Southern Vietnam: Saigon, the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc

Arrive in Saigon

Tan Son Nhat International Airport to District 1, then an evening walk

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Ho Chi Minh City

Après-midi

Rest after the flight: the afternoon heat is the time to sleep, not to sightsee.

Soir

In the early evening, as the city cools, you meet your guide and the group for a short walk along the Nguyen Hue walking street to the old City Hall, built by the French as the Hôtel de Ville in the early 1900s and now the seat of the city's People's Committee, seen from outside, and on to the Opera House. Your guide shows you how to cross a road full of scooters calmly, the most useful skill for the next three days. Then a welcome dinner together of southern dishes, which are sweeter and richer in fresh herbs than those of the north. If your flight lands late, we meet at breakfast instead.

Compris

• Pick-up at Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)
• Evening walk on Nguyen Hue past the old City Hall and the Opera House
• Welcome dinner with your guide

The Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Remnants Museum

Ho Chi Minh City to the Cu Chi Tunnels at Ben Duoc and back, then the War Remnants Museum

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Ho Chi Minh City
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

We leave at 7 am to reach the Cu Chi Tunnels at Ben Duoc, about 70 km north-west of the city, early in the morning, before the midday heat and the busiest hour; the early start buys that cooler hour and a free afternoon. The tunnels were dug by hand under the farmland from the late 1940s, during the war against the French, and extended in the war with the Americans into a network of well over 100 km, with kitchens, meeting rooms, field hospitals and air vents hidden in termite mounds. Your guide stays with you the whole way, explaining how people lived underground for weeks at a time. You can climb down into a short section widened for visitors, or stay above ground and see the entrances, traps and shelters. Back in the city for lunch together, then a free afternoon. At about 4 pm we visit the War Remnants Museum, and your guide stays in the galleries with you. Its photographs of the war, and of the effects of Agent Orange, are hard viewing, and you can step out at any time.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Cu Chi Tunnels at Ben Duoc in the early morning, with entry and a local site guide
• Lunch in Ho Chi Minh City
• War Remnants Museum with your guide, with entry

Old Saigon and a street food evening

The Independence Palace, the Central Post Office and Ben Thanh Market, then District 4 and Cholon after dark

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Ho Chi Minh City

Matin

A morning on foot and by van through the old centre, starting at the Independence Palace as it opens. This was the home and office of the president of South Vietnam, and on 30 April 1975 a tank broke through its gates and the war ended; the 1960s reception rooms, the command bunker in the basement and the helipad on the roof are kept as they were. We walk on to the Central Post Office, built under the French at the end of the 19th century and still working under its vaulted iron roof, and the red-brick Notre-Dame Cathedral beside it, whose long restoration is now largely complete.

Après-midi

Late morning, Ben Thanh Market: your guide shows you the food stalls, and lunch is yours to choose there. The afternoon is free for a swim, a rest or a coffee.

Soir

In the evening we go out by van and on foot to District 4 and the old Chinese quarter of Cholon for a street food dinner of grilled seafood, broken rice and sweet soups, at the hour the stalls are busiest.

Compris

• Independence Palace at opening time, with entry
• Central Post Office and Notre-Dame Cathedral
• Ben Thanh Market with your guide
• Street food evening in District 4 and Cholon

Activités en option

• A O Show at the Saigon Opera House. From about VND 800,000; on evenings when it plays, instead of part of the street food evening.

Into the Mekong Delta

Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh Long and An Binh island, then Can Tho

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Can Tho
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is in a family's garden, with Mekong dishes such as elephant ear fish rolled at the table with herbs and rice paper. In the afternoon we drive on to Can Tho, the largest city of the delta, crossing the Hau River, which the French called the Bassac, on the long Can Tho Bridge. Check in at our riverside homestay, a family-run place with private rooms and bathrooms, and rest.

Soir

Dinner tonight is cooked by our hosts.

Compris

• Transport from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho with your guide
• Boat across the Co Chien to An Binh island
• Sampan ride on the small canals
• Bicycle ride through the orchards and villages
• Lunch in a family garden
• Dinner at the homestay

Cai Rang floating market at dawn

Can Tho by boat to Cai Rang and back through the small canals

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Can Tho
• En bateau

Matin

The market is smaller than it once was, as roads take over from the river, but at first light it is still busy and noisy. Breakfast is a bowl of noodle soup bought from a boat. On the way back we take the narrow canals and stop at a family kitchen where rice noodles are made by hand, to watch and taste, not to shop.

Après-midi

Back at the homestay by about 10 am to rest, then lunch together and a free afternoon in the hammock or by the river. Late in the day, cycle the canal paths with your guide.

Soir

For dinner our hosts make banh xeo, crisp rice pancakes, with you.

Compris

• Boat to the Cai Rang floating market at dawn
• The small canals and a rice noodle kitchen
• Lunch in Can Tho
• Late afternoon bicycle ride on the canal paths (optional)
• Cooking dinner with our hosts

Across to Phu Quoc

Can Tho to Rach Gia, then the fast ferry to Phu Quoc

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Phu Quoc
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch together near the port, then the early afternoon fast ferry to Phu Quoc, which takes about 2.5 hours to the island's east coast. The ferry is air-conditioned with assigned seats, and in the dry season the sea is usually calm.

Soir

From the port we drive about 45 minutes across the island to our hotel on the west coast, the side that faces the sunset. Phu Quoc is Vietnam's largest island, about 50 km from north to south, with a national park covering much of its forested north. There is just time to swim before the sun goes down over the sea. The farewell dinner tonight is seafood by the water, the last evening of the trip together.

Compris

• Transport from Can Tho to Rach Gia with your guide
• Lunch in Rach Gia
• Fast ferry from Rach Gia to Phu Quoc
• Transfer to your hotel on the west coast
• Farewell dinner

A free morning, then fly from Phu Quoc

The west coast beach, then Phu Quoc International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner

Matin

The last morning is yours, with no early start. Breakfast at the hotel, then swim, walk the beach or sit in the shade with a last iced coffee. If you want one more outing, your guide can take you into Duong Dong, the island's main town, to see a fish sauce house, where the anchovy sauce Phu Quoc is known for ferments for months in tall wooden vats, and the small fishing harbour at the river mouth. We drive you to Phu Quoc International Airport (PQC), about 15 to 20 minutes from the west coast hotels, at the time that suits your flight. Most guests fly home through Ho Chi Minh City, about an hour in the air, so book a flight from Phu Quoc after about noon, or tell us your times and we plan the transfer around them. If you would like more beach time, we can add nights on the island at the end of the trip.

Compris

• Drop-off at Phu Quoc International Airport (PQC)