We have just got back from 3 amazing weeks in Vietnam. This really was a once in a life time holiday. We used Custom Vietnam Travel - Liliana and the guides Thuy, Nam and Kim were fantastic. Not only did they help us organise our itinerary that would suit a family of four

We spent ten days in Vietnam using CVT's services, in addition to spending three days in Hanoi on our own to visit my son, who is working there for a year. I cannot speak highly enough about the excellent guidance that was offered by this travel agency. Here are some specific reasons why I can recommend them unequivocally: 1. My communications by email with Minh before we arrived were always professional, prompt, and courteous. She was patient with me, always, as we changed our trip plans slightly many times over the course of two months of planning. 2. I appreciated just how "custom" this agency is ... I finally realized that you can just basically tell them what you want to do - and they'll find a way to make it work. 3. We had two guides with us for extended times ... one in the northern mountains (Bac Ha, Sa Pa) for three days total - He was very good, spoke excellent English, and knew a precise answer to every single question I asked. His five years of guiding experience clearly showed. ... The other guide was a young lady in the HCMC(Saigon) area that we had for the city and Mekong Delta area for a total of four days - she was enthusiastic, funny, also spoke great English, and charmed us with the many personal stories she told us about daily Vietnamese life - from both her own family and friends - in answer to my many questions. I have learned many times over with different trips that you get what you pay for with guides - we were delighted with these two. 4. The drivers were nearly always on time, usually early. There was only one exception, when a driver showed up to our hotel in HCMC a bit late to pick up my wife to go to the airport - she ended up taking a taxi ... and VCT apologized and without me asking, insisted on reimbursing us for the $15 taxi fare she had to pay. They made a special trip with one of their HCMC staff to meet me later on at the hotel just to make sure I received the reimbursement promptly. This is an agency that knows what they're doing and does things right ... and if any one little thing is not quite right, they will quickly make amends. 5. The vans they use are comfortable with good A/C and the drivers know how to negotiate the insane Vietnamese traffic. (Do not even consider renting a car on your own in Vietnam ... five minutes of being on the roads would convince you of that, believe me!) 6. We chose the lower tier (of two) for accommodations and all of the hotels they chose for us were very good. 7. The restaurants they chose for us for lunches were without exception interesting and had good Vietnamese food. A few were wonderfully unique in their ambience or offerings. My wife is vegetarian and my son pescatarian - and our guide always communicated with the restaurant kitchen staff on our behalf so that both had interesting food choices. 8. I chose CVT primarily based on TA reviews and did not do too much comparison shopping for value, but from a Western perspective, costs for traveling in Vietnam are so low - say, compared to traveling in Europe - that at first, I was stunned by how economical our ten days of travel were. 9. We did a two night Ha Long Bay cruise, as well ... and while CVT only arranged a driver for us back and forth between the bay and Hanoi, it was awfully nice to have our own transport - it was especially sweet to have the whole 11- person van for just the four of us travelers to be able to spread out and nap at times (for all ten days). 10. There were several times when CVT pleasantly surprised me, such as offering to take care of our visa approval letter for no charge - when it looks like most travelers have to pay a fairly hefty fee to an agency for that processing. This is the first time our family has every relied so heavily on a travel agency to set up so much for us on a trip. We have primarily been "do-it-yourselfers" for other trips, especially to Europe several times. At first, I was a little concerned about how much to rely on a singly agency for so much. Would they be on time? Would the guides have thick accents that would make it hard for us to communicate in English? Would they be forthcoming with stories to make our time with them special? I can say quite enthusiastically that we were very happy with CVT's services. This is a professional group of people that have been doing this for years ... and they know how to cater to American visitors. The world is a big place and I am not sure that we will ever have a chance to return to Vietnam, but if we do, I will without a doubt be turning to CVT once again to make our time there smooth and special.

I don’t comment much on TripAdvisor although I use it a ton. This trip was worth a comment as our experience with Custom Vietnam Travel was excellent. Highly recommend them. Ours was a 14 day trip with 3 adult children taking us from North to South hitting many of the standard highlights: Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, and Saigon….with a two day chaser in Siem Reap to see Ankgor Wat. I have 3 comments I hope are helpful and supplement other reviews. 1) Lilliana’s attention to our needs/interests was excellent pre-trip. With gluten intolerance and Veganism in the family she was all over our requirements and when we arrived at most restaurants they already had our food limitations covered. Lilliana earned our full respect DURING the trip, however. We made several changes during our stay which necessitated her spending hours to re-do flights, hotels, guides, drivers, and restaurants. I was blown away on how quickly she met our needs and figured out all our options while we were off enjoying our day. THAT kind of service is what you get here. She provided the desired flexibility we wanted to have. The guides and Drivers provided also simplified and maximized our experience. 2) One of the highlights of our trip was going to the Bac Son Valley and spending two nights at a Homestay in a rural village. Custom Vietnam arranged all of it with us sleeping in a one room house on stilts with an older host couple (ex-Northern Vietnamese Soldier). Mats on the floor and mosquito netting was the norm but the experience was special. Our hosts couldn’t have been more welcoming and gracious and spending time with some of the Villagers (nightly Volleyball anyone?) was a real memory for our entire family. We were told few people include such a side trip preferring to go to main tourist areas. But this really helped us get a feel for rural Vietnam which is much of Vietnam. 3) As you plan your trip, you may want to consider not trying to jam as much in as you can. We ended up deleting a trip to the Mekong Delta (mixed reviews by some friends) and stayed longer in Hoi An which was a beautiful, relaxing town. With a family of 5 constantly on the move and spending every day together, we learned everyone needed some time and space to just relax rather than see that extra temple. A very memorable Trip.

