Essential Vietnam & Cambodia

Arrive at any time. There are no planned activities today until an evening welcome meeting. After the meeting, opt for dinner out with the group.

Included Experiences

• Meet Your CEO and Group: Your opportunity to meet your CEO and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Opt to join the group for a local meal afterwards. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group.

Optional Experiences

• Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum Visit: Tour the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum built in the square where Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence in 1945. Get in line to tour the grounds; queues of visitors come to pay their respects daily.
• Tran Quoc Pagoda Visit: Visit one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam located on the eastern shore of Tay Ho. Learn about Tran Quoc's history from the 17th-century stela found on site. View it later in the day, if you can – the tall structure is striking against the setting sun.
• Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre Performance: Watch a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show with beautiful live music and intricate puppets dancing in a water stage.

Enjoy a Ha Long Bay cruise on a junk boat with visits to a cave and an island lookout. Savour a seafood lunch and dinner. Drive to Bai Chay harbour, the jumping off point for Ha Long Bay. Thousands of islands with intricate cave systems rise dramatically from the waters. Sail past limestone karst mountains in the junk boat and stop to visit some of the islands and caves. In the evening, devour a seafood dinner, then opt to enjoy a drink on deck under the stars.

Included Experiences

• Shared Van: Climb aboard and make friends with your seatmate en route to the next stop.
• Junk Boat: Skim across the water aboard this iconic traditional Asian sailboat.
• Halong Bay Overnight Cruise: Board a traditional junk boat at Ha Long Bay harbour and cruise out onto serene waters. Marvel at massive limestone karst mountains jutting out of the water, creating unforgettable spectacular scenery. Swim, kayak or go cave exploring on one of the islands, if conditions are right. Indulge in fresh seafood meals with a variety of dishes to sample. Drift to sleep in a cozy cabin on board. On rare occasion Halong Bay is closed to tourist vessels by the government authorities due to extreme weather conditions. Should this occur, an alternate activity will be provided.

Optional Experiences

• Kayaking: Transfer from boat to kayak in this guided water tour, giving you the chance to get even closer to the stunning natural surroundings.

Enjoy breakfast and lunch on board before sailing back to the port and return to Hanoi. Enjoy some time in the city before an overnight train to Hue.

Included Experiences

• Free Time: Spend a few hours exploring this beautiful capital city. Visit some shops, have a bia hoi on a street corner or grab a coffee in a lakeside café.
• Overnight Train (beds): Drive about 15 mins to the station and then board the southbound train for the overnight journey.

Optional Experiences

• Hanoi Foodie Culture Tour: Indulge your inner foodie with a street food tour through bustling Hanoi. Follow your guide through the back streets and markets of the city’s old quarter, sampling local fare along the way. Mingle with city natives and experienced street food artists alike, as you taste a variety of Hanoi faves like “nem ran” and “banh goi.” Stop at a streetside bar to savour a draught beer like Hanoians do. Cap off the tour at the Hanoi Food Culture restaurant, a G Values Fund Project, and try the city’s signature specialty coffee.

Pull into Hue early in the morning and dive right into the city, starting with a guided tour of the Imperial Citadel, Royal Tomb and Tien Mu Pagoda. The rest of the day, you are free to explore the city how you'd like.

Included Experiences

• Thien Mu Pagoda Visit: Visit Tien Mu, one of the tallest and, perhaps, most elegant pagodas in Vietnam, at seven storeys high. Take a step back in time touring this historic temple - built more than 400 years ago along the north shore of the Perfume River, it has been the site of many political protests.
• Imperial Citadel Tour: Tour this one-time capital city and UNESCO World Heritage site. See the walled fortress and former palace, which has many palaces, gateways, courtyards, and gardens to explore. The Forbidden Purple City (modelled on China's Forbidden City) inside the citadel was once home to the imperial family and was significantly damaged during the Vietnam War.
• Royal Tombs Visit: Visit the Royal Tombs along the Perfume River in Hue. Embracing the concept of Feng Shui, these tombs are extremely ornate and provide fantastic insight into the lives of the former rulers.

Optional Experiences

• Hue Motorbike Tour: Grab a helmet, hop on a motorbike driven by your experienced local guide, and get ready for a crash course in authentic Viet culture. Spend the next four hours exploring the stalls of a local market, admiring the view of the Perfume River, learning to plough and make rice, creating your own incense sticks, and seeing the most iconic local sights. Don’t forget to bring your camera!

