Vietnam from Top to Bottom

The Real Deal: Round-trip airfare, six nights' accommodations, sightseeing tours, and local transportation from $1,199 per person.

When: Jan. 1-June 5 and Aug. 21-Dec. 5, 2007. (Note that Chinese New Year--February 18--is celebrated widely in Vietnam and makes an inconvenient time to visit because many businesses and attractions close.)

Gateways: Los Angeles, San Francisco; add $175 for Boise, Denver, Portland (Ore.), Seattle; $200 for New York City; $275 for Austin, Dallas, Houston, Tulsa; $300 for Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.; $345 for Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit

Details: Hotel taxes, airport/hotel transfers, and breakfast daily are included. Additional airport taxes and fuel surcharges are about $275 per person. Single supplement $350. U.S. citizens must obtain a visa for travel to Vietnam; consult the local embassy and download the application here. Visa cost is $25-$65 per person, partially depending on whether you receive a letter of invitation from the Vietnam government. (Escapes Unlimited can help facilitate the letter.) For general guidelines on evaluating deals, click here.

Book By: No deadline; based on availability

Contact: Escapes Unlimited, 800/243-7227, escapesltd.com

The package includes round-trip airfare on award-winning Singapore Airlines (U.S. to Hanoi and Saigon to U.S.) and a six-night stay. The first three nights are in Hanoi at the modest 42-room Chains First Eden Hotel located in the Old Quarter. Then there is a one-way flight to Saigon, officially called Ho Chi Minh City, on Vietnam Airlines and a three-night stay at the recently renovated, government-owned Huong Sen Hotel in downtown. Add extra nights in Saigon for $25 per person per night and in Hanoi for $28 per person per night.

A half-day sightseeing tour in a private van hits many of Hanoi's highlights: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Presidential Palace, the Old Quarter , Ho Tay Lake, Tran Quoc Pagoda, One Pillar Pagoda, and the Temple of Literature. Similarly, a half-day tour of Saigon covers Notre Dame Cathedral, the Central Post Office, Cholon (Chinatown), the Presidential Palace, and the open air market (Binh Tay Market).

Add an excursion to Siem Reap, Cambodia, from $299 per person, based on double occupancy; the single supplement is $170. The add-on includes two nights at the Auberge Mont Royal hotel, a one-way flight from Saigon to Siem Reap, airport/hotel transfers, breakfast daily, hotel taxes, and a full-day guided tour of the Angkor Wat temple complex. A visa is required for entry into Cambodia; contact your local consulate.

You could also add a stopover in Singapore with two nights at the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel or the Albert Court Hotel, airport/hotel transfers, a hop-on/hop-off sightseeing trolley, and a Singapore River cruise, from $32 per person. (For instance, you could stop in both Siem Reap and Singapore and fly from Singapore back to the U.S.)

What Makes This a Deal? The lowest round-trip, multicity fare (L.A. to Hanoi and Saigon to L.A.) we've found for early January is $1,581 per person on Cathay Pacific Airways. If you book the Escapes Unlimited package, you pay about $400 less per person and get the six-night stay, one-way flight between Hanoi and Saigon, and sightseeing tours.

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