Hanoi

Halong Bay

Sapa

Hue

Hoi An

Nha Trang & South Central Coast

Dalat & The Central Highlands

Ho Chi Minh City

Mekong Delta

Special interest ideas

Vietnam is fast becoming a popular alternative to the more established Asian incentive destinations of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Bali and Thailand. Over the past few years there have been great improvements made in the country’s tourism infrastructure and facilities in the major cities can now match the best in the region.

Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport and Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport are the main arrival points for international visitors to Vietnam. In addition, Danang, in the centre of the country, now also has scheduled flights from Bangkok  opening up exciting new possibilities for multi-destination incentive programs. Hanoi, Vietnam’s attractive capital, and Ho Chi Minh City are the main bases for incentive tours in Vietnam with Danang and Hue, in the centre, included if time permits.

Nowadays both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have a wide choice of quality hotels including such well-known names as Caravelle, Daewoo, Equatorial, Hilton, Melia, New World, Nikko, Omni, Renaissance, Sheraton and Sofitel, while in the centre of the country Danang’s luxurious Furama Resort can be used as a base.

Spectacular Halong Bay, 160km east of Hanoi, is one of the highlights of any visit to Vietnam and a cruise on the bay is included in most tour programs but very few visitors get to see this magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site from the air as well as from the bay. On our special Halong Bay day trip your group is whisked from Hanoi to Halong by helicopter in just 50 minutes. Once in Halong the group is transferred to a traditional sailing junk for a 5-hour cruise among some of the 3,000 limestone islands jutting up out of the emerald green bay. After a delicious fresh seafood lunch there is 15 minutes of aerial sightseeing by helicopter over the bay before flying back to Hanoi.

For an evening to remember, HIGHLIGHTS TRAVEL will lay on a banquet for groups of over 40 people in the grounds of the History Museum, a fabulous 1930’s colonial building, formerly known as the Ecole Francaise d’Extreme Orient. Another popular evening event  HIGHLIGHTS TRAVEL organizes in Hanoi is the ‘Hanoi Follies Night’ held at the capital’s best dining venue, the Press Club. The terrace is completely decked out in white, the theme color for the evening with white table cloths, flowers and candles on the tables. A jazz band plays all the old favorite tunes and dancers perform the Cha cha cha and the Charleston, guaranteeing a swinging time for one and all. For a more traditional Vietnamese evening we can hire Hanoi’s famous Truong Chinh Theatre for a private water puppet performance. 

Hue, the cultural and religious centre of the country, was the imperial capital of Vietnam from 1802 until 1945 under the Nguyen Dynasty of emperors. Today the grand monuments built by the Nguyen emperors are the major attraction for visitors to Hue, and in keeping with the city’s imperial heritage, a royal banquet in the Imperial Citadel is an unforgettable experience. Guests, wearing imperial period costume, are collected from the hotel by cyclo, a Vietnamese rickshaw, and transferred over the Perfume River to the Imperial Citadel. The route through the citadel grounds to the dining area is lit by hundreds of twinkling fairy lights. Cocktails precede the 10 course ‘Royal Banquet’ and dancers perform dances from the Royal Court of Hue while court musicians play traditional instruments.

Just over 100km to the south is central Vietnam’s major port city Danang. Danang is blessed with some of Vietnam’s best beaches and one of its best beach resorts, the award–winning Furama Resort. Sitting right on the golden sands of the famous Non Nuoc Beach, the Furama Resort offers many original options for incentive groups including an old ‘Indochine Evening’ and an action-packed ‘Pirate Party’ on the beach. The elegant Victoria Hoi An Resort in the wonderful historic town of Hoi An is an alternative venue for incentive events in the centre of the country. The Victoria’s private beach is the ideal location for a barefoot BBQ beneath the stars. 

