Mekong Three Pearls: Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia (Self-Launched)

Land at Luang Prabang International (LPQ) and take a shared tuk-tuk or airport minibus into the peninsula (~£3). Check into a riverside guesthouse in the old town and spend the afternoon walking the UNESCO-listed streets — Wat Xieng Thong, the night market on Sisavangvong Road, and sunset beers on the Mekong bank. Book tomorrow's boat and waterfall tours at any travel agent on the main street (they all sell the same seats).

🚌Shared airport tuk-tuk ~£3

🛏Old-town guesthouse or hostel, £10-14/night

• →Wat Xieng Thong
• →Luang Prabang night market
• →Mekong sunset
• →Book Pak Ou and Kuang Si tours locally

Join a shared slow boat down the Mekong to the Pak Ou Caves, packed with thousands of Buddha statues in two limestone chambers above the river. Most boats stop at a rice-whisky village en route. Tickets are sold all over town for around £13-18 including pickup — no need to pre-book online. Back in town by mid-afternoon for a riverside lunch.

🚌Shared slow boat to Pak Ou, ~£13-18 incl. pickup

🛏Old-town guesthouse or hostel, £10-14/night

• →Pak Ou Caves boat trip
• →Whisky village stop
• →Riverside lunch

Share a songthaew (pickup truck) with other travellers to Kuang Si (~£5-8 return from town, 45 mins). Spend the morning swimming in the turquoise tiers, walk to the top of the falls, and visit the Free the Bears sanctuary at the entrance. Entry is roughly £2.50. Come back late afternoon for a massage and dinner in town.

🚌Shared songthaew to Kuang Si ~£5-8 return

🛏Old-town guesthouse or hostel, £10-14/night

• →Kuang Si Waterfalls
• →Free the Bears sanctuary
• →Swimming in lower pools

Set an early alarm for the 5:45am monks' alms round on Sisavangvong Road — buy sticky rice from a vendor and observe respectfully. Then a half-day Lao cooking class (£20-28, bookable direct or via Klook): market tour, sticky rice, laap, mok pa steamed fish. Free afternoon to climb Mount Phousi for sunset (£2) and relax.

🚌Walkable old town

🛏Old-town guesthouse or hostel, £10-14/night

• →Dawn alms giving
• →Half-day Lao cooking class
• →Mount Phousi sunset

The tour flies this leg; the budget route is the sleeper bus to Vientiane or straight through by bus to Hanoi (long, ~24h via Dien Bien Phu, ~£25-35) — but most independent travellers take a low-cost flight (Lao Airlines / VietJet / AirAsia, £60-110 booked ahead) to save two days. Arrive Hanoi, catch a Grab bike or bus 86 from Noi Bai (~£1.20-3) to the Old Quarter, and check into a dorm or budget hotel.

🚌Lao Airlines/VietJet flight Luang Prabang–Hanoi ~£60-110; bus 86 or Grab from airport ~£1.20-3

🛏Old Quarter hostel or budget hotel, £8-14/night

• →Old Quarter orientation walk
• →Bia hoi corner

Do Hanoi on foot: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex (free, mornings only, closed Mon/Fri), One Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature (£1.50), and the Hoa Lo Prison museum (£1.50). In the afternoon wander Hoan Kiem Lake and the French Quarter. Optional: a GetYourGuide street-food walking tour (£18-25) if you want a local to decode the Old Quarter.

🚌Walk + occasional Grab bike ~£3

🛏Old Quarter hostel or budget hotel, £8-14/night

• →Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
• →Temple of Literature
• →Hoa Lo Prison museum
• →Hoan Kiem Lake

Book a 2D1N cruise directly with a mid-range operator or via Klook/GetYourGuide (£100-150 for a decent boat with meals and kayaking; budget party boats from £60). Pickup from the Old Quarter is included. Sail among the karsts, kayak through caves, and watch sunset from the deck — most of the cost of the tour is exactly this leg.

🚌Shared minibus from Hanoi, included in cruise

🛏Overnight on a Halong/Lan Ha Bay junk boat (included in cruise price)

• →Halong/Lan Ha Bay cruise
• →Kayaking
• →Cave visit
• →Sunset on deck

Early tai chi and brunch on the boat, disembark late morning and bus back to Hanoi. Take the Reunification Express sleeper train to Hue overnight (soft sleeper ~£22-30, ~13 hours; book at dsvn.vn or 12go a few days ahead). This saves a hotel night and a domestic flight.

