10 daysVietnamAges 18–40
10 days · Hoi An, Saigon & the Mekong Delta
Central & South Vietnam: Beaches & Mekong is a 10-day group trip for solo travellers aged 18 to 40 who want lantern-lit Hoi An, a beach, Saigon and the Mekong Delta without the long haul north. You get three nights in Hoi An's old town, then fly south to Saigon's museums, markets and street food, with a night in a riverside homestay for a dawn visit to the Cai Rang floating market. Your Trip Host is with the group from the first dinner to the last breakfast.
Updated
From, per person
$1,270 / £950 / €1,115 / A$1,810 / CA$1,800 / NZ$2,240 / ₹1,21,500
Free to reserve
Sarthak's best travel memories come from going solo: hostel dorms, a new activity most days, new cultures and new food. SoloNomads grew out of that.
Sarthak travels with every group, from the first day to the last, so there's always someone on hand to sort things out when plans change and to make sure nobody gets left out.
In every country, a licensed local agency and licensed local guides look after the ground services, so you get local know-how too.
Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City, 4 stops in 10 days.
4 stops
10 days
Day 1
Arrive whenever your flight lands into Da Nang; a transfer of about 40 to 50 minutes brings you into Hoi An. The Trip Host meets everyone at the guesthouse in the late afternoon for introductions and a run-through of the ten days ahead. Then we walk into the lantern-lit old town for a welcome dinner together.
Day 2
An early start at the market to buy ingredients with the cooking school's chef. Then we paddle in round basket boats through the water coconut palms at Cam Thanh, early, before the crowds and loudspeakers arrive. Back at the school you cook three or four dishes and eat them for lunch. The afternoon is free for the old town, a tailor or a nap.
Day 3
In the morning we cycle about 5km through the rice fields to An Bang beach for a swim and a coffee. In the afternoon you make your own silk lantern at a small workshop, and it folds flat for your bag. In the evening the group gets together for a farewell dinner before we fly south.
Day 4
A free morning in Hoi An for a last look at the old town or a tailoring fitting, then a short van to Da Nang airport for the flight to Ho Chi Minh City, about an hour and twenty minutes and included with a checked bag. The rest of the evening is free to settle into the hotel and find your own dinner in District 1.
Day 5
In the afternoon we visit Independence Palace, the former South Vietnamese presidential palace kept as it was in 1975, and the War Remnants Museum. The content is heavy in places; it's there for anyone who wants to see it. The group dinner is together in the evening, and anyone who wants to stay out can add on a motorbike food tour with an all-female driving crew through Saigon's back streets, booked through the Trip Host at your own cost.
Day 6
A private van heads south of the city to Ben Tre, where we take a rowing sampan through narrow water-coconut canals and stop at a coconut-candy workshop. From there it's on to Can Tho, the biggest city in the Mekong Delta, where we check into a riverside homestay in time for dinner.
Day 7
A private boat leaves the homestay at 5.30am for the Cai Rang floating market, the largest in the Mekong Delta, best seen before eight o'clock while the boats are still loaded with fruit and vegetables. It is smaller than it once was, and tour boats now share the water with the traders, but it is still a working market. We stop at a rice-noodle workshop on the way back, then a private van returns the group to Ho Chi Minh City by mid-afternoon.
Day 8
A half-day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, the Ben Duoc site rather than the busier Ben Dinh, with a memorial temple and the original, unwidened tunnels alongside the tourist-sized ones. Back in the city by early afternoon, the rest of the day is free for Ben Thanh Market, a rooftop bar or just resting before the last two days.
Day 9
A day with nothing booked. Sleep in, explore a neighbourhood you haven't seen yet, or book an optional extra through the Trip Host. In the evening the group gets together for a last dinner in Saigon.
Day 10
The trip ends after breakfast. The new Long Thanh airport is due to open on 1 December 2026, with long-haul international flights planned to move there from 28 March 2027, so check which airport your ticket uses and allow extra time to get there. Staying on? The Trip Host can suggest where to go next.
Prices are per person, and reserving is free. A date goes ahead once about 10 travellers have joined. You pay nothing until then. Once it's confirmed, we send you an invoice for the full price, and you have 7 days to pay it (or until the trip starts, if that's sooner).
