Three UNESCO World Heritage sites within 150 km of each other, unhurried over four days — Da Nang's coast, Hoi An's lantern-lit old town and the imperial capital of Hue.
Photo: Aman Shrivastava / Unsplash
Day 1
Your guide meets you at Da Nang International Airport and transfers you to your hotel. In the afternoon we drive up the Son Tra Peninsula to Linh Ung Pagoda, where a 67-metre statue of the Goddess of Mercy faces out to sea and the terrace looks back over the whole of Da Nang Bay. After dinner we walk the Han riverfront to see the Dragon Bridge and Love Bridge lit up. On Saturday and Sunday evenings the dragon breathes fire and sprays water, and we position the group where the view is best.
Day 2
The morning is spent at the Marble Mountains, riding the lift or climbing the stone steps up Thuy Son to Huyen Khong Cave, a natural chamber lit by shafts of daylight through the roof. We stop at the Non Nuoc stone-carving village at the foot of the hill, where sculptors still work marble by hand. In the afternoon we continue to Hoi An and walk the old town — the Japanese Covered Bridge, the 200-year-old Tan Ky house and the Fujian Assembly Hall. At dusk the town switches off its electric lights and the silk lanterns come on; you float a paper lantern on the Hoai River, then have free time for cao lau and mi Quang.
Day 3
We leave early for Hue over the Hai Van Pass, stopping at the old Hai Van Gate for the view down onto Lang Co Bay. In Hue we enter the Imperial Citadel through Ngo Mon Gate and visit the Thai Hoa Palace, the dynastic temple and the Nine Dynastic Urns. The afternoon takes in Thien Mu Pagoda, whose seven-storey Phuoc Duyen tower stands directly above the Perfume River, and the tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh, where the interior of Thien Dinh Palace is covered in glass and porcelain mosaic. In the evening you can join a traditional Hue music performance on a dragon boat (optional).
Day 4
The morning is free to browse Dong Ba Market for sesame candy, royal tea and conical hats. We check out and return to Da Nang, with a stop at the Lang Co fishing village if your flight time allows. Your guide sees you off at Da Nang International Airport.
Central Vietnam holds three World Heritage sites within 150 kilometres of one another, and this itinerary strings all three together without turning the week into a race. You fly into Da Nang, sleep three nights in one comfortable coastal city, and travel out and back each day — south to the Marble Mountains and Hoi An, north to Hue over the Hai Van Pass.
We keep the pace slower than most operators on this route. The Hoi An evening is left open so you can walk the old town at your own speed, and the Hue day covers three sites properly rather than five or six in passing. In our experience people remember an afternoon by the Perfume River far longer than a checklist of tombs.
A guide travels with the group from the airport pickup to the airport drop-off. The trip suits families with children, groups of friends and corporate visitors alike. Group size and hotel category are confirmed before the contract is signed.
Vietnam ToursA day above the clouds — a record-setting cable car to 1,487 metres, the Golden Bridge held up by two giant stone hands, and a French village built in 1919.
Vietnam ToursA morning in a bamboo basket boat among the water palms of Cam Thanh, then an afternoon in Hoi An's old town that lasts until the lanterns come on.