For a Different Side of Vietnam and Cambodia, Take a Mekong River Cruise

With cities famous for their streets abuzz with rolling kitchens and scooter traffic, and itineraries packed with countryside tours of colorful markets and temples, Vietnam and Cambodia may not seem like obvious spots for an unhurried holiday. But along the Mekong, the region’s largest river, days slow to a far more leisurely pace.

Where to Stay

The Mekong stretches roughly 3,000 miles from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, and a river cruise offers one of the best ways to explore its most scenic stretches at a suitably slow clip. More than a decade after launching the 60-stateroom AmaDara, luxury river cruise liner AmaWaterways expanded its fleet with a more contemporary sibling, AmaMaya, this August, offering even more ways to drift down the Mekong. Over seven nights, the ships travel roughly 250 miles between Cambodia and the sinewy Mekong Delta in Vietnam (or vice versa), gliding past floating villages, rice fields and gilded temple spires poking out between the river’s palm-tree fringe.

A cruise might feel like doing Southeast Asia on easy mode, but the access it offers is hard to match. While overland tours tend to stick to major sights, the Mekong is a back door to places most travelers would never reach.

Yet the greatest luxury may be doing very little at all. You could pass hours (or even an entire day) stretched out on a lounger on the sundeck, watching fishermen cast their nets from wooden sampan boats as you drift by. There’s a small pool to cool off in, and a bar doling out frosty beers and cocktails. Lectures by local experts provide context for the farming communities and Buddhist temple ceremonies you’ll see on excursions, while traditional music and dance performances showcase the region’s culture. In between, there are chef-led cooking workshops and yoga classes. But there’s never any shame in sitting one out and ordering another drink instead.

The best part: You only have to unpack once. While you wake up in a new destination every morning, your cabin remains exactly where you left it, only the bed is made and towels refreshed. By day two, you’ll be on a first-name basis with the crew, and they’ll have remembered your coffee order and go-to nightcap. Book your AmaWaterways sailing through Voyages by Chase Travel and you’ll receive exclusive benefits, including a $150 onboard credit and complimentary laundry service. With every detail taken care of, the biggest decision left to make is whether you’re having French or Vietnamese for dinner.

Eat and Drink

Meals aboard an AmaWaterways Mekong ship are designed to reflect the cuisine of Cambodia and Vietnam.

Meals aboard an AmaWaterways Mekong sailing reflect their surroundings. Mornings could start with steaming bowls of pho and a rainbow-colored spread of local fruits, while the multicourse lunches and dinners include clay-pot fish and Vietnamese bánh hỏi rice noodles with roasted pork belly. Keep at least one night free for the Mediterranean-tinged tasting menu at The Chef’s Table hidden at the back of the ship.

Though guests board the ship in Kampong Cham, the trip actually begins in Siem Reap, where farm-to-table restaurant Lum Orng, on the rural edge of town, is worth seeking out. Here, local chef Sothea Seng draws inspiration from the Mekong’s diverse culinary cultures in fragrant curries and stir-fries that fuse Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian flavors.

In Phnom Penh, where the ship docks at a downtown pier for two nights, you’ll have ample opportunity to explore the city’s fast-evolving dining scene on your own. Book a table at Malis Restaurant, one of the country’s first Cambodian fine-dining spots, for a gentle introduction to the national cuisine’s herb-heavy and chili-laden dishes. The hip Bai Sor, which opened in 2024, offers a bolder take on Cambodian cooking, with a standout green mango salad with grilled pork cheek, and sour curry with Tajima Wagyu and jackfruit. Before you head back to the ship, sip a gin-forward drink in a rattan chair at the Elephant Bar inside Raffles Hotel Le Royal, which has been a Phnom Penh mainstay for almost a century.

You’ll want to eat your fair share of pho noodles and pâté-smeared banh mi baguettes in Ho Chi Minh City, the journey’s final stop (or boarding point, depending on which direction you travel), but do leave room for a meal at some of the city’s contemporary restaurants. Book ahead for a table at the perennially packed Ănăn Saigon for chef Peter Cường Franklin’s foie gras spring rolls and ceviche with mango and nước mắm (Vietnamese fish sauce), or try a tasting menu at CoCo Dining, which delivers a deep dive into everything from Vietnamese rice varieties to local noodles, with dishes like dill-infused cod-liver rillettes and smoked toothfish with cao lầu noodles from Hội An.

Things to Do

One key perk of a river cruise is that there’s no need to fret about activities. Instead of spending hours researching logistics and comparing guides, you simply step off the ship and join a tour that showcases the highlights of each port of call.

The excursions are remarkably diverse. In Siem Reap, you can sign up for guided tours (as add-ons to the standard itinerary) of the crumbling Angkor Wat ruins, a scattered complex of sandstone spires, causeways and ancient carvings depicting apsara Hindu spirits. In Phnom Penh, options range from the Royal Palace of Cambodia, with its sherbet-colored walls and shimmery golden roofs, to the deeply moving Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which offers essential insight into Cambodia’s recent history. On other days, you could watch traditional silk weavers at work on Koh Dach (Silk Island), sign up for a Buddhist monk’s blessing ceremony in Oudong (the country’s former capital) or visit a primary school in Oknha Tei village, which AmaWaterways has supported for more than a decade.

Vietnam’s traditional Sa Đéc market is filled with towers of fruit and buckets of fish and frogs.

In southern Vietnam, where the Mekong and its offshoots still serve as vital transport routes for rice and produce, days could fill with trishaw rides between bamboo-mat weavers and traditional markets, like the one in Sa Đéc, where you’ll be tiptoeing between towers of fruit and buckets full of frogs and fish; or sampan trips through the flooded Trà Sư Cajuput Forest, a bird-rich expanse of protected wetlands and cajuput groves.

But some of the most memorable moments will be the ones that weren’t planned. On strolls around riverside villages, you might encounter curious kids practicing their English with enthusiastic “hello-how-are-yous,” or stop for tea in a farmer’s home, where your host will proudly insist on showing you around the incense-swirled family shrine. At the markets, from Phnom Penh’s Art Deco–style Central Market to the riverside stalls of Vietnam’s delta towns, vendors proffer slices of tropical fruit and fried snacks with wide smiles, and might even convince you to try a bite of something new.

A cruise down the Mekong is all about keeping an open mind, while leaving the essentials in the hands of those who do it best. Here, going with the flow is both part of your mindset and the itinerary.