Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
Themes
The past, told straight
Most visitors come with one war in mind. The country has two thousand years of history on top of it, and the recent past makes more sense when you see the older layers too. We plan history trips that do both.
Overview
More than one war
Visitors from the West often arrive with the American war as the whole story. For the Vietnamese it is one chapter in a longer account that includes a thousand years under China, the Nguyen dynasty and its court at Hue, eighty years of French rule, the war against France that ended at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and the war that ended in Saigon in 1975. Further south and in the centre, the older kingdom of Champa left brick towers that still stand. Across the border, Cambodia carries Angkor and the Khmer Rouge years in the same landscape.
A history trip threads these together so each site has context. The tunnels at Cu Chi mean more after a morning in the war museum; the citadel at Hue means more when you know why the Nguyen emperors built it, and what happened to it in 1968. Our guides are chosen for this: several grew up near the places they talk about, and their families lived through what they describe.
Vinh Moc, the tunnel village on the old demarcation line.The trips
Trips for people who read the plaques
From half a day at the tunnels to three weeks across three countries, every trip here gives the sites room and the guide time to explain them.
Day tour · from USD 35
Cu Chi tunnels, half day
The tunnels at Ben Duoc, early, before the coaches — back for lunch.
Day tour · from USD 85
Cu Chi by speedboat
Up the Saigon River to the tunnels and back, no highway traffic either way.
Day tour · from USD 75
Cu Chi and the delta in one day
Eleven hours, four in the van. For people who truly have one day — with the timings on it.
Day tour · from USD 45
Saigon in a day, on foot
The palace, the war museum, the post office and a market, paced around the heat.
Day tour · from USD 35
Cho Lon, the Chinese city
Binh Tay market, the assembly halls and a herbalist street, before the heat.
Day tour · from USD 35
Saigon buildings, colonial to modernist
A walk through a century of façades, from French villas to 1960s apartment blocks.
2 days · from USD 215
Cu Chi and the delta, done in two
The famous one-day combination, split so both halves get a proper day.
3 days · from USD 295
Saigon in depth, three days
The city given three days: food, history, and the districts nobody visits.
3 days · from USD 525
Con Dao, three days
The island prison, turtle beaches and a sea that is actually clear.
3 days · from USD 325
Hue, the imperial city
The citadel, the tombs by boat and bicycle, and the food of the old court.
3 days · from USD 425
The DMZ and Hue
A full day north of Hue on the demarcation line, told by a guide who grew up there.
4 days · from USD 525
My Son and Hoi An
The Cham sanctuary at opening time, then three slow days in the old port.
5 days · from USD 695
Hue to Hoi An over the pass
Two nights in each, joined by the Hai Van pass in daylight.
7 days · from USD 985
Central Vietnam in a week
Phong Nha, Hue and Hoi An: caves, the imperial city and the old port.
2 days · from USD 235
Hanoi, two days
The Old Quarter, the Temple of Literature and a street-food night, at walking pace.
12 days · from USD 1495
Vietnam in 12 days, north to south
The winter direction: the north first, the warm south to finish.
14 days · from USD 1695
Vietnam in 14 days
All three regions, four bases, two flights: the honest minimum.
21 days · from USD 2595
Vietnam in depth, 21 days
Three weeks, including Phong Nha and the far north, without cutting the south.
7 days · from USD 995
Saigon and Angkor in a week
Three nights in the south, then a one-hour flight to three days at the temples.
10 days · from USD 1495
The Mekong to Angkor
Saigon, the delta, the river into Phnom Penh and on to Siem Reap.
14 days · from USD 1895
Vietnam and Cambodia, 14 days
Hanoi and the bay, Hoi An, Saigon, then three days at Angkor.
21 days · from USD 3195
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 21 days
Three countries in three weeks, with the flights doing the long legs.
24 days · from USD 3695
The grand Indochina route, 24 days
Luang Prabang and Vientiane, the length of Vietnam, the river to Phnom Penh, Angkor.