Drive the Hai Van pass. Take advantage of Hoi An's many options over the 2.5 days in town. Opt for a cooking class, riverboat trip, bike ride, beach time, tailor visit or My Son ruins. Cross the Hai Van Pass (weather permitting), with fantastic views in all directions, before arriving to Hoi An in the afternoon. With three nights here, there's plenty of time to explore all this charming town has to offer.

Included Experiences

• Free Time: Use free time in this quaint town to explore any way you like.

Explore all Hoi An has to offer. Dive into the culture, hang out on the beach or get clothes tailor-made in one of the many shops around town. Enjoy a noodle making demonstration and lunch at Oodles of Noodles, a G Adventures-supported project.

Included Experiences

• Oodles of Noodles: Try some of the oodles of noodles (more than 26 types!) available in the city in this tasty cooking class. Run by our G for Good partners, STREETS International, this class was developed exclusively for G Adventures. Former street youth that are part of this hospitality training program, will help you prepare and cook a number of different types of noodles. This program helps these youth practice their English, increasing their skill-set and opportunities available to them in the tourism industry. Enjoy your yummy creations while learning more about the local cuisine and this initiative which empowers street youth through skills and employment training.
• Free Time: Explore this charming city.

Optional Experiences

• Bike Rental: Rent a bike from a local shop and head out to explore.
• Tailor Shops: Go home with some new (handmade!) clothes from one of Hoi An’s famous tailor shops. Walk the streets lined with hundreds of local shops that turn out gorgeous suits, dresses, winter coats, shoes, purses – almost anything – in a day's time to create next season's wardrobe.
• Thu Bon River Boat Trip: The Thu Bon River plays an important part in Hoi An's history and culture. Take a trip down the Thu Bon by river boat for an alternative tour of the city.
• Hoi An Old Town Walking Tour: Stroll through the narrow winding streets of Hoi An’s old town to see Chinese assembly halls, ancestral homes, The Japanese Covered Bridge, and well-preserved pagodas on this self-guided tour. Opt to try local delicacies and fusion food at one of the restaurants for which Hoi An is becoming famous.
• Mỹ Sơn Excursion: Travel approximately one hour from Hoi An to arrive at My Son. Tour these Hindu temples built between the fourth and 14th centuries; the site is widely accepted as one of the most important Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia. Learn about the architectural style and history of a site that’s often compared to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Bagan in Burma. Please note this optional activity is a half-day and includes a guide, transportation, and the entrance fee.

Spend a free day exploring all Hoi An has to offer.

Included Experiences

• Free Time: Enjoy free time in this charming town.

Optional Experiences

• Thu Bon River Boat Trip: The Thu Bon River plays an important part in Hoi An's history and culture. Take a trip down the Thu Bon by river boat for an alternative tour of the city.
• Mỹ Sơn Excursion: Travel approximately one hour from Hoi An to arrive at My Son. Tour these Hindu temples built between the fourth and 14th centuries; the site is widely accepted as one of the most important Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia. Learn about the architectural style and history of a site that’s often compared to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Bagan in Burma. Please note this optional activity is a half-day and includes a guide, transportation, and the entrance fee.
• Hoi An Cooking Class: Take a cooking class to learn more about Vietnamese food and its distinct flavours. Tour the local market to buy fresh ingredients before preparing some popular regional dishes. Enjoy your creations when you're done!

Fly from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City with free time to explore this hectic and amazing city. Drive to Da Nang for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City, once the capital of South Vietnam and the country’s commercial centre. Start exploring the small alleys and busy streets, keeping an eye out for laquerware shops and delicious local food stalls.

Included Experiences

• Plane: Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... yup, it is a plane, actually.

Take a guided tour of famous Cu Chi Tunnels in the morning. The rest of the day is yours to enjoy free time. Use free time to visit the Thien Hau and Giac Vien pagodas and stroll through the immense Ben Thanh Market. The Reunification Palace, the city's Chinese quarter of Cholon, and the War Remnants Museum are also well worth a visit.

Included Experiences

• Cu Chi Tunnels Guided Tour: Take a guided tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels, a complex network of tunnels that the Viet Cong lived in to protect themselves from opposing forces during the Vietnam War. Try crawling through some of the tunnels (if you’re not claustrophobic). These tunnels stored ammunition, had underground hospitals, and served as a hidden base for attacking allied forces.
• Free Time: Enjoy free time to explore this hectic city any way you like.

