Vietnam Holidays, Cambodia and Laos Holidays - Recommended holiday destinations

As one of the specialist tour operators in the UK providing holidays to the Far East such as China, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia. We are familiar with the true diversity of cultures and scenic attractions of these countries.

Our desire is for you to have a magical holiday experience that broadens your understanding of Indochina.

Saigon, officially named Ho Chi Minh City is the commercial and financial hub of Vietnam and its most popular tourist destination. Saigon is a entwined mix of ancient and modern Asian and International architectural styles. Older tree-lined streets have a vaguely French atmosphere, while the multi-storey buildings and office blocks show the cities modern heritage.

This 300 year old city has much more to offer such as the following:

• Giac Lam Pagoda dating from 1744
• Giac Vien Pagoda founded about 200 years ago.
• Notre Dame Cathedral, built circa 1880 is the heart of the city and is the most famous of the French-era churches in and around Saigon.

Ha Long Bay is a world heritage site, and is one of the most beautiful places on earth. With its picturesque blend of land and sea, this one of the world's most precious beauty spots. Halong Bay is about 180km from Hanoi, and covers an area of over 1,500 km. Dotted with thousands of rocky islands, it really is a natural sculpture on a gigantic scale.

The islands are riddled with innumerable caves and grottoes offering spectacular stalactite and stalagmites displays. Pelican cave, Bo Nau cave, Dau Go grotto and Trinh Nu cave are especially worth seeing.

Hanoi is the ancient capital city of Vietnam, established in 1010 during the Ly dynasty and is the political, economic & cultural center of the country.

Nowadays Hanoi still preserves plenty of ancient architectural works comprising of old streets and over 600 pagodas and temples. Hanoi's present architecture is mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, and the stately French built section of town is largely intact. Main sites include:

• President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum inaugurated in 1975 is the permanent memorial for the founder of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
• The temple of Literature built in 1070, dedicated to the teachings of Confucius and used as a school for princes, the temple of literature was considered as the first university of Vietnam in 1076.
• The temple of Quan Thanh.
• The 19th century temple of Ngoc Son - dedicated to General Tran Hung Dao, a hero against the Mongolians in the 13th century.
• The old quarter and Dong Xuan market.
• Cultural palace
• Hanoi possesses tens of hectares of lakes lying intertwined with its streets, the largest ones among them are Hoan kiem lake, West lake and Truc ach lake.

The remote mountain town of Sapa is an intriguing mix of landscapes, ethnic cultures and fresh mountain air. Looming over the valley and Sapa is Mount Fansipan, Vietnam's highest peak at 3143m (10,312 feet).

Major ethnic groups to be found in Sapa are the H'mong, Red Zao, Xapho and Tai minorities, complete with their largely untouched dress and customs.

Sapa market on a Saturday or Sunday is a fantastic chance to see and compare different cultures as the people descend upon the town to buy and sell their wares, conduct centuries old matchmaking rituals and other social customs.

Hue is a historic quiet city of 350,000 friendly people and has been representing the cultural and spiritual center of Vietnam for a long period of time. This city is famous for its magnificent architecture of citadel, palaces, pagodas and Royal tombs built under the 13 emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty in a poetic background of greenery on the banks of the Perfume River. UNESCO has called Hue "an adorable architectural poem".

• The Citadel and Imperial City was constructed between 1804-1833 and covers an area of 52 km2. The essential places of interest of the citadel and the imperial city are the the noon gate, the courtyard for royal ceremonies, the palace of supreme peace, the memorial temple for Nguyen Kings, nine dynastic urns and the Forbidden City.
• King Tu Duc's Tomb is the resting place of the fourth emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. The tomb was built according to the plan based on two axis, one for the mausoleum, the other for the palace and is a most romantic and splendid architectural masterpiece.
• King Khai Dinh's tomb is the resting place of the twelfth king of the Nguyen Dynasty and the father of King Bao Dai who is the last emperor of Vietnam.
• The Thien Mu Pagoda is a Buddhist monastery erected in 1601 by Lord Nguyen Hoang.

Hoi An is an ancient port town on the Thubon River, 30 km south of Danang. During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries it was one of Southeast Asia's major international ports.

