looking for 1 week Vietnam itinerary suggestions
 

Hi all, we are a couple travelling to Vietnam in dec15 for a week.... Its really confusing to choose an itinerary as there seems to be so much to see.
One option we are thinking of is Hanoi ----> halong bay -----> Nha trang
Option 2 - HCMC-----> mekong-----> a beach or hue

Is it worth flying in from Hanoi and flying out from HCMC?

Any suggestions are so so welcome!! :-)

Thanks in advance!

It largely depends on your interests - history, scenery, food etc. Personally, I would not waste a day of my time sitting on a beach.

Hanoi and Saigon are like chalk and cheese. Both are massive cities and I love both of them. Hanoi wins hands down on sights to see, museums etc. Whilst Saigon does have its history it is mostly about the American war. Both cities are fabulous for food but Saigon has the edge for me.

Weather in Saigon will be much better than Hanoi or Hue and I would not recommend Halong Bay at that time of year. Hue, love
Y though it is will be very wet.

I don't think it is worth flying in one and out of the other in the time you have available. In fact I wouldn't recommend flying anywhere. I see two options.

1. Saigon for 3/4 nights with the balance being spent in the Mekong Delta - maybe Ben Tre, Can Tho & cai rang

2. Hanoi for 4 nights with side trips to Ninh Binh, Mai Chau or maybe even a 3-4 day trek between the two if you are feeling adventurous.

Here is a link to our blog of our time in Vietnam late last year and early this year http://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/ We loved it so much we are back there tomorrow!

Hope this helps a little happy to answer any specific questions you may have. Happy planning!

Agree with Crellston. A week isn't very long, so you want to make maximum use of it.

Flights eat up time, even short flights. And you won't be able to get by with one flight, as you'll need another flight to either Hanoi or Saigon for your flight home. So you'd lose at least 2 x half-days.

Don't use long-distance buses as they aren't reliable. Our bus from Hue to Hoi An broke down [in fact it shouldn't even have set off in the first place]. We were transferred to a sleeper bus, and I had to stand for 3 hours down one of the aisles.

Trains [what there are] are slow.

Make sure that you spend your final night in the city that you're making your international exit flight from.

Use Vinasun or Mai Linh taxis. They're cheap, and they're everywhere, and always use the meter, which doesn't go round quite as fast as some of the other taxis.

Be careful, and confident crossing the roads!

Thanks for the great suggestions and advice.
Here are some options.
1) We land in HCM on 11th dec morning. Stay till Sunday. Are things open over the weekend in Saigon in general?
Then visit mekong - Ben true, on Monday, 14th as a day trip.
Fly to phu quoc from 15th to 17th.
This will give us 18th to do something else near HCM.... Fly back on 19th.

2) same as above but instead of phu quoc we go to nha trang area. And/or Mui ne.

3) one other suggestion by someone is to do hcmc and Mekong area but take Mekong cruise to dong tap, Cambodia...

How is nha trang area in mid December...?

Thanks again!

Saigon is open over the weekend. In fact I doubt you will notice it is the weekend!

Forget about Nha Trang or Mui Ne as the weather is unlikely to be any good for the beach at that time of year. Also, it is usually full of drunk Russians these days.

Phu Quoc will have good weather for beach time but is that really how you want to spend your limited time in this wonderful country? By the time you have got to and from the airport, the flight and inevitable waiting around time, you really are going to waste a lot of your time travelling.

If it were me ( and yes, I do appreciate that everyone has different objectives) I would spend 4 days exploring all Saigon has to offer, great museums, some amazing architecture, superb markets and arguably the best food in Vietnam, if not the whole of Asia. Add on a trip to the Mekong delta, Ben Tre is nice, but Can Tho great too and has the added attraction of being close to Cai Raing floating market. Also, you could spend a night or two at somewhere like http://nguyenshack.com