My husband and I - both in our 70s and relatively healthy and active - are experienced travelers, but not in the far east. We would like to spend about two weeks in Viet Nam in early January 2025 visiting the "highlights" - Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue, Mekong Delta. Ho Chi Minh City.

We took a tour to Thailand a number of years ago and traveled on our own for about half of our time there. Same with India. I have looked at tours (Odysseys Unlimited, OAT, etc), and the itineraries are what we would like to do, but the idea of traveling with a tour group is unappealing, We appreciate the mindless ease of having a tour operator plan and execute everything, but we chafe under the restrictions of being a part of a scheduled tour group. We spend a month or more traveling in Europe each year and make all the arrangements ourselves. I think (hope?) we could do the same in Viet Nam, but I am intimidated because I don't know the transportation system, and we would need to find local guides at many points.

How difficult would it be to make this trip without a tour operator? Any pointers or advice would be very welcome.



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You can do it yourself easily in Vietnam.
Are you flying into Hanoi and out of HCMC? If so, the order may be Hanoi- Hue- Danang- Mekong Delta- HCMC.

The fact that you are experienced travellers rather than your age is the key issue here. Vietnam is now one of the easier countries in SE Asia in which to travel. Markedly different to when I first visited some 35 years ago! A few thoughts:

Weather
January is a pretty good time to visit with good weather in both the north and south and the central region just coming out of its rainy season.

Transport

As you plan on travelling north to south, you may want to consider using the train, at least for some legs of your trip. It is fun and reasonable comfortable in and overhang soft sleeper. Vietnam's airlines are not always the most reliable and flight changes and cancellations are not uncommon. Taxis within cities are cheap but stick to Vinasun and Mai line to avoid scams. I tend to arrange transport from airports wit our accommodation. Buses are best avoided in Vietnam.

Locations

You havelisted 5 locations which is a lot for 14 days as you will lose half day each time you change. I would probably drop Da Nang which I have never been impressed with. Hue is great, Hanoi unmissable. Mekong Delta needs a couple of nights - a day trip is a waste of time IMO. Saigon is a personal favourite but has developed a lot over recent years and perhaps warrants lees time than Hanoi. I covered most of these places in some depth in our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/ - if nothing else , there are a lot of photos. Alternative destinations to perhaps consider; Phong Nha Khe Be, Mai Chau, Ninh Binh, Hoi An,

Tours

An organised tour is not necessary but it may save time to organise a guide or tour for some locations. Most accommodations will do this for you on the spot. Halong Bay needs a tour as perhaps does Ninh Binh. I would be very wary of any tour operators recommended on this forum. Most seem to be from tour operators or friends of tour operators.

Accommodation

I usually book with booking.com though recently, in many cases, I have found better rates with Expedia. Agoda sometimes has good rates in SE Asia but I have not had good service from them in the past.

Hope this helps a little. if you have any specific questions, just ask.

Like you we are not at all keen on organised tours and find the schedules and restrictions irritating. Happily we had no problem whatsoever travelling independently around Vietnam. Taxis are cheap and plentiful. Hotels readily help you arrange local tours. Can book hotels, trains and planes online and communicate with hotels easily in advance via email etc. Many people in tourist industry have enough English to easily help you, including those on front desk of hotels and in restaurants. Much less hassle 'on the ground' than in India. We found it a very friendly place to visit with people keen to welcome and assist you.

I hope you enjoy the country as much as we did !
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"January to Mrach" is best for the SOUTH only, NOT the Center and certainly not the North, relatively OK in January and March, very bad in Febraary (perfect month for the South)

I and more importantly, the majority of weather websites , disagree that the weather in February is "very bad" in the north. It is cooler (av 17c) and even chillier in the highlands of far north, but there will be plenty of blue skies and sunshine.
All somewhat irrelevant as, according to scdreamer's original post, they are looking to travel in early January which is as good as it gets.

OK, not "very bad", but "bad" in February; some years ago, I got "very bad" , a fog so thick that the gas-trucks could not go up to Dong Van and the gas station pumps were empty