Best time to visit Vietnam
 

Beth and I are contemplating two weeks in Vietnam. We want to go to Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue and a beach. What is the best time to go weatherwise? Thanks.

Andy, take a look at my favorite weather site, www.weatherbase.com It gives average highs and lows for each month, number of rainy days per month, and average rainfall per month among other stats.

Once you look at that data for say, Hanoi and Hue, you'll see what the problem is. In November, when you often go to SE Asia, Hanoi has nice weather, and Hue is deluged with rain. (It gets an average of 117 inches of rain per year!) So you really want to make sure you avoid Hue in the rainy season. Hue is relatively drier from Feb - July, but much hotter toward the spring/summer. Probably the best months to go to both locations is February or March. It will still be realtively cool in Hanoi, but it wont be terribely hot in Hue yet.

June has the best weather for Hoi An and the best hotel prices. It will not rain in June in Hoi An.

Bisbee, weatherbase doesn't have stats for Hoi An, but does for Hue. It's true that June hs only between 3 and 4 inches of rain, but the average high temp each day is 94! I'd rather go when it's a bit cooler!

Hi Panda-

We were in Vietnam this past May and found it a great time of year weatherwise. Hanoi was warm but not terribly hot. The beach area in Nha Trang has its dry season then as well.

On a side note, if you are looking for some beach time in Vietnam I can HIGHLY recommend the Evason Hideaway, reachable by boat from Nha Trang. Nha Trang itself was a dump...lots of concrete highrise hotels. But the Evason Hideaway was a wonderfully indulgent and secluded...every villa has a private pool.

Good luck with your planning. Vietnam was wonderful....we can't wait to go back and see more.

Thanks. Unfortunately,it soesn't look like we can do this in 2007. How am I supposed to wait until May of 2008 to go back to Asia?

We are going to Vietnam in the middle of January 2007....So i will tell u what the weather is like when we get back!!

Andy, it may make sense to divide your trip - go to Hanoi in November when you usually head to SE Asia, then go to the central coast of VN next spring...

Danang is a better represntation of temps in Hoi An than Hue. I stayed at the beach and found the temps to be great. I guess I'm better acclimated than others.

Bisbee, I am sure you are better acclimated than the rest of us! (And you're right, I should have searched DaNang to get more accurate HoiAn temps.)

I agree though Kathie that I like 80 better than 90, but 90 at the beach is okay.

We just spendt 2 weeks from the end of Nov. to Dec 5 traveling from Hanoi to Hue, Ho An, Saigon and the Meking delta and never saw a drop of rain. I guess we were lucky.
Sally

Yes you were. They just had severe flooding in Hoi An a few weeks ago. Timing is everything :o)