Ho Chi Minh – Siem Reap – Hanoi – HalongVietnam in 8 nights

Welcome to Vietnam. You are met at Tan Son Nhat Airport and taken to your hotel (check-in from about 2 pm). In the afternoon, a guided tour of the city: Independence (Reunification) Palace, built on the site of the old Norodom Palace; the French colonial Notre-Dame Cathedral (seen from outside while it is restored) and Central Post Office; and the War Remnants Museum, on the Indochina wars. End at Ben Thanh Market for crafts, souvenirs and street food.

After breakfast and check-out. Pick-up about 7:30, back about 14:30. About 1.5 hours by road to the Cu Chi Tunnels. A short film explains how they were dug and how people lived underground; then you explore the tunnels themselves, with their kitchens, sleeping quarters, workshops, field hospitals and hidden trapdoors. Tea and cassava, the guerrillas' staple, to finish. A shooting range is there if you want it, at your own cost. Back to your hotel.

After breakfast and check-out, the morning is free until a driver (no guide) takes you to the airport for your flight to Siem Reap (air fare not included). You are met on arrival and taken to your hotel; the rest of the day is free.

Pick-up about 7:40, back about 18:30. A full day at Angkor with a small group. Start in Angkor Thom with the Bayon and its stone faces, then Ta Prohm, the tree-gripped temple known from Tomb Raider. In the afternoon, Angkor Wat itself, the largest temple in the complex. End the day at Phnom Bakheng for the sunset (numbers at the top are limited to 300 at a time).

After breakfast and check-out, the morning is free until a driver (no guide) takes you to the airport for your flight to Hanoi (air fare not included). You are met on arrival and taken to your hotel; the rest of the day is free.

Pick-up about 8:00, back about 16:30. A full guided day in Hanoi. Start at the Ho Chi Minh Complex, where you can see Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body in the Mausoleum (closed on Mondays, Fridays and during annual maintenance), the two houses where he lived and worked from 1954 to 1969, and the One Pillar Pagoda. Then the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, on the country's 54 ethnic groups (on Mondays, the Vietnamese Women's Museum instead). Lunch of Vietnamese dishes, with vegetarian options. In the afternoon: Tran Quoc Pagoda on West Lake, Hanoi's oldest, from the 6th century; the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, founded in 1070; and Hoa Lo Prison, built by the French and now a museum.

After breakfast and check-out, the cruise's shuttle bus takes you to Ha Long Bay. Board the boat and set off over a lunch of local dishes, out among some 2,000 limestone islands and islets: a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose name means 'descending dragon'. In the afternoon, a guided walk through a cave of stalactites and stalagmites, then time on a small island to swim or climb to a viewpoint over the bay. Back on board, watch the sunset, join a Vietnamese cooking class and have dinner on deck; squid fishing is optional later. An English-speaking guide stays on board.

Start with tai chi on the sundeck at dawn, with tea and coffee as the boat moves on through the islets. Later, kayak or take a bamboo boat into a hidden lagoon if you like. Check out of your cabin around 9:00 and have brunch as the boat heads back to shore, then disembark around 11:00 and take the shuttle bus back to Hanoi. Check in at your Hanoi hotel; the evening is free.

After breakfast and check-out, the rest of the day is free until a driver (no guide) takes you to the airport for your flight home.