15 daysVietnamAges 18–40
15 days · Hanoi, Hue & Saigon
Vietnam North to South is a 15-day group trip for solo travellers aged 18 to 40 that runs the length of the country without doubling back. You start in Hanoi, spend a night on a boat in Lan Ha Bay, see Ninh Binh, take the sleeper train to the caves of Phong Nha, then go on through Hue and Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. Your Trip Host is with you the whole way.
Updated
From, per person
$1,930 / £1,440 / €1,695 / A$2,750 / CA$2,730 / NZ$3,400 / ₹1,85,000
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.
Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, 9 stops in 15 days.
9 stops
15 days
Day 1
Arrive whenever your flight lands. The Trip Host meets everyone at the hotel in the late afternoon for introductions and a run-through of the trip. Then we head into the Old Quarter with a local guide for a street food walk: noodle soups, grilled skewers, fresh spring rolls and a cold beer on a plastic stool. That's your welcome dinner.
Day 2
A morning walk with a local guide: round Hoan Kiem Lake, into the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, and through the Hoa Lo prison museum. We stop for egg coffee on the way. The afternoon and evening are yours: a water puppet show, a nap, or bia hoi at the beer corner. At weekends, from Friday evening to Sunday midnight, the streets around the lake close to traffic and fill with families.
Day 3
A private van and a ferry take us about three to four hours to the pier for Lan Ha Bay, south of Ha Long, where far fewer boats sail. We board in the early afternoon and have lunch as we cruise out among the karst islands. The rest of the day is for kayaking, swimming when the weather allows and a floating fishing village. Watch the sunset from the top deck, then have dinner on board.
Day 4
Tai chi at sunrise for anyone who wants it, a last paddle or cave visit, and brunch as the boat heads back. We're off by late morning, and the road and ferry to Tam Coc, among the rice fields and limestone peaks of Ninh Binh, take about four to six hours. If we arrive with enough daylight, we climb the stone steps at Hang Mua, about 500 of them, for the view over the river and the fields.
Day 5
We're at the Trang An wharf at 7am, before the tour buses. A local rower takes each boat of four along the river for about three hours, through low caves and past small temples. Lunch is Ninh Binh's specialities, goat and crispy rice. The afternoon is for resting, packing or a bike ride. In the late evening we board the sleeper train south, four to a cabin.
Day 6
The train reaches Dong Hoi early in the morning, between about 5 and 7am, and a van takes 45 to 60 minutes to Phong Nha, where we have breakfast. The room is booked from the night before, so you can sleep when we arrive. In the late afternoon we ride bikes through the Bong Lai valley, past farms and rice fields under the limestone hills, and stop at a farm bar for a cold drink as the sun goes down.
Day 7
A cave day. In the morning we climb about 500 steps to Paradise Cave and walk into it on a wooden boardwalk that runs about a kilometre through huge chambers of stalactites. After lunch comes Dark Cave: a zipline across the river, a walk by headtorch into the cave, a float in a mud pool deep inside it, then a kayak and a swim to wash off. Bring swimwear and clothes that can get muddy.
Day 8
A drive of about 3.5 to 4.5 hours south to Hue, in time for lunch: try the city's spicy beef noodle soup, bun bo Hue. Then we spend the afternoon inside the walls of the Imperial City with a local guide, among the gates, courtyards and palaces of the Nguyen emperors. The evening is free for street food or a boat on the Perfume River.
Day 9
We stop at the tomb of Khai Dinh, all mosaics and stone mandarins, on the way out of Hue. Then our van follows the coast past the Lap An lagoon and climbs the Hai Van Pass, with a stop at the old gate on the summit for the view down to Da Nang. We reach Hoi An in the afternoon, in time for an evening walk through the lantern-lit old town.
Day 10
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. At dusk we take a small boat along the river among the lanterns.
Day 11
In the morning we cycle 4 to 5 km through the rice fields to An Bang beach for a swim and a coffee. The rest of the day is yours: a tailor, a lantern-making class, the old town's assembly halls and merchant houses (your old town ticket is included), or the beach until sunset.
Day 12
A morning flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City takes about an hour and twenty minutes, and it's included. In the afternoon we visit the Independence Palace, where the war ended in 1975, and the War Remnants Museum. The museum is hard going in places, so it's fine to skip it and meet us after. In the evening a local guide takes us on a street food walk. That's dinner.
Day 13
An early van south to Ben Tre, where we're rowed through narrow canals lined with water coconut palms and stop for lunch. In the afternoon we carry on to Can Tho, the biggest city in the delta, and check into a homestay. Dinner is at the homestay.
Day 14
We're on a boat at about 5:30am for the Cai Rang floating market, the biggest in the delta, where traders sell fruit and vegetables from boat to boat, though with far fewer boats than a decade ago. Then we visit a rice-noodle workshop and the quieter canals. After breakfast at the homestay we drive back to Ho Chi Minh City, about three to three and a half hours, arriving in the afternoon. In the evening the group gets together one last time for a farewell dinner.
