I posted here earlier asking for your help, and at this time, our two weeks March trip is almost fully planned.
After multiple changes, as it worked out – we will have 3 full days in Hanoi and almost 3 full days in Hoi An.
I just wanted to asked what you enjoyed the most (or wish you have done) in both cities. Looking for restaurants recommendations as well.
As of now, in Hanoi – we plan to wander Old quarter on Day 1 (this is next day after arrival); have a street food tour and a puppet show on Day 2 (this is the day after morning arrival from Sapa); and have a formal city tour with Tonkin travel private guide on Day 3.
In Hoi An – Walking tour and wander around on Day 1; Kids will be taking a cooking class with Morning Glory on Day 2, and our Day 3 is free at this point. We will probably take a street food tour here as well.
We are not into cooking, so looking for your recommendations on what you liked to do around Hoi An.
We would love to see some country side, but I can only see bicycling tour options, and I am not sure if we are up to biking for miles at this point. I also saw some eco tours, and was wandering if anyone took those.
We opted out of a trip to Mae Son.

Thank you!

I would recommend you cancel the Tonkin formal city tour and hire Hanoi Free Tour Guides instead. They are students - just buy them lunch, maybe bring a token gift from the US. You will get a much better feel for Hanoi than from a Tonkin guide. They will follow whatever itinerary you suggest. They can also do the street food thing so you might want to avoid that tour also. For ideas, click on my name and read my trip report on northern Vietnam.

If you do want to do a street food tour in Hoi An, I recommend doing it with Neville of TasteofHoiAn.com. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Neville is from Australia and very entertaining and knows all the stall owners so we got to try lots of amazing food. Then his wife and their employee cooked us even more food. An incredible feast! Do not eat breakfast before you go.

I know you said no biking, but we did really enjoy our bike tour with Heaven and Earth Bicycle Tours (www.vietnam-bicycle.com/‎). Just want to mention that we got to see a lot of the countryside doing this, and it was all flat. I am not a big bicyclist (pretty much only do on vacations like this), and I found it quite enjoyable. Also, it wasn't all bike riding - also had some stops to have a few visits. Just in case you change you mind.

Our favorite restaurants there were:
Ms Ly’s (22 Nguyen Hue St)
The Cargo Club

Here is a link to my trip that also includes pictures: http://www.fromhometoroam.com/2012/0...mas-in-hoi-an/

Not familiar with Mae Son. Did you mean My Son? If so, I would recommend putting it back. You can arrange a car and driver to get there before the tours, and it will give you a look at the countryside.

I agree with Craig about touring with the Hanoi Kids. Here's their info:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-imposters.cfm

make sure to take a cyclo ride around Hanoi and around the lake.. no need for a tour for this.. we loved it---bargain hard in advance or have your hotel do it for you---pay per hour..

hoi an is just fun to walk around... Yala shops make fabulous clothing...

I agree with putting My Son back in.

I also did Neville's food tour in Hoi An and enjoyed it tremendously.

Thank you so much for all your responses so far!

I will contact Hanoikids and put Neville's tour on our list to do. This sounds really good.
Jgg, this Heaven and Earth bike tours look fantastic, but my husband had a recent surgery, so.... not sure. How many miles would you say you rode?

Yes, I meant to say My Son. Thursdaysd, Sum, did you like the site itself or this is just a good way to see a country side? We have been to Cambodia previously, so I did not think this site would be too interesting in comparison.

We would love to take a cyclo ride. Do we just catch any of them on the street or hotel call for them? There are four of us. Do they have standard route or we need to tell them where to go? I thought it would be great to take a ride on Day 1 just to look around.

Any recommendations for Hanoi restaurants?

I am reading your trip reports as well.

Well, My Son isn't Angkor Wat, but I found it amospheric. Enough to go back the second time I was in Hoi An (but I'm not a fan of Hoi An itself). Actually, if you have time, I would rate the Cham museum in Danang as more important, but most people skip Danang altogether.

In Hanoi, the Museum of Ethnology was a standout for us. I'm not sure what ages your kids are, but there are many styles of ethnic bamboo houses in the grounds which are fun to clamber around. Some are quite high off the ground, with narrow wooden steps.

The old quarter is perfect for getting a feel for VN. We tried street food with no ill effects. Watch out for the motorbikes !

Found the VN Women\s Museum well worth the pennies to enter. A nice walk from the Old Q and a good picture of the lives, fortunes and misfortunes, of mostly recent decades of local life. But also has costumes and culture displays of tribes, etc.

When we used Hanoi Kids for a walking tour in Hoi An, we not only did the village, but a boat ride down as far as the Island, and they took us to a pottery village very close by. We went in taxi with them. I made a small dish under the guidance of the owner. The kids would love that. It was a very fun day all for the price of lunch. Also because it is young people giving the tour in both Hanoi and Hoi An I would think the kids might relate to them as guides a bit better.

Karen is wrong above... we used danang kids in hoi an for the tour.

I used the word 'kids' in reference to my son and his girlfriend, because they will be always 'kids' to me . In reality, they are self sufficient young adults... In any case, I am sure they will enjoy more having young people as their guides... Thank you so much for recommendations!

Still wondering about cyclo tours - wether we need to pre-arrange them, and if they have standard routes (overview).

helen63 - On the bicycle tour, we did the Countryside Tour 2 and according to their website it is 9km or 5.5 miles with several stops. It also says that tandem bicycles are available upon request so I don't know if that would be an option for you or not.

Thank you, Jgg! This sounds doable.

Fun things in Hanoi. Just walking around on hour onw, being careful of traffic of course. Especially fun to walk around the lAke, locals out strolling, Tai Chi, etc. Good restaurants in Hanoi too.

Favorite activity in Hoi An. We rented rickety bikes next to our hotel and on a glorious sunny Feb day rode out to the closest beach (don't know name, but it is not the big "tourist beach.". Had lunch a t local seaside shack. A guest at our hotel recommended. All great fun.

Get up early, say 6 am and walk around Hoam Kiem Lake in Hanoi(think that's the spelling). Thousands of locals exercise there and they are fun to watch. There is ballroom dancing, marching on the spot, slapping your partner on the back and swinging your arms around all qualifies as exercise.

We enjoyed the Museum of History, beautiful artifacts. Near the Opera House. We walked around the lake several times which we enjoyed.
We did not have a good experience with our Hanoi Kids guide. She had her own agenda of where she wanted to take us and it was a contant battle to go where we wanted. She let us know clearly all the bad things about America, stereotypes from movies. She was shocked that American women do mind if their spouses date other women as she had seen the opposite in the movies. A waste of a day for us.

HappyTrvlr, sorry about your bad experience with Hanoi Kids. They told us they always go out in pairs. Did you by any chance go with some of the imposters?