Hi! I'm in the midst of co-planning a trip with my husband and 2 brothers to Vietnam in January. We are flying into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh and have 2 weeks. One of my brothers can only go for a week, so he's starting with us but leaving early. We are all in our 50's and well traveled, but none of us have been to Vietnam. We arrive on a Saturday morning. We are thinking of staying in Hanoi for 3 nights, then taking an overnight boat cruise in Bai Tu Long Bay, and coming back to Hanoi for overnight. The hotel we are considering for Hanoi is L'Heritage Center. And we are considering the Dragon's Pearl with Indochina Junk for the boat cruise. We only want to spend the last night in Ho Chi Minh. The rest of the trip still needs fleshing out. We are looking at Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang, and the Mekong Delta. Is that too much for the time we have? What would you prioritize or cut? I've been reading the other threads and trip reports and have made a lot of notes. I'm also not clear on how we are traveling from place to place. It's a very long country, so perhaps a combination of private drivers and flights. Any insight is appreciated!

Hi Italylover and greetings from Bologna!

First the weather.

In January the south will be fine dry and hot, so a great time for Saigon and te Mekong Delta.

The Central region , Hue, Hoi An and Da Nang is just coming towards the end of the rainy season so the weather will likely be mixed but better towards the end of the month.

The north will be cool and dry with plenty of sunshine but could be misty or hazy, especially around Bai Tu Long - which may even make it more atmospheric!.

Three nights is a good amount of time for Hanoi but four would be better as there is a lot to see and the traffic means that it can take time to get from A to B. Also, npmany of te sights have the annoying habit of closing for one day a week and from 12-14 hours each day which can wreak havoc with sightseeing plans!

It can take 4 hours each way on a bus to Halong for a cruise so your actual time on the water will be one afternoon and one morning. Someone here posted recently about an operator that went from Haiphong which only took a couple of hours - might be worth considering.

One more night in Hanoi and you are then off to Central Vietnam. Personally I would add an extra day in Hanoi for more sightseeing before flying down to Da Nang.

Da Nang is not really worth spending any time in unless to want some beach time at one of the mega hotels out along beach.

Hoi An is quaint, picturesque and photogenic but very, very busy. I would suggest 2/3 nights 3 would allow time to explore the town and maybe rent a couple of bikes to ride out to some of the villages and the beach or perhaps a half day trip to the Cham Ruins of My Son.

On the taxi ride to or from Da Nang / Hue you could stop off at the Hai Van pass and the Marble mountains.

Personally, I much prefer Hue to Hoi An. Two full day here would allow time to explore the citadel, the perfume river and pagodas and some of the spectacular Imperial Tombs. The latter can be done either on a tour or by renting bike and DIY.

Is there a reason you only want to spend your last night in Saigon? There is a lot to see there and just one full day would allow time for the highlights in district 1.

The Mekong Delta is a huge area somyou need to pick what you want to see.

Around Ben Tre is good for cottage industries, like coconuts, and for sailing the smaller canals.

Can Tho is a big city but a good jumping off point to visit Cai Rang floating market.

Chau Doc is our favourite area with lots to see, Cham village, floating markets, sam Mountian temples and Tra Su submerged forest.

There are lot of photos and details of all the places we visited in recent time on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Travelling from place to place is easier than one might think. Flights within the country are cheap and efficient. Vietnam Air and Vietjet being the main carriers. Book in advance for the cheapest seats.

Trains are a fun alternative for longer trips north to south as you will get to meet lots of Vietnamese people. We always book a soft sleeper for the additional "comfort".

One of the most scenic train rides in Asia is from Da Nang to Hue . Takes four hours and costs peanuts.

In most case your hotels will be able to arrange private drivers or taxis if you need them. Taxi scams are rife so only use Vinasun or Mailinh if possible

In my opinion, I would do Hoian instead of Hue.

Do tell us why din ho

Crellston,

Thanks so much! That was very helpful. We do have a 4th night in Hanoi after the trip to Bai Tu Long. We are not interested in the beach, so we will skip Da Nang, esp since you pointed out that we can still see Marble Mountains. It sounds like we can divide up the 8 nights between Hoi An, Hue and the Mekong. It wasn't clear, but we are allowing 1.5 days (one night) for the sights in HCM. My brother is interested in spending the time elsewhere, so that's what we agreed upon. We were thinking of doing an overnight train for one of the travel components, as I read about it on someone's trip report. I'm going to read your blog for more ideas. Enjoy Bologna! That's an area of Italy that we have yet to explore. Perhaps our next Italy trip!