Optional Experiences

• Reunification Palace Visit: Wander the historic halls of the Reunification Palace (Independence Palace), a landmark in Ho Chi Minh City. This former home of the South Vietnamese president during the Vietnam War became the location of the end of the war when a North Vietnamese tank pushed through the palace gates on April 30, 1975.
• Thien Hau Pagoda Visit: Visit the Thien Hau Pagoda, a beautiful temple in the Chinatown district of Ho Chi Minh City. Learn more about the customs associated with this 19th-century monument – it is dedicated to the goddess Thien Hau (the 'Lady of the Sea') who is worshipped in Chinese communities throughout Asia by those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods.
• Cholon Visit: Take in the busy rhythm of daily life in Cholon, the Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh City. Tour the area full of teahouses, pagodas, and people, and learn a little more about the unique culture within the city.
• Ben Thanh Market: Wander this bustling market for more insight into Ho Chi Minh City. Pick up souvenirs, sample local cuisine, and experience local living. Learn a little history along the way; Ben Thanh started as a cluster of street vendors selling wares by the Saigon River, and was formalized into a true market in 1859.
• Giac Vien Pagoda Visit: Find this hidden pagoda behind some small alleyways – it’s a rare treat of a monument that has been spared the over-restoration that has been done to so many temples. Tour the inside of this 18th-century pagoda to see nearly 100 carvings of divine beings.
• War Remnants Museum Visit: Visit the War Remnants Museum, a gut-wrenching but worthwhile experience that includes three storeys of exhibits and military hardware. Learn about the devastation that occurred in Saigon during the Vietnam War, a period that greatly contrasts the joy and liveliness of the Vietnamese people today.

Spend today free in Ho Chi Minh City. Opt to take a boat cruise through the villages, islands, and markets of the Mekong Delta, and visit traditional candy factories. Or if you prefer, head to the famed Cu Chi Tunnels for an underground tour.

Included Experiences

• Free Time: Enjoy a free day to explore Ho Chi Minh City.

Optional Experiences

• Cu Chi Tunnels Countryside Cycling Tour: Meet your guide at the hotel and drive 90 minutes to the north of Ho Chi Minh City. After hopping on the bike, you'll ride beneath rows of rubber trees and past countless forest vistas that offer incredible photo opportunities. Along the way, you'll also have the opportunity to visit a rice paper making station, farmers working in the fields and taking care of their livestock and local villages. Bike until you reach the famous Cu Chi tunnel, a complex network of tunnels that the Viet Cong lived in to protect themselves from opposing forces during the Vietnam War. Try crawling through some of the tunnels (if you’re not claustrophobic). These tunnels stored ammunition, had underground hospitals, and served as a hidden base for attacking allied forces.Afterwards, drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.
• Full Day Mekong River Delta Tour: Trade the city bustle of Ho Chi Minh City for the slower rural life on the Mekong Delta. Begin by exploring the peaceful Vinh Trang Pagoda, then cruise the legendary Mekong River, visiting Unicorn Island to enjoy fresh fruits and traditional music. Sample local chocolates and fresh honey tea from a bee farm. Experience local life with a peaceful rowboat ride through narrow canals, a tuktuk adventure, and a stop at a coconut candy workshop. Indulge in an optional riverside lunch before we return to Ho Chi Minh City.

Travel day with border crossing from Vietnam to Cambodia. Enjoy a cyclo tour through the city. Drive to the border and cross into Cambodia. Continue on to the capital, Phnom Penh, and enjoy a cyclo ride through the city for a street-level perspective.

Included Experiences

• Local Bus: Climb aboard, grab a seat, and enjoy the ride.
• Border Crossing (Vietnam - Cambodia): Ready for a little more ink in your passport? Grab your bags and get ready to check another country off your bucket list.
• Phnom Penh Cyclo Tour: Settle in a traditional cyclo and depart from Wat Phnom. Tour busy streets to soak up the real vibe of the city. Pass the post office and Van's restaurant, both stunning colonial buildings, and make your way to the Royal Palace and National Museum. Go along the riverside road and take in the atmospheric cafes that line the street.

Guided tour of Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21 Prison) and Choeung Ek (Killing Fields). Opt to visit the Royal Palace, the National Museum or the Central Market. Meet a local guide to learn more about the dark side of Cambodian history. Visit to Choeung Ek, the site of the infamous Killing Fields. After, visit Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21 Prison), the notorious Khmer Rouge prison where thousands of Cambodians perished. Enjoy a free afternoon to sightsee. Opt to explore the city's many sights: the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda, and the National Museum. With time, choose to visit the Russian Market, Wat Phnom or sip a drink at a riverside café.

Included Experiences

• Choeung Ek (Killing Fields) Guided Tour: Learn more about the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge visiting the killing fields of Choeung Ek; the grounds now stand as a powerful memorial filled with victims’ skulls and mass graves. Tour this sombre, yet serene, site with a guide.
• Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21 Prison) Guided Tour: Learn about the dark history and devastation that occurred at Security Prison 21 (S-21); the prison, used by the Khmer Rouge regime, is now Tuol Sleng Museum. Take a guided tour to hear the stories behind the sombre photos lining the museum walls.
• Free Time: Use free time to customize your experience and see the sights that interest you most.

