Honeymoon: Hanoi, Halong, Hoi An & Phu Quoc in 14 days

Day 1

Arrive in Hanoi

Your driver meets you after immigration and customs at Noi Bai airport and drives you into the centre. We suggest a hotel close to Hoan Kiem Lake, so the evening walk round the water needs no car.

Nothing is planned. Most couples arrive after a long-haul night, and the first evening works better as a slow dinner than as sightseeing.

Day 2

Hanoi at your own speed

A private guide for half a day, in the morning while it is cool: the Temple of Literature, the lanes of the old quarter, a coffee stop your guide chooses. The afternoon is free. Many couples spend it at the hotel pool and go out again for dinner.

If the occasion matters to you on a specific night, this is a good one for it: a table booked at a restaurant with a view over the lake, arranged before you arrive.

Day 3

Drive to the coast and board the boat

Sunset from the deck, with the islands going dark one by one

Leave Hanoi mid-morning for the port. The drive is roughly 2.5 to 3 hours on the expressway. We choose boats that sail into Lan Ha Bay rather than the busiest central part of Halong Bay; the national tourism authority notes that premium boats increasingly use Lan Ha or Bai Tu Long for exactly that reason — the same limestone landscape, far fewer boats.

The afternoon is kayaking or a small-boat trip into a lagoon, then sunset on deck. Dinner is on board. For a honeymoon we book a cabin with its own balcony and ask the boat for a quiet table.

Day 4

Off the boat, fly to Da Nang, on to Hoi An

An early swim or tai chi on deck if you want it, breakfast, and back to the pier late morning according to the boat's schedule. Your driver takes you straight to Noi Bai for an afternoon flight to Da Nang, then 50 minutes by road to Hoi An.

This is the longest travel day on the route. We keep the evening empty and book a hotel by the river or the rice fields outside the old town, not in the middle of it.

Day 5

The old town before the crowds

A private boat on the river at dusk

Hoi An's old town is a UNESCO site of more than a thousand timber-framed buildings from its time as a trading port between the 15th and 19th centuries. Your guide takes you in at about 7:00, before the day visitors arrive: the Japanese covered bridge, an assembly hall, a merchant's house.

Afternoon free. In the evening, a private sampan on the Thu Bon River, just the two of you and the boatman, with a paper lantern set on the water.

Day 6

A free day, or the countryside

Nothing booked. Options we arrange on the day: bicycles through the vegetable villages, a cooking class, a tailor fitting, or the beach at An Bang, a short drive away.

If your dates include the 14th day of the lunar month, the old town switches off its electric lights for the full-moon evening and lights lanterns instead. We check the lunar calendar against your dates when we quote.

Day 7

My Son, or a long lunch

The celebration dinner

For couples who want one more piece of history: an early drive to My Son, the Cham temple towers built between the 4th and 13th centuries, back by lunch. For couples who do not, a long lunch somewhere quiet and the afternoon at the pool.

In the evening, a private dinner. Where it happens depends on the hotel — a garden, a riverside terrace, a room on the beach at An Bang. We confirm the place and the menu in writing before you travel.

Day 8

Fly south to Phu Quoc

Late morning to Da Nang airport and a flight to Phu Quoc, direct or via Ho Chi Minh City depending on the day's schedule. We book the island's west coast, because that is where the sun sets over the sea.

Your villa or room is ready when you arrive if we have pre-booked an early check-in. Afternoon in the water.

Day 9

Phu Quoc — nothing planned

The island's dry season, by the official description, runs from October to March, and its rainfall averages stay at or below 60 mm a month from December to March. This is the reason the route ends here: by day nine most couples want a week of very little.

Day 10

A private boat to the southern islands

A day on the water with nobody else on the boat

A boat chartered for the two of you to the small islands off the south of Phu Quoc, with stops to swim and snorkel and lunch on board. The boat goes when you want and comes back when you are done; there is no shared timetable.

If the wind is up, the captain decides where it is safe to swim, and the trip can move to another day — one reason we keep six nights here.

Day 11

Free

Spa, reading, the pool. If you want to see something, the night market in Duong Dong and the pepper farms in the north are easy half-days with the driver.

Day 12

Sunset dinner

A second celebration evening, if you want one: a table set on the sand at sunset, or on the villa terrace if the hotel does not allow dinners on the beach. Some resorts allow it, some do not, and some only on certain nights. We tell you which before you book.

Day 13

Last full day

Kept empty. If a weather day pushed the boat trip, this is the spare.

Day 14

Depart

Driver to Phu Quoc airport for your flight home, via Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi or a regional hub depending on your airline.