Vibrant Vietnam

Hanoi first: land, check in near the Old Quarter, and walk it while the evening street kitchens fire up. Find the train-street cafes, claim a tiny stool, and let Vietnam introduce itself at pavement level. No jet lag on this route - use that.

The capital's set pieces, spaced sensibly: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex early, the Temple of Literature - Vietnam's thousand-year-old university - before lunch, Hoan Kiem lake at dusk. The water-puppet theatre makes an easy, genuinely charming evening. Book the puppet-theatre seats through the hotel desk in the afternoon so the evening stays effortless.

Out to Ninh Binh for the day: a sampan rowed through the rice-paddy karst channels of Trang An or Tam Coc, then the 500-step climb to the Mua Cave viewpoint for the valley panorama. It is the north's quieter scenery day, and many rate it above the famous bay.

An 80-minute flight swaps Hanoi's lanes for Da Nang's beachfront. Check in along My Khe, swim before sunset, and eat near the sand. The next three days trade culture-heavy mornings for a softer coastal rhythm - that is the design, not an accident.

Give Ba Na Hills the full day it needs: the long cable-car ascent, the Golden Bridge before the crowds and clouds arrive, the theme-park streets at the summit. Go early and on a weekday; by afternoon the bridge often disappears into mist.

Marble Mountains in the morning - caves, shrines and stairways cut into the limestone - then the short transfer to Hoi An for the evening it is famous for: silk lanterns over old shophouse streets. Tailors here turn around fitted clothes in a day; measure now, collect tomorrow.

Fly to Ho Chi Minh City and change gears one last time. Evening introduces the south: rooftop views, food markets, and the craft-beer streets that have quietly become some of Asia's best. Count your zeroes when paying - the currency runs to enormous numbers.

Choose the day's history: the Cu Chi tunnel network outside the city, or the Mekong Delta's river life - boats, orchards and floating commerce. Either fills the day properly; doing both means seeing neither well, and we say so plainly.

Nine days, three regions, one long flight home. Keep three hours in hand at the airport, spend the final local notes on coffee beans and fruit, and note what you skipped - Vietnam is built for second visits. Weigh the luggage before leaving the hotel - lacquerware and coffee gifts add up faster than they look.