Dining Summary

• 9 Dinner (D)
• 15 Breakfast (B)
• 5 Lunch (L)
• 1 Lunch with Wine (L)

Choice Highlights

• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Ho Chi Minh City: Meander through the streets of Ho Chi Minh and hear more about the local street-side café culture, which sprung up when many French lived in the country. Discover the art of making the perfect cup of Vietnamese coffee before trying one.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Continue with your exploration about the troubled past of the country at the War Remnants Museum.
• Choose between two carefully selected activities
• Hue: Meet the headmaster of the Vietnamese Royal Martial Arts Academy and hear about the rigours of training for each martial art. Afterwards, watch at a live performance by the martial artists, admirably demonstrating their skill and discipline.
• Hue: Take a boat ride to the private museum of Tran Dihn Son, whose great-grandfather was a high ranking mandarin during the Nguyen Dynasty and see the vast collection of rare antiquities collected by him and his ancestors.

Additional Included Highlights

• : You will be escorted by one of our fine Travel Concierges, handpicked to serve as your expert guide, consummate organiser, and friend overseas.
• : Personal radio headsets give you the freedom to wander during visits to famous highlights, without missing any of your Local Expert's fascinating commentary, available on departures with 15 or more guests.
• : At every hotel, you'll be treated to seamless baggage handling, with prompt delivery inside your room.
• : Hotel and restaurant tips are included - you'll never have to worry about how much to give, nor search for foreign currency. We also include all taxes and porterage charges at hotels.
• : Stay connected with friends and family with our complimentary coach and hotel Wi-Fi (where available, does not apply to Halong Bay Cruise).
• : Complimentary airport transfers are included on start and end dates, when flights are included within the itinerary and when additional accommodation has been booked through Luxury Gold. Guests will be transferred with fellow Luxury Gold Travelers that arrive on the same flight.

Exceptional Dining

• Krong Siem Reap: Join your Travel Concierge and fellow travelers for your Welcome Dinner at Mahob, set in a traditional Khmer wooden house. Enjoy tasty delicacies created from local ingredients as you immerse yourself in Khmer culture and get to know Siem Reap.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Admire the marvelous views from a lively rooftop restaurant in Saigon.  Dine on local delicacies in a sophisticated setting, with the lights twinkling across the city.
• Mekong River Delta: Pause for lunch at the enchanting Mango Home, a thatched restaurant located on the Mekong. Savor delicacies enjoyed in the delta, including noodle soup, grilled fish, and giant prawns fresh from the river, as you enjoy views of the lush countryside.
• Hue: Arrive at the home of celebrated painter and singer, Camellia Huyen, for a memorable meal and private concert. Stroll around the traditional home she shares with her husband and hear about their fascinating lives and the dream that brought them home.
• Hoi An: Dine out with Your Choice this evening. Choose from one of three hand-selected restaurants, known to our local foodies, each specialising in different cuisine from traditional to modern Vietnamese, or a fusion of east and west to tantalise your taste buds.
• Hoi An: Visit the beautiful Cam Thanh Village with its dense coconut jungles that were once a shelter for local people and soldiers during the Vietnam War, but today the village is an important supplier of seafood, vegetables and rice to the region. Step into a traditional bamboo-basket boat and glide across the water to the Thanh Dong village where you learn from the villagers how they cultivate and harvest vegetables according to local customs. Continue your voyage through a peaceful water coconut forest to a riverside restaurant overlooking the rice fields. Enjoy and participate in a hands-on cooking class alongside a local chef. Savor your creations for your Highlight Lunch.
• Hanoi: Join a local foodie in the Old Quarter to explore the street food culture of Hanoi. Dine as the locals do, on delights such as steaming pho (a beef noodle soup), rice paper rolls and crab spring rolls.
• Luang Prabang: Join your fellow travelers for a family style lunch that gives back to the community. Kai Phaen restaurant reinvests all profits back into their trainees and supporting social programs, so you are helping give them a brighter, more secure future.