Optional Experiences

• Russian Market: Visit the Russian Market for a selection of souvenir stalls along with jewellers and fabric sellers.
• Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda Visit: Visit the Royal Palace, a complex of buildings where the kings of Cambodia have resided since the 1860s (except for during the reign of the Khmer Rouge). Be sure to tour the Silver Pagoda compound (aka the Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the central compound. See the many magnificent treasures inside this beautiful vihara (Buddhist monastery), including its floor lined with more 5,000 tiles of silver.
• National Museum: Visit Cambodia's largest museum of culture, history, and archaeology. Tour its buildings inspired by Khmer architecture – constructed in the early 1900s, they house one of the world's largest collections of Khmer art. Visits here are well worth your time.
• Wat Phnom Visit: Visit Wat Phnom (Hill Temple) in late afternoon, a historic monument with lots of green space. Keep an eye on your food and belongings; cheeky monkeys like to get a hold of anything they can.

Drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the home base for exploring incredible Angkor Wat.

Included Experiences

• Shared Van: Drive through the beautiful Cambodian countryside.

Optional Experiences

• Phare Circus: Enjoy a stellar performance by Phare, a unique and socially conscious circus that injects Cambodian culture and history into its inspiring shows. See acrobatics, contortion, and aerial arts melded with theatre, modern dance, and more. Take in stories of war, relationships, and discrimination, inspired by the real-life experiences of Phare’s creators and performers.

Watch the sun rise over the massive Angkor temple complex with a guided tour. Opt to visit the Tonlé Sap floating village and the Angkor National Museum. Enjoy a traditional meal of Khmer food at a G Adventures for Good-supported project. Spend two days exploring Angkor, the former capital of the Khmer kingdom and one of the wonders of the archaeological world. See some of the highlights of this ancient capital, like sunrise at the magnificent temple of Angkor Wat, the enigmatic Bayon within the walled city of Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm, also known as the 'Tomb Raider' temple. Enjoy a traditional meal to learn about Khmer food and meet some friendly locals. Alternating locations of our included local meal means we can support multiple small businesses and projects in the area. Each experience is truly unique and memorable.

Included Experiences

• Angkor Wat Guided Tour: Follow a local expert through the massive grounds of Angkor Wat for 2 days. You'll have the opportunity to go in and out of the complex, resting at the hottest part of the day.
• Free Time: Enjoy free time in Siem Reap.
• Local Khmer Meal: Depending on the day of the week your tour visits Siem Reap, you will either enjoy a traditional meal at the G Adventures-supported New Hope project or in a local home in a nearby village. With so many travellers coming through this area, alternating experiences helps to allow multiple small businesses to flourish. Both experiences are truly unique and memorable. The New Hope Vocational Training Restaurant, an initiative kickstarted by G Adventures, provides skill-building opportunities to marginalized community members. The project also funds the adjacent free community school and health centre. Meals at Phila's house support the education of underprivileged children in the area. Visit either project – both run by locals – and see how they have supported positive change in the community.

Optional Experiences

• Angkor Museum Visit: Learn about the story of Angkor and the Khmer empire at the interactive Angkor Museum. Explore the museum’s inspiring galleries and interactive technology, which bring Angkor’s past to life. Opt to rent an audioguide (5USD) for the full experience.
• Tonle Sap Floating Village: Tour the floating villages of Tonlé Sap. See what life is like living on a lake — rice planting, attending churches and school, are all done on top of water. (Please note: this activity runs seasonally.) (25-30 USD per person)

Spend another day exploring the temples of Angkor. In the afternoon, opt to going further afield in Siem Reap.

Included Experiences

• Angkor Wat Guided Tour: Enjoy another day touring the impressive ancient ruins with a local guide.
• Free Time: Get out and explore.

Optional Experiences

• Tonle Sap Floating Village: Tour the floating villages of Tonlé Sap. See what life is like living on a lake — rice planting, attending churches and school, are all done on top of water. (Please note: this activity runs seasonally.) (25-30 USD per person)

Fly from Cambodia to Thailand. Enjoy the rest of the day to explore bustling Bangkok as you wish.

Included Experiences

• Plane: Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... yup, it is a plane, actually.
• Free Time: Spend the rest of the day at leisure in Bangkok.

Depart at any time. Not ready to leave this vibrant city? Extend your stay with post-tour accommodation – your CEO can give you a hand.