Vietnam for three generations: Hanoi to Saigon

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Hanoi

   Noi Bai International Airport to the Old Quarter

   • Welcome dinner at about 6 pm
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 1

   Your trip starts at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN), north of the city, where we meet your family and drive you to a hotel near the Old Quarter, with family or connecting rooms requested for your party. Rest after the flight. At about 5:30 pm your guide meets everyone in the lobby for a short briefing, then a gentle walk to Hoan Kiem Lake, where the red Huc Bridge leads to Ngoc Son Temple on its little island. Dinner is early, at about 6 pm, in a sit-down restaurant near the lake rather than on street stools, with chairs and backs for the grandparents and dishes children usually like: fresh spring rolls, chicken pho, fried rice and fruit. Your guide shows everyone how to cross a road full of scooters calmly, slowly and at a steady pace, which children pick up faster than adults. If your flight lands too late, we meet you at breakfast instead.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN)
   • Welcome briefing and walk by Hoan Kiem Lake
   • Early welcome dinner near the lake with your guide

   Temps libre : Afternoon free to rest

   Activité : About 1 km of flat walking.

2. Jour 2 : Hanoi by cyclo and water puppets

   The Temple of Literature, Ba Dinh, the Old Quarter by cyclo and the water puppet theatre

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 2

   No early start: we leave the hotel at about 8:30. The Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 to honour Confucius, is a walled garden of courtyards and ponds, and children can look for the stone turtles carrying the stelae that list the scholars who passed the royal exams. At Ba Dinh Square we see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum from the square and the small One Pillar Pagoda nearby. Lunch together, then back to the hotel by about 1 pm for a rest through the hottest part of the day. At about 4 pm the family climbs into cyclos, pedalled rickshaws with a seat for one adult or an adult and a small child, for a slow ride through the Old Quarter's streets of tube houses. It ends at the water puppet theatre by Hoan Kiem Lake, where puppeteers standing in a pool behind a screen make dragons, farmers and fish dance on the water to live music. The show is about 50 minutes, and the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Temple of Literature
   • Ba Dinh Square, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum from the square and the One Pillar Pagoda
   • Cyclo ride through the Old Quarter
   • Water puppet show by Hoan Kiem Lake

   Activités en option

   • Dawn walk at Hoan Kiem Lake to see tai chi and dancing, with your guide. For early risers, before breakfast.
   • Hoa Lo Prison with your guide, for adults and older children

   Option plus facile : Skip the cyclo and go straight to the theatre by taxi with a family member.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon rest; evening free

   Activité : About 3 km of flat walking over the day. The mausoleum closes on Mondays and Fridays and for maintenance once a year, so we see it from the square.

   

3. Jour 3 : To Ninh Binh and the boats of Trang An

   Hanoi to Ninh Binh, then a rowing boat through Trang An

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ninh Binh
   Détail du jour 3

   After breakfast we drive south from Hanoi on the expressway to Ninh Binh, about 2 hours, the land of limestone towers and rice fields often called Ha Long Bay on land. Check in near Tam Coc and have lunch together. Hotels here often have a pool, and we ask for one, so the early afternoon is for a swim or a rest. At about 2:30 pm we go to the Trang An Landscape Complex, Vietnam's first mixed natural and cultural World Heritage Site, listed in 2014. Each small boat seats a family of four or so with a local rower, and the route runs along the river and through low caves cut into the limestone, where everyone ducks their heads, with short stops at temples on the banks. The trip is about 2 hours seated, with conical hats or umbrellas on board for shade. Dinner together at about 6 pm close to the hotel.

   Compris

   • Transport from Hanoi to Ninh Binh with your guide
   • Trang An rowing boat trip of about 2 hours

   Activités en option

   • Late afternoon bicycle ride on the flat lanes around Tam Coc

   Option plus facile : The boat is seated throughout; the only effort is stepping in and out at the landing, with the rower's help.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon free for the pool or a rest

   Activité : Boats are open to the sun; bring hats, sunscreen and water. Life jackets are provided in children's sizes; ops to confirm.

