Vietnam - a two-week itinerary from Hanoi to HCMC - guidance
 

I have now sorted - as far as possible - my two-week trip to Myanmar with lots of hlep and advice from Kathie and NYwoman. I now need to sort out two weeks in Vietnam from 15th to 28th February 2010. My rough outline of ideas are as follows:

15th to 19th Hanoi - would like to take an overnight trip to Halong Bay - do I take this trip at the beginning of my stay in Hanoi or at the end before I move on?
Then fly to Hue
Would like to go over the Pass - maybe take a motorbike day trip?
Then on to Hoi An
Not really bothered about doing beach stay as will be doing the islands in Thailand
Finally to HCMC for ?days
Leave HCMC on 28th Feb to fly to Phnom Penh

What should I NOT miss? Many thanks for input - in advance!

Just a remind that you are traveling right on Tet holiday. Please book all your transport well in advance if you wish to do them after arrival.
Your travel plan looks good to me based on the amount of time you have in Vietnam.
Happy travel.

2 days in Hoi An and 3 in Hue would be good with the balance in Saigon,

Hoi and is a great place just to wander around but we also enjoyed renting bicycles for a ride out into the countryside and beach. The markets down by the harbour are worth and hour or two. We stayed at Ving Hung Merchants House, the only hotel actually in the old town and loved it.

Hue is very spread out (and usually very wet!). The Citadel and Imperial city is the premiers sitr to see and also Kha Dinhs tomb. Renting a bicycle or motorbike is the best way of getting out to see the tombs etc.
Lac Thien Restaurantlocated at # 06, Dinh Tien Hoang, Hue, on the north bank of the Perfume River, between the Trang Tien Bridge and the Citadel is a famous restaurant run by a deaf mute family. The food is excellent and lives up to the hype. The owner will take you out on a guided tour by motorbike if you ask (he can communicate very well). We have stayed in a few places in Hue but for sheer style and luxury (at a price) La Residence takes a lot of beating.

Not sure about a motorbike day trip over Hai Van pass. We have tried twice and both times we had thick fog and rain. A car on you way to Hoi An may be better but make sue your driver knows that you want to go over the pass rather than through the tunnel.

Many on this forum are not that keen on Saigon but I love it. The usual sights are Reunification Palace, War remnants museum, Ben Thanh market, Cholon etc are all worth a look. For a drink at sundown, try Saigon Saigon on the rooftop at the Caravelle or on the terrace at the continental. Maybe a trip to the delta? As has been said by the previous poster you are travelling over TET which will be a bit challenging (but a great time to see the country) so make sure you book everything, particularly travel asap. We were stranded in |Hue for several days as we could not get a bus , train or plane as all were booked solid! We found that a lot of the restarants were closed, particularly in Hanoi.

Have fun, its a great country.

Just check everything before starting your trip. But i have some ideas, hope u like them:

- Arrive in Ha Noi, then book a seat-in-coach city tour at many travel desks ( please stay away from APT travel company, a guy from travelblog was bad-treated by this company). Next day, book Ha Long Bay bhaya cruise or Pinta Gold online or just make a direct call to this company, your cruise will be arranged quickly for next day.

- after 02 days on board in Ha Long Bay, back to Ha Noi and flight to Hue for city tour and visiting Ancient Hoi An for 02 days, and one more day for shopping in Hue or Hoi An.

- If you bored of beaches, so leave Hoi An to fly ahead to HCM. Ofcourse, many hot spot in HCM you should not miss, so book a half-day or full-day city tour, next is Cu Chi Tunnels, and final place is Mekong Delta ( Cai Be - Vinh Long or My Tho)

- However if you wanna enjoy more never-same-as-before tours, so here the following tours you can think of:

+ homestay in Hue with a 3-day-2-night package at USD 99/person.
+ Cu Chi Tunnels adventure with Jeeps
+ Experiencing Old Saigon on a vintage Citroen Traction Avant.
+ Bike tours to Mekong Delta.
+ Trekking to Nam Cat Tien Jungles 02 nights 03 days

Why not try some thing new? :)

My husband and I did almost that exact same trip in July, except we did not go to Halong Bay. We had a car and driver take us from Hue to Hoi An over the pass. Yes, the views are spectacular. I do remember seeing a company in Hue which specialized in motorbike trips. I'm sure if you google it, you will find them.

I have a lengthy trip report here on Fodors and one with photos on my website if you're interested in seeing what we did with our time. Click on my name for links.