Coast to Caves Adventure in Vietnam

Your nights in Hanoi will be spent at the 4-star Le Jardin Hotel Haute Couture. Elegantly combining Vietnamese charm with modern touches, it’s located in the Ba Dinh District. Close to the Old Quarter and Truc Bach Lake, many of the city's key cultural and historical landmarks are within easy reach. You’ll stay in a twin-share room with an en-suite bathroom. The rooftop pool and relaxed bar are great spots to unwind during any downtime after arriving or before departing Hanoi.

In Lan Ha Bay, you’ll stay aboard a boutique sailing boat, a memorable night on the water. Alongside elegant décor and attentive service, the boat offers ever-changing views of one of Southeast Asia’s most iconic landscapes. You’ll stay in a deluxe twin room with an en-suite bathroom. The deck areas are spacious, with well-placed seating that lets you relax during your time on board.

After your time on board the boat in Lan Ha Bay, you’ll spend a night back on dry land at the Cat Ba Paradise Hotel, a comfortable and well-located base on Cat Ba Island. Just a short stroll from the seafront, the hotel offers modern en-suite rooms with air conditioning, Wi-Fi and all the essentials you need to relax after a day of exploring. There’s a rooftop pool and bar where you can take in sweeping views of Lan Ha Bay. You’ll stay in twin-share rooms with an en-suite bathroom.

No trip to Vietnam is complete without a journey aboard a sleeper train. You’ll travel overnight from Hanoi to Dong Hoi in a four-person berth, shared privately with other members of your group. The train departs at 20:00 and arrives by 06:00, so enjoy the experience after boarding, maybe head to the dining carriage for a drink before settling in for the night and waking up in Quảng Trị Province.

While this trip is all about premium accommodation and comfortable stays throughout, we couldn’t resist adding one night of wild camping in the spectacular Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park - the experience is just too good to miss. You’ll stay in spacious twin-share tents pitched on the banks of tranquil Ma Da Lake. Your host will provide roll mats, air mattresses and sleeping bags to keep things as cosy as possible. An environmentally friendly composting toilet is available at the campsite.

Described as a hidden gem amidst the wilderness, Blue Diamond Retreat is surrounded by lush forests, imposing mountains and winding rivers and lakes, a truly special setting for exploring this part of Vietnam. This family-run hideaway blends boutique comfort with authentic local charm. You’ll stay in beautifully designed wooden bungalows, each crafted by local artisans and fitted with everything you need after a day’s adventure: crisp linens, private en-suite bathrooms and your own balcony or terrace to soak up the mountain air. The décor is warm and characterful, mixing traditional Vietnamese elements with a touch of modern minimalism.

The retreat follows a sustainability ethos and the produce for the on-site restaurant is sourced from nearby villages, and the team works closely with the local community. Rooms are twin-share by default, with doubles available for couples. There’s a small outdoor pool for cooling off, shaded gardens to unwind in and plenty of cosy corners to relax with a cold drink while listening to the sounds of nature in the surrounding landscape.

Perched on a quiet stretch of Vietnam’s central coastline, Quynh Vien Resort combines breezy seaside living with laid-back boutique comfort. Accommodation is in airy, modern rooms with large windows and private balconies. All rooms have en-suite bathrooms, air conditioning and thoughtful touches like locally woven textiles and handmade ceramics. The resort’s restaurant serves up fresh seafood landed by local fishermen, alongside vibrant Vietnamese salads, noodle dishes and tropical fruit. In your downtime, you can lounge by the pool or wander along the beach right outside. You’ll stay in twin-share rooms.

For solo travellers looking for their own space, an optional private room can be booked for an extra charge, see Optional Extras for the price. Please request this at the time of booking (this is subject to availability). Please note, for the nights on the overnight train and the boutique sail boat, it is not possible to have a private room. When camping, it is possible to request and book a tent on a single basis at no extra cost, depending on availability at the time of booking.

We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.

What's the number?
It works out on average at 388kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.

The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.

But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:

• Driving 1000 miles/1609km would be approximately 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person, if there were two of you in it).
• A return economy class flight between London and New York would be approximately 1619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
• 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approximately 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.

What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.

Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.