🚌Shared bus back to Hanoi (included) + Reunification Express Hanoi–Hue soft sleeper ~£22-30

🛏Sleeper train (soft sleeper berth)

• →Morning tai chi on deck
• →Reunification Express

Arrive early morning, drop bags at a hostel near the citadel, then explore the Imperial Enclosure (£6) and the Forbidden Purple City. In the afternoon take a boat or Grab to the Thien Mu Pagoda, and optionally the Khai Dinh or Tu Duc tombs (£4-5 each). Rent a bicycle for the day (~£2) if you want to link the tombs yourself.

🚌Bicycle rental ~£2 or Grab ~£5

🛏Hue guesthouse or hostel, £8-12/night

• →Imperial Citadel
• →Thien Mu Pagoda
• →Khai Dinh tomb
• →Perfume River

Take the local train Hue to Danang (~£2.50, 2.5 hours, best views on the left) or the public bus (£2), then a Grab or bus 1 down to Hoi An (~£4). Alternatively hire a motorbike with a one-way drop-off for the famous Hai Van Pass (~£12-15). Check in, then walk the lantern-lit Old Town at dusk — entry ticket £5 covers five heritage houses and assembly halls.

🚌Train Hue–Danang ~£2.50 + Grab/bus to Hoi An ~£4

🛏Hoi An hostel or homestay, £8-14/night

• →Hai Van Pass / coastal train
• →Hoi An Old Town entry
• →Lantern-lit streets
• →An Bang or Cua Dai beach

Cycle out through the rice paddies to Tra Que vegetable village or Cam Kim island (~£2 bike hire), stop at a local market, then join an afternoon cooking class in town (£18-25 on Klook or GetYourGuide, includes market tour and a full meal). Evening free for tailoring fittings or the An Hoi night market.

🚌Bicycle hire ~£2

🛏Hoi An hostel or homestay, £8-14/night

• →Tra Que / Cam Kim cycling
• →Market tour
• →Hoi An cooking class
• →Night market

Bus or Grab back to Danang airport (~£5) and fly to Ho Chi Minh City (VietJet/Bamboo, £30-60 if booked ahead). Land, take bus 109 or a Grab from Tan Son Nhat (~£1.50-3) to District 1, and settle into a Pham Ngu Lao backpacker guesthouse. Evening wander down Bui Vien street.

🚌Grab to Danang airport ~£5 + domestic flight Danang–Saigon ~£30-60 + airport bus ~£1.50

🛏Pham Ngu Lao hostel, £8-13/night

• →Bui Vien street
• →Ben Thanh night market

Morning at the War Remnants Museum (£2), then the Reunification Palace (£2.50) and Notre Dame Cathedral and Central Post Office (free). Afternoon: pick up a Cholon (Chinatown) food walk on foot, or a GetYourGuide motorbike street-food tour (£15-25) to eat your way through District 4 and District 5. Book tomorrow's Mekong Delta tour tonight.

🚌Grab bikes ~£4

🛏Pham Ngu Lao hostel, £8-13/night

• →War Remnants Museum
• →Reunification Palace
• →Central Post Office
• →Cholon food walk or motorbike food tour

Take a small-group Mekong Delta day tour to Ben Tre or My Tho (£20-35 on GetYourGuide/Klook, or the local bus + boat independently for under £10): sampan down the canals, coconut candy workshops, honey tea, fruit orchards and a lunch of elephant-ear fish. Return to Saigon by early evening.

🚌Minibus from District 1 (included in tour) or local bus ~£6

🛏Pham Ngu Lao hostel, £8-13/night

• →Sampan canal ride
• →Coconut candy workshop
• →Fruit orchard
• →Delta lunch

Short flight to Phu Quoc (VietJet/Bamboo, £25-50) — or the cheaper sleeper bus to Rach Gia/Ha Tien plus ferry (£15-20 total) if you have time. Shared shuttle or Grab from the airport to your beach bungalow. Find a guesthouse near Long Beach or Duong Dong for £10-18/night — the resort strip is where tour hotels are, but budget accommodation is scattered right along the sand.

🚌Domestic flight ~£25-50 + airport shuttle ~£3

🛏Beach guesthouse or bungalow, £12-18/night

• →Long Beach sunset
• →Duong Dong night market

Full beach day. Add a half-day snorkelling or island-hopping boat trip to the An Thoi archipelago (£15-30, book direct at a dive shop or Klook) — most include lunch, fishing and snorkel gear. Rent a kayak or just rotate between the loungers and the sea.

