Dear guests and friends of Secret Retreats
In Vietnam, life flows with the river. Markets float, meals travel by boat, and villages face the water instead of the road. Watch long enough and you’ll notice — the river doesn’t just pass through life here, it carries it.
Vietnam’s soul flows where the rivers are deepest and the boats never stop moving.
Sapa — Mountains, Rivers & Rice Terraces
Begin in the high north with Discover Sapa — A Northern Highlands Escape, where rivers cascade between emerald hills and ancient rice terraces. Here, waterways shape not only the land but the rhythms of hill-tribe life: morning markets near streams, misty river valleys at dawn, and small bridges that connect places rather than separate them. Nature and culture meet in every bend of the valley.
Central Vietnam — Hue & Hoi An
Travel into the heart of central Vietnam with Explore Central Vietnam: Hue and Hoi An, where water governs more than weather. The Perfume River has shaped imperial history in Hue, carrying incense smoke past citadels, tombs, and pagodas. In Hoi An, the Thu Bồn River reflects lantern light at dusk, inviting you to watch boats drift past ancient houses and markets that spill gently to the water’s edge.
Hanoi & Halong Bay — Limestone and Legend
From city canals to ocean giants, Discover Hanoi and Halong Bay captures two sides of Vietnam’s waterways. In Hanoi, lakes and canals shape daily life, from early-morning tai chi to coffee sipped beside still water. Beyond the city, emerald limestone towers rise from Halong Bay’s calm seas, where cruisers glide between grottoes and hidden coves — water revealing beauty layer by layer.
The Lost Civilization Cruise — River Legends
For a deeper passage through time, The Lost Civilization Cruise winds along the Mekong and its tributaries, a landscape etched by centuries of trade, rice boats, and temple life. Villages still rise and set with the river’s flow, offering glimpses of traditions seldom seen from the road. Here, the river is not just a route — it is the destination.
Au Fil du Mekong — Across Borders by Water
Finally, Au Fil Du Mekong takes you across the mighty Mekong itself — from highland streams to delta backwaters. This is Southeast Asia’s great artery, rich in biodiversity, culture, and daily life that still depends on water. Floating markets, green rice paddies, and riverbank rituals unfold at their own pace, inviting you to watch, listen, and feel.
In Vietnam, water is not a backdrop —
it is the heartbeat of life itself.
Where the river flows, so do stories.
And in watching them, you begin to understand.