Hoian is one of the rare places in Vietnam where you'll find genuine Vietnamese architecture. Today parts of Hoian look exactly as they did a century and a half ago. Hoian still preserves hundreds of wooded houses built in a unique architectural style.

The city of Hoian also has a Japanese and Chinese quarters, which are both fascinating areas to visit to see these communities cultural & architecture style of the buildings and temples. A popular tourist site is the Japanese Covered Bridge, which was constructed in 1593 and links the Japanese quarter with the Chinese neighborhood.

Nha Trang is encircled by an imposing and beautiful landscape. Its palm-fringed, white sandy beaches stretch for more than 4 miles. Nha Trang is home to arguably the best beaches in all of Vietnam. The waters around Nha Trang are almost transparent, making for excellent fishing, snorkeling and scuba diving.

• On the North side of Nha Trang, are the best-preserved Cham towers in central Vietnam.
• On the other side of the city is Long Son Pagoda. Founded in the late 19th century, the 14m high white Buddha atop the hill is visible from all over the city.

The Mekong Delta covers an area of about 25000 square miles. One of the world's great rivers, the mighty Mekong empties waters from Tibet 2,800 miles away into the South China Sea through the Mekong Delta. This great river crosses into Vietnam from Cambodia and divides into the many rivers that create the Delta (Cuu Long or Nine Dragons in Vietnamese), and nourish one of the worlds greatest rice growing regions, before ending its journey in the South China Sea.

A trip into the Mekong Delta provides an excellent opportunity to experience traditional Vietnamese rural life. Boating through the maze of canals and waterways gives the opportunity to view rural life in the countryside as it really happens: peasants hard at work in the paddy, docile water buffaloes, floating markets, orchards groaning with delectable fruits, humble thatched dwellings, ancient Khmer temples, fishermen and excited local children!

Siem Reap is an attractive little town perched not far from the Tonle Sap, South East Asia's largest freshwater lake. It serves as the gateway to the World Heritage site of Angkor temple complexes that sit just a few kilometers to the north, arduously reached over rutted roads.

The magic of Angkor is best experienced at sunset when the carved sandstone sculptures monuments and temples glow a deep gold colour.

The Angkor Wat Conservancy was established by the French in 1907 when Seam Reap province was restored to Cambodia by the Thais. Angkor Conservancy is a warehouse for some 7,000 sculpture fragments and artifacts from the Angkor region.

Phnom Penh is as a relaxed and laid-back city sitting at the junction of four rivers. It's the current capital of Cambodia, and was founded by a Khmer woman named Penh. Following her discovery of Buddha statues hidden in a tree; she built a pagoda on a hill to commemorate her find. The name for hill in Khmer is Phnom, hence the cities name is Phnom Penh.

Main Highlights:

• The Silver Pagoda is the must-see historic sites in the city.
• The National Museum, notable not only for its outstanding exhibits but also for its superb traditional-style architecture.
• Royal Palace hearken back to the traditions of the historic Cambodian kings.
• The Tuol Sleng prison displays a far more sinister and violent part of the country's past which occurred during the 4 year rule of Pol Pot, who wiped out more than a million people before being deposed after a Vietnamese invasion.
• Wat Ounalom is a 15th century Mahanikai Buddhist temple and highly respected institute of learning, with 50 monks in residence. A large number of its buildings were destroyed under Pol Pot, however the temple has since been partially restored.

Vientiane sits in a bend of the Mekong River, and has been the Capital of Laos since the 15th century when it was moved there from Luang Prabang. It's one of the world's smallest capital with a population of only 25,000 residents.

Vientiane has many fascinating gilded pagodas to explore with saffron robed monks. There is also a wide range of spicy food on offer for visitors to enjoy.

Luang Prabangh was the capital city of the first Lao kingdom Lang Xang until it was consolidated in 1545 by the Khmer supported conqueror of Fangum.

Today, the World Heritage site of Luang Prabang is famous for its beautiful temples and mountainous setting.

Places to visit include Royal Palace Museum, Wat Xieng Thong temple, Phousy Mountain and many other temples nearby. About 30km by boat from Luang Prabang along the Mekong River, is the famous Pakou caves housing thousands of all styles and sizes of Buddha images.