Vietnam Explorer For Teenagers

Welcome to Hanoi and the start of your holiday. Upon arrival you will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel for check-in.

The rest of the day is free for you and your family to explore Vietnam's enchanting capital. At 6pm there will be a Welcome Meeting in the hotel lobby.

This morning we travel from Mai Chau back to Hanoi and immerse ourselves in the capital's vibrant street life. We begin with a delicious street food lunch, sampling a variety of local specialties in an authentic setting. We then explore Hanoi's hidden alleyways and backstreets, including a visit to the famous Train Street, before stopping to try a traditional egg coffee (at our own expense).

Continuing on, we visit the historic Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, and pass by the impressive Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Afterwards, we hop on motorbike taxis for an exciting ride through the city and along the shores of West Lake, offering a fascinating glimpse into daily local life. We pass through the districts of Vinh Phuc and Hoang Hoa Tham before ending at Buoi Market, a bustling local market popular with Hanoi residents.

This morning we have a breakfast box on the train before arriving into Hue where we set out on a guided sightseeing tour of this fascinating imperial city. Once the capital of the Nguyen emperors, the last ruling family of Vietnam, UNESCO-listed Hue is full of palaces, pagodas and temples.

Two of the main highlights here are the Thien Mu Pagoda, home to the oldest monastery in the city, and the Citadel. Within the walls of the latter is the Imperial Purple Palace – an exact replica of the famed Forbidden City in Beijing, with impressive ramparts, formal moats and imperial palaces, some of which lay in ruin. After our tour we enjoy a leisurely cruise along the Perfume River and on to our hotel.

Today we will travel on to the laidback riverside town of Hoi An, travelling along the picturesque Hai Van Pass – nicknamed the Road of the Ocean Clouds, with beaches on one side and verdant hills on the other. We will break up our journey with a stop at China Beach, an expansive sandy beach made famous by the film ‘Apocalypse Now'. Here there will be the chance to opt for a swim in its warm waters before continuing our journey south along the coast.

Radiating age-old charm with grand colonial architecture, Hoi An is one of Vietnam's most delightful destinations. The Old Town, recognised as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an immaculately preserved example of an Asian trading port with covered bridges, pagodas, temples and merchant houses. The town's beguiling riverside setting adds to the overall picturesque appeal of Hoi An with women in conical hats rowing their wooden vessels downstream and the glow of red lanterns in the evenings reflected on the water's iridescent surface.

A short walking tour will take us back to a bygone era, with a visit to the Chua Ong Pagoda, Chinese Assembly Hall, a 200-year-old Tam Ky house, former merchants' homes and the 400 year-old Japanese Covered Bridge.

For a taste of rural life today, we take a leisurely bicycle ride through the countryside to a local farm in Tra Que village (we can arrange alternative transportation at no extra cost for those who don't wish to cycle).

On arrival, we're introduced to the history of the village and learn how the local produce is used in Vietnamese cooking and traditional remedies. We then head into the gardens for a fun, hands-on introduction to village farming life. Together with local farmers, we'll have the chance to try out some traditional gardening activities such as preparing the soil, watering the vegetables, sowing seeds, and harvesting fresh greens.

After working up an appetite, we help to prepare a delicious home-cooked lunch with a local family. The meal includes regional favourites such as tam huu spring rolls and banh xeo, the famous savoury pancake from central Vietnam.

Afterwards, there's time to relax and soak up the peaceful countryside atmosphere before bidding farewell to our hosts.

We cycle back to Hoi An and take part in a lantern-making workshop. Lanterns are one of Hoi An's most iconic symbols, and we'll have the opportunity to create our own colourful keepsake to take home.

Today is free for you to spend at leisure in Hoi An. You may wish to head to the beach for a day of relaxation or shop until you drop - Hoi An is famous for its skilled artisans, with wonderful craft shops, art galleries and some of Asia's best bespoke tailors.

An early morning flight will take us to Ho Chi Minh City today. Once called the ‘Pearl of the Orient', old and new collide in this modern city as gleaming sky scrapers, glamorous restaurants and designer shops stand side-by-side with colonial era landmarks and post-war remnants. Here we will enjoy a walking tour of the city taking in some of Ho Chi Minh City's most famous landmarks, including the impressive red-brick Neo-Romanesque Notre Dame Cathedral, the central Post Office and the sobering War Remnants Museum.