8 days · from USD 2495
Angkor to the delta by river
Three days at the temples, then a week downstream to Saigon.
The layers
The layers, and where to see them
| Period | Where | What survives |
|---|---|---|
| Champa, roughly 4th to 13th centuries | My Son, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon | Brick temple towers, sculpture in Da Nang’s museum |
| Nguyen dynasty, 1802 to 1945 | Hue | The citadel, royal tombs along the Perfume River |
| French colonial, about 1860s to 1954 | Saigon, Hanoi, Da Lat | The post office, opera houses, villas, the old prison in Hanoi |
| War with the United States, to 1975 | Cu Chi, the DMZ, Saigon, Con Dao | Tunnels, the Independence Palace, museums, prison camps |
| Khmer Rouge, 1975 to 1979 | Phnom Penh | Tuol Sleng and the killing fields at Choeung Ek |
The DMZ deserves a full day from Hue rather than the rushed version: the Vinh Moc tunnels where villagers lived underground, the Hien Luong bridge on the Ben Hai river, and the old base at Khe Sanh. Con Dao, off the southern coast, was a prison island under both the French and the Saigon government, and its cells and cemetery are sobering. In Hanoi, the Hoa Lo prison, the Temple of Literature and the mausoleum give three very different views of the same state.
Tone
Tone, and what to expect from the sites
Museums in Vietnam tell the story from the side that won, and some of them tell it bluntly. The War Remnants Museum in Saigon includes photographs of the effects of Agent Orange that many visitors find very hard to look at. We do not soften this and we do not add to it. Our guides give the Vietnamese view, their family’s view where it is relevant, and the wider context when you ask for it. Visitors from the United States, from Australia and from France are welcome everywhere, and veterans who come back are often met with a warmth they did not expect.
In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge sites are the hardest days of any trip we plan. We do Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek on the same morning, with an audio guide at the killing fields, and leave the afternoon empty.
Trade-offs
What changes, and who should look elsewhere
- Pace: longer at each site, and fewer sites per day. Two heavy sites in one day is our limit.
- Guides: senior guides with the depth to answer questions, which costs a little more than a standard guide.
- Hours: early starts at the popular sites, both for the heat and for the space to think.
- What we drop: shopping stops, and the souvenir-heavy parts of the standard routes.
History trips do not suit young children for the war sites in particular, and they do not suit anyone who wants their holiday light. They are also not the right choice if you want a detailed military tour of one campaign; we can arrange specialist guiding in the DMZ, but it is a narrow interest and we plan it separately.
Checklist
Checklist for a history trip
- Read one good general history of modern Vietnam before you come; it makes the guiding twice as useful.
- Dress for temples and memorials: shoulders and knees covered.
- Keep an afternoon free after the hardest sites.
- If a family member served here, tell us where; we can often plan a visit to the place.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Is it appropriate for Americans to visit the war sites?
Yes. Many do each year, and the reception is overwhelmingly friendly. The museums are one-sided; the people you meet rarely are.
Can you find the place where my father was stationed?
Often, if you have unit records or place names. Bases have mostly gone, but guides in the DMZ and around Saigon know the old sites and how to reach them.
How long do we need in Hue?
Two full days for the citadel and the tombs, plus a day for the DMZ if you want it.
Related
Read next
Central Vietnam
Hue
Citadel, royal tombs, and Vietnam’s most particular cuisine.
View this journey
Central Vietnam
The DMZ
Vinh Moc, Khe Sanh and the old dividing line.
View this journey
Central Vietnam
My Son
Cham brick temples: what to expect and when to go.
View this journey
Southern Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City
The city we work in: districts, food, timing and honest advice.
View this journey
Cambodia
Phnom Penh
The capital: palace, museum, the genocide sites and the river.
View this journey
Start planning
Tell us about the trip you have in mind
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.
Or talk to us:+84 766 045 399