Tailor-made Vietnam holidays shaped around your passions

A trip to Vietnam blends dramatic forest-draped mountain scenery with historical towns and cities whose architecture showcases the country’s tangle of cultures. There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites here, including the former imperial citadel of Hue and Champa Kingdom ruins at My Son, as well as a handful of jungle-blanketed national parks ideal for hiking and caving.

While Vietnam’s most notable sights might already be familiar to you, our specialists can help you get to know them more intimately. You could learn how to tend to one of Vietnam’s quintessential rice paddies with a local farmer, take a cooking class in an ornate pagoda on the outskirts of Hue’s royal monuments, or take a peek into a previously covert location in Ho Chi Minh City used to store the Viet Cong’s weapons during the Vietnam War.

There are a wide range of places to retreat to after a day of exploring in Vietnam, including beach resorts, heritage hotels, traditional junks, and city boutiques. For example, you could spend a night in a wooden merchant’s house in Hoi An, experience remote rural living at a homestay along the Mekong Delta, or rest your head at one of Vietnam’s most exclusive coastal resorts in Quy Nhon. There are also numerous boutique hotels right in the heart of Vietnam’s cities, so you can get up and go without needing to travel far.

Our specialists hand-pick every hotel in Vietnam, so they can help you explore and rest in a setting that suits you.

For a classic snapshot of Vietnam’s striking scenery and interlocking cultures, travel from Hanoi in the north down the coast to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south. Along the way, you can cruise around the limestone karst pillars jutting out of Halong Bay, gaze at the vibrant mosaiced roofs of Hue’s old town, wander in and out of the eclectic buildings of Hoi An, and zip around Hoi Chi Minh City on a Vespa.

If you want to go further from the traditional path, our specialists can craft a more intrepid route for you. You could trek the village-dotted Tonkinese Alps, share a home-cooked meal with a Tay family in their thatched-roof stilted house, or camp on the underground sands of a cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

It takes around 12–17 hours to fly from the UK to Hanoi in Vietnam. We recommend flying with Vietnam Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, and a few other airlines, which we can advise on.

The time zone in Vietnam is GMT+7, and there’s no daylight saving time in the country, so the clocks stay the same all year round.

In Vietnam, we recommend taking private cars for short hops between cities and going by air if you want to get across the country because it’s expansive, stretching from China in the north to the Gulf of Thailand in the south. You can also take a traditional Vietnamese junk to cruise around uninhabited karst islands in the north, a luxury train through Central Vietnam’s forested countryside to the coast, or a private wooden sampan along the Mekong and into Cambodia to see the Khmer temples of Angkor.

British passport holders are permitted to travel in Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. If you’re staying for longer than 45 days, you’ll need to apply for an e-visa. Irish passport holders will need to apply for a 90-day, multi-entry e-visa in advance of travel.

Your doctor can provide you with immunisation and antimalarial advice for Vietnam. You can also check the recommended vaccinations by visiting the Travel Health Pro website.

Just note that there’s a risk of Zika virus transmission in Vietnam, so if you’re pregnant or trying to conceive, please consult with your doctor for advice.

Your passport must be valid for at least six months after the date of your departure from Vietnam and have at least two blank pages. You should also get your passport stamped on arrival in Vietnam and when you leave to avoid any extra fees.

We recommend wearing light, loose clothing in Vietnam to keep cool and respect the culture because, in general, Vietnamese people dress very conservatively, especially in areas away from the main towns and cities.

When visiting Vietnam’s temples, you should dress conservatively, covering your knees and shoulders out of respect. In some temples, you will also need to remove your shoes before entering, but never point the soles of your feet toward Buddha images or other people. What’s more, you should never sit with your back to an altar, point at anything or anyone, or touch statues. It’s also respectful to refrain from talking while inside, but occasional whispering is fine.

There are many customs in Vietnam that will be different from your home country, but, thankfully, your expert guides will be there to help you navigate and understand them. For example, they might teach you how to greet local people in the traditional way, take part in festivities respectfully, or even how to avoid things that are considered back luck, like leaving your chopsticks sticking straight up in a bowl of rice.