Southern Vietnam & Cambodia’s Ancient Kingdom of Angkor

12 days from £6,400 per person

• Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
• Mekong Delta
• Kep
• Phnom Penh
• Siem Reap

This itinerary is one of Ampersand's Top 10 Cultural Holidays.

Combining southern Vietnam with Cambodia, this overland journey allows you to go beyond the traditional tourist sites, while keeping to a high standard of accommodation and services throughout.

Your journey begins in Saigon, the economic capital of Vietnam and centre of the French and American 20^th century influences. Venture off the tourist trail and board the back of a vintage Vespa for a unique guided tour of the sites, and go on a street food walk through the frenetic streets to discover local delicacy’s and delicious cuisine. After two nights in this energetic city, journey south to the fertile soils of the Mekong Delta. Board a converted ‘Sampan’ (a local canal boat) and spend an evening on the water, and experience everyday life in the farming heartland as well as the famed Cai Rang floating market, before heading to the frontier town of Chau Doc.

Crossing the border to Cambodia, a bit of rest and relaxation is on the cards. The seaside town of Kep, first established in the 1920’s as a seaside resort for the colonial administration, is a wonderfully soporific  town and home to some of the finest pepper in the world, owing to plantations from past French colonialism. A short road journey from Kep will have you in Cambodia’s beguiling capital of Phnom Penh. Until recently Phnom Penh was a sleepy backwater with dirt roads and crumbling architecture, however today it is the face of the new modern Cambodia, with a laid back café culture and exceptional dining and nightlife options.

A short domestic flight from Phnom Penh will take you to Siem Reap to explore the ancient Kingdom of Angkor. Having only been accessible to researchers over the last 15 years after half a century of isolation, archaeologists and historians are only now discovering the true size and scope of what was the pre-industrial age’s most advanced civilization. With four nights here you are able to take in the remnants of this ancient kingdom at a leisurely pace, while enjoying the fine Cambodian countryside and amenities of modern day Siem Reap.

This luxury holiday is purely a suggested itinerary; it can be booked as it is or used as a starting point for creating your very own tailor-made tour of Vietnam and Cambodia. If you are feeling inspired and would like to see similar trips, take a look at our collection of Family Holidays and Epic Journeys; as well as our Beach, Culinary and Multi-Country itineraries.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
Bill Bryson