Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, your guide and private car will meet you and transfer you to your hotel for check-in. This afternoon and evening are free at leisure.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City has some great activities available for a family holiday- sure to keep both kids and parents entertained.

Start with a 1.5 hour drive to Cu Chi for exploration of the tunnels (as an optional extra the return journey can be taken by speedboat along the Saigon River). The famous Cu Chi Tunnels consist of an incredible underground network constructed by Vietnamese resistance fighters (Viet Cong) during both the French and American wars. You’ll have a chance to crawl through the tunnels, learn about how the soldiers and their families lived and venture through the jungle with your guide.

Return to Ho Chi Minh City this afternoon for a special tour of Cho Lon, the city’s Chinatown district. You’ll travel by xe lam, local trucks with long benches in the back perfect for zipping around the city. During the tour, discover the markets and shops of the area, and also the Cantonese Thien Hau Pagoda - dedicated to the goddess of the Sea. Here children can light some incense coils that can burn up to 10 days and make a wish at the same time.

At the end of the day watch a traditional music show in a private home – loved by children as participation is always welcome! Return to your hotel late this afternoon for a chance to relax.

This evening have dinner at a popular BBQ restaurant for a ‘grill your own meal’. The whole family will join in, preparing their own food in the lively atmosphere.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

This morning, leave bustling Ho Chi Minh for the 2.5-hour drive to the delta town of Cai Be.

The brilliant colors and bustling markets of the Mekong Delta will delight kids as well as adults.

Arrive in Cai Be at noon, then board the Bassac. A welcome drink will be given on arrival followed by an introduction to the ship and crew. Depart towards Cho Lach on the Tien Giang River and enjoy lunch on the upper deck while en route. Rest on the deck while the ship branches into the Cho Lach Canal for 30 minutes through the traffic of sand and rice barges, past fruit drying facilities and around wooden ship building yards.

Visit of a village on the banks of river Mang Thít, where you can appreciate the way of life here in the Delta. Visit of the orchard or rice fields nearby.

Back on board the Bassac a complimentary drink will be served, so why not sit back and enjoy the sunset overlooking the Mekong’s magical waterways.

Dinner will be served whilst the Bassac cruises the Mang Thit River towards the Bassac’s anchorage for the night, downstream from the little market of Tra On. 

Overnight aboard the Bassac Boat

HCMC to Cai Be (100km): 2 hours

A delicious breakfast will be served from 0630 whilst the boat cruises towards Can Tho. Upon arrival check out of your cabin and transfer onto a local boat to visit the Cai Rang floating market the nearby arroyos and gardens.

Cruise through the floating market which bustles with wholesalers on big boats. Here, during the early morning market hours, larger sized boats anchor and create lanes that smaller boats weave in and out of. The main items sold here are fruit and vegetables and every boat has a long upright pole at its bow from which samples of the goods for sale are hung. The waterway becomes a maze of boats packed with mango, bananas, papaya, pineapple, and even floating pho vendors.

Return to land and have lunch in Can Tho.

This afternoon, spend time cycling around the quiet laneways and dirt paths of Can Tho. Biking is the perfect way to discover the countryside with your family. The roads are flat and the sites are amazing: cottage industries, small farms harvesting or planting rice, hidden temples and lots of friendly locals who will come out to greet you.

Overnight in Can Tho

After your breakfast, it’s time to resume the drive back to Ho Chi Minh City. The journey takes 4-hours.

Upon reaching Ho Chi Minh City you will be transferred to your hotel. The remainder of today is at your leisure.

Overnight in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho (180km): 4 hours

Early this morning, transfer to the airport for a short flight to Da Lat, in South Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Da Lat was a popular hill station retreat during French Colonial times and since then has been a popular destination for domestic tourists. Da Lat is known as the ‘City of Eternal Spring’ for its cool temperate climate and is also renowned for its rich variety of agricultural produce including coffee, vegetables and flowers as well as the surrounding mountains, waterfalls and pine forests. Upon arrival, your guide and driver will be waiting to transfer you to your hotel for check in and a short rest.

Today enjoy discovering the fresh air and countryside outside Da Lat on foot. Start the hike through hilly pine trees by crossing the trails that are made by local people here. The Tiger waterfall appears in your sight with the imposing beauty. Visit the Phoenix waterfall flowing slowly through old big trees. This river is the main source that supplies water for coffee and vegetable farms in this area. After crossing the hill, stop to visit Lieng Tro – a Chill minority village for a first hand-look at their daily activities. Enjoy a picnic lunch on the top of the hill with the fantastic view of rushing river in the beautiful valley.  After lunch, follow trails down the hill and enjoy the adventurous feeling when you cross the hanging bridges. A hilly path will take you back to the trailhead.  Kindly note that the trekking route and distance may be adjusted depending on weather conditions as well as the age of the children and fitness and energy levels.

Return to the hotel. Dinner and the remainder of this evening are at your leisure.

Overnight in Da Lat 

This morning enjoy a cycling excursion to discover more of the scenic Da Lat countryside. After breakfast, your private vehicle and guide will pick you up at 9 am and transfer to the biking starting point. Begin cycling with approx. 7km on the road and enjoy the fantastic view of Xuan Huong Lake and Victory Lake. Flower and vegetable farms in two sides of the road make you feel like you are coming back to nature. Continues to bike through the hilly pine forest to the top of the mountain and spy the poetic scene of the endless green forest near the Valley of Love then have a picnic lunch here with breads, typical fresh fruits and veggie of Da Lat. Kindly note that the cycling distance and route can be adjusted depending on weather conditions as well as the age of the children and fitness and energy levels.

After lunch, bike back to the starting point and then transfer approx. 3 hours by road to Nha Trang city, located on the coast.

The remainder of today and this evening are at your leisure.

Overnight in Nha Trang

Da Lat to Nha Trang (120km): 2.5 hours

Late this afternoon at approx. 4pm enjoy discovering the ‘streets and eats’ of Nha Trang by cyclo. Your local guide and the cyclo drivers will pick you up from your hotel in the Nha Trang city centre and begin with a chance for a few photos at the beach square.

As you explore the city riding in the cyclo now that the hottest part of the day has passed, you will join the throngs of school children heading from school and workers as they head home after their working day has finished. Stops will be made at the outside of the Nha Trang cathedral and the Ponagar temple as well as at the main harbour. Walk across the bridge over the Cai River with the colourful fishing boats below, as sunset and then twilight comes to this laid- back city by the beach.

As we explore by cyclo, different stops will be made to sample some of the renowned Nha Trang street food and local specialities, including ‘banh can’ (a grilled round rice cake), nem nuong (Nha Trang style Fresh Spring Rolls), grilled sea shells, and a long time popular local BBQ eatery. We finish by enjoying a Vietnamese coffee or fruit dessert sitting on the sidewalk with the locals, while watching the world and time passing by. 

Return to your hotel by cyclo and the remainder of the evening is at leisure.

Overnight in Nha Trang

This morning fly from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City to catch your connecting onward flight.