Saigon is surely one of the most evocative place names in Asia and definitely one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. The most Western in atmosphere of Vietnam's cities, Ho Chi Minh City (to use its official name) has a population of 5 million and a booming free-market economy. It is a city of amazing contrasts: elegant new international hotels, exclusive restaurants and trendy bars side-by-side with roadside noodle stalls, street children and vociferous cyclo drivers.

Vietnam's capital is described by almost all who go there as "an old-fashioned city." Old-fashioned in style, it is a city of lakes, parks, trees, villas, mansions and an area called the Old French Quarter where crumbling houses are crammed into narrow alleyways that are still named after the goods that were traded there - Silk Street, Gold Street, even Fried Fish Street! Old-fashioned in atmosphere, Hanoi has sidewalk cafes, pavement barbers, wide tree-lined bicycle-filled boulevards and elegant colonial French mansions.

One of the most ancient cities in Vietnam, Danang was the center of the Cham Dynasty during the 2nd century and today boasts the largest and most impressive collection of Cham artifacts anywhere in the world. Hoi An is also an extraordinary jewel of a town, as it managed to remain untouched in a country ravaged by war and remains an exceptionally well preserved example of an historic Southeast Asian trading port. Finally, explore the must see mausoleums and tombs of Vietnam’s last emperor in the World Heritage town of Hue.