eyedigress

After much time poking around and getting wonderful suggestions from this board, I thought I'd post. My husband and I are planning our first trip to Vietnam & Angkor Wat (though we've been to Asia before). I'd love your input on my travel itinerary and my hotel choices (below).

** One thing I am concerned about is Quy Nhon in November. We want to enjoy a couple of great days on the beach, but it looks like it might be rainy season. Do you know of what beaches would be nice in Vietnam in November (we can easily switch to Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Mui Ne or somewhere else you'd recommend around Saigon or toward Hoi An) and any hotels you would recommend there?

** Also, if anyone has any cobbler or custom shoe maker recommendations somewhere along the way, we'd much appreciate the referral!

Current Itinerary:
Nov. 8 – Saigon (Oscar Saigon Hotel)
Nov. 9 – Saigon to Siem Reap (Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa)
Nov. 10 - Siem Reap (Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa)
Nov. 11 - Siem Reap (Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa)
Nov. 12 - Siem Reap to Saigon
Nov. 13 - Mekong Delta
Nov. 14 - Fly to Quy Nhon (Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon)
Nov. 15 - Quy Nhon (Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon)
Nov. 16 - Fly to Hoi An (Life Heritage Resort Hoi An)
Nov. 17 - Hoi An (Life Heritage Resort Hoi An)
Nov. 18 - Fly to Hanoi - Overnight train to Sapa (Sapa Topas Ecolodge)
Nov. 19 - Sapa (Sapa Topas Ecolodge)
Nov. 20 - Sapa – (Overnight train to Hanoi)
Nov. 21 - Hanoi (Desaloyia)
Nov. 22 - Overnight in HaLong Bay (through Handspan - Dragon Pearl junk)
Nov. 23 - Hanoi

Thanks and happy travels!

galiano

I can't comment on your itinerary as our first trip to Vietnam / Cambodia is in February. But from all my research you have made an excellent choice of hotels in Siem Reap. We are booked into the Victoria Angkor Hotel for 4 nights and I'm really pleased with this choice ( see Tripadvisor.com etc for reviews )

eyedigress

Hi Galiano! Thanks for the affirmation on Victoria Angkor! We wanted to also stay at their place in Sapa, but it was already booked (5 months in advance)!!! Who would have thought?? Have a great trip there! I'll post after my trip and let you know if there is anything to highlight/avoid

thursdaysd

You're not spending much time in Hanoi. I'd drop Hoi An in favor of more time in Hanoi (and less moving around).

eyedigress

Thanks, Thursdaysd! I am trying to figure that one out. Right now, we have 2 1/2 days there and I am trying to figure it out. Any thoughts about beaches in November?

thursdaysd

I'm not a beach person, but I did spend some rest time at Mui Ne in November, and found the wind in the afternoon was tough to deal with. It was calmer in Nha Trang, but much more developed - but that was five years ago, and there was a lot of building going on in Mui Ne.

eyedigress

Hi Thursdaysd, Thanks for the tips! I think I like the way Quoy Nhon sounds ... much less developed. I'm just a little worried about whether or not it will be the rainy season while I'm there (beach isn't too fun in the rain)

Kathie

Take a look at www.weatherbase.com

Hue/Hoi An/DaNang are pretty rainy in November. I'd give Hoi An a miss and spend the time in Hanoi instead.

eyedigress

Hi Kathie! Thanks for the suggestion. Do you know anything about beaches in November? Weatherbase doesn't seem to list Phu Quoc. Quy Nhon lists as being pretty rainy (but warm) and the hotel (Life Resort) told me that it doesn't rain the days. Don't know whether to believe them.

Kathie

Sorry, I really can't help with specific beaches. I'd just take a detailed map of VN and check the nearest cities to the beaches I'm interested in.

It only rains at night in Hoi An? All I know is that central VN gets flooding with loss of life one out of every three years in November.

I really think you don't have enough time in Hanoi. I really would cut one location to give yourself some time to explore this fascinating city.

Elainee

We stayed at Quy Nhon (Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon)this last January. The resort is very nice in everyway...lovely rooms, nice pool, excellent beach, wonderful spa, good food, but...it is far from the airport (a several hour ride) so for two days, it is a lot of travel. Plus, in January we had rain everyday. Who knows for November. The ride from the airport is not interesting and the flights are very limited. We (and everybody else) had to leave the resort very early in the morning (6am)for our flight. Some interesting Cham ruins in the area but nothing else of interest. It is a good r&r place but you are really only having one day there. Hanoi is the place we found most interesting in Vietnam. Hoi An IMHO was a waste of time. The town has lost its charm. We stayed at the Victoria which was very nice but again the ocean was too rough for swimming. Hue was good..I would completely recommend it over Hoi An. It is a real city and has interesting historical sites.

CFW

Elainee, How long did you stay in Quay Nhon? Which airport do you fly to to get there? Do you think two nights/ 3 days are enough? Where did you stay in Hue? How many nights/ days would you recommend for Hue? Thanks.

eyedigress

Hi Elainee, Thank you for your input. I thought there was an airport in Quy Nhon. Did you fly into Quy Nhon or another airport? I agree with you .... it isn't worth it if it would take so long to get there. Do you know anything about Phu Quoc?

CFW

Here is a good website for weather in Vietnam.
http://www.vietnam.virtuallythere.ca...r/wpopmstr.htm

Elainee

You fly into Quy Nhon Phu Cat airport which is 26 k from Quy Nhon but the resort is another 10k from the town. It is a destination resort. There is nothing in walking distance from the resort. Unless you stay three nights it is not worth going there. Quy Ngon is definately not a tourist town...not a pretty town at all. I loved the Cham sites but hardly worth a special trip unless you are into them or are in the area. Someone we met at the resort took an excursion thru the resort and thought it was wonderful...going to really untouched villages. The resort worked for us, but not a "must-see" and hard to get to.

Elainee

In Hue we stayed at the Saigon Morin Hotel..a normal "business" hotel. Perfectly adequate, nice pool and garden and pleasant dance-entertainment at night (how many nights I do not know). Hue is a real city and very interesting Palace ruins. But it is a 1/2 night place in my opinion. I am very glad we went there and I could have missed Hoi An unless you want it for a beach experience. The town is now without charm and just lots of clothes-making shops.

CFW

Thanks, Elainee. We are staying at the beach in Hoi An, so we may use that as our beach time and spend more time in Hanoi as you and others recommend.

eyedigress

CFW & Elainee, We're with you. We have rearranged our trip to cut out the beach time (which seemed like too much hassle for only a couple of nights) and spend more time in Hanoi. We're still doing Hoi An, based on friend's recommendations and our desire to have a clothes made for us. We're still trying to figure out where to get custom shoes made ... any thoughts??