   

4. Jour 4 : Mua Cave for climbers, then a night on Ha Long Bay

   Ninh Binh to the bay, then an overnight boat

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Ha Long Bay
   Détail du jour 4

   Climbers in the family, often parents with older children, can leave at about 6:30 am for Mua Cave as it opens, before the heat, and climb about 500 stone steps to the stone dragon on the ridge for the view over Tam Coc. Everyone else has a slow breakfast, and we all leave together at about 8:30. The drive east to the coast is about 3 hours on the expressways, with a coffee and toilet stop halfway, and we board the overnight boat at about midday. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of close to 2,000 limestone islands and islets, and the 2023 extension added the Cat Ba archipelago and Lan Ha Bay; we choose a route in quieter water. Lunch on board, then an afternoon of a cave or a floating fishing area, kayaks or a rowing boat, and a swim when the water is warm. Watch the sunset from the deck before an early dinner on board.

   Compris

   • Mua Cave viewpoint at opening time, for those who want to climb
   • Transport from Ninh Binh to the harbour with your guide, with a stop halfway
   • Overnight boat in Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay, with family or connecting cabins requested
   • Cave or floating fishing area visit, depending on the boat route
   • Kayaks or a rowed bamboo boat, weather permitting

   Option plus facile : Skip Mua Cave and take breakfast slowly; on the boat, take the rowed bamboo boat instead of a kayak.

   Option plus active : Climb the 500 steps of Mua Cave at opening, and kayak between the karsts in the afternoon.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon on deck

   Activité : Mua Cave has steep stone steps with rails. Kayaks are doubles, so a child paddles with an adult; kayaking and swimming depend on the weather and sea state.

   

5. Jour 5 : Sunrise on the bay, fly to Hue

   Ha Long Bay to Noi Bai International Airport, then the flight to Hue

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Hue
   Détail du jour 5

   Sunrise is the quietest hour on the bay, often still and misty in the cooler months, and it is worth setting an alarm for; anyone who wants to sleep can. Many boats run a short tai chi session on deck. After a last slow cruise through the islands, brunch is served before the boat returns to the harbour in the late morning. We drive to Noi Bai International Airport, about 2.5 hours by expressway with a stop on the way, and fly to Hue, a little over an hour in the air, with your guide. This is the longest travel day of the trip, but it is made of short pieces, and it saves the night train and the drive back through Hanoi. We drive you from Phu Bai airport to your hotel near the Perfume River in the early evening, and dinner is on your own, at the hotel or nearby with your guide's suggestions. Tomorrow starts later.

   Compris

   • Sunrise on the boat
   • Brunch on board
   • Transport from the harbour to Noi Bai International Airport with your guide
   • Flight from Hanoi to Hue, with transfer to your hotel

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : Flight times are confirmed with your dates; we choose an afternoon flight so nobody rushes.

   

6. Jour 6 : Hue: the Imperial City and a dragon boat

   The Imperial City, the tomb of Tu Duc and the Perfume River

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hue
   Détail du jour 6

   Hue was Vietnam's capital under the Nguyen dynasty from 1802 to 1945, and its monuments are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We leave at about 8 am and enter the Imperial City through the Meridian Gate while the courtyards are still cool. The site is large and flat, so your guide sets a gentle route through the throne hall, the dynastic temples and the gardens, with shaded benches on the way, and turns it into a story of emperors, mandarins and royal elephants for the children. Late morning we drive into the hills to the tomb of Tu Duc, a lakeside park of pavilions and frangipani trees the emperor used as a retreat in his lifetime, mostly on level paths. Lunch together, then the afternoon is free for the hotel pool or a rest. At about 4 pm a dragon boat takes us up the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda and its seven-storey tower in the late light. Dinner together at about 6 pm, with Hue dishes and milder choices for the children.

   Compris

   • Imperial City of Hue with your guide
   • Tomb of Tu Duc
   • Dragon boat on the Perfume River to Thien Mu Pagoda

   Activités en option

   • Tomb of Khai Dinh, with about 120 steps to its mosaic rooms. Instead of the free afternoon.

   Option plus facile : Sit out the second half of the Imperial City at a cafe inside the walls while the others finish the route.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free for the pool or a rest

   Activité : About 4 km of flat walking in the morning, in two parts with a break.

