A Taste of Vietnam: Hanoi to the Mekong Delta (Self-Launched)

Land in Hanoi and take the efficient local option into town: the No. 86 airport bus (~60p) or a Grab car (~£8-10). Check into a hostel or budget hotel in the Old Quarter (bunk ~£6-9, private room ~£18-22). Spend the afternoon walking the maze of streets around Dinh Liet and Ta Hien (the 'beer street') and pre-book a small-group Old Quarter street-food tour on GetYourGuide or Klook (~£20-25) — you'll hit the same vendor stops the group tour does but at your own pace. Evening: bia hoi (fresh draught beer, ~20-30p a glass) on a plastic stool.

🚌Airport bus No. 86 or Grab from Noi Bai (~£0.60-10)

🛏Old Quarter hostel dorm or budget guesthouse, Hanoi (~£7-10)

• →Self-guided Old Quarter walk
• →GetYourGuide/Klook Old Quarter street-food tour (~£22)
• →Bia hoi on Ta Hien Street

Start with breakfast pho at a busy local stall — go early (7-8am) to dodge the queues, a classic Hanoi ritual (~£1.50-2). Then walk the Temple of Literature (£1), One-Pillar Pagoda and the Ho Chi Minh Presidential Palace grounds and teak stilt house (combined ticket ~£2). Stop at Cafe Giang in the Old Quarter for the original egg coffee (~£1). In the afternoon, book a half-day cooking class (book direct with a Hanoi cooking school or via Klook, ~£25-30) to make cha gio (spring rolls), cha la lot (beef in betel leaves) and thit xien nuong (grilled skewers) — essentially the Bat Trang course the tour runs, minus the coach.

🚌Walkable Old Quarter; occasional Grab (~£1-2)

🛏Old Quarter hostel dorm or budget guesthouse, Hanoi (~£7-10)

• →Pho breakfast at a local stall
• →Temple of Literature, One-Pillar Pagoda & Presidential Palace
• →Egg coffee at Cafe Giang
• →Half-day Vietnamese cooking class (~£27)

Book a small-group or shared Halong Bay day cruise online (GetYourGuide/Klook, ~£45-60 including hotel pick-up from Hanoi, lunch and boat). These run the same limestone-island route as the tour's chartered boat, with a cave stop and a seafood lunch on board. You'll be back in Hanoi by early evening — stay a second night in Hanoi rather than paying Halong hotel prices, unless you fancy a night in Cat Ba or Halong City (~£10-15 guesthouse). If you'd rather swim and kayak, a Lan Ha Bay option is the quieter alternative.

🚌Shared shuttle bus included in day cruise (~2.5h each way)

🛏Old Quarter hostel dorm or budget guesthouse, Hanoi (~£7-10)

• →Shared Halong Bay day cruise with seafood lunch (~£50)
• →Cave visit and viewpoint stop

Take a Limousine minibus (book via your hostel, ~£6-8, 2h) to Ninh Binh/Tam Coc. Hire a bicycle (~£1.50) and ride through the rice paddies and villages to Van Long Nature Reserve for the traditional rowboat trip (£4-6, a quieter and more beautiful alternative to Trang An). Lunch at a village homestay or local family restaurant (~£3-4). Optional: join a farm-experience or com chay (burnt rice) cooking session with a local family, often arranged same-day through homestays (~£10-15). In the evening return to Hanoi or Ninh Binh station and board the Reunification Express SE sleeper train to Dong Hoi — soft-sleeper 4-berth ~£15-20 booked on dsvn.vn or 12go.

🚌Limousine minibus Hanoi–Ninh Binh (~£7); overnight train Ninh Binh/Hanoi–Dong Hoi (~£18)

🛏Reunification Express soft-sleeper 4-berth cabin to Dong Hoi

• →Van Long rowboat trip (~£5)
• →Cycle ride through rice paddies and pagodas
• →Village farm/rice-farming experience (~£12)

Arrive at Dong Hoi early morning; a minibus or Grab takes you ~45 minutes to Phong Nha village (~£6-8). Drop bags at a Phong Nha guesthouse (~£8-12) and hire a scooter (~£5/day) or join a shared tour. Visit Phong Nha Cave by traditional wooden boat (~£8-10) and, if you pick one big cave, make it Paradise Cave — the tour reviews rate it above Halong Bay, with 1km of boardwalk through an enormous cavern (£8-10 incl. shuttle from the park entrance). Swim in the Son River afterwards. Book the boat/cave combo through your guesthouse or Klook.

🚌Dong Hoi–Phong Nha minibus (~£7); scooter hire (~£5)

🛏Guesthouse in Phong Nha village (~£8-12)

• →Phong Nha Cave by wooden boat (~£9)
• →Paradise Cave boardwalk (~£9)
• →Swim in the Son River

Take a local or shared bus from Dong Hoi to Hue (~£5-7, 3h) and make the journey the sightseeing: several operators run DMZ day tours that stop at the 17th parallel, Hien Luong Bridge on the Ben Hai River, the Vinh Moc underground tunnels (£3 entry) and Quang Tri Citadel — book a small-group DMZ tour on GetYourGuide or via a Hue hotel (~£20-25, or cheaper by hiring a car/driver with other travellers). Arrive Hue, check into a guesthouse in the backpacker strip around Pham Ngu Lao (~£8-12) and eat bun bo Hue for dinner (~£2).

