Highlights of Vietnam and Cambodia

Fly overnight direct from London Heathrow to Hanoi.

On arrival, transfer to the 4-star Mercure Hanoi La Gare for overnight. Discovery in Hanoi includes visits to the city’s Ethnological Museum, focused on the 54 recognised ethnic groups in Vietnam; Ho Chi Minh’s home and mausoleum; the One Pillar Pagoda, a Buddhist shrine, its 11^th-century temple set atop a single pillar, at the centre of a lotus pond; and the Taoist Quan Thanh Temple, its origins in the 11^th century, much restored and altered over the intervening millennium, but still a major religious landmark. (Option to pre-book early check-in at Mercure Hanoi La Gare.)

An optional tour today takes you by ‘cyclo’ (bicycle taxi carriage) to the Temple of Literature, a place of learning for 700years, known as ‘the first university’, and dedicated to Confucius; and to Hoan Kiem Lake to visit Ngoc Son (Jade Mountain) Temple, set on the lake’s Jade islet (£35, pre-bookable only). Later, fly over the Cambodia border to Siem Reap, the gateway to ancient, amazing Angkor, for three nights at the 3-star Somadevi Hotel.
(B)

This morning, visit the South Gate of Angkor Thom, approached by a causeway across a moat; the astonishing façade of the Bayon Khmer temple; the Royal Enclosure and its Elephant Terrace parade, forming part of the Angkor city wall; and the Terrace of the Leper King. The afternoon tour explores the star of the show, the 12^th-century Angkor Wat temple, the huge three-tiered pyramid crowned by five beehive-like towers. Covering 162 hectares with shrines to the Hindu god Vishnu, later re-dedicated to Buddhism, the complex was abandoned in the 15^th century, but retains a mystical aura. In the early evening, enjoy an optional boat tour on the moat of the archaeological park, cruising on a traditional Khmer gondola past the Royal Secret Path and the City Guard Post, to a serene sunset view of the Great Wall of Angkor Thom (£18, pre-bookable only).
(B)

Enjoy a day at leisure in Siem Reap or from our optional tours. One visits the Angkor Museum and the town’s artisan centre of arts and crafts (£39, pre-bookable only); the other takes you to the temples of Preah Khan, 12^th-century Neak Pean, and beautiful Ta Prohm, still tangled in the tree roots of the jungle which has hidden it for so long (£75, pre-bookable only).
(B)

Stroll among the colonial and Chinese-style buildings in the French Quarter, or through the street food stalls cramming the Old Market. Later, fly to Ho Chi Minh City for two nights at the central 4-star SILA Urban Living.
(B)

A city tour views the flamboyant façade of the Opera House, and the unmistakeably French colonial Central Post Office; and visits the War Remnants Museum, and the Reunification (aka Independence) Palace, its chequered past seeing it serve as the seat of colonial government, before it was all but destroyed, to be replaced in the 1960s. An optional afternoon tour (£49, pre-bookable only) visits the labyrinth of tunnels running beneath the city’s Cu Chi district, dug by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam/American war, to house troops, transport, and supplies. The extensive network here is a just a small part of the thousands of miles of tunnels burrowed between Saigon and the Cambodian border.
(B)

This last day is at your leisure with the option to pre-book a late check out at the SILA Urban Living or perhaps take an optional tour (£115, pre-bookable only), driving through the Mekong Delta, where storks circle overhead and working water buffalo are in their element, and including a cruise on the Mekong River and a room is available to freshen-up before the return flight. Transfer to the airport for the return flight.
(B, D)

Arrival at London Heathrow.