10 Feb – 19 Feb 2027
AvailableStarts four days after Tet, so a few shops and restaurants may still be closedMax 16 people
Price
$1,270 / £950 / €1,115 / A$1,810 / CA$1,800 / NZ$2,240 / ₹1,21,500
24 Feb – 5 Mar 2027
AvailableDry season, mild daysMax 16 people
Price
$1,270 / £950 / €1,115 / A$1,810 / CA$1,800 / NZ$2,240 / ₹1,21,500
10 Mar – 19 Mar 2027
AvailableDry season, warmer daysMax 16 people
Price
$1,270 / £950 / €1,115 / A$1,810 / CA$1,800 / NZ$2,240 / ₹1,21,500
You reserve your spot for free and pay nothing to join. Once enough travellers have signed on, usually around 10, we confirm the departure and email you a confirmation with an invoice for the full trip price. You pay it by card or bank transfer within 7 days, in US dollars, pounds, euros, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, New Zealand dollars or Indian rupees, and the price shown for each date is what you pay.
No, it's an optional extra on the evening of Day 5, paid for separately. It's run by an all-female crew of drivers. The Trip Host books it for anyone who wants to join and can suggest a walking food tour for anyone who'd rather not ride pillion after dark.
Solo travellers aged 18 to 40, in groups of no more than 16. Most people come on their own and a few come with a friend. Your Trip Host travels with the group for all ten days, sorts out every transfer, ticket and check-in, and is the person you go to if anything goes wrong. A licensed local guide leads the visits that need one.
It starts at our guesthouse in Hoi An on the afternoon of Day 1, and we send the address when you book. It ends in Ho Chi Minh City after breakfast on Day 10. Fly into Da Nang (DAD) and home from Ho Chi Minh City. Long Thanh airport is due to open on 1 December 2026, with long-haul flights planned to move there from 28 March 2027, so check which airport your ticket names.
February to April: the centre is mostly dry and the south is still in its dry season before the heat builds. February in Hoi An is mild with the odd shower, and March and April are warmer and sunnier. We plan around Tet, when many shops and restaurants close for several days. We don't run this trip from October to December, the typhoon and flood season on the central coast, when Hoi An's old town can flood. It did in October and November 2025.
It depends on your passport. Citizens of some countries, including the UK, Germany, France and Japan, can enter visa-free for 45 days. Others, including the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand, need an e-visa, valid for up to 90 days. Rules change, so check our Vietnam visa guide for your passport before you book flights. Only apply on the official site, evisa.gov.vn, and fill in the free online pre-arrival declaration before you land.
Guesthouses a short walk from Hoi An's old town, hotels in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, and a riverside homestay near Can Tho for the Mekong Delta night. Homestay rooms are simple but comfortable, usually en suite.
Yes. Tell us when you book. The cooking school and the homestay can both cook vegetarian, and we can give you a Vietnamese-language card to show at street stalls.
Light, breathable clothes, plus a rain layer in case of showers. Bring clothes that cover shoulders and knees for Hoi An's assembly halls and temples, swimwear for An Bang beach, sandals, closed shoes for Cu Chi's forest paths, a refillable water bottle, sunscreen and a waterproof phone pouch. Some of the War Remnants Museum is graphic, and you can skip any room you'd rather not see. If you forget something, Hoi An is full of tailors.
Averagely fit. There's a gentle bike ride to An Bang beach, a basket boat, some walking at Cu Chi and around Saigon in the heat, and one early start for the floating market. Nothing on this trip is strenuous.
Yes, with sensible precautions. The boats are small local passenger boats booked through our licensed local agency, and we ask the operator for a life jacket for everyone on board. If the weather or water levels aren't safe, the Trip Host and the boat operator change or skip the boat trip.
Yes, it's a condition of joining. It must cover medical treatment and evacuation.
Ask here and someone on the team will email you back within 1 to 2 business days.
From
$1,270 / £950 / €1,115 / A$1,810 / CA$1,800 / NZ$2,240 / ₹1,21,500