The Bustling South

Our car and tour guide will meet you upon your arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport. Transfer to your hotel in the city centre for check-in. Free at leisure in the rest of the day. Stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

A morning city tour of dynamic Ho Chi Minh City, still called SAIGON by the locals. The orientation tour will be commenced on the Cach Mang Thang Tam Square (August Revolution Square) featured by the graceful colonial–style Notre Dame Cathedral and Saigon Central Post Office, from where you can walk up to visit the historical Reunification Palace. The tour is continued with a visit to a famous lacquerware factory and Thien Hau Pagoda in the bustling China Town. In the afternoon, we drive overland to Cu Chi Tunnels, an incredible underground tunnel network constructed by Vietnamese guerrillas to protect numerous villages against the American attacks during the Vietnam War. Back to Saigon for dinner and O/N. Stay overnight in HCMC.

AM: We visit part of the Mekong Delta today. Head south to Can Tho province and have a break after two-hour driving at My Tho to visit the ornate Vinh Trang Pagoda and a family-run rice noodle factory. Check-in hotel in Can Tho at noontime. PM: We leave for Thot Not, 45km to the north of Can Tho to visit the bamboo basket-making hamlet of Long Thanh before going on to the Thot Not Stork Sanctuary, from where you can view thousands of egrets and herons arrive to roost in the branches from a watching tower. Return to Can Tho late afternoon for dinner and O/N. Stay overnight Can Tho.

After breakfast, check-out and drive northwest to Chau Doc, situated on the Cambodian border. Transfer to hotel on arrival. Afternoon, take a boat to visit the Fish Farms where fish are bred in wooden cages suspended under floating houses on Mekong river. Stop at an islet for visiting a Cham minority group village where people are continuing their traditional simple life on stilt houses with fishing, weaving and practising their daily Muslim ceremonies. Return to the mainland in time to drive up the Sam Mt. to watch the sunset over the Cambodian border. Stay overnight in Chau Doc.

Leave Chau Doc for Saigon via Vinh Long. Break the journey at Vinh Long to take a boat trip to visit Phan Thanh Giang Confucious Temple and the cottage industries of Cho Cua village. You will have a chance to visit a ceramic tile factory, a tofu and fish sauce factory, a blacksmith's, a roof thatcher's and a rice husking factory. Continue to Cai Be Floating Market and rejoin the car to drive back to Saigon for dinner and O/N. Stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh City.

Leave Saigon after breakfast for a drive through scenic rubber and tea plantation farms en route to the cooler climes of Dalat, 300km from Saigon. Established as a hill station at the beginning of 20th century, Dalat is reminiscent of an alpine town with its French chalets and pine forests. An afternoon of sightseeing in Dalat takes in the art deco former Summer Palace of Emperor Bao Dai, the old Dalat Railway Station, Xuan Huong Lake, the Central Market and Lam Ty Ni Pagoda where a Buddhist monk, Vien Thuc, produces his abstract paintings and writes poetry. Stay overnight in Dalat.

Leave Dalat for Nha Trang after breakfast. The road descends to the arid coastal city of Phan Rang. Break the journey here to visit the 13th century Po Klong Jarai Cham Towers perched high on a rocky hill surrounded by prickly pear cacti. After Phan Rang Highway One turns north and follows the coast past salt pondos and vivid green rice fields to Nha Trang. Check-in hotel in Nha Trang upon arrival. Afternoon, visit the city including the Po Nagar Cham Towers and Long Son Pagoda with its enormous white Buddha statue. Stay overnight in Nha Trang.

A morning boat trip on Nha Trang bay. We visit some of the nearby islands and there are opportunities to swim and snorkel in the clear warm waters. Return to shore after a fresh seafood lunch on one of the islands. The afternoon is free to relax on the beach. Stay overnight in Nha Trang.

Bus trip back to Saigon, on the way visit Mui Ne beach, relax and swimming. Lunch in Mui Ne. Arrival in Saigon and check-in. A list of good shopping and relax addresses will be supplied by your tour guide for the rest of your time today. Stay overnight in Ho Chi Minh city.