Journey along the Mekong: 19 days Hanoi to Bangkok

Welcome to vibrant Vietnam, a world of colour, culture and extraordinary food. Today is yours to settle in at your leisure, adjusting to the rhythms of this compelling city before your journey begins in earnest.

Check-in to the Caravelle Saigon, located downtown in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. Meet your Tour Director and fellow guests at your welcoming dinner.

The morning is spent at the Cu Chi Tunnels, where more than 250 kilometres of underground passages dug by hand during the war reveal themselves with staggering ingenuity. Return to the city for a Pho lunch, with the afternoon at leisure.

Scenic Freechoice Dining:
This evening, Scenic Freechoice dining offers a Vespa night tour stopping at the city’s finest street food haunts with complimentary drinks; a refined dinner at Mandarine Restaurant styled on the imperial courts of Hue; a table at Noir Dining in the Dark, dedicated to supporting the visually impaired community; a vintage jeep street food experience; or Buffet 19 at the hotel.

After breakfast, visit the War Museum and the Reunification Palace, whose gates were famously breached by tanks in April 1975.

Then transfer to Saigon Port where the Scenic Spirit awaits. Lunch is on board as the ship departs down the Saigon River, the city giving way to the delta. By evening, anchored at the entrance to the Cho Gao Canal, the quiet rhythm of the Mekong has already begun to settle. Your dedicated personal butler is on hand at any hour.

The day opens with a champagne breakfast as the Scenic Spirit transits the Cho Gao Canal, one of the Mekong Delta’s great arterial waterways, with upwards of 1,800 vessels navigating it every day.

Scenic Freechoice:
Once on the Mekong itself, Scenic Freechoice in Cai Be: a sampan journey to Tan Phong Island through fruit orchards and cottage industries producing rice paper and coconut sweets; afternoon tea at the colonial Le Longanier restaurant with live traditional music; or a cocktail and mocktail masterclass on board using fresh local ingredients.

A sampan into Sa Dec’s lively wet market reveals two hours of local trade — live fish, frogs, produce and the grand home of Mr Huynh Thuy Le, whose love affair with a young French woman inspired Marguerite Duras’ celebrated novel L’Amant.

Return to the Scenic Spirit for an afternoon at leisure as the ship sails the six-hour journey toward Tan Chau. After anchoring before dinner, a festive themed evening on the Sun Deck with a lion dance performed by local artists brings the day to a memorable close.

Start the morning with a yoga class, the gym or the sauna before heading ashore for Scenic Freechoice around Tan Chau.

Scenic Freechoice:
A sampan through the 850-hectare Tra Su Bird Sanctuary drifts through protected wetland home to more than 100 species of waterbirds. On Evergreen Island, join local farmers for a morning of discovery before a xe loi rickshaw ride to the Cao Dai temple, a remarkable fusion of Buddhist, Christian, Taoist and Confucian belief. A third option takes a speedboat to Chau Doc and the elaborate Tay An Temple at the foot of Sam Mountain.

After lunch on board, the Scenic Spirit clears the Vietnamese-Cambodian border and sails onward overnight, Vietnam slipping quietly behind.

The Cambodian capital comes into view as the Scenic Spirit approaches in the early morning.

Scenic Freechoice:
After breakfast, Scenic Freechoice offers a sombre but essential visit to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum; a hands-on Cambodian cooking class starting at the local market; or a remork tour through the French colonial quarter and the Art Deco Central Market.

Return to the Scenic Spirit for lunch, with the afternoon at leisure. This evening, a city lights tour leads to an exclusive Scenic Sundowners experience at a local rum distillery, with a private tasting.

A morning drive to Oudong, Cambodia’s ancient capital, to experience the rhythms of a working monastery — resident monks, peaceful courtyards and, if timing allows, a traditional festival. Back in Phnom Penh, the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda command the afternoon, before a cultural performance by the Cambodian Student and Children’s Organisation on board and a Sundowner cocktail reception on the Sun Deck as the Scenic Spirit sets sail toward Silk Island.

A tuk tuk ride to the silk weaving farm on Oknha Tey reveals every stage of a craft that has defined this community for generations. After lunch, the ship calls at Angkor Ban, a small riverside settlement of century-old wooden houses that somehow survived the Khmer Rouge intact. On board as the ship sails toward Kampong Cham, guests are invited to learn the many ways of wearing a krama, the traditional Cambodian scarf.

Step ashore at Wat Hanchey, an ancient hilltop pagoda offering some of the finest elevated river views of the entire journey.

Scenic Enrich
Receive a traditional blessing from a resident monk, learn to pray within the pagoda, and participate in the alms ceremony – a contribution to the daily sustenance of the monks and a quietly profound experience.

