Central & South Vietnam Coastal Escape

Depart Nairobi aboard Qatar Airways or Emirates, connecting into Da Nang International Airport on Vietnam's central coast. A private transfer escorts you directly to TIA Wellness Resort — one of Da Nang's finest beachfront properties, with the South China Sea outside your window and the Marble Mountains visible to the south. After checking in and resting from the journey, the remainder of Day 1 is for beach, the resort's pool, and dinner by the water.

Day 2 is given to Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge — the most photographed site in modern Vietnam and one of the most visually arresting structures anywhere in Southeast Asia. The cable car ride to the summit climbs through several cloud layers, the coast disappearing below. At the top, two giant stone hands — each five metres across — hold the pedestrian bridge above the mist and forest canopy. The view from the bridge stretches to the coastline on clear days. Return to the resort for dinner, the Marble Mountains silhouetting against the sunset.

Transfer to Hoi An — thirty minutes south of Da Nang and an entirely different world. The morning opens with coconut basket boat rides through the Thu Bon River's palm forest: circular bamboo vessels steered by local fishermen who spin them in dizzying circles while demonstrating traditional net fishing among the trees. Check into Anantara Hoi An Resort on the riverfront, then the afternoon is given to the Ancient Town itself — a UNESCO-listed grid of sixteenth-century merchant houses, Chinese clan halls, Japanese bridges, and tailoring shops that can produce custom garments within 24 hours. As evening arrives, the lanterns are lit. Every street corner glows. The river fills with floating candles. Your guide leads you to a lantern boat, and you drift along the Thu Bon as Hoi An becomes the most beautiful version of itself — a city that has barely changed in four centuries.

Travel south to Quy Nhon — one of Vietnam's most beautiful coastal cities and, because it lacks a UNESCO listing or a famous landmark, still largely undiscovered by international tourism. The beaches here are extraordinary: long, pale arcs of sand with calm water, backed by dramatic granite headlands and the green slopes of mountains descending directly to the sea. The fishing village of Nhon Hoi — its boats painted blue and red, its harbour full of the circular bamboo thung chai vessels that have been used here for centuries — offers one of the most authentic glimpses of Vietnamese coastal life remaining on the country's coast. Check into Anya Premier Hotel Quy Nhon for dinner on the beachfront terrace.

Board a domestic flight to Ho Chi Minh City — Vietnam's largest and most energetic city, a place where French colonial buildings stand beside glass towers, street food cooks between Gucci boutiques, and the rooftop bars look out over a skyline that has been transforming at extraordinary speed for thirty years. Check into The Reverie Saigon — consistently ranked among Asia's finest city hotels, its interior a theatrical combination of Italian luxury, Venetian glass, and Vietnamese craftsmanship. Afternoon at leisure in the city — the Reunification Palace, Ben Thanh Market, and the rooftop of the Saigon Skydeck. Dinner at one of Saigon's celebrated restaurants.

Day 6 is the Mekong Delta — a world that operates entirely on water. A private boat takes you through the channels south of the city to the floating markets of Cai Be, where vendors sell fruit and vegetables from boats tied together in colourful clusters. Coconut candy factories occupy river islands. Palm-shaded villages rise on stilts above the water. The pace here is entirely opposite to the city left behind two hours ago. Return to Ho Chi Minh City in the late afternoon for dinner.

Travel to Mui Ne — a coastal resort town famous for a landscape that should not logically exist: desert sand dunes, some reaching thirty metres high, dropping directly to a tropical coastline. The white dunes to the north of town are best at sunrise when the light creates long shadows across the sand; the red dunes at the southern end are most dramatic at sunset, the terracotta colour deepening as the light fails. A jeep tour connects both, stopping at the Red Canyon — a miniature badlands of eroded red and white sandstone carved by seasonal streams. Mui Ne is also one of Southeast Asia's top kitesurfing destinations, and the sight of dozens of kites against the coastal sky has its own visual drama. Check into Anantara Mui Ne Resort for dinner on the beach.

Board a domestic flight to Phu Quoc — Vietnam's largest island and, since its airport opened in 2012, one of Southeast Asia's fastest-developing luxury destinations. The beaches on the western coast are among the finest in the region: long, white, fringed with casuarina trees, the water shallow and warm and a colour that shifts between green and blue depending on the light. Check into Salinda Resort Phu Quoc Island — a boutique beachfront property with direct beach access, an infinity pool, and one of the island's best restaurants.

Day 9 is for island exploration. A boat tour visits the An Thoi Archipelago to the south of the island — coral gardens, secluded beaches, and the open water of the Gulf of Thailand. Snorkelling in clear water above healthy reef. The Sun World Phu Quoc cable car crosses three kilometres of open ocean to Hon Thom Island, offering views of the archipelago from above. Return to the resort for a final dinner on the beach as the sun sets over the Gulf of Thailand.

A final morning at the resort — one last swim, one last breakfast on the beach. Private transfers escort you to Phu Quoc International Airport for your connecting flights back to Nairobi via Ho Chi Minh City. Ten days of coastline, culture, and Vietnamese luxury concluded.