Journey Highlights

• Angkor Wat: Meet a renowned archaeologist to explore the sprawling Angkor Archaeological Park, the largest religious complex on earth. See the significant Buddhist temples that were at the center of the Khmer Empire from the ninth to fourteenth centuries.
• Krong Siem Reap: See uniquely Cambodian tales brought to life by Phare. These incredible performances use theater, music, dance and modern circus arts to explore folk and history in a dazzling display by talented and energetic local artists. This MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience supports the lives of at-risk Cambodian youth through gainful employment in the arts. Profits generated from the circus support the free eduction, professional arts training and social support programs of Phare Ponleu Selpak.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Join a Viet Cong veteran to visit the underground C? Chi tunnels and learn more about this complex network originally built in 1948. See where many thousands of troops trained and lived under difficult conditions during the Vietnam War.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Experience the vibrancy of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, as you visit its most iconic attractions, including the Central Post Office, designed by Alfred Foulhox.
• Mekong River Delta: Board a private vessel for your Mekong River Cruise, taking you down the most important waterway in Southeast Asia. Gain a fascinating insight into coconut processing, one of the major industries for people who live along the river.
• Mekong River Delta: Enjoy a ride on a tri-motorcycle through the tropical scenery of the Mekong delta, passing limestone mountains and rows of neat rice paddies. Arrive at a rustic rice noodle factory to see how the favored breakfast meal of Vietnam is produced.
• Hue: Cycle through rice fields to Thanh Toan village, admiring the green countryside as you pedal by. Visit the lively local market, bargain along with the locals and see traditional houses. Soak up the agricultural way of life, a suitable contrast to the city.
• Hoi An: Explore the Ancient Old Town of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and see well-preserved buildings that date back several centuries. See the 18th-century Japanese covered bridge with its elaborate carvings and spot many colored lanterns along the way.
• Hanoi: Take a spin on a nifty electric cart for a fun way to get around Hanoi. See the main sights of the city, including the beautiful French neoclassical Opera House, the center for cultural and historical events in Vietnam.
• Halong Bay: Board a luxury junk boat for a special cruise around the magnificent Ha Long Bay, famous for its emerald waters and thousands of limestone islands dotted with rainforests. Explore mysterious caves and marvel at a memorable sunset over this scene.
• Halong Bay: Visit the spectacular Tien Ong cave with its immense stalactites and stalagmites, resembling various forms, including one called “the fairy godfather.” Sail to Cua Van floating village, amid the towering rocks, where fishermen have lived for hundreds of years.
• Hanoi: Meet a renowned local scholar during a special visit to the famous Temple of Literature, built in 1070 to honor the great philosopher, Confucius. Learn more about the culture of Hanoi and Vietnamese architecture before touring the picturesque grounds and seeing the Well of Clarity.
• Luang Prabang: Rise with the sun to participate in the centuries-old Buddhist tradition of offering alms to the monks from the temples of Luang Prabang. Share this deeply spiritual ceremony with the local people as the barefoot saffron-robed monks collect “tak bat.”
• Luang Prabang: Take the gentle walk up the sacred mountain, Mount Phousi, to capture the breathtaking view over the surrounding landscape. Here, you can see the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers with the jungle-clad mountains rising in the distance.
• Luang Prabang: Join a sunset cruise on the Mekong for the final evening of your spellbinding journey. Observe rural life along the tree-lined banks of this magnificent river while enjoying a chilled drink and the sun melting into a glorious pink and orange-hued skyline.
• Luang Prabang: Uncover the highlights of Luang Prabang with your Local Expert during a walk through this UNESCO World Heritage Site. See the fusion of traditional and colonial style architecture, as you wander through the streets seeing the buzz of local life.

Luxury Hotels

• Hoi An: The luxurious Anantara Hoi An Resort is moments away from the city's charming historic center. Take in the tranquil atmosphere, treat yourself to a massage at the spa, or cool down in the pool.

Personalize your day

• Ho Chi Minh City: Meander through the streets of Ho Chi Minh and hear more about the local street-side café culture, which sprung up when many French lived in the country. Discover the art of making the perfect cup of Vietnamese coffee before trying one.
• Ho Chi Minh City: Continue with your exploration about the troubled past of the country at the War Remnants Museum.
• Hue: Meet the headmaster of the Vietnamese Royal Martial Arts Academy and hear about the rigours of training for each martial art. Afterwards, watch at a live performance by the martial artists, admirably demonstrating their skill and discipline.
• Hue: Take a boat ride to the private museum of Tran Dihn Son, whose great-grandfather was a high ranking mandarin during the Nguyen Dynasty and see the vast collection of rare antiquities collected by him and his ancestors.

VIP Experiences

• Mekong River Delta: Meet Mr. Sau Tuong, a former soldier, at his home and see how he and his wife make a living making rice paper. This quiet existence is in stark contrast to the four years he spent fighting the Khmer Rouge, who terrorised Cambodia in the 1970s.
• Hue: Enjoy a VIP visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Imperial Citadel before it opens to other travelers. Hear more about Emperor Gia Long, the first ruler of the Nguyen Dynasty, who made this the center of a unified Vietnam.

Well-being

• : Our customized luxury coaches are sanitized before the start of your tour and are maintained to very high standards. Physical distancing measures have been implemented on our customized luxury coaches.
• : Experience enhanced hygiene protocols to align with the latest guidance following COVID-19. All Travel Concierges, Well-Being Directors and Drivers have completed training in enhanced well-being and hygiene protocols.
• : We only work with establishments we are confident will consistently adhere to our high well-being standards, which include hotels, restaurants and sight-seeing venues.
• : Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.