AMV

Hi. Fodor's forums have always been so helpful to me and this is my first time planning a trip to Asia. If we have 2 weeks, including travel time, is it possible to do justice to Vietnam as well as include a side trip to Angkor Wat? We are not into shopping or night life. We do love natural wonders of the world as well as museums and cultural sites as well as experiencing local foods and peoples. We would be leaving from NYC. If it would make a tremendous difference, I might be able to stretch the 2 weeks to add an additional 2 days. As you can tell, we are at the very beginning of planning. Also in terms of when to go which would be more likely to have the better weather -- October? November? or February? March?

Thank you in advance!

rhkkmk

november..

i would find it too tight... angkor really cries for 3 fuul or 4 full days..

in vn, you really want to hit: hanoi (3 days), hoi an (2 days min), hue (2 days) and HCMC (2-3 days), never mind any other sites...

Kathie

November is a good time, but not for central VN - that's the time of the year they have flooding.

You can certianly combine VN and Angkor in one trip, but recognize that you can't see all of VN in one trip. So choose just a few (max three) locations in VN. You could concentrate on the north - Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa, or do a north-south combination - Hanoi and surrounding area plus HCMC.

LadyMarion

I echo the thought of spending 3-4 days in Siem Reap. Due to the heat/humidity, it's very hard to tour all day. I'd vote for Nov. or Feb. due to dry season. I agree with 3 days each in Hanoi & HCMC.

dgunbug

I like kathy's idea of staying in the north. I would concentrate on the Hanoi region 3-4 days, sapa 3 days, and Halong bay one night. On your return from Halong bay, go directly to the airport if you can arrange an early evening flight to siem reap. Plan to stay 3-4 days there. I would save Saigon and the central area of vn for another time. Add a few days to your itinerary if possible to account for traveling. You won't lose travel time going to sapa as you should take the overnight train in both directions. Should be a fabulous trip. Great destinations!

AMV

These are wonderful suggestions. Thanks for these good tips. The hard part will be how to convince the others in the family to skip places like Hoi an or Hue or HCMC or the Mekong Delta. Too many great destinations to choose from!

rhkkmk

easy to skip the delta

dgunbug

Agreed - skip delta. As a day trip from siem reap, you can take the boat out at tonle sap (large lake between siem reap & phenom pehn) where you will see similar scenery as in the delta. There are the same floating villages inhabited by the vietnamese refuges. Definitely recommended for 1/2 day. By the way, We found Hanoi far more interesting than Saigon.

sf7307

We are not what you would call "slow travelers" and still, we might find this difficult to do in 2 weeks. From the time we left home until we returned home was 22 days. You lose the first two getting to VN and one getting home, which left 19 days "on the ground". We spent 4 days in Hanoi, one in Halong Bay, 2 in Hue, 2 in HoiAn, 2 in Saigon and 4 in Angkor Wat, plus four in Hong Kong. All of that was great, but we missed the "countryside" in VN (Sapa, Mai Chau, etc) and it's more time than you have just with those "main" cities, so something would have to be cut, even from a "quick" itinerary.

sf7307

I of course meant 4 in Siem Reap.