Small ship itineraries in Vietnam amongst best Southeast Asia cruises

Small ship itineraries along Ha Long Bay, the Red (Hong) River and the Lower Mekong River in Vietnam were named among the top four best Southeast Asia cruises by the US travel guidebook series Frommer’s.
Small ship itineraries in Vietnam amongst best Southeast Asia cruises ảnh 1A ship carry tourists to explore Ha Long Bay. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Small ship itineraries along Ha LongBay, the Red (Hong) River and the Lower Mekong River in Vietnam were namedamong the top four best Southeast Asia cruises by the US travel guidebookseries Frommer’s.

The four itineraries were listed in an article published onMarch 11, by Heidi Sarna - the cofounder of QuirkyCruise.com, which is designedto share reviews and news about small-ship cruises around the world.

According to Heidi Sarna, during the 10-day itinerary to explorethe Red River and Ha Long Bay, a small ship covers several hundred milesbetween Ha Long Bay and Hoa Binh province in northern Vietnam, spending a fewdays in the picturesque and otherworldly limestone karst–studded Ha Long Bay,which is the dramatic backdrop to films like Indochine (1992) and The QuietAmerican (2002).

Except for a day in frenetic and fascinating Hanoi, which isnotable for its colonial architecture, war heritage, and foodie culture, therest of this route is spent on the Red River and its tributaries, which reachinto the rural landscapes and small towns of Vietnam’s heartland.

The author also revealed several rewarding ways to spend timeoff the ship, including village walks, kayaking in Ha Long Bay, watching atraditional water puppet show, taking tours of heritage sites, and getting aclose-up look at traditional methods for making ceramics, furniture, rice wine,knives, and noodles.

Meanwhile, on the classic weeklong Mekong itinerary cruisesbetween river points near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Siem Reap, Cambodia,the riverscape varies from remote and pastoral on the Cambodian side - wherepassengers can spot people bathing and slapping laundry against stones at theriver’s edge - to the more industrial and bustling Vietnam part of the river.

On excursions, passengers can walk through villages and pastpicture-perfect rice fields and venture into pungent wet markets and floatingfish farms./.
VNA

See more

The Dien Bien Phu campaign headquarters has become a popular tourist attraction in Dien Bien province. (Photo: VNA)

Dien Bien Phu tourism cable car project receives in-principle approval

The project aims to effectively tap the area’s natural landscapes, geographical advantages and distinctive historical value, while creating a high-quality tourism product with strong competitiveness. It is also intended to preserve, honour and promote the value of the Dien Bien Phu Victory special national historical relic site.

Da Lat station is the hub of the roughly 84-km Phan Rang–Da Lat railway (Photo: VNA)

Da Lat city's century-old railway station doubles as tourist draw

It now functions as both a transport hub and a sought-after photo spot. In the early morning, with mist still threaded through the pines, the station radiates an old-world calm. Visitors arrive at dawn to breathe the mountain air and capture iconic images of the highland city.

Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province. (Photo: VNA)

Quang Ninh - magnet for affluent Indian travellers

Alongside wedding tourism, Quang Ninh is also seeing robust growth in arrivals of Indian MICE travellers. Delegations of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of visitors have been coming to the province for conferences, seminars and incentive travel programmes combined with leisure stays.

Visitors explore the Tra Su cajuput forest in An Giang province. (Photo: Tra Su Tourism Area)

Mekong Delta eyes stronger foothold in global tourism

Enriched by the alluvial deposits of the Mekong River, the region stands out for its dense canal network, year-round fruit orchards, biodiversity-rich national parks, and vibrant folk festivals – invaluable assets for developing diverse tourism offerings, from orchard-based eco-tourism and river experiences to cultural, festival, resort and nature conservation tourism.

A Lunar New Year court ceremony of Nguyen Dynasty is reenacted at Thai Hoa Palace in the Imperial Citadel of Hue (Photo: VNA)

Culinary, heritage passports reshape cultural tourism

The central city of Hue is among the first to forge new paths. Its “Hue Tourism Passport” began as a destination brochure in 2018 and has since evolved into the “Hue City Passport” app, with a heritage-passport feature that strings monuments into a structured journey.

Phu Quoc International Airport in Phu Quoc special zone of An Giang province. (Photo: VNA)

Air travel surges to 1.68 million passengers during holiday periods

Domestic air travel accounted for 675,140 passengers and 3,400 tonnes of cargo, marking declines of 7.5% and 11.6%, respectively. In contrast, international transport showed robust growth, surpassing 1 million passengers and reaching 24,050 tonnes of cargo, up 10% in passenger numbers and 10.6% in cargo volume.

International visitors admire the beauty of the My Son Cham sanctuary in Duy Xuyen, Da Nang. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam records 2 million foreign arrivals in April

The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) said the figures highlight the country’s rising profile as a safe, stable and increasingly compelling destination. It is the first time Vietnam has surpassed 2 million foreign arrivals for four straight months, and the first time the January – April tally has reached 8.8 million.

The Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) in the central city of Da Nang. (Photo: VNA)

Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang lead Thai tourists’ searches

Data from the online booking platform Agoda shows that Ho Chi Minh City recorded the highest growth in searches from Thailand, reaching 134%, followed by Da Nang with a 58% increase. Other destinations such as Hong Kong (China) saw more modest growth.