South vietnam and Cambodia
 

My daughter, who is now traveling all over India, will meet me in Saigon. We need advise on places to visit in South Vietnam and Cambodia. We do want to spend 2-3 days in Saigon and then spend a couple of days on a fantastic beach. After that we are not sure. Can someone recommend a great beach and itinerary after that? We have about 9 days in all. Not a whole lot of time so want to make the most of it!. Thank you!

we liked hoi an and in fact china beach is not far from there so you could perhaps combine the 2... some lux western hotels were being built along the beach when we were there 2 years ago.

i would skip cambodia this trip because the ruins at angkor wat require about 4-5 days alone..

hanoi is fantastic so spend a few days there-- 3-5

The beach at HoiAn (slightly south of China Beach itself) is great, and there are some really nice hotels on the beach (we stayed at the lovely Victoria HoiAn). The beach hotels are only a 10- minute drive (shuttle or taxi) to the charming town of HoiAn (shopping, some sightseeing, people watching, great eating).

If you're especially interested in the temples of Siem Reap, it's certainly doable, but it will be an expensive side trip - it's quite a bit more expensive to fly from Saigon to Siem Reap than it is to fly within Vietnam. We flew early morning Saigon to Siem Reap, arriving around noon. We had 3-1/2 days in Siem Reap, of which we spent only 2 long days touring the temples (we intended to do a third day, but we were templed out after 2 days - having visited about 7 or 8, which was enough for us).

I'd probably recommend 2 days in Saigon, 2-3 days in HoiAn, and the rest in Hanoi.

I don't think of Vietnam when thinking of fantastic beaches. If you must, I would chose Phu Quoc or Con Dao. But it really depends on when you are going. Seasonal rains can be a problem in South Vietnam.

If you are all the way over here, I would not miss Angkor Wat. 3 full days will work just fine (this would include a trip to Bantaey Srei and Kbal Spaen).

I think you should spend 3 days in HCMC, then head to Phu Quoc (really beautiful beach)for 2-3 days. The last days you can do your Angkor Wat tour.