rjbriskin

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary and taking a 15 day trip. We want to book everything as proposed but wanted to get the opinion from fellow Fodorites!

Arrive in Bangkok- Penninsula Bangkok Hotel
Hanoi- Soffitel Legend Metropole Hotel 2 nites
Halong Bay - Paradise Peak Cruise 1 nite cruise
Danang- InterContinentsl Danang 2 nites
Ho Chi Minh City-Park Hyatt Saigon Hotel
Pnom Oenn, Cambodia- Aqua Mekong Discovery Cruise 3 nites
Koh Oknha Tey/ Preah Prosop-Park Hyatt Siem Reap 2 nites

Possible add-on- Laos 3 Days- Amantaka Hotel 2 nites

We love to sightsee. stay in nice hotels, go to great restaurants, buy local art, cooking classses, etc...

Would love comments and feedback!!

thursdaysd

Two nights in Hanoi is one full day. Far too short.

One night on Halong Bay takes two days as you have to get there and back.

Why are you staying in Danang and not Hue and/or Hoi Aan?

Again, two nights in Siem Reap is one day. You need four nights/three days for a reasonable visit to the temples. It is a very big site with a lot of temples, and you will not want to sight see in the middle of the day, as it will be very hot and humid.

Fifteen days (how many nights actually on the ground after arriving and recovering from jet lag?) is actually a good amount of time for visiting Vietnam.

dgunbug

Agree with Thursday. IMO I would skip Halong bay altogether. Having gone there, I can say that while it is beautiful, the travel too and from was boring and left us exhausted. Hue and hoo an are also fabulous and Hanoi deserves at least three days. I would reevaluate and do one country or the other. 15 days is not a lot of time.

Kathie

Too many places in too little time. It looks like you have researched what you want to see, but haven't taken transit times into consideration, nor have you considered how long it takes to visit the attractions. You mention two nights as being three days. That is never true except in tour brochures. Two nights is one full day, and, perhaps, a few hours on either side of that one day depending on where you have come form/where you are going. It takes a minimum of half a day to move from one place to another.

Are you spending just one night in Bangkok? Bangkok has much to see and do and if you want to see any of it, you'll need a multi-night stay there - three or four nights minimum. If you are just using it to overnight before you fly to Hanoi, then one night works. Hanoi is a fascinating city - to go there for just a day (2 nights) seems a pity. And Halong Bay takes a lot of time - the drive to/from Hanoi is long and very boring. I'd cut it. You are taking a lovely cruise on the Mekong later in your trip. You could cut Halong Bay and add that night to Hanoi, but it would still only give you two full days in Hanoi.

I assume you are going to DaNang for the beach. The beach there is not that fabulous. I'd suggest you reconsider. Actually, if you have 15 whole days in SE Asia (that would mean 16 nights) I'd suggest you choose four destinations so you have a chance to see/do/experience some of this amazing part of the world. While the itinerary you outline covers lots of wonderful places, you won't have time to see any of them by staying one or two nights.

Decide what experiences are most important to you, and cut some that are not as important. If you have two more nights don't go to Laos - it deserves more time - instead, add it to the destinations you already have.

Slow down and have a happy anniversary!

Lolazahra

While I tend to run from pillar to post to fit things in, I agree with the above posters. You will regret only having one or two days to explore the magnificent cities you have outlined. While I personally felt the long boring ride to Halong Bay was worth it for one night on a junk, I had more time than you do while also going to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I would drop Halong Bay. I would also drop Laos, which really calls for long and leisurely days. I would take those days and add them to Hanoi and Siem Reap. You simply cannot see more than one or two temples in the time you allotted. Furthermore, you will get to Hanoi and be so disappointed to leave so quickly. I know it's hard to come to this part of the world and not try to see it all. However, the advice from this forum, which also suggested I drop places and add days, truly made for a more rewarding trip for me and my family. Good luck. It will be wonderful and happy anniversary!

crellston

All very valid points made in the previous posts.

By the look of the hotels you have booked, I am guessing the trip is more about the hotels in which you are staying,rather than the locations themselves? If so, you have chosen some very nice properties, arguably amongst the best in each location. The problem is you will barely have enough time to unpack your toothbrush in any of them, let alone do any sigtseeing!

Having said that, only you know what style/speed of travel you are comfortable with, if this is your first time in Asia, you would be wise to take on board some of the comments above. Travel in Asia can take longer than one would think, although that has improved immensely in recent years.

The Intercontinental in Da Nang is a stunning hotel and has a Michelin starred restaurant overseen by the renowned Michel Roux. If there is anywhere to celebrate with an anniversary dinner, it would be there! It is however, a long way from anything interesting.

Sofitel Hanoi is an a good location and ideally situated for whistlestop tour of the city in the one day you have there. Very historic with a list of famous guests as long as your arm!

Peninsula is a nice 5* hotel with some superb restaurants and the suites are excellent, but one night is not enough to enjoy. If you are only in transit I would consider somewhere like the Conrad which is more convenient for the airport.

Contrary to the generally accepted wisdom, I do feel that one full day at Angkor is sufficient to get a flavour of the place. OK you won't see all the sites by any means but a decent guide will be able to get you around the main places and that is all you can expect in the time you have.

rjbriskin

Thank you all for your great suggestions. Just to clarify, going form place to place we are scheduled to either fly from the airport or take a sea plane. They cut out the long road trips to fit things in. I do agree we are squeezing too much in. I am thinking that we should cut out the 3 nites on the Aqua Mekong Discovery cruise and add those nights to Hanoi and /or SR. We had been on the Aqua on the Amazon and it was great so I sort of pushed that in to the itinerary. Once I get the itinerary down I will be back with proposed scheduled tours for your opinions!! Thanks again for all your feedback.