In the south of Vietnam is Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, ‘Pearl of the Orient’. There are still many reminders of colonial Saigon and a cyclo tour of the city takes in some fine examples of period architecture including the Old Saigon Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral and the former Hotel de Ville. A dinner on the rooftop terrace of the famous Rex Hotel offers a panoramic view of downtown Ho Chi Minh City. For a memorable farewell gala evening Binh An Village on the banks of the Saigon River is unbeatable. Dine in the beautiful tropical gardens of Binh An Village, built along the lines of a traditional Vietnamese village, while watching a display of oriental martial arts. After dinner, the resort’s owner, a well-known local jazz singer, and her band entertain as guests dance the night away.    

In recent years Vietnam has become one of the hottest destinations for adventure and eco-tourism operators with  biking tours being particularly popular. Seeing a country from the saddle of a bike allows you to really experience the country at close quarters, meet the locals and become totally immersed in all the sights, sounds and smells of the landscape. With its beautiful, often spectacular, scenery and friendly, smiling people it is easy to see why Vietnam is so popular for bike touring.

The classic Vietnam bike tour is from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi or vice versa while the flat rural landscape of the Mekong Delta and the rugged hills of northern Vietnam offer further opportunities for exploration by pedal power. All our biking tours are accompanied by a support vehicle and an experienced local cycling guide. How much time is spent actually cycling or traveling in the support vehicle is entirely up to the individual on these tours!     

The region of northwestern Vietnam bordering China has all the ingredients needed for terrific trekking trips. You will see beautiful, often spectacular scenery, colorful and hospitable ethnic minority communities and an opportunity to leave the stresses of modern living behind and get back to nature for awhile. Treks can vary from an easy afternoon stroll of a few kilometers to a challenging three day ascent of Vietnam’s highest peak, Mount Fan Si Pan. Other areas offering good trekking opportunities are Cuc Phuong, Ba Be, Bach Ma and Cat Tien national parks and parts of the Central Highlands, particularly Dalat.

Although Vietnam cannot compete with the Philippines and Thailand in number of dive sites, it does have a few very good sites that are known to just a few. Most of Vietnam’s professional dive centres are based in and around Nha Trang on the south central coast which is where some of the best diving is to be had. HIGHLIGHTS TRAVEL work closely with the top professional dive centre in Nha Trang and can offer tailor-made dive tours including day and night dives as well as a full range of PADI courses. Whale Island, a rustic island hideaway to the north of Nha Trang, has some excellent diving nearby and a full range of PADI dive courses is available. The Furama Resort, near Danang in the centre of the country, also has a professional dive school with a full range of PADI courses on offer. The best time for diving off the south central coast is generally from March to September.

Two other areas worth considering are the islands of Con Dao and Phu Quoc. Con Dao, 200km south of the mainland, has some of Vietnam’s best remaining coral reef and a national park but limited accommodation and can be reached only by helicopter or a long sea crossing  from Vung Tau. Phu Quoc, with daily flights from Ho Chi Minh City, is more accessible than Con Dao and now has some excellent small scale beach resorts. Phu Quoc has some good coral and clear turquoise water and scuba diving is available with professional dive centres on the island. The best time for diving off Con Dao and Phu Quoc is from December to June.

The tropical rainforests of South-East Asia are home to some of the world’s most exotic birds and the region is attracting growing numbers of overseas birdwatchers every year. Vietnam, with ten endemic species, the highest number for any country in mainland South-East Asia, is especially popular. Three of Vietnam’s national parks, Cat Tien in the south, Bach Ma in the centre and Cuc Phuong in the north, are home to many of the country’s specialties but the Mekong Delta, Dalat, Xuan Thuy, Tam Dao and Sapa also have their attractions for birders. While accommodation can be on the basic side and conditions in the damp tropical forests can be far from comfortable, Vietnam is definitely a rewarding destination for the keen birder.

Halong Bay, Vietnam’s spectacular World Heritage Site in the Gulf of Tonkin, is a fabulous location for kayaking. Explore some of the three thousand limestone islands that are scattered across the bay by kayak. Discover caverns containing spectacular stalactites and stalagmites thousands of years old, hidden sandy coves known only to local fishermen and verdant tropical vegetation flourishing on the rocky peaks. In the evenings freshly caught fish is cooked on a campfire and nights are spent camping beneath the stars on deserted beaches. A specialist local kayaking guide accompanies all trips.