Our favorite Vietnam tours and excursions

If destinations and accommodation are the bread and butter of a great vacation, a hands-on cultural experience is the secret sauce that brings it all to life.

One bad guided tour can be enough to put you off the idea entirely – but a really good guide (and you can rest assured, we only work with the absolute best) can turn what an uninspiring box-ticking exercise into an experience you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

What it comes down to is this: there’s a difference between seeing and understanding, and the only way to bridge that gap is to get stuck in. No amount of looking will ever tell you as much about a Hanoian wet market than a morning spent shopping with a local chef – and if you don’t jump on the back of a vintage Vespa, how will you ever know how exhilarating it feels to zip through the streets of Saigon?

It doesn’t matter where you are or what the experience: these are the most exciting and immersive things you can do in Vietnam, run by some of the most charismatic and interesting people we know.

Authentic Life of Hanoi

Hanoi is a maze of streets, a hotch-potch of eras, a tangle of stories.

Why just admire crumbling colonial townhouses when you can visit a local family who’ve lived in one for four generations? Why watch trains trundling past when you can hop onboard and meet the commuters? Wander the capital on your own and you’ll breeze past countless secrets waiting to be uncovered. On this tour, your guide is your passport to the hidden life of Hanoi -- taking you into the backstreets to seek out the best street food snacks and telling you the stories that will bring the city around you to life.

Insider Experience: Contemporary art in Hanoi

Get an insider’s look at the capital’s thriving contemporary art scene with curator and artist Nguyen Anh Tuan.

You'll begin the day with a visit to the private collection of Suzanne Lecht, where you'll see works by some of Vietnam’s most exciting emerging artists. From there, Nguyen will guide you through an exhibition of virtual public art using an augmented reality app – the first of its kind in Vietnam – to see how young Vietnamese artists are pushing the boundaries of technology. Finally, you’ll round off the tour at Manzi Art Space, a chic gallery-cum-café-bar where a cold drink in the courtyard garden makes for a refreshing end to the day. It’s the perfect modern counterbalance to traditional Hanoi.

Tour of a Vietnamese market with Chef Ai

Insider Experience: Home cooking with Chef Ai

If you ask us, there’s no better way to kick off your trip to Vietnam than with this cooking class at the home of Vietnamese MasterChef finalist Chef Ai.

The experience starts with a visit to the local wet market, where Ai will guide you between mountains of fresh herbs and teeming buckets of crabs to pick out ingredients for the lesson. Then, after returning to Ai’s home kitchen, you’ll learn how to make a selection of dishes loaded with aromatic herbs, spices and sauces. This isn’t just an insider’s introduction to the flavors and textures of Hanoian cuisine, it’s a window into Vietnamese daily life – and the things you learn will set you up to make the most of the (many, many) gastronomic opportunities that await you on the rest of your trip.

Insider Experience: Tour Hanoi with a street-food blogger

Whether it’s a steaming bowl of pho or sizzling char siu pork, food is never just food in Vietnam.

As you’ll discover under guidance of expert food bloggers Mark Lowerson and Van Cong Tu, food is one of the best ways to connect with local people, understand regional differences, and immerse yourself in the local culture. That’s exactly what this tour is all about: taking you inside the culinary traditions of the capital via its tastiest street-food treats, and giving you an insight into the real lives of the Vietnamese people.

Halong Bay/Lan Ha Bay cruising

Every time we do it, cruising on Halong Bay - or quieter Lan Ha Bay - feels almost magical – like we’ve accidentally sailed into a Vietnamese legend.

Imagine waking up in a wood-paneled cabin to the quiet lapping of water against the hull of your Chinese junk boat. You head out on deck, and there’s a thick sea mist all around you. Sheer green cliffs come into view, looming so high above you that it’s impossible to see where they end. As the sun rises and the mist clears, you can see jagged, limestone pinnacles stretching into the distance as far as the eye can see. For added romance, treat yourself to your own private vessel – or maybe a luxury cruise with an onboard spa? If there’s ever been a place to travel in style, it’s here.