Scenic Freechoice:
The afternoon brings Scenic Freechoice around Kampong Cham: the mountaintop pagoda of Phnom Pros with its blend of legend and difficult history; the layered temples of Wat Nokor Bachey; a drive through colonial shop houses, a French-established rubber plantation and a betel nut village; or a crossing to the remote Kho Penh Village on Pen Island by bamboo bridge. The farewell dinner with the Scenic Spirit crew closes the evening.

After disembarkation this morning your journey moves to Siem Reap via Kampong Thom and the ancient Angkorian bridge at Kampong Kdei, with a stop at a traditional stone cutters’ village along the way. Check in to the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor for three nights, a legendary colonial address with French-inspired architecture and service that feels entirely of another era.

This evening, VIP seats await at the Phare Circus, where Cambodian performers weave storytelling, music, dance and acrobatics into a show of genuine artistry.

The second day of your Siem Reap exploration starts with a delicious champagne buffet breakfast at the hotel.

Scenic Freechoice:
Your Scenic Freechoice takes the morning in any direction: the rose-pink sandstone of Banteay Srei temple and the Landmine Museum; artisan workshops at Senteurs d’Angkor; a village walk through Ta Brak; life on the Tonle Sap floating villages (July to February); a behind-the-scenes tour of the Angkor Wildlife Aquarium; or a tethered balloon flight over the temple complex with Angkor Wat visible below.

The afternoon belongs to Angkor Wat itself, best seen as the afternoon light plays across its galleries and towers. After the day of adventure, tonight is free to shop away at the night markets of Siem Reap or venture to Pub Street, both in walking distance or a short tuk tuk ride from your hotel.

Scenic Enrich
An early departure brings its own reward as the sunrise shifts across Angkor Wat’s moat, followed by a champagne breakfast prepared by a Scenic-supported NGO bakery school near the temples.

The morning continues through the jungle-enveloped Ta Prohm and the many-faced Bayon at Angkor Thom.

Scenic Enrich
The afternoon is free before the final Scenic Enrich brings the Siem Reap chapter to a close: a private gala dinner within the grounds of the 10th-century Prasat Kravan temple, Apsara dancers performing by candlelight among the ruins with complimentary drinks throughout.

A flight to Laos and arrival into Luang Prabang, the spiritual capital of the country and a UNESCO World Heritage-listed city where the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers meet beneath forested mountains. Three nights at the Avani+ Luang Prabang, directly across from the celebrated night markets. Saffron-robed monks, temple-lined laneways and riverside cafés create a pace that most guests find immediately and unexpectedly welcome.

Visit Wat Xieng Thong, founded in 1560 and one of the most important temples in Laos, along with Wat Mai and the former Royal Palace, now the National Museum. This afternoon, a boat cruise along the Mekong calls at a rice wine village before arriving at the sacred Pak Ou Caves, where thousands of gold Buddha statues are enshrined within the limestone cliffs. Back in town, a lesson in Pétanque with the locals rounds out the afternoon. The night market is close, and the evening is yours.

Well before dawn, the streets fill with the silent movement of monks collecting their daily alms — one of the most meditative and culturally significant moments of the entire journey.

Scenic Freechoice:
Return to the hotel for breakfast before Scenic Freechoice: a hands-on rice farming experience at the Living Land farm, working through every stage of the growing and harvesting process; or a tuk tuk and ferry journey to Ban Chan, a village with a centuries-old tradition of making pottery for the Laotian royal household, with a traditional lunch prepared using local ingredients.

The afternoon is free.

The morning begins at the tiered waterfalls and turquoise swimming holes of Kuang Si, set within dense jungle and one of the most beloved natural scenes in Laos. En route back, a stop at a local ethnic minority village offers genuine insight into traditions that have persisted largely undisturbed. Transfer to the station for Laos’ new high-speed train to Vang Vieng. The Riverside Boutique Resort awaits — mountains in every direction and the Nam Song River at the door — with a long-tail boat ride at sunset and dinner on the balcony as the light fades from the peaks.

A visit to Chang Caves, discovered by villagers seeking refuge during the wars, opens the morning before the drive south to Vientiane, a capital that wears its French colonial history lightly and its Buddhist heritage with great pride. After lunch, a visit to COPE, the Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise, tells the story of an organisation restoring mobility to those affected by unexploded ordnance across the Lao countryside. Check in to the Crowne Plaza for a final night, and a farewell dinner where the last 27 days of discovery are pieced back together over the table.

A final morning in the capital takes in Pha That Luang, the gold-covered stupa and national symbol of Laos, and the Patuxay Monument, built between 1957 and 1968 to honour those who fought for independence from France. Then farewell to Laos, and a flight to Bangkok where the journey concludes on arrival.

Please book your flight to depart out of Bangkok after 07:00 PM.

Rivers and waterways are subject to variations in water levels. While every effort is made to adhere to the planned itinerary, changes in river conditions, local government regulations or local festivities may require journey modifications. These will be made based on the advice of local authorities or for safety reasons. Hotels are indicative and subject to change.

Please note: Preview itinerary subject to change.