🚌Bicycle/scooter hire ~£5

🛏Beach guesthouse or bungalow, £12-18/night

• →Island-hopping snorkelling trip
• →Long Beach swim
• →Seafood BBQ

Hire a scooter for the day (~£6) and loop the island: Sao Beach in the south for the postcard white sand, Ham Ninh fishing village on the east coast for crab, and the pepper farms inland. Evening: night squid fishing trip (£12-18) if the boats are running.

🚌Scooter hire ~£6

🛏Beach guesthouse or bungalow, £12-18/night

• →Sao Beach
• →Ham Ninh fishing village
• →Pepper farm
• →Optional night squid fishing

Last island day: yoga on the beach, a long lunch of grilled fish, and a massage (£8-12). Book your flight to Siem Reap tonight — there are rarely direct flights from Phu Quoc, so plan Phu Quoc → Ho Chi Minh City → Siem Reap with VietJet/AirAsia (£70-110 total), which is exactly what the tour does too.

🚌Local transport ~£4

🛏Beach guesthouse or bungalow, £12-18/night

• →Beach yoga
• →Massage
• →Book Siem Reap flights

Fly via Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap (£70-110). On arrival either take an e-arrival card online and pay the $30 (£24) visa-on-arrival, or sort an e-visa in advance. Tuk-tuk from the airport ~£4. Check into a guesthouse near Pub Street or Wat Bo, then buy your Angkor pass (1-day $37, 3-day $62 — the 3-day pass is worth it if you're here 4 days) from the official APC ticket office on Apsara Road. Evening on Pub Street.

🚌Two flights via Saigon ~£70-110 + airport tuk-tuk ~£4

🛏Siem Reap guesthouse or hostel, £8-14/night

• →Purchase Angkor pass
• →Pub Street
• →Night market

Hire a tuk-tuk driver for the day (~£12-16, split with friends) and the classic circuit: Angkor Wat at sunrise, Angkor Thom and the Bayon faces, Ta Prohm's jungle-wrapped ruins, and Preah Khan or Phnom Bakheng for sunset. A licensed guide isn't essential — the tuk-tuk driver knows the logistics, and a good audio guide or GetYourGuide tour (£25-40) can add context if you want it.

🚌Tuk-tuk driver for the day ~£12-16

🛏Siem Reap guesthouse or hostel, £8-14/night

• →Angkor Wat sunrise
• →Angkor Thom & Bayon
• →Ta Prohm
• →Phnom Bakheng sunset

Tuk-tuk out to Banteay Srei — the 10th-century pink-sandstone 'Women's Temple' with the finest carvings in Angkor (~£18-22 return, shared, plus $5 site pass). Stop at Ta Nei or Kbal Spean if you have energy, and lunch in a village food stall. Many local tour operators offer a village visit and monk blessing as a combined half-day (£15-25 via GetYourGuide) — easy to replicate by asking your driver to arrange it.

🚌Shared tuk-tuk to Banteay Srei ~£18-22 return

🛏Siem Reap guesthouse or hostel, £8-14/night

• →Banteay Srei temple
• →Village visit
• →Monk blessing
• →Local lunch

Shared tuk-tuk out to the Tonle Sap (~£10-15) and then a local boat through the flooded forest to Kampong Phluk's stilted village (£15-20, buy boat tickets at the official pier — ignore inflated tours). Best in the wet season (Jun-Oct) when the lake swells; in dry season the community is on stilts rather than floating. Back in the afternoon for Angkor National Museum (£10) or a final massage.

🚌Tuk-tuk to Tonle Sap ~£10-15 + local boat ~£15-20

🛏Siem Reap guesthouse or hostel, £8-14/night

• →Kampong Phluk stilted village
• →Tonle Sap boat trip
• →Flooded forest
• →Optional Angkor National Museum

Optional early return to Angkor for a quieter second visit on your 3-day pass — Ta Prohm at dawn is magical without crowds. Otherwise a lazy breakfast, last-minute souvenir shopping at the Old Market, and a tuk-tuk to Siem Reap International (£4). Book your onward flight home from Siem Reap or connect via Phnom Penh or Bangkok.

🚌Tuk-tuk to airport ~£4

🛏—

• →Old Market shopping
• →Optional dawn temple revisit