Need some advice regarding Vietnam trip

Old Jun 7th, 2014, 05:08 AM
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Need some advice regarding Vietnam trip

My daughter, son-in-law and just turning 6 yr. old grandson want to do a month long trip to Vietnam. I told my daughter I'd try to help but I've never been to Vietnam so I'm hoping to get some advice from the forum. I also told her she needs to plan ahead but she's always been a last minute type person.

They live just outside of Hong Kong so would either be flying from Shenzhen or HK airport.

Her plan is to fly in to Saigon/HCM City and out of Hanoi. Looking to stay at places walking distance to sites, restaurants, and shops if possible. They are in their early 40s and interested in culture, good food, history, beach/pool, child friendly hotels and attractions. Mid range budget-as long as the place is clean. Maybe nothing over $200 per night? Is that realistic?

She's thinking:

Saigon-District 1 for a few nts.
Mekong Delta-start Ben Tre-Vinh Long-Can Tho maybe 3 nts.
Up the coast to beach towns (my grandson loves the water) Mui Ne, Quy Thon or Nha Thang Which one for maybe 1 week??
Dalat, mountain town 1-2 nts.
Hoi An 5-6 nts.
Hue 1-2 nts.
Hanoi-Sapa-Halong Bay 6-7 nts.

Does this look like a good plan or not? If not, any suggestions? Time at a beach is for my grandson. They would be traveling in July as my daughter is a teacher and that's her summer break. They have already vacationed in Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bali, and Singapore as well as places in China. Maybe there's someplace else for them to consider. Not Burma as the trip is for this July-not enough time to plan a worthwhile trip to Burma IMO.

Thanks in advance for any help.
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Old Jun 7th, 2014, 07:21 AM
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If they've already traveled to Cambodia etc. I can't think that they need any help with Vietnam. What advice do you think they need? It is very easy traveling, whether by plane, train or open tour bus. If they don't want to plan ahead I don't see any particular need to, aside perhaps for hotel reservations for Saigon and Hanoi. Their budget should be more than adequate for hotels.

I preferred Mui Ne to Nha Trang, but I was looking for peace and quiet, I don't think I would want a week there. They could combine the beach with Hoi An, which would allow more time for the north - they really don't have enough time for Hanoi and sapa and Halong Bay. Have they checked the weather?
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Old Jun 7th, 2014, 04:04 PM
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Vietnam is very easy to travel in on the fly. It might be cold in the north in July, and very cold in Sapa.
$200 per night should get very good hotels, they could probably do much better than that.

We stayed in the old quarter in Hanoi, can't remember name sorry, but smallish family run hotel with a tour desk, which I think is typical. They arranged a trip for us to Ha Long Bay and a couple nights in Sapa, and were not expensive. A good thing about this was that they were able to suggest what excursions would be best weather wise.

I think 5 days in Hoi An is plenty, there are nice beaches just north of the old town, but not sure about the weather then for beach. We were there in March one year, it was decidedly chilly, but I guess a six year old wouldn't mind.

I'm sure they'll have a great time, it is a fabulous country with a fascinating recent history. I recommend the War Remnants museum in HCMC (but you have to overlook the propaganda) and we also enjoyed the delta area.

PS - Chris, are you planning to add to your blog ? Was kinda looking forward to Thailand....
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Old Jun 7th, 2014, 06:31 PM
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thursdaysd and sartoric-

Thanks for the Vietnam help. I'll pass the info along to my daughter.


sartoric-

I'll start Thailand next week! It will be out of order with the other countries but I thought it best to have the 3 countries separate. First posts for Thailand will be from1/29-2/1 Bangkok; 2/1-overnight non tourist train to Chiang Mai-an experience I never want to repeat; 2/2-2/7 Chiang Mai; 2/7-2/10 Chiang Rai. Then final Thailand posts start 3/10-4/5/2014: more Bangkok, Khao Lak, Phuket, Kanchanaburi.
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Old Jun 7th, 2014, 08:21 PM
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Oh thanks,I had wanted to take the train from BKK to CM, but left it too late to book any seat, had to fly, which was easy peasy. Sounds like we lucked in !

Thanks, enjoying very much.....
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Old Jun 7th, 2014, 08:36 PM
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Will be interested to hear what went wrong with the train. Aside from the trip from hell when I wound up in third class overnight, I've always found the Thai trains very comfortable.
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Old Jun 8th, 2014, 02:57 AM
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I would second the suggestion of adding a few days to Hanoi/Sapa/Halong Bay and that reducing the Beach week plus Hoi An would be a good place to free up those days.

The side trip to Sapa usually begins with an overnight train ride and ends with an overnight train ride. While theoretically those overnight rides don’t cost you any days of sightseeing, we’ve done it twice and found it difficult to sleep both times, which did impact how active we wanted to be the day of arrival. You can do a Sapa trip with 1 night in a Sapa hotel but 2 would be better. In addition to visiting some of the nearby ethnic minority villages, they should try to visit one of the larger market days like in Bac Ha or Muong Khuong (http://www.se-asiatravel.com/vietnam...sunday-market/)

Halong Bay is also better as an overnight trip.

You can stay in some very nice hotels for a lot less than $200 per night. It doesn’t have a grand lobby or a pool but in terms of location (in the old Quarter), service and room comfort, it is hard to beat the Charming 2 Hotel in Hanoi. We stayed in a Jr. Suite in 2012 for about $60 a night. The room was large, clean with comfortable beds and had a modern bathroom. The hotel also offers several larger room alternatives at under $100. The front desk is very helpful with neighborhood suggestions and the travel desk couldn’t be more helpful.
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Old Jun 8th, 2014, 09:31 AM
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Apologies for the non-working link above. Try http://www.se-asiatravel.com/vietnam...sunday-market/
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Old Jun 10th, 2014, 09:06 PM
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We loved the Betel Garden in Hoi An. Reasonable prices, excellent staff, a pool, oodles of guest services and quite good food. We spent 3 days there and the guesthouse treated everyone to a banquet and drinks one night! Don't know if we just lucked into it, but even without the free meal it was lovely.
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Old Jun 20th, 2014, 11:29 AM
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My daughter just sent me an e-mail with an update for her trip to Vietnam July 3-July 28, 2014.
Traveling with a very active , loves the pool and/or the beach 6 yr. old son.

She scored flt. tickets $200 each round trip, 2 hr. flt. from HK. Flying into Saigon/HCMC and out of Hanoi.

HCMC Beautiful Saigon 3 for 3 nts. Will do Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum, Ben Than market on the first day. Second day will be Cu Chi Tunnel tour with Singh Tourist and Dong Khoi St. for dinner and shopping. Anything else they should consider doing/seeing?

Bus to Ben Tre for 2 nts. at Oasis Hotel which has a pool. Mekong Delta tour through the canals and to the floating market in Cai Be. Hotel has free bikes with kid seat they can use to explore. Is this a good idea? I've read horror stories about traffic but thinking that's a problem mainly in HCMC and Hanoi?? Is 2 nts. here enough time?

Then she wants to include time in Vin Long or Can Tho-is one better than the other?, Hoi An, Hue, Sapa, Halong Bay-maybe just an overnight or should they stay longer here?-Hanoi. So she has around 20 nights left. Any suggestions as to how to split it among the other places. They need to have some down time at the beach-she's thinking Phu Quoc- as they all want that-maybe 5 days-but are open to any advice. Does she have too many places for the time she has?

ellis2013 Thanks for the hotel info for Hoi An. Sounds like their cup of tea.

mediakzar Thanks for the info especially Charming 2 Hotel in Hanoi which I'll pass to my daughter.
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