Culture Trips in Vietnam

An amazing experience! Very organised my contiki with great destinations to visit & plans.

The whole tour was amazing. Angkor Wat was the highlight of our trip. The additional activity of Vespa ride through Saigon was the most enjoyable thing we did. Would highly recommend the additional days in Bangkok. We ventured through the floating market, a lot of fun. All hotels were very good, WiFi was excellent in all the hotels. Our guides in each country definitely helped us enjoy all the tours and their knowledge was great.

The tour was great. Lots of good food and great sights to see. John our guide was terrific. I would not recommend going in April. It was extremely hot and humid. Laos air quality was bad because of the burning of their fields.

Collette’s Kingdoms of Southeast Asia is a wonderful trip with an ambitious itinerary that spends time (17 or 18 days, depending on how you count) in 4 Southeast Asian Countries: 1) Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Vietnam is the focus, with stops in the north, middle, and south of the country. Vietnam is a very interesting, vibrant, and energetic country, with amazing food, and the tour benefits from the tour manager/leader being Vietnamese. Our trip leader was awesome, and I can’t say enough good things about him. Our Vietnamese trip leader stayed with us throughout the entirety of the trip, but excellent local guides joined the tour in the remaining three countries. Three days in Cambodia focused on the ancient cities of Siem Reap, such as the Angkor Wat ruins. The following 3 days in Laos focused on the Buddhist temples and culture as well as a beautiful excursion along the Mekong River. Visits to night markets were offered in all 3 countries. The trip concludes with one night in Bangkok, Thailand and it is easy to extend your stay with the extension offered by Collette of with a few days in your own. Bangkok is an amazing city and one night/one day won’t do. Our tour had 23 people and it moved as a group pretty well. We had a good group, everyone very friendly and helpful to each other. All the hotels were solid, comfortable accommodations - not 5 star, but mostly 4 star (I believe the Laos hotel, probably one of the best in Luang Prabang, would be considered a 3 star hotel by American standards). The tour included plenty of free time, but the organized group excursions were well considered in terms of taking you to see what most tourists want to see as well as introducing you to some genuinely local and personal experiences (like visiting the home of a Vietnamese fighter pilot who fought in the Vietnam War to get his personal perspective on the war). On occasion the daily itinerary was a little rushed, perhaps overly ambitious, but overall the tour was well balanced between planned activities and free time.

AMAZING TRIP…. Tour Manager John the absolutely the BEST. It was an experience of a lifetime. It is hard to put into words or explain the wonders of each country. Book this trip and you won’t be disappointed. It far exceeded my expectations. The smaller group size for travel was a bonus. The hotel accommodations were excellent. The way John (tour manager) explained and provided all the necessary information each day was so helpful. I would do this trip again in a heartbeat .

Trip was inspiring, the people, scenery, chaos of cities…..all adding to a diverse and interesting trip. Lucky to have a small group who became family and an amazing tour guide Manh.