Day 15
The trip ends after breakfast. Check which airport your flight leaves from: the new Long Thanh airport, about 40 km east of the city, is due to open on 1 December 2026, with long-haul flights planned to move there from 28 March 2027, so allow at least 90 minutes 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).
22 Feb – 8 Mar 2027
AvailableTet (6 Feb) is over. Hanoi is mild (about 16 to 22°C), the centre is dry and the south is hot and dry, though the bay can still be mistyMax 16 people
Price
$1,990 / £1,490 / €1,745 / A$2,830 / CA$2,810 / NZ$3,510 / ₹1,90,500
11 Apr – 25 Apr 2027
AvailableLantern night on Day 10, Mon 20 Apr. Day 6 in Phong Nha is Fri 16 Apr, Hung Kings' Day, a public holiday when Vietnamese families travel. Sunny in the centre, hot and dry in the southMax 16 people
Price
$1,990 / £1,490 / €1,745 / A$2,830 / CA$2,810 / NZ$3,510 / ₹1,90,500
7 Jun – 21 Jun 2027
AvailableHot, about 35°C in Hanoi and the centre. The north and south get rain, storms can keep boats in port on the bay, and Phong Nha is hot, often 35°C or more. The centre is mostly dry and sunnyMax 16 people
Price
$1,930 / £1,440 / €1,695 / A$2,750 / CA$2,730 / NZ$3,400 / ₹1,85,000
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. Reservations close 7 days before the start.
Departures marked "Lantern night" are timed so the full moon falls while we're in Hoi An, on Day 10. On those evenings the old town turns off its electric lights and runs on lanterns and candles. The dates come from the lunar calendar, and the town sometimes changes its programme around holidays, so if one moves we tell you straight away.
Solo travellers aged 18 to 40. Most people come on their own, and some come with a friend. The maximum for each departure is shown with its dates, and it's never more than 16.
The Trip Host travels with the group for all fifteen days, looks after every train, boat, flight and check-in, and is the person you go to if anything goes wrong. Local guides lead the visits that need one.
It starts at our hotel in Hanoi on the afternoon of Day 1, and we send the address when you book. It ends at our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City after breakfast on Day 15. Fly into Hanoi (HAN) and home from Ho Chi Minh City.
Late February to May is best for the whole length of the country: mild in the north, dry in the centre and dry but hot in the south. June to August works for Hoi An and the centre, but Hanoi is about 33 to 35°C and wet, the south gets heavy afternoon rain and storms can keep boats in port on the bay. We don't run the trip from September to December, when central Vietnam floods and the Phong Nha caves close or run reduced.
It's a 4-berth soft-sleeper cabin that you share with others from the group, with air-con and bedding on board. We board in the late evening and arrive at Dong Hoi between about 5 and 7am. Bring a warm layer, earplugs and snacks.
Boats stay in port when the local authorities order it for a storm or rough seas, and nobody sails against that. If it happens, the Trip Host changes the plan and tells you as soon as it's known. A tourist boat capsized in a storm in Ha Long Bay in July 2025, and a wooden boat caught fire there in February 2026 with everyone on board evacuated. Quang Ninh tightened its rules for Ha Long Bay boats afterwards, but Lan Ha is run by Hai Phong, so those rules aren't the same. Our guide to the bay suggests a steel hull, a recent inspection and tracking and radio equipment on board, and you're welcome to ask us about the boat before you book. The crew and Trip Host decide on swimming and kayaking according to the weather.
It depends on your passport. UK, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Swedish passports get 45 days visa-free. US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Irish and Indian passports need an e-visa, US$25 for a single entry or US$50 for multiple entries, and you should apply only on the official site, evisa.gov.vn. The free pre-arrival QR form at prearrival.immigration.gov.vn is encouraged at the main airports. Rules change, so check our Vietnam visa guide before you book flights.
Small hotels and guesthouses with air-con, picked for location and cleanliness. On Day 3 you sleep in a cabin on the boat, on Day 5 in a 4-berth sleeper-train cabin, and on Day 13 in a homestay in Can Tho. Fourteen meals are included. Street food costs about 30,000 to 80,000 dong a dish, and a local beer about 20,000 to 40,000 dong. Budget roughly 400,000 to 600,000 dong a day for food, drinks and local transport. If you're vegetarian, vegan or have allergies, tell us when you book and we'll pass it on to each place.
Light clothes plus a warm layer for the train and the boat deck. Bring clothes that cover shoulders and knees for temples and the Imperial City, swimwear and clothes that can get muddy for Dark Cave, shoes with grip, a refillable water bottle, sunscreen, insect repellent and a waterproof phone pouch. Pack a soft bag you can carry onto a train and a boat.
Travel insurance is a condition of joining. It must cover medical treatment and evacuation, and adventure activities such as ziplining. You need to be averagely fit: there are the steps at Hang Mua and Paradise Cave, some easy bike rides, a kayak and a zipline, and a lot of walking. You need to be comfortable in water for Dark Cave.
Ask here and someone on the team will email you back within 1 to 2 business days.
From
$1,930 / £1,440 / €1,695 / A$2,750 / CA$2,730 / NZ$3,400 / ₹1,85,000