larsj

Hi everyone,
We are two senior travelers from Sweden, wanting to go to Vietnam this year. We wish to go with a tour service, but don't know whether to go with a package tour which includes all activities and services or separate day tours. Can someone tell us the pros and cons and some recommendations if possible in Vietnam?
Many thanks in advance!
Lars

Kathie

VN is really easy to do on your own - no real need for guides anywhere. It is true that you can often get better hotel prices by booking though a local agent (Tonkin is the one most often recommended here). Personally, I'd just book hotels and transport and see if I wanted any day trips once I got there. You want to have time to wander and explore and not have every minute pre-scheduled for you.

internetwiz

We did a private tour with Tonkin and it was fabulous since we were able to tailor it to what we wanted to do. They were able to get us better rates on our hotels and manage any of our transportation glitches.

As an aside, they've also been able to arrange guides and transportation services for us in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

Hobbert

I agree with Kathie. We recently went to Vietnam with Friendly Planet since the package price for hotels and flights was better than anything we could've gotten on our own. That said, we skipped the prearranged trips to just headed out on our own each day. It was extremely easy to get around and we could choose the things that interested us.

jft

We are currently on a 17 day private tour put together through Indochina Voyages by Vietnamese travel agent Quyen Anh. We are a couple in our 50s who have travelled extensively in Europe always doing our own research and making our own arrangements. Using the advise from travel forums and my sons recent experience we chose to go with a reputable local agency. Our experience so far has been amazing. Anh has communicated extensively before and during the trip- listening to what we were looking for and adjusting the itinerary to suit our needs. Her suggestions and inclusions have made the trip so far seamless, hassle free, and better and cheaper than had we done it ourselves. It allows days where I have booked things myself and free time when we want to explore on our own. She chose hotels I wouldn't have known about including specific rooms and views always considering our budget and what criteria I was looking for. I feel our trip is making the best of our time in Vietnam and we are in and out of airports in minutes without the hassle and tax scams and aggravation. Anh has communicated with us daily and we look forward to meeting her in Hanoi. She has made last minute changes and I can honesty say this trip would not have been as good has I booked al myself. I am sure there are other local companies that provide excellent experiences as well- check reviews but I don't think we could be happier.

leepaul

I would also recommend TravelVietnam with Ms. Huong Do as the agent. We (two couples, 65ish) just returned from 2 weeks in Vietnam and couldn't have been better advised or cared for. One of us had special dietary concerns which were addressed at every restaurant by our guides. She gave us a phone to call her should there be any problems and met us in Hanoi with her new fiance for a lovely dinner. We spent 3 nights in Saigon, 2 in the Mekong, 3 in Hoi An, 1 in Hue, 3 in Hanoi and 1 on Halong Bay. We stayed in lovely hotels and had great guides and drivers everywhere we went. It made getting around and learning about Vietnam effortless and relaxing because we are not retired as yet, we didn't want to fuss with arrangements. The price couldn't have been better!and it was the trip of a lifetime for all of us.