🚌Dong Hoi–Hue shared bus (~£6); DMZ tour vehicle included

🛏Guesthouse in Hue (~£8-12)

• →DMZ and 17th parallel tour (~£22)
• →Vinh Moc tunnels
• →Quang Tri Citadel
• →Bun bo Hue dinner

Hire a bicycle (~£1.50) or take a Grab to the Imperial Citadel (£4) — the purple-walled Nguyen dynasty city. Cycle or Grab to Thien Mu Pagoda on the Perfume River (free) and Tu Duc Tomb (£4). Wander Dong Ba Market for banh khoai and Hue-style cakes (~£2-3). Book a half-day home-cooking session making banh loc or green bean cake with a local family (~£20-25, booked via Klook or your guesthouse). Evening: a cyclo ride through town (~£3) — reviewers call it well worth it — and a coffee shop for che/fruit green bean cake.

🚌Bicycle hire (~£1.50) and cyclo (~£3)

🛏Guesthouse in Hue (~£8-12)

• →Imperial Citadel (~£4)
• →Thien Mu Pagoda
• →Tu Duc Tomb (~£4)
• →Local family cooking class (~£22)
• →Dong Ba Market

Rent a scooter or hop on a Grab car for the scenic Hai Van Pass drive to Hoi An (~£8-12 by car; scooters ~£6/day one-way, or take the local bus ~£2). Check into a Hoi An guesthouse or hostel (~£8-12). In the afternoon, cycle to Tra Que Herb Village (entry ~£1) and pre-book a cooking class there (~£20-25) — you'll pick herbs, get the herb foot soak and cook cao lau and banh xeo, mirroring the tour's included class. Evening: walk Hoi An Old Town (£3.50 ticket covers Japanese Covered Bridge, a Chinese assembly hall and old merchant houses), then lantern-lit Thu Bon riverfront.

🚌Grab or scooter over Hai Van Pass (~£4-12)

🛏Guesthouse or hostel in Hoi An Old Town (~£8-12)

• →Hai Van Pass viewpoint
• →Tra Que Herb Village cooking class (~£22)
• →Hoi An Old Town walking ticket (~£3.50)

A free day to do what the group tour doesn't (most travellers wish they had more time here). Options: traditional basket-boat rowing and cast-net fishing demo at Cam Thanh (~£6-8); cycle to An Bang or Cua Dai beach; My Lai memorial half-day (~£15-20 with shared transport) if you want the history; get something tailor-made in Hoi An's famous tailors; or a cheap massage (~£6). Book any of these via your guesthouse the day before.

🚌Bicycle hire (~£1.50) or Grab (~£2-3)

🛏Guesthouse or hostel in Hoi An Old Town (~£8-12)

• →Basket boat and fishing demo (~£7)
• →An Bang beach afternoon
• →Optional My Lai memorial (~£18)

A long travel day either way: the fastest is a cheap domestic flight Da Nang–Ho Chi Minh City (~£25-40 with VietJet/Bamboo, 1h15) — book a couple of weeks ahead. Alternatively the Reunification Express from Da Nang (~£25-35, 16-19h) if you prefer trains. From Saigon's Mien Tay bus station, take a local bus to Ben Tre (~£2-3, 2h). Stay at a Ben Tre homestay (~£10-14 incl. meals) — Ut Trinh-style garden homestays book direct or via Booking.com. Arrive in time for an afternoon sampan paddle through the narrow coconut waterways, a cycle along the canals, and a home-cooked dinner of ca loc nuong trui (grilled snakehead fish) and banh xeo with your hosts.

🚌Flight Da Nang–Saigon (~£30); bus Saigon–Ben Tre (~£2.50)

🛏Ben Tre garden homestay (~£10-14)

• →Sampan ride through Mekong canals (~£4)
• →Cycling along palm-fringed canals
• →Evening cooking with homestay hosts

Morning boat trip and wander around a local Ben Tre market — try baked potato cakes, Vietnamese doughnuts and suong sam jelly (~£3). Do a short cooking class at a local house (often included or ~£10 extra at the homestay) making Vietnamese snacks. Bus back to Saigon (~£2.50) and check into a District 1 budget hotel or hostel (~£9-14). Evening: join a GetYourGuide or Klook Saigon street-food tour on a scooter (~£20-25) sampling fried quail eggs with tamarind, nam vang noodles, crispy sweet potato balls and avocado ice cream — reviewers rate this as a trip highlight.

🚌Ben Tre–Saigon public bus (~£2.50)

🛏Budget hotel or hostel, District 1, Saigon (~£9-14)

• →Mekong market visit
• →Local snack cooking class (~£10)
• →Saigon street-food scooter tour (~£22)

Book a Vietnamese coffee workshop and latte-art session (a barista school or Cafe-based class via Klook/GetYourGuide, ~£20-25) to learn about phin filters and robusta history. Afterwards, self-walk the classic colonial circuit: Opera House, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office (all free from outside), plus the War Remnants Museum (~£2). Evening options: the AO Show at the Opera House (~£20-25) or craft beer in District 1.

🚌Walkable District 1; Grab for longer hops (~£1-2)

🛏Budget hotel or hostel, District 1, Saigon (~£9-14)

• →Vietnamese coffee & latte art workshop (~£22)
• →Self-guided colonial architecture walk
• →War Remnants Museum (~£2)
• →Optional AO Show (~£22)

Last banh mi breakfast (~£1.20) and a wander through Ben Thanh or Binh Tay market for coffee beans and souvenirs. Grab or the No. 109/49 bus to Tan Son Nhat Airport (~£1-3). Add extra days here or in Hoi An if your flights allow — the tour reviews all say the same thing: you'll want more time.

🚌Bus or Grab to Tan Son Nhat Airport (~£1-3)

🛏None (departure day)

• →Ben Thanh market
• →Banh mi breakfast