   

7. Jour 7 : Over the Hai Van Pass to Hoi An

   Hue to Hoi An by Lang Co, the Hai Van Pass, Da Nang and the Marble Mountains

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hoi An
   Détail du jour 7

   Today the drive is broken into short legs, none much over an hour. After breakfast we drive south along the coast to Lang Co, a fishing village between a lagoon and a long sand beach, for a stop by the water. Then we climb the Hai Van Pass, where a spur of the Truong Son range runs into the sea, to the ruined gate at the top and the view back over Lang Co. Cloud often sits on the pass, so your guide watches the sky and picks the time; if it is hidden, we stay longer at Lang Co and take the tunnel underneath. Seafood lunch in Da Nang, with simpler dishes for anyone who prefers them, then the Marble Mountains, limestone hills with caves and pagodas, where a lift takes you up part of the way. We reach Hoi An by mid-afternoon and check in to a hotel with a pool, which we ask for here. The rest of the day is free.

   Compris

   • Transport from Hue to Hoi An with your guide
   • Lang Co
   • Hai Van Pass, weather permitting
   • Marble Mountains, Da Nang, with the lift

   Option plus facile : Stay at the foot of the Marble Mountains, or ride the lift and visit only the first cave.

   Option plus active : Climb the stairs to the top of Thuy Son, the highest of the Marble Mountains, for the view over Da Nang.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free

   Activité : The Marble Mountains have uneven steps inside the caves; the lift covers part of the climb.

8. Jour 8 : Hoi An: the Old Town and a cooking class

   The Old Town in the early morning, then Tra Que village

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hoi An
   Détail du jour 8

   After an early breakfast we walk into the Old Town at about 7:30, before the tour groups arrive later in the morning. Hoi An Ancient Town was a trading port from the 15th to the 19th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its lanes of yellow merchant houses are closed to cars for much of the day, which makes it easy to walk with children. We cross the Japanese Covered Bridge, built by Japanese merchants at the end of the 16th century and reopened in 2024 after its restoration, and step into an old merchant house and an assembly hall. Then we ride to Tra Que, a vegetable village known for its herbs, in the vehicle or by bicycle for those who want to. You help in the gardens, then the whole family cooks and eats dishes such as fresh spring rolls and banh xeo pancakes for lunch, with an easy station for younger children. Back at the hotel by about 1:30 pm, and the afternoon and evening are free for the pool, a tailor or the river.

   Compris

   • Morning walk in Hoi An Old Town and across the Japanese Covered Bridge
   • Hoi An Old Town entry
   • Transport to Tra Que vegetable village
   • Cooking class with lunch

   Activités en option

   • Basket boat ride in the water coconut palms at Cam Thanh. Afternoon, with your guide's help.

   Option plus active : Cycle the 3 km to Tra Que on flat lanes with your guide.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 2 km of flat walking in the Old Town. Please keep tripods off the bridge.

   

9. Jour 9 : My Son, a beach afternoon and lanterns on the river

   Hoi An to the My Son sanctuary, An Bang beach and the Thu Bon River

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hoi An
   Détail du jour 9

   We leave at about 7 am for My Son, about an hour west of Hoi An, to arrive before the day groups and the heat. From the 4th to the 13th century the kings of Champa built brick temples here in a green valley under Cat's Tooth Mountain, most of them to the Hindu god Shiva. Many were destroyed by bombing in 1969, and the groups that survive are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An electric buggy runs from the entrance to the temples, and the paths between them are mostly level. We are back by late morning and go straight to An Bang beach for lunch at a beach restaurant, then an afternoon on sun loungers and in the sea, swimming where the lifeguards' flags allow. Back to the hotel to shower, then at about 5:15 pm we take a small boat on the Thu Bon River as the light goes and the first lanterns of the Old Town come on, before the main evening crowd. Dinner together at about 6 pm, straight after the boat, in the Old Town.

   Compris

   • My Son sanctuary in the early morning, with your guide
   • Lunch and an afternoon at An Bang beach, with loungers
   • Sunset boat on the Thu Bon River
   • Dinner in the Old Town

   Option plus facile : Rest at the hotel pool instead of the beach; we bring you to the river boat at 5:30 pm.

   Temps libre : Afternoon at the beach

   Activité : About 2 km of walking at My Son, mostly level. The sea can have strong currents, especially from October to February, so swimming is only where the flags allow.

