group adventure. You'll find your trip combines a good mix of included activities and free time, with some meals included as per your itinerary. We don't want you to feel chaperoned, it's your holiday not ours. Your group leader will be on hand to assist with organising anything you might wish to do in your free time, but how you spend it is up to you. Anything listed as included in your itinerary will be included in trip price; whereas anything listed as optional will be at an additional cost should you wish to take part.
These trips are great value, including things that you would struggle to organise independently, such as a night at a homestay in a remote village, or local guides around a remote place of interest. Transport will be a combination of private vehicle and public transport, whichever is the most appropriate for the route we are travelling; this might include train, plane, camel, tuk tuk, bicycle, boat…
On a majority of these trips you'll stay in 2-3 star accommodation, locally owned and reflective of the region you are travelling through. All solo travellers will be automatically roomed on a twin share basis with another group member of the same sex, unless you opt to pay for your own room at time of booking. There are no compulsory single supplements for solo travellers willing to share. Single rooms aren't available on camping trips, and you will be expected to help out with camp tasks such as setting up and breaking down your camp.
Can I book my flights with you?
Yes! We are a fully ATOL bonded tour operator meaning that we can book flights from the UK as part of your holiday package. Just ask us for a quote including flights when you make your enquiry.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

© Copyright images: Chris Shervey; Scott Howard; Jennifer Broomhall; Dean Pemberton
The Impacts of this Trip
Your group leader and the local guides we use along the way will help to break down barriers in your interactions with local people. In addition, we travel by some local transport to facilitate and encourage interaction with the local population. In the Mekong Delta, we visit a local garden restaurant, in the heart of the Delta, where you can sample some of the regional specialities such as the famous elephant ear fish. We board small rowing boats, sampans, and paddle through the many mangrove tributaries to visit small villages and meet with the friendly locals.
Your leader will explain the range of projects we support in Vietnam, and in Hanoi, we visit one of these projects - KOTO, a restaurant dedicated to training street kids and disadvantaged youth in skills for the hospitality industry. At the end of our journey, travelers may donate any unwanted clothing, medicine and bandages, which are distributed to appropriate local charities.


© Copyright images: Chris Shervey; Scott Howard; Jennifer Broomhall; Dean Pemberton

The Impacts of this Trip
Your group leader and the local guides we use along the way will help to break down barriers in your interactions with local people. In addition, we travel by some local transport to facilitate and encourage interaction with the local population. In the Mekong Delta, we visit a local garden restaurant, in the heart of the Delta, where you can sample some of the regional specialities such as the famous elephant ear fish. We board small rowing boats, sampans, and paddle through the many mangrove tributaries to visit small villages and meet with the friendly locals.
Your leader will explain the range of projects we support in Vietnam, and in Hanoi, we visit one of these projects - KOTO, a restaurant dedicated to training street kids and disadvantaged youth in skills for the hospitality industry. At the end of our journey, travelers may donate any unwanted clothing, medicine and bandages, which are distributed to appropriate local charities.

24 Reviews of Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh holiday in Vietnam
In depth story review
Reviewed on 30 Nov 2019 by Lucy Eastwood
Our trips to the Ben Tre coconut farm and our cycle tour to meet local families in Hanoi were our favourite parts of the trip. Read full reviewReviewed on 08 Apr 2019 by Sue Macdonald
Sailing through the Mekong Delta; tasting the multitude of street food in Hanoi and touring around on the back of a motorbike in Hue were the most memorable parts of our holiday! Read full reviewReviewed on 05 Apr 2019 by Sophie Hudson
The tour was an absolutely great way to see Vietnam in a short period of time. The boat trip in Halong Bay exceeded our expectations of comfort. Read full reviewReviewed on 11 Sep 2019 by Winifred Menezes
The cruise on Ha Lon Bay was the most memorable part of the trip. Read full reviewReviewed on 02 Nov 2018 by Alison Fairweather
Every day brought another great experience however, the highlight for me was visiting the coconut gardens in the Mekong Delta...5 stars. I absolutely loved the places we visited Read full reviewReviewed on 04 Jul 2018 by Martin Strong
I'm afraid it was that intangible mix of the group which happened by luck which made holiday, It could have been good without the right people, everything was perfectly timetabled, but the enjoyment was from the singing on the overnight train, the complete bonding we had as a group. Read full reviewReviewed on 07 Apr 2018 by Kathryn Gow
The most memorable was meeting veterans from the war at an abandoned checkpoint, hearing history in the citadel, eating with a family in their home, war remnants museum, scooter tour in the villages. Read full reviewReviewed on 01 Apr 2018 by Joanne Over
The people we travelled with and our funny and very caring guide Thanh! Very good value for money and well planned. Read full reviewReviewed on 21 Dec 2017 by Susan Latham
The highlight was rowing down the mekong delta. Read full reviewReviewed on 25 Mar 2017 by Deborah Englehart
The most memorable was Ha long bay and spending the night on the boat. The cave at the bay was also phenomenal. Read full reviewReviewed on 12 Jun 2017 by Sarah Algate
Climbing Mount Kinabalu was exhausting but amazing! Travelling through the Vietnamese countryside on the back of a motorbike. Watching the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Read full reviewReviewed on 30 Dec 2016 by A.T
The most memorable moments were the Halong Bay Cruise, cycling trip in Hoi An, motorbike ride in Hue and the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue. Perfect holiday. Read full reviewReviewed on 16 Mar 2016 by Wally Garrod
Excellent, very interesting and exciting. Very well organized.We stayed in local hotels, ate in local restaurants, all the guides were locals and we shopped in markets and local shops. Read full reviewReviewed on 26 Oct 2016 by Janet Sutherland
Sunset from our comfy boat on Halong Bay was very special, as was wandering about the Citadel at Hue, and the lantern lit streets of Hoi An. Read full reviewReviewed on 13 Jul 2015 by John McLaughlin
Wonderful people to travel with in a truly special country. Healing Bay & Hoi An take some beating. Utterly memorable. I loved it! Read full reviewReviewed on 25 Apr 2014 by Mary Rae
A most enjoyable time...a really memorable trip. Read full reviewReviewed on 17 Apr 2014 by Gail Morris
Very good - I truly enjoyed the whole experience. The whole trip was great but the most memorable part was probably the motorbike tour through the countryside around Hue. Read full reviewReviewed on 27 Jan 2014 by Chandra Kant Sharma
the most memorable part was the cruise in Halong Bay and the Mekong River outing Read full reviewReviewed on 18 Feb 2013 by mary souster
Best holiday ever!!! Had a wonderful group of people on the tour, aged from 19 to 70, singles, couples. We all got on really well and enjoyed spending time together. Riding round Hue on the back of a motorbike. Read full reviewReviewed on 02 Nov 2012 by Debra Hamilton
Fantastic experience, would recommend it and would book another holiday with the operator. Read full reviewReviewed on 25 Apr 2012 by Andrew Jackson
The Halong Bay overnight boat trip was fascinating, the trip into the Mekong Delta most enjoyable, but perhaps the two days in Hoi An gave us the best flavour of the country - varied activities and relaxing. Read full reviewOur travel guides
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