Journey to Vietnam
In a land of breathtaking natural beauty, abiding tradition, and profoundly hospitable people, rewards abound for the thoughtful traveler. And in our flexible and congenial small group we encounter rewards aplenty on this comprehensive journey featuring all the highlights, plus the beautiful, remote Mekong Delta, where we spend two days.
Journey to Vietnam
Dates: February 6 – 20, 2025
Deposit: $500
Land Only (transfers not included): $3,995
From San Francisco (air-inclusive)*: $5,197
($4,595 air & land inclusive plus $602 airline taxes and fees)
Single Supplement: $1,495
*Other cities listed on brochure, which can be downloaded on the overview tab of this trip approximately nine months before departure. Airline prices are subject to change, and airline upgrades will be additional to the costs listed above.
Please note, all prices are for a standard, double room unless listed otherwise.
Your Tour Price Includes:
- Round-trip air transportation from listed cities; all flights within itinerary
- 13 nights’ accommodations in Deluxe and Superior First Class hotels
- 25 meals: 13 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 7 dinners
- Extensive sightseeing as described, including all entrance fees
- Services of an Odysseys Unlimited Tour Director
- Private motorcoach transportation throughout your trip
- Luggage handling for one bag per person
- Gratuities for local guides, dining room servers, airport and hotel porters, and all drivers
Book you trip today by filling out the brochure and emailing it to ietravel@ucsc.edu.
Travel Dates: February 6-20, 2025
Thursday, February 6, 2025
This evening we depart the US for Hanoi.
Friday, February 7, 2025
We arrive in the Vietnamese capital late this evening then transfer to our hotel.
Accommodations: InterContinental Hanoi Westlake
Saturday, February 8, 2025
This morning we take a walking tour of Ba Dinh Square, a popular complex of cultural and historic sites, including the marble and granite mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the Presidential Palace, and thousand-year-old One Pillar Pagoda. Following lunch on our own, we embark on an orientation tour of this French-accented city with broad tree-lined boulevards and colonial architecture. We pass Hoan Kiem Lake; visit the marvelous Temple of Literature (c. 1070); and tour infamous Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam War. Later we walk the narrow streets of the diverse Ancient Quarter, where tonight we gather at a local restaurant for a welcome dinner.
Accommodations: InterContinental Hanoi Westlake
(B, D)
Sunday, February 9, 2025
This morning we depart on a full-day excursion to Ha Long Bay, a breathtaking waterway sprinkled with 3,000 islands and islets, and surrounded by a fairytale landscape of limestone cliffs, secret grottoes, and hidden caves. Our tour includes a boat ride and seafood lunch.
Accommodations: InterContinental Hanoi Westlake
(B, L)
Monday, February 10, 2025
We fly this afternoon to Da Nang, Vietnam’s third largest city, situated on the south central coast. Upon arrival, we tour the acclaimed Cham Museum, which celebrates the Cham people’s Hindu legacy with a fine collection of sculpture and artifacts dating from the 7th to 15th centuries. After we reach our beachfront hotel, the remainder of the day is at leisure in this splendid setting.
Accommodations: Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa
(B, D)
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
This morning we visit nearby Hoi An, where a succession of Dutch, Chinese, Portuguese, and Japanese traders helped to build an architecturally diverse and colorful village where many ancient traditions still hold sway. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Hoi An’s Old Town is a charming car-free pedestrian zone lined with tailors, shops, and art galleries. This afternoon is at leisure to either remain in Hoi An on your own or return to our beachside resort for a relaxing interlude. Tonight, we enjoy a cooking lesson and dinner in Hoi An.
Accommodations: Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa
(B, D)
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
A morning walking tour of a nearby farming settlement reveals the daily life of a local community up close. Here rice paddies occupy every spare patch of ground, water buffaloes plow the fields, and villagers ride to market with produce piled high on their bicycles.
Accommodations: Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa
(B, L)
Thursday, February 13, 2025
We depart this morning by coach for the ancient imperial city of Hue, whose palaces, temples, and tombs evoke its past grandeur as home to emperors and mandarins. We explore the Imperial City – enjoying a traditional cyclo ride along the way – housing the Forbidden Purple City complex where emperors lived with their families and now a UNESCO site. We also visit the busy Central Market. Tonight we enjoy dinner accompanied by traditional music.
Accommodations: Silk Path Grand Hue Hotel
(B, D)
Friday, February 14, 2025
This morning we cruise along Hue’s Perfume River to peaceful Thien Mu Pagoda, a Buddhist monastery that ranks among the city’s oldest and most important monuments. After admiring the seven-story octagonal tower, we visit the palatial Tomb of Minh Mang (c. 1840), with its pavilions and courtyards modeled after the Ming Tombs of China. This afternoon we see the tombs of Tu Duc, a gem of royal architecture; and Khai Dinh, an elaborate mix of ancient and modern, European and Asian.
Accommodations: Silk Path Grand Hue Hotel
(B, L)
Saturday, February 15, 2025
We return to Da Nang by coach this morning then board our flight to the river port of Can Tho, provincial capital of the Mekong Delta. With its tributaries covering some 15,600 square miles of southwestern Vietnam, the Mekong supplies half of the country’s rice and fish – and ranks as a biological treasure-trove, known for its multitude of bird and flower species.