Our visit to Vietnam qualifies as one of the most beautiful holidays we ever took. I had approached Custom Vietnam travel after reading about them on Trip advisor and from the professional and prompt responses of Minh Ninh, our travel specialist, i knew that this is an agency i can trust. Minh was always prompt in her responses, suggestions and advise, be it hotels, attractions or restaurants. The hotels in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh were very good and the cruise to Halong Bay was a dream. From the cars to the driver, the well chosen guide to providing us with cell phones, needless to say the impeccable lunches left nothing more to desire. The Mekong delta trip was easily one of the most beautiful days of the trip. The attention to minutest detail, and the beautiful jovial nature of the guides left us very happy. A country is all about its people, and Vietnam will go down our memory lanes as one of the beautiful countries we have visited- its beautiful people, food and travel will always remain etched in our hearts. Thanks to Custom Vietnam Travel for making this dream trip to Vietnam possible.

Mr smiley is very responsive in answering the questions. He made good efforts to tailor make the itinerary for us. The tour guide also did a good job in attending every detail and delivered what was promised on the itin. We were so assured that we were in good hands without a single worry. I would recommend the 2 day 1 trip to halong bay with Mr smiley, which allows you a better insight of the places.

Just returned from a 3 week trip touring Vietnam and Cambodia. We booked all our tour with CVT and I cannot thank them enough as everything we asked for was delivered and everything was tailored for our requests. In each city visited both in Vietnam and Cambodia we were greeted by friendly and well experienced local guides and drivers who went out of their way to make sure we were looked after and everything ran smoothly. I would also like thank Minh from head office who was the person who I communicated with prior to the holiday who made all arrangements and planned out our stay to perfection. Once again thank you for this wonderful and enjoyable trip. Regards Anthony.

We recently returned from an amazing 16 day trip touring Cambodia and Vietnam with this professional tour company. Our initial emails were replied to promptly and efficiently by Liliana. Everything we asked for was done and the finer details were tailored to suit our many requests. We did a private tour, myself and my husband and on arrival in each city visited we were greeted by friendly and accommodating local guides and drivers who went out of their way to make sure we were looked after and everything ran smoothly, including checking in to our hotels, local tours, amazing sightseeing, advice on local restaurants, airport checkin and even a visit to the pharmacy when I required some medication. A big thank you to our exceptional guide Kim Tran who looked after us in Hanoi/Halong Bay and our home stay in Bac Son Valley - we will never forget this wonderful journey and cultural experience. Thank you Liliana it was lovely to meet you personally at our hotel in Hanoi and for our beautiful departing gift. This was a wonderful personal touch to the end of our trip. Do yourself a favour and use this local travel agent, if you want an amazing adventure in this beautiful part of the world.

I would like to truly recommend the Custom Travel service when travelling in Vietnam. We were given the opportunity to experience the authentic vibe of Vietnamese daily life, customs and culture in the north of the country (we chose 4 day trekking trip in Mu Cang Chai region). The trip was well balanced between driving and spending time close to the amasing rise terraces, villages and nature. It was also well adjusted to our needs. We could stop and relax every time we liked the area, excluding the mandatory stops for all tourists. Actually, we haven’t seen any tourists during the whole tour. They offered professional service, including English spoken guide, experienced driver, comfortable car (with wi-fi and air condition), very interesting accommodation (home stays, highly recommended!), useful information, advice and contact during the trip and after ;) However, more important were these priceless moments during the trip that we could enjoy with Vietnamese people who shared their hospitality, friendship, shines, goodness and joy. We wouldn’t be able to get these emotions travelling on our own. Sharing dinner with the family during homestay will stay in our hearts forever, not only due to the delicious meals!!! I would like to thank Minh for all her help and Nam for showing us the real happiness on people’s faces. Hopefully our cycling tracks will cross soon ;)

We are a group of 7 from Singapore. Just returned from Hanoi with a customised trip with Custom Vietnam Travel. We have a group of 3 who are vegetarian and that create a bit of inconvenience for our tour guide, Bien. Not many urual places have vegetarian food for my tour members but Mr Bien, went the extra mile by going to the local market to buy the vegetarian food and to even make sure the local chef cooked the right style for us. He did this for many meals, not just for one day. He also had a good sense of humour, always cracking jokes in the bus, before and after meals. We had a very good time in Vietnam thanks to him. Lastly, after knowing our preferences, he willingly gave us many other alternatives for our day. We also want to thank Susan for her fast and efficient service toward our group right from the beginning when we enquired with their tour agency. Throughout the trip she will contact us and make sure all arrangements go well with our tour. Whatever feedbacks she received from us she will contact our tour guide and make sure it will be planned accordingly. We highly recommend Custom Vietnam Travel to all who want to have a good and personalised trip to Vietnam. Once again thank you for this wonderful and enjoyable trip. Lee Lee and Family.

There are a lot of tour companies who offer day trips to Tam Coc but they all left Hanoi at about the same time and had very similar itineraries. So, I contacted Custom and they tailored a trip just perfectly to suit our preferences. Not only did we leave Hanoi earlier (and we beat the crowds!) but they also arranged more time biking through the countryside. Honestly, the boat ride was nice but the biking was FANTASTIC! I am so glad they were able to organize the trip so perfectly for us. I highly recommend Custom Vietnam if you aren't 100% happy with any out of the box tours you see elsewhere.