Vietnam tour, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
Highlights
Hanoi | Halong Bay | Hue | Hoi An | Nha Trang | Ho Chi Minh | Three sleeper train journeys | One night on boat on Halong Bay
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this vacation or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
Toll free 1-866-821-6866 Calling from outside the US? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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Small group adventure
What is a small group adventure?It's a great way to travel! Whether you are traveling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.
Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.
Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travelers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travelers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.
Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.
So what can I expect on this trip?
This is one of our Basix trips, designed specifically for budget travelers who still want the security of group travel without lots of added inclusions. These trips don't have many included activities and meals are rarely included in the price, giving you the opportunity to search out local restaurants and sample regional specialities to your heart's content. The amount of free time in these itineraries means that the Basix trips often appeal to younger travelers looking to explore independently and tailor the trip to your own interests. You often won't spend too many days in any one place and you'll pack lots of different locations into your vacation.
As you might expect, accommodation on a Basix trip will be fairly basic! We'll stay in 1-2 star accommodation, often including homestays and there may be nights where the group stays somewhere multi-share / in a dormitory-style. Most accommodation however will be twin share; with solo travelers automatically roomed with a fellow group member of the same sex, this means that there are no single supplements on Basix trips.
On camping trips you will be expected to help out around the camp; putting up and taking down your own tent, helping with meals and other camp duties. We often find the nights where we are without a few creature comforts are those that are most amazing; wild bush camping in Serengeti anyone?! We'll use local transport where ever possible which is a great way of seeing the country and meeting locals as we travel.
Can I book my flights with you?
Yes! We are a fully ATOL bonded tour operator meaning that we can book flights from the UK as part of your vacation package. Just ask us for a quote including flights when you make your inquiry.
Responsible tourism
Vietnam tour, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
Carbon reduction
Your vacation will help support local people and conservation. We must also reduce CO2. Learn about the CO2 emissions of this vacation and how to reduce them.
Environment
As a global tour operator, we are committed to traveling responsibly and endeavour to practise sustainable tourism wherever we visit. We believe that responsible travel is about the attitude you take with you and the choices you make when traveling - to respect and benefit local people, their cultures, economy and the environment.
We are committed to operating in a responsible manner, incorporating the principles of sustainable development in the way we provide our travelers with real life experiences. These values are more than just words on a page; they are ingrained in our culture and the daily operations of every office and every trip. This trip will take you on an exciting cultural journey aboard the legendary Reunification Express, witnessing ancient royal relics, meeting fascinating locals, cycling through small villages and visiting the historic Cu Chi Tunnels.
We encourage our travelers to meet local people to get a real insight into local life; in Hoi An, travelers can get involved in a cooking class with a local chef to try their hand at making traditional Vietnamese cuisine and we spend three nights traveling aboard an overnight sleeper train. The train is a real highlight for our travelers as locals love to interact with our travelers because it gives both the chance to learn about a new culture. We hire bikes in Hue to discover the rural landscape and small villages in the surrounding countryside. This is an exciting part of the trip as travelers get a real understanding of the local way of life as we stop to witness locals out in the fields at work. We use local transport to eliminate unnecessary added pollution, to experience a new way of traveling and to interact with local people.
We endeavour to give our travelers an insight and appreciation into a country’s history and in particular on this tour we visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, located just outside of Ho Chi Minh City. The visit is particularly moving and tells the travelers part of the backstory of Vietnam. We employ all local tour leaders which provide secure and promising jobs for local people and gives us a true representation of a destination, adding to the experience for both traveler and local.
As a company, our dedication to sustainable tourism doesn’t stop when our tours do. We have four projects in Vietnam dedicated to helping vulnerable children and families in providing educational services and training to help people out of poverty. We also support the Turtle Conservation Centre that has specialised breeding and holding facilities for over 600 turtles, representing 15 of Vietnam’s 23 native species.
We support the non-profit Nguyen Nga Centre that offers education, training and work placement assistance for disadvantaged people and people with disabilities. We purchase embroidered ‘say no to plastic’ cloth shopping bags for our travelers and the income goes to the center to help pay their rent.
1 Reviews of Vietnam tour, Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
Reviewed on 30 Apr 2018 by Malgorzata Gwiazda-Lindsay
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Rowboats in Trang An, great day trip with breathtaking scenery. Hanoi night life with great little bars and salsa dancing with locals. Lanterns in Hoi An. Iced teas and smoothies! Some more salsa dancing to live band in Nha Trang. Presidential bunker in Saigon. And above all, meeting lovely Vietnamese people.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Pack any type of a sleeping sheet for the train, as blankets and pillows provided are not always clean. None of the hotels have complimentary tea/coffee/sugar in the rooms, or a tea spoons oddly enough. Check out the street food market when in Saigon, especialy great for groups.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
On small day trips, when we were visiting local people in their homes and eating with them - yes, I believe they benefited, and I very much enjoyed the experience, plus they went out of their way to prepare me a beautiful vegetarian meals and I very much appreciated that. On other days, when group was taken by the guide to the most expensive restaurants for dinner - no, I can't see any benefit to the local people. Those carefuly selected restaurants have not had vegetarian options, or considered a bowl of dry rice a good enough main so I have quickly removed myself from those outings anyway. I understand the tour operator is planting trees to reduce environmental impact. I found it irritating that none of the hotels had facilities to fill up drinking water bottle, and we were forced to constantly buy plastic bottles, the amount of plastic waste I've created on this vacation is probably higher than my annual footprint.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
It was great to travel in a group, sharing experiences, having a good laugh and making lovely friends. I would like to spend a little bit more time in Hue - never got a chance to visit the purple city as we went to a short trip immediately upon arrival and by the time we came back and got changed, the site was closed. Leaving first thing in the morning meant no sightseeing of Hue. There was no safe storage facilities for passports in hotels. The hotel choice, Hanoi - nice, Hue - nice, HoiAn - very nice, NhaTrang - poor, Saigon - poor. Traveling on the train was surprisingly entertaining.
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