Accommodations: Victoria Can Tho Resort
(B, D)
Sunday, February 16, 2025
We rise early for today’s journey by boat to the floating market at Cai Rang on the Mekong’s lower reaches. After lunch together at a local restaurant, the remainder of the day is at leisure.
Accommodations: Victoria Can Tho Resort
(B, L)
Monday, February 17, 2025
An hour-long coach ride this morning brings us to the upper reaches of the storied Mekong. Here we board motorized sampans for an up-close look at river life as we explore the maze of tributaries and inlets that lead to tiny settlements and villages populated by fishermen and farmers. After lunch at a local restaurant, we continue on by coach to Saigon (the name Ho Chi Minh City is used interchangeably). We reach our hotel late afternoon; dinner is on our own in this vibrant city.
Accommodations: Sofitel Saigon Plaza
(B, L)
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
A morning tour includes the former Presidential Palace, which served as the South Vietnamese government’s wartime headquarters. Now known as Reunification Palace, it was here that the first Communist tanks rolled into Saigon on April 30, 1975; it remains preserved as a museum almost exactly as it was on that day. We also tour the History Museum, with its excellent collection of art and artifacts of the indigenous peoples of Vietnam. Later we attend a traditional water puppet performance
Accommodations: Sofitel Saigon Plaza
(B,D)
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
This morning we visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, the infamous underground network from which North Vietnamese forces operated in wartime. Tonight we celebrate our journey over a farewell dinner.
Accommodations: Sofitel Saigon Plaza
(B, D)
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Today we transfer to the airport for our return flights to the U.S.
(B)
B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner
ACCOMMODATIONS
InterContinental Hanoi Westlake, Hanoi, Vietnam / Days 2-4 / Deluxe
Overlooking West Lake, the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake offers a tranquil resort atmosphere conveniently located just 15 minutes from the city center. The hotel is decorated in contemporary Vietnamese style and includes three restaurants, a bar, lounge, convenience store, ATM, fitness center with sauna and spa, laundry and dry-cleaning services (for a fee), an unheated outdoor pool, and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access. Air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, private balcony, minibar, tea- and coffee-making facilities, in-room safe, TV, and phone.
Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa, Da Nang, Vietnam / Days 5-7 / Deluxe
With an ideal location on a private white sand beach at the foot of the Marble Mountains, this contemporary resort hotel offers a host of amenities including three restaurants, a lounge, bakery, deli, boutique, ocean terrace, fitness center with sauna/steam room, several outdoor swimming pools, spa with massage treatments and aromatherapy (for a fee), tennis courts, shuttle service to Hoi An, laundry and dry-cleaning services (for a fee), and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access. Featuring Vietnamese décor, all air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, private balcony, floor-to-ceiling windows, minibar, tea- and coffee-making facilities, in-room safe, TV, and phone.
Silk Path Grand Hue Hotel, Hue, Vietnam / Days 8-9 / Superior First Class
The Silk Path Grand Hue Hotel is located just across the Perfume River from the historic imperial city of Hue. Hotel amenities include two restaurants, a lobby lounge and café, outdoor swimming pool, fitness center, spa with massage treatments (for a fee), complimentary Wi-Fi internet access, and laundry service (for a fee). Air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, tea- and coffee-making facilities, in-room safe, and TV.
Victoria Can Tho Resort, Can Tho (Mekong Delta), Vietnam / Days 10-11 / Superior First Class
This 92-room resort hotel sits on the banks of the Hau River, an estuary of the Mekong River, amid beautiful tropical gardens. Hotel amenities include a restaurant and bar, laundry service (for a fee), fitness center, outdoor pool, spa with massage treatments (for a fee), tennis and badminton courts, billiard table, gift shop, library, and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access. Air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, minibar, ceiling fan, tea- and coffee-making facilities, in-room safe, TV, and phone.
Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam / Days 12-14 / Deluxe
Designed with a blend of modern French and Vietnamese influences, this 286-room hotel in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) sits close to the Notre Dame Basilica, the Reunification Palace, the botanical gardens, and other attractions. Hotel amenities include two restaurants and two bars; fitness center with steam room, sauna, and massage treatments; an unheated rooftop pool overlooking the city; laundry and dry-cleaning services (for a fee); and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access. Air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, minibar, tea- and coffee-making facilities, in-room safe, TV, and phone.
Cambodia: Angkor Wat & Phnom Penh
Discover the amazing temples and statuary from the Angkorian Empire, and also the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
Price:$1,595
Single Supplement: $325
*A visa is required for this post-tour extension. Odysseys Unlimited will provide information about entry requirements upon reservation.
Your Post-Extension Price Includes:
- Air transportation Ho Chi Minh City/Siem Reap; Siem Reap/Phnom Penh, inclusive of airline taxes and fees
- 3 nights’ accommodations: 2 nights in Siem Reap at Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra (Deluxe); 1 night in Phnom Penh at Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh (Deluxe); rooms reserved for late check-out in Phnom Penh
- 6 meals: 3 breakfasts, 3 dinners
- Three days’ sightseeing of Angkor complex (UNESCO World Heritage site), including all entrance fees
Phnom Penh sightseeing - Services of an Odysseys Unlimited Tour Director
- Private motorcoach transportation
- Gratuities for dining room servers, airport and hotel porters, and all drivers
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