Vietnam 19 day Itinerary
 

Hi all,

Hubby and I are planning our first trip to Vietnam. We've got 19 Days to play with, I would love to have longer but this is the maximum time we can get off. This is my rough itinerary so far. We're in our 30's, both very fit and like busy itineraries. We're fairly seasoned travellers but this is our first visit to Vietnam, we like a mix of nature/cities when we travel and are particularly interested in visiting some caves (which is why I've included Phong Nha).
I've considered removing HCMC all together but when I looked up flights out of Da Nang we had to go via HCMC anyhow so I added it to the end of the trip.

3 Nights Hanoi (Days 1 - 4)
1 Night Halong bay cruise (Day 4 - 5)
1 Night train to Sapa (Day 5 - 6) (halong back to hanoi for night train that evening)
3 Nights Sapa (Days 6 - 9) - Trekking
1 Night train to Hanoi (Day 9 -10) train to hanoi (fly hanoi to dong hoi and transfer to phong nha)
3 Nights Phong Nha (Days 10 - 13) - caving/trekking
3 Nights Hoi An (Days 13 -16) (transfer Phong Nha to Dong Hoi - Train to Da Nang transfer to Hoi An
3 Nights HCMC (Days 16 - 19) Fly Danang to HCMC day 16, fly out HCMC day 19\

Any feed back would be great.

Thanks

I don't know much about the northern parts of Vietnam, but I know a bit more about the central parts going south. Hoi An is a tiny town. And I do mean tiny. If you're spending 3 nights there, you might consider a day trip to the My Son sanctuary or the Ba Na Hills (the touristy part of this one is kinda developed in poor taste, but good scenery otherwise). Hoi An is interesting because it used to be a port city, so you see a lot of Chinese and Japanese influence in the architecture/historic homes. There is also a few colonial French buildings around. You'll have to dig deep to find the old quaintness though.

An alternative is the old imperial city Hue. It has more sites as a whole, and a very distinct rain-filled melancholy. On a drizzling day at dusk, it's as if time has been frozen and the city has not caught up to modern times.

HCM City is not too bad assuming you'll be staying in the central district. There's a few colonial buildings and tons of traffic circles left by the French, plus some new developments. Venturing outside of the central district will afford a starker view of people's daily lives, which you may or may not want to do. Wear a face mask to protect from exhaust and don't eat street foods.

Yours seems like a pretty well paced itinerary.

Hanoi has more than enough to keep you busy for 3 very full days. Plan carefully as to which sights you do want to see.

Halong Bay - I am not a fan and would leave this out. Yes, it is beautiful and UNESCO World Heritage site for good reason, but the Vietnamese don't look after it terribly well, it is very, very busy and strewn with rubbish in many places. An alternative might be nearby Bai Tu long Bay as it sees far fewer tourists. Either way, it takes 4-5 tedious hours each way by minibus. For a one night trip you would arrive around midday and leave the same time the following day.

We last visited Sapa many years ago when it was a lot quieter than it is now. Improved roads and hotel building have made it a lot busier. Expect lots of crowds and some hassle unless you can find someone to take you to more remote locations in the valley away from Sapa town. Not sure, but I think it might be quicker by road to Sapa these days ( but avoid travel by bus at night at all costs!)

On our last trip we got our trekking fix on a 4 night trip between The Mai Chau Valley and Ninh Binh via the bLack River Valley and Pu Long national park some photos and detail in th Vietnam section of our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Having done both areas, I think I was marginally more impressed by our last visit than Sapa. Another place for trekking on our bucket list is Ha Giang.

There is a train station close to Ninh Binh, so if you ended up there you could continue on by throwing to Dong Hoi

We haven't been to Phong Nha yet, but are going in June - I stumbled Phong Nha Farmstay which I have now booked, which seems pretty good. Lots of useful info on their website.http://phong-nha-cave.com seems like there is a lot of good trekking in the vicinity as well as the caves.

Hoi An - Unlike the above poster, I wouldn't describe Hoi An as "tiny" town,. The old town where most tourists stay is quite compact but it still has more than enough to see an do for three days. I would maybe take a bicycle ride out into the countryside for a half day.

Hue is a good alternative if you are into history, architecture etc. The Imperial Tombs and the citadel are well worth exploring. Hue is easier to get to and, personally, I would choose Hue over Hoi An. If you dropped a day or two elsewhere you could conceivably fit in both. The marble mountains are between Da Nang and Hue and are also worth a stop enroute if you chose Hue.

I like HCMC, but it is very, very busy. The traffic, if anything is worse than Hanoi. A couple of days would afford sufficient time to cover the main sights in Districts 1 & 3.

I love the street food there and would recommend taking a streetfood tour as a way of getting to see some less visted parts of the city and getting to sample some of the incredible food the city has to offer.

What time of year are you planning on going? The weather could have a significant impact on your plans.

Thanks for your replies. We're going the last week in June- Mid July. I know it's going to be hot and rainy, but unfortunately this is the only time of year my husband can get holidays so that's when we can go.

I've heard about the rubbish in Halong and I'm kind of prepared for it. It's on my partners bucket list so theres no room to move on Halong unfortunately.

I had looked at Hue but after reading a few blog posts I decided to go with Hoi An instead. I've got no really burning desire to spend much time in HCMC and we are planning a future trip to cambodia so I kind of figured I could tag it in with that trip and do the mekong delta at the same time. Spending a few days in Hue would also break up some travel time on our trip. I'll definitely look into it!

Yes I'm particularly excited about Phong Nha, I've also been looking at Phong Nha Homestay, looks like a good option.

I'll have to look up the marble mountains. Thank you so much for your input!

I don't think you have enough time in Hanoi. It's a fascinating city with lots of history. It has an amazing collection of museums. If it was my trip - and it isn't - I'd take couple of days from HCMC and move them to Hanoi.

I've managed to squeeze another night in if we leave straight after work and go to the airport.

Now we're thinking

4 nights hanoi
1 night halong/bai tu
night train to sapa
4 nights sapa
night train to hanoi fly to dong hoi for phong nha
4 nights phong nha
4 nights hoi an

Thanks all for all the input :)

...and presumably, three nights Saigon? Just in the process of sorting out the transport for our trip in June. We are traveling in the opposite direction to you but are getting the train from Dong Hoi to Hanoi rather than flying. That could work for you in the opposite direction if your arrival time from Sapa coincides with a departure from Dong Hoi - just a thought.

I think 4 nights in Phong Nha is too much unless you plan to visit all of the caves and do some bike riding. Be sure to do the 7KM Paradise Cave trek. Although we could only go 4KM due to high water it was the best day of our whole 2 week Vietnam trip in February.