   

10. Jour 10 : Fly to Saigon

    Hoi An to Da Nang airport, the flight to Ho Chi Minh City and the old centre

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Ho Chi Minh City
    Détail du jour 10

    Breakfast and an early swim for anyone who wants one, then check-out at about 8:30. We drive about 45 minutes to Da Nang International Airport for a morning flight south to Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by most people who live there, about an hour and a half in the air with your guide. After lunch near the hotel and a short rest, we go to the Independence Palace first, in the early afternoon, so the visit is not squeezed by its closing time. The palace, where a tank broke through the gates on 30 April 1975 and ended the war, is kept as it was, with the war rooms in the basement and the replica tank on the lawn that children like to find. The Central Post Office, still working under its vaulted iron roof, and the red-brick Notre-Dame Cathedral are side by side, a short walk from the palace. Dinner together at about 6 pm, a family meal of southern dishes such as broken rice, grilled pork and fresh rolls, in a restaurant rather than on street stools.

    Compris

    • Transport from Hoi An to Da Nang International Airport
    • Flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, with transfer
    • Independence Palace
    • The Central Post Office and Notre-Dame Cathedral, from outside
    • Family dinner with your guide

    Activités en option

    • War Remnants Museum, for adults. It has graphic images of the war and is not suited to younger children; the family can split for an hour.

    Temps libre : Late morning free in Hoi An

    Activité : We book a morning flight so the palace is visited in the early afternoon; its opening hours are confirmed with your dates, and if the flight slips we visit it on the morning of day 12 instead. Notre-Dame Cathedral has been under restoration for several years, so it may be seen from outside only.

11. Jour 11 : The Mekong Delta at Ben Tre

    Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre and back

    • Environ 4 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Ho Chi Minh City
    Détail du jour 11

    We leave at about 7:30 am for Ben Tre, about 2 hours each way with a stop, to reach the Mekong Delta before most day groups. Ben Tre is a coconut-growing area of islands, rivers and narrow canals where the Mekong splits on its way to the sea. A boat takes us across the wide river to a family workshop where coconut candy is made, and children usually get to taste it warm. Then everyone boards a small sampan, rowed by a local, along a canal shaded by water coconut palms, the quietest part of the day. Those who want to cycle the lanes between orchards and village houses with your guide, at an easy pace; everyone else walks a short stretch or rides in the vehicle. Lunch is in a family's garden, with Mekong dishes rolled at the table in rice paper. We are back in the city by about 3:30 pm, with time to rest or swim before a farewell dinner at about 6 pm.

    Compris

    • Transport from Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre and back with your guide
    • Boat across the Mekong
    • Coconut candy workshop
    • Sampan ride on the small canals
    • Lunch in a family garden
    • Farewell dinner

    Option plus facile : Ride in the vehicle or walk a short stretch instead of cycling.

    Option plus active : Cycle about 8 km of flat village lanes with your guide.

    Temps libre : Late afternoon free

    Activité : The 4 hours is the round trip: two drives of about 2 hours each, with a stop on each. Life jackets on the boats; ops to confirm children's sizes.

12. Jour 12 : Depart from Saigon

    A free morning, then Tan Son Nhat International Airport

    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 12

    The last day is yours, with no early start. Breakfast at the hotel, then the morning is free for the pool, packing or one more walk. If your flight leaves in the afternoon or evening, your guide can arrange either of two short options: a half-day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, the network dug under the farmland north-west of the city, where a section has been widened for visitors and the crawl is optional, or a morning walk through Ben Thanh Market for snacks and souvenirs. If you would rather keep it quiet, have a last iced coffee, a fruit shake for the children and a bowl of noodles near the hotel. We drive you to Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) in good time for your flight home; afternoon and evening flights suit this day best.

    Compris

    • Drop-off at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)

    Activités en option

    • Cu Chi Tunnels half-day trip. For afternoon or evening flights; about 1.5 hours each way by road.
    • Guided morning walk around Ben Thanh Market

    Temps libre : Morning free

Faune et météo : February to April is the driest and most comfortable time to travel the whole length of the country, and the Easter school holidays fall in it. Ha Long Bay can be misty or drizzly in February and March, which softens the views but makes for calm mornings. Saigon is hot all year and hottest in April, so outdoor visits are kept to mornings and late afternoons. The sea at Hoi An is calmest from about April to August; earlier in the year swimming depends on the flags. Hue and Hoi An get most of their rain, and the risk of typhoons, from September to December.

• Hanoi2 nuits
• Ninh Binh1 nuit
• Ha Long Bay1 nuit
• Hue2 nuits
• Hoi An3 nuits
• Ho Chi Minh City2 nuits