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Vietnam for 14 days help to find travel company

Vietnam for 14 days help to find travel company

Old Feb 20th, 2017, 10:54 AM
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Vietnam for 14 days help to find travel company

I am a single person in my sixties living in Ireland and and would like to visit Vietnam in September or October . Which would be the best time to visit ? .
Can anyone recommend a good travel company who I could book with preferably in Ireland or England.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:50 AM
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I went to VN for the first time in my late 60s, in October and it was fine. I don't know about September since I went in October. Someone else will come along and let you know if one is better than the other.

Regarding arrangements & reservations, it's perfectly possible to do it on your own, which is how most of us here do it. VN took a bit more effort but not overwhelmingly so. I suggest you give it a try and if you get stuck with anything, come back here. Or if you'd rather have it done for you, I'm sure you'll be given a referral here, too.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:56 AM
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I might also mention that if budget is an issue, I strongly suspect you'll pay more to a UK-based agent. I used a VN-based agency for internal flights and it worked out fine. Best accommodation prices I'm sure will be had by booking direct. Agencies often recommend the places that give the best commissions, not necessarily those that would be your first choice.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 12:57 PM
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An agency in Ireland or England will be MUCH more expensive than one in VN. Indeed, agencies in VN can often get you lower prices on hotels than you can get yourself. I always check to see if I can get hotels on my own through booking websites or directly with the hotel at a better price, but most of the time I can't. A local agent can set up anything you want - airport transfers, a car and driver to get to rural areas, etc.

If you opt for an agency in Ireland or England, they will contract out the services to an agency in VN and add a charge to what the agency charges them.

Take a look at a good weather site. I use www.weatherbase.com You will need to check each city/area you want to visit, as weather varies a lot in this long, thin country.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 02:07 PM
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Most hotels in Vietnam have a travel desk where they can arrange tours for you. For specialised requirements, I used Ethnic Travel which came highly recommended by members of this forum.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 03:35 PM
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Another travel agency in VN that gets lots of recommendations here is Tonkin Travel.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 08:42 PM
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Good UK operators include Audley Travel, Selective Asia , I imagine both of those will also operate in the republic. Intepid Travel, a small group operator also have a good reputation. Using any o those wilprovide you with all the elegant consumer legistation proptection, but will be less expensive than DIY or a local operator.

We usually go diy as it is so easy to arrange transport , accomodation etc. And it is cheaper. In between site option of using a local operator. After a lot of research we used Ethnic Travel for part of our last trip and they were excellent and less expensive than the others we considered including the larger and better known and often recommended Tonkin travel.

With any operator overseas be very wary of paying large amounts of money in advance. Usually you can insist on payment on arrival or a small deposit andpaybthat by credit card ather an bank transfer.

If you provide some info on what you want to see and do many here can provide help.

The best time to visit would be October and the later in the month the better.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 12:58 AM
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We used Vietnam Stay / Aurora Travel located in Hanoi and were very, very happy with their service. Many other Fodorites have also had good experiences.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 02:23 AM
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I have been to Vietnam three times (am now in my late 60s). I did the first two trips DIY, and would have no hesitation doing that again, but the third time I used Tonkin Travel and they were fine. I have used Intrepid Travel in the past, but not for Asia since they started using locals as tour directors. I found Vietnam very easy to navigate, using trains and tourist buses.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 02:51 AM
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I've had very good luck with Tonkin travel, and am in fact working with them right now for a 4th time
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 08:30 AM
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I'm using Tonkin travel now for my upcoming trip. They have booked internal
flights, tours and the train for me.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 04:59 PM
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As I understand Audley is terribly expensive. We had made a private, direct booking at a lovely small hotel in India and the other guests who were there had booked through Audley. The owner of the hotel commented to us that he couldn't believe how expensive Audley was. I assume he was referring to how much his room rate was marked up by Audley.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 09:40 PM
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I am in Vietnam now, arrived yesterday. I used Custom Vietnam Tours, CVT, to arrange a 2 week private tour for myself and husband, both in our 60's.The only thing I did myself was buy 2 domestic air tickets on VN. It has only been 24 hours but so far so good. A few others here have used CVT which is where I got the referral.
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 10:44 AM
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I am back from my 2 week trip in Vietnam arranged by Custom Vietnam Tours. I can highly recommend this agency. They were so responsive to all my questions. They gave me a phone upon arrival so I could contact them in case of any problems, but the guides with us kept in touch with the office. Liliana is the lady I worked with. She came to the hotel in Hanoi the first day to get the final payment which I made by credit card.

We did a bit of rearranging things mid trip with no problems at all. All of the guides we had were very flexible and listened to what we wanted to do and see. I found the overall total cost was not that much more than if I made all the reservations and arrangements myself. So why not let someone else do the planning for you? Do not use Audley, use a Vietnam based agency.
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 01:20 PM
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Like you, I traveled solo and am in my sixties. Like Susiesan, I used Custom Vietnam Travel. My travel planner was Susan Nguyen, who was also excellen, flexible, incredibly hardworking and quickly responsive. It's a small company and whomever you get should be fine. Another Fodors post-er named RJ Briskin used CVT too, posted a trip report here , and was equally happy with their help. See also
numerous Tripadvisor reviews.
Audley gives clients a fancy itinerary booklet, and charges far more than in -country companies (not just VN--in India and other countries too). Go local Instead!

Re weather, I think a concern for late October was rain in Hoi An. I went in late Sept-early October and found the combined heat and humidity in the north really uncomfortable. I'm not sure if this is consistent or varies year to year, so check the weather website mentioned by Kathie,
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 02:13 PM
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CaliNurse - I think it always rains in Hoi An, lol.
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 03:13 PM
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The weather was fine when I was in Hoi An, in October.
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 05:31 PM
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Mme Perdu, you were fortunate to have fine weather in Hoi An in October. According to Weatherbase, on average, it gets 12 inches of rain in October.
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Old Mar 12th, 2017, 09:28 PM
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18-25 September 2015, and barely a drop. Week prior in Hue and we were washed out for the duration, and 'forced' to find sanctuary in a people watching bar.....while the tourists shelter the locals don a plastic poncho and just get on with it.
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Old Mar 13th, 2017, 03:32 AM
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Oops,I was thinking of Hue....
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