Fed up with Christmas shopping in crowded stores, relentless carols and endless repeats on the TV? Sit back and enjoy an 18-day or 12-day Christmas holiday in the best-known destinations in Vietnam.

Choose between a small group tour or a private tailor-made tour.

Your Christmas holiday begins ......
... . on December 15th, 2005 with two nights in Hanoi
When you arrive at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport, one of our staff will be waiting to greet you and whisk you off to relax in your hotel. A welcome dinner at a good restaurant in a colonial building awaits you, and in the evening, you’ll have tickets for a performance of traditional Water Puppetry.

Your guide will arrive in the morning to show you the sights of Hanoi - the Van Mieu Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hoan Kiem Lake and the Ngoc Son temple, and Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

How you get around is up to you. You can be driven, walk, ride in a cyclo, or sightsee from the back of a motorbike – the list is ranked in order of adrenalin output.

Alternatively, you can choose to visit some of Hanoi’s fascinating craft villages.

Meals: one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner
Escort/guide: transfer from airport to hotel and evening, and the following daytime

December 17 – 18: one night on Ha Long Bay
It’s about a three-hour drive to Ha Long Bay, but a comfortable car and a guide to explain the rural life of the Red River Delta makes the time fly past. Your ‘floating hotel’ is the Emeraude, a luxury cruise boat modeled on the original paddle steamer on Ha Long Bay. Cruising among the bay's limestone 'Karst' islands, you'll stop to visit one of the Ha Long's many caves, swim or fish as you please. As you glide along, there'll be plenty of opportunities for spectacular photographs, lazing on the sun deck or whatever else takes your fancy. The food on board is very high quality, and the local seafood plucked fresh from the Bay is a revelation!

Meals: two breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner
Guide: no guide

December 19 – 20: two nights on a train and one night in Sapa
Fascinating Sapa, in the mountains 1,500m above sea level and the only place where you might see snow in Vietnam. Don’t hold your breath, though – it’s a rare phenomenon.

You’ll travel by overnight sleeper train and spend your time pottering around some of the ethnic villages and a remote market frequented by H’mong, Dao, Tay and Thai people in glorious colourful costumes.

Meals: two breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner
Guide: fully escorted

December 21: another night in Hanoi
A day to recuperate from your exertions – we’ll lay on a body massage and bath at a spa centre in the afternoon to get you ready for the centrepiece of your Christmas vacation

Meals: one breakfast
Guide: no guide – a car will take you to the spa and back

December 22 – 23: two nights in Hue
After your noon flight to Hue, a car and our guide will be waiting to drive you to the Imperial City of Hue. The Citadel, Dong Ba market and the Royal Tombs are just some of its attractions. On your second day, you’ll be travelling by bicycle to one of Hue’s ‘garden houses’ and some local villages with cottage industries. Lunch will be in another garden house – the owner will be cook, waiter and interpreter of the distinctive characteristics of classic Hue cuisine.

Meals: two breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner
Guide: Transfer to Hanoi airport for the Hue flight, fully escorted thereafter

December 24 – 26: three nights in Hoi An – the big day arrives!
You’ll enjoy the road journey to Danang. On the way you'll cross the high mountain pass of Hai Van - the splendid views of Lang Co beach, village and lagoon, and later on, Da Nang itself makes the extra distance worthwhile, rather than driving through the shorter, but boring, Hai Van Tunnel. Your programme includes visits to Danang’s Cham Museum and the Ancient Town of Hoi An.

Of course, Christmas vacations wouldn’t be complete without a celebration! You’ll be booked in to the Victoria Hotel’s Christmas Party on the evening of the 24th – festive food and dancing as long as you can keep going.

You have the 25th to yourself. Laze on the soft white sand of Cua Dai beach and dip your toes into the clear water of the South China Sea - no cooking, no washing-up, no arguments and no clearing up the mess!

Meals: three breakfasts, one lunches and one dinner
Guide: no guide
Option: journey to Hoi An and Ancient Town tour.

December 27 – 29: two nights in Ho Chi Minh City
An afternoon flight takes you to bustling Ho Chi Minh City, and from there to your hotel in the heart of the city in the midst of the shops and nightlife. You’ll tour some of the main attractions - the History Museum, the Museum of War Remnants, Ben Thanh market, the Jade Emperor Temple, and a workshop making high quality lacquerware furniture and articles.

Meals: two breakfasts, one lunch
Guide: Ho Chi Minh City orientation

December 30: one night on the Mekong Delta
The drive to the Mekong involves battling with Ho Chi Minh City's notorious traffic jams, but your nerves should be soothed by peaceful Vinh Long, where you’ll cruise the Mekong River to visit the Cai Be floating market, fruit orchards, traditional family-run brick kilns, and a wide range of varied cottage industries. A workshop making the huge coffins unique to the Mekong is particularly interesting. You’ll spend that night in Can Tho, the ‘capital’ of the Mekong.

Meals: two breakfasts, two lunches, one dinner
Guide: fully escorted

December 31- January 1: two nights back in Ho Chi Minh City and good-bye to 2005!
A day for you to do as you wish, followed by a Gala Dinner Party at the luxurious Sheraton Hotel – a spectacular way to see in the New Year.

On the following morning, you’ll wake to 2006 and await your car to take you to Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport.

Meals: three breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner
Guide: none.