Depends what you like - we just came back from a trip where we had 4 nights in Hanoi and found it too much, and wished we had taken a couple of nights from there and added them to either Hue which we liked, or Hoi An which we loved. We also found that there were a lot of different trips /activities from Hoi An so there was plenty to do there - we had 5 nights there and there were a number of day trips we never got to and would love to have done. I suppose it depends on whether you are a bustling city person or not. The cities are so huge and busy we found a couple of days was really enough for us in Hanoi and Saigon.

I encourage you to spend some time in Saigon with it’s interesting sites.

Thanks littlejane! We may end up reducing Hanoi by 1 night as we flesh out the rest of the trip. Could you tell me more about the trips/activities you did from Hoi An and what you would have done with more time there? Whenever I travel, I like to see the big cities, but the part of the trip I usually enjoy the most is smaller locations. That's where I feel that you get to know a country and it's people better than in the big cities. We are planning a day and a half in Saigon at the end because there are sights there worth seeing but don't want to spend a lot of time there.

HappyTrvlr, yes we are spending 1.5 days in Saigon. What are your favorite sights there? Thanks!

Gladly! In Hoi An we spent a lot of time just wandering round the old town and visiting the sites there. We stayed I think 5 nights and went in to town every single evening, and still couldn't get enough of it! But on the day trips, the two main trips we did were:

1. a bicycling trip in the countryside, which we loved - cycling slowly among the rice paddies and water buffalo and stopping off to visit various different sites. We had a guide with us for that, and
2. a cookery course in Red Bridge cooking school - the day started with a visit to an organic farm where they grow the herbs and vegetables, then a visit to the market to buy the ingredients needed for our meal and finally a trip along the river to the cookery school in an idyllic location. We made about 4 different meals and learned a lot of techniques that will come in handy. And we really enjoyed it - we are not major cooks by any means - our group was me, hubby and 11 year old daughter, and this was one of our most enjoyable days.

The trips we wished we had time to do (that I can remember) were:
1. Diving - there is a good diving school that takes you out to Cham island which looks great
2. Marble Mountains - there was a great sounding cave / temple in the Marble Mountains which we actually passed by on the way to Hoi An but did not realise we should have stopped off
3. My Son
And there were other nature based trips (trekking or monkey watching) also, those were the main ones that stuck with me.

littlejane, Thanks so much! Very helpful. I already had Marble Mountains and My Son in mind for the trip. I love the day trips you described as well.

If you are just spending 1.5 days in Saigon then I would concentrate on the main sights in District 1, mainly along or close to, Dong Khoi st.. Note Dame Cathedral and The Post Ofiice are next to each other. Make sure to go inside the post office. Unfortunately, Notre Dame is covered in scaffolding for the foreseeable. The City Hall with Ho’s statue in front makes a good photo op. Down towards the river you will find the Opera House.

Also close by is the Reunification Palace, a fascinating place preserved much as it was on the final retreat of the US military from the country in 1975. The War Remnants Museum is a long walk of taxi to D3. The floors of mainly photo exhibits of the American and French wars with a lot of old military ordnance in the courtyard.

Ben Than market and the surrounding food stalls are featured on many tours, but personally I would not bother. It is now aimed solely at tourists and is full of overpriced food and goods and do watch out for pickpockets if you do go.

Thanks, crellston! I did read somewhere, maybe on another thread that there are better markets than Ben Than even though it is more well known. I appreciate the warning. All good info!

After everyone's input and further discussion with my brother and husband, we decided to take the less is more approach. At this point we are spending 5 nights in Hanoi, including the overnight trip to Bai Tu Long Bay. And using the time between Hanoi and Saigon to stay in Hue and Hoi An. We'd prefer to stay more nights in one place and really get to know it as well as have time for day trips. We hate rushing through places just to check them off. All of your input has been extremely helpful in assisting us in figuring this out.

We've booked our lodging for Hanoi, but not in the other 3 locales yet. If you have any favorite places that you've stayed, please share. I don't have an exact budget but looking for clean accommodations, with comfortable beds, in a good location. Probably more 3 star than 5 star for this trip.