hanoi for sure

We much prefered Hanoi over HMC. A little quiter, but maybe not so many historic sights to see (the tunnels in HMC, vs Hanoi hilton in Hanoi). Hoi An is a delightful little town.. Alot more fun to stay in over night vs a day trip. Good food there also. You could get a taxi to the beautiful beaches near by.

Hands down Hanoi. How many days are you actually on land?
Try getting to sapa during the weekend and visit the ba hac market on Sunday on either the day you arrive or the day you leave. I would spent at least 3 days in hanoi and three in sapa. The mountains will be a nice reprieve from the heat. Halong bay was wonderful but the drive to and from the bay is boring and takes about 1/2 day each way. Hoi an was wonderful for several days and the beach area looked nice. It's a shame you won't have time to do both hoi an and hue. If you skipped Halong bay you could do both. Decisions decisions!

Thanks for your replies so far. I don't have my dates set yet, but I would like to get 10 days on the ground if possible.
So would you recommend skipping Halong Bay in order to visit Hoi and and Hue?
Halong Bay is one of the natural wonders I've wanted to see for a long time, so I think I would have trouble missing it...
Would you recommend Hoi An and Hue over Sapa?

I like your plan to choose one city and environs. I would opt for Hanoi. I would not try to stretch to get in Hue and Hoi An.

Outside of Hanoi, Sapa is an option. The people who have enjoyed Sapa the most have taken the time to do some walking from village to village and not just a short trip to the markets. Halong Bay has been mentioned, people either love it or hate it. Spending at least one night on a boat will increase the chances you'll enjoy it. There are out of town trips from Hanoi like the Perfume pagoda, for instance.

We spent a week in Hanoi and really enjoyed our time there. The more time you spend in a place, the more opportunity you'll have to really explore and to get to places most people do not.

So far sounds like Hanoi is the right choice. I was thinking of 2-3 days at Sapa, possibly staying at Victoria hotel to take advantage of their train service. Anyone stay here before?
I would plan on at least 1 night in Halong Bay. Would it be worthwhile to make a 2 night stay at Halong Bay instead? Or would that be overkill? Would the time be better spent wandering Hanoi?

IMO 3 days in sapa would be best. We loved it there. Since you have always wanted to go to Halong bay, you should go. We did two nites, but think 1 is sufficient. Save hue and hoi an to pair up with Saigon and perhaps Cambodia on another trip. As for the overnight train, I think they are all basically the same. The Victoria hotel is not optimally situated in the center of town.

Another vote for Hanoi. I'd also vote for Halong Bay, but you definitely need one night on the boat to make the trip worthwhile.

You don't need to stay at the Victoria in Sapa, there are other "tourist" coaches on the train - see seat61.com

I much prefer Hue to Hoi An, but I'm not a shopper. However, if you do Hanoi and Sapa and Halong Bay you won't have time. I'd really suggest Hanoi and just one other place, you'll find plenty to do in Hanoi.

Try the travelfish website. They are good for young solo travelers.

It's travelfish.org

I spent 3.5 weeks in Vietnam in November, and I agree with the Hanoi recommendation. After spending a good chunk of your time there you can pretty easily branch out to Sapa and Halong Bay, but you might consider Mai Chau if you don't want to commit to the 3 days required for a Sapa trip (9-hour train ride each way). In Mai Chau you can stay in a stilt house, see the rice culture close up, and enjoy the rural environment. I loved our overnight trip on Halong Bay (we had perfect weather) and wished we had booked a 2-night trip with more kayaking and relaxing. One of the best parts about cruising on Halong Bay was the company we kept--there were 18 paying guests on our boat, and they were from all over the world. Aside from the amazing scenery, it was a great environment for interesting conversations with other international travelers (many of them in their 30s). You'll need to reserve a space in advance--we were on the Dragon Pearl and can recommend that boat. Sapa was not my favorite place (too many tourists, too many hawkers), but it was definitely charming and cool (temperature), and I'm sure I would have appreciated it more if our planned trekking hadn't been cut short. Have a great trip!

juice06870

"We much prefered Hanoi over HMC. A little quieter".

I am not sure what part of Hanoi and HMC "kmkrnn" went to but Hanoi with thousands and thousands of beeping scooters, IMO was definitely louder than HMC.

Just got back from Vietnam and enjoyed both cities. Flying made it easy to visit both. 2 nights in HAN then 3 Nights in HMC.

Able to do a day trip to Halong Bay.. See historic sites in HAN then HMC for Mekong Delta visit (fantastic) and "The Tunnels" (amazing). All affordable trips MD US$16.. Tunnels US$8

Will post more on my trip to Vietnam in the coming weeks here or Google "dmbtraveler195".

IMO you should go to sapa. While we loved hue and hoi an, sapa was
a real highlight that we would have regretted missing. It makes more sense to do the north and save hie and hoi an for a future trip in combination with Saigon and perhaps siem reap.

Thanks for that. In looking at the logistics/time of trying to get to Hue/Hoi An and back to Hanoi, the time/expense seems like a lot for only a few days. I agree that it's probably better to go back one day and tie them in with Saigon.
So I guess then the question is, along with Sapa and Halong Bay, are there any other interesting day trip ideas (or overnight trips) from Hanoi? Just doing a rough trip plan, I would probably wind up with 5-6 days in Hanoi and I don't know if that is too much. I don't like to rush through places like that, I like to settle in and get a real good feel for it, but on the other hand, sometimes you do that and wind up thinking afterwards that you could have used a day or 2 less.

What time will you be arriving and departing and how many days will you actually have on land? That will determine if you have time for more. I remember reading someone's report that said they hired a driver and drove from Hanoi to mai chau and then to sapa. It sounded very interesting although it may be too costly. We wanted to take a trip to nihm bin (sp?), but didn't as we were so worn out from the drive to and from Halong bay. Wr regretted missing out on that and you may consider that as a side trip.

We did the driving trip from Hanoi to Mai Chau and onto Sapa returning to Hanoi by train. interesting trip, but u need more time.