Coming from Thailand and Cambodia. Have about 5 days in Vietnam. Hanoi or Saigon? and maybe one other place-beach? charming? interesting
Hanoi or Saigon?
Recent Activity
View all Asia activity »
- 1 Suggestions for Asian visit Feb. 2014, incl. Singapore
- 2 Siem Reap from San Fran in winter 2013 FIRST TIME to Asia
- 3
trip report to tajmahal agra india
- 4 Hilton coming in Zhengzhou, China?
- 5 Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan tour suggestions
- 6 Dreamliner to Japan in Nov.?
- 7 Photography Trip to Vietnam
- 8
4 days with Orangutans Balikpapan + Camp Leakey
- 9
Cambodia, Laos and a bit of Hong Kong - 5 1/2 weeks (Jan.24-March 4, 2013)
- 10 Trip plans to SE Asia for 2014 coming together! Int'l flights purchased!
- 11 Sri Lanka
- 12 Suggestion for Bali
- 13 Elephant Visit in Chiang Mai
- 14 Proposed Sri Lanka Itinerary - any opinions welcome
- 15 Rajasthan tour: Car and Driver services, advise needed
- 16
Beijing To Tibet, Mt. Everest And Nepal All In 10 Days
- 17 which hotel in Bangkok in July?
- 18 Family Japan Trip in August for First Time - Hotel Planning Advice
- 19
Hello, Vietnam
- 20 Is it worth switching hotels in Tokyo?
- 21 11 days in Japan, JR pass question
- 22 Kashmir or Nepal
- 23 Udaipur, India
- 24 Ipoh
- 25 Conference venues around Pune City?
Chose just one or the other and explore the surrounding area, but don't try to add in another destination.
If you choose Hanoi (my choice) you could certainly spend the whole time in Hanoi (we spent a week there) or you could an an overnight on a junk in Halong Bay.
If you choose HCMC, you can do a full day trip or an overnight to the Mekong Delta.
My vote is Hanoi. Lots of charm and plenty to see.
You can visit Hanoi first in 5 days with hanoi city and halong bay. Very nice
Another vote for Hanoi. Plenty to see and do and easy to fill up 5 days.
Hands down - Hanoi
A note of caution. If you arrive via a land border, you'll need a full blown Vietnamese visa which you have to obtain from the Embassy. If you arrive by air at one of the main airports i.e. Hanoi, HCMC or Danang, you can make do with a visa on arrival. But you still need to obtain a 'letter of approval' from a Vietnamese travel agent which you then present to immigration at the airport.
I'm looking at Vietnam as a destination myself next June and to my way of thinking, HCMC is a better option for me since I also want to go to Hoi An and Da lat. Da lat especially appeals to me because of the French influence there. They even built a mini Eiffel Tower in the city centre to make themselves feel at home! There's a picture of it in this Wikitravel article: http://wikitravel.org/en/Da_Lat
Hoi An is a listed world heritage site and I like those kind of places: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hoi_An
Both of these places can be reached in a little of 40 mins by air from HCMC, or by air from Hoi An to Da Lat.