Vietnam in mid-Feb -- best places to go?
 

Hi,

In terms of weather, what is the best places to see in Vietnam in mid Feb for 1 week to 10 days? Will Halong Bay be too cold at that time? How about beaches in Nha Trang? Like outdoors, Unesco world heritage sites and quintessentially Vietnamese places.

Appreciate your suggested itineraries and advice!

Not sure what the weather will be, but I would not miss Halong Bay for any reason. We did a 2 night cruise because we had the time. Not sure if you will, but given your preference for outdoors stuff I would say it is worth the time. We went on the Prince III which goes to the more remote area of the bay (Bai Tu Long). Booked it directly through Indochina Junk and they were very responsive.

If you want beaches and also a chance to see some historic sites, I would suggest you spend time in Hoi An. If you stay at the Hoi An Beach Resort you will have a beach and a free shuttle to Hoi An where you can wander the old city. A bit touristy with all the shops, but some great architecture and a very laid back vibe. Just don't bother springing for the Seaside Villa at the resort as the beach is across the street. We stayed in the Riverview Villa and it was fabulous! Right on the river so we could watch the fishermen as they cast their nets.

Enjoy!

You ask about weather in February.
We spent 4 weeks during March 2011 in Vietnam and had our trip to Halong Bay cancelled due to fog. Hanoi was generally cold, rainy, and windy the week we were there. Hoi An was rainy and by no means suitable for swimming. Not sure when jcasale was there, but there surely can be variations even within the same few weeks.
On the other hand, Saigon and Nha Trang were beautiful. You might want to check the February weather stats online for various parts of VN and make decisions that way. My understanding is that Nha Trang generally has better weather than other parts of the country.
If we were planning all over again, based on our March weather experience I would have chosen to spend more time in the south and less in the north.

<<<Not sure when jcasale was there, but there surely can be variations even within the same few weeks.>>>

Must be, because we were also in VN in March 2011 and had cool (60s) but not rainy or windy weather in Hanoi, and a combination in HoiAn -- three days of fabulous pool/beach weather followed by one day of a tremendous rainstorm!

Thanks, all, for your response! It looks like the weather in Feb may be iffy in the north, but I still really want to see Ha Long Bay.

Which places in the South would you rank very highly?

Thanks!

Oops - forgot to mention when we were there. We just got back two days ago. Left mid November. We really enjoyed our time in HCMC. In particular we did a day trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnels (very interesting) and the Cao Dai Holy See (fascinating). We arranged it through Tonkin Travel.