I have had Vietnam on my bucket list for a long time and would like to make it happen this year. I am struggling with how to get around to the places on my list and what order. My husband and I are trying to plan a 2 week trip leaving the US the 3rd week of November. I have chosen to do the south and central and save northern Vietnam for another trip since we are limited on days. We will be flying into Ho Chi Min City late in the evening, so we want to start our trip with 2 nights there. The other places on our list are the Mekong Delta (3 nights?) (would really like to do a bike or boat tour-any suggestions appreciated), from that area I have heard you can take a boat out to Phu Quoc Island where we would like to stay for 3 or 4 nights. We also would like to visit
Da Lat for 2 or 3 nights. Trying to figure out the best way to do that. Fly from Phu Quoc to HMC to Dalat, or hire a car from HMC ( I will mention here that we would rather hire someone to drive us. I have heard all about seeing Vietnam by motorbike, but we don;t want to be the ones driving!)
Or maybe we should fly from HMC to Nha Trang on the coast for 2 nights and drive to Dalat from there? Then fly from Dalat back to HMC for flight out.
To sum up, we would like most to visit The Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc Island, and Dalat. We arrive and depart out of HMC. How best to travel from HMC and in what order?
I would also like to mention, we are adventurous travelers in our early 50's. We want to incorporate some physical activity with some beach, water and massage time. We also can't wait to eat great Vietnamese food! Any help on an itineray would be much appreciated! Thanks!
Vietnam-South and Central itinerary
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i would only say to you that the delta gets very mixed reviews.
its a good choice to spend your travel in the south and center as for now it is winter season in the north so its quite cold.
for your 2 weeks, you can do city tour and cu chi tunnels in 1 day. Mekong delta for 2days. you have an option whether to stay in a hotel or homestay with the local which is actually fun. the room is clean and safe.
then take a flight to phu quoc. phu quoc has a better weather compared to nha trang as of the moment.
take a flight to danang, tour around hue and hoi an then side trip to dalat and fly back to hcmc.
i hope this will help you. if you need more info, feel free to drop me a message.
Thanks for your input. I have heard Hue and HoI An were worth visiting. Sounds like a doable itinerary. I am sure everywhere is beautiful! I know it will be cold up north. My husband wants to go where it is warm.
We really liked Dalat--the weather is very different (cooler and dryer) from the rest of southern Vietnam that we visited, and it is surrounded by coffee and tea planations. We had some rain there in mid-November, but that didn't keep us from enjoying our overnight stay. Could easily have extended to two days or more.
We started our trip in the northern part of the country and eventually got to Nha Trang. From there we had a driver take us to Dalat; from Dalat we headed by car (with driver) back to the coast at Phan Thiet before going on to HCMC by car. All this was arranged through Tonkin Travel in Hanoi, who I recommend. The scenery was nice though the drives were a bit long. You could go from Dalat to HCMC, skipping Phan Thiet, though the beach there was as nice as any we saw in Vietnam and it was a nice break.
I think you'll have a great trip!