We are first-timers to Vietnam, although experienced travelers. We are thinking of flying from the US to Da Nang -arriving in early January. We have four nights before we fly to Hanoi, and want to visit Hoi An and Hue. Would we be better off staying in Da Nang and doing separate day trips to each of those destinations, or choosing either Hue or Hoi An in which to stay and taking a long day trip to the other? We'd prefer not to change hotels. Not having made flight reservations yet, we could easily choose to fly in and out of Hue instead of Da Nang.

That is a difficult one! Da Nang is smack in the middle of Hoi An and Hue so, on the face of it, it would seem to make sense to do as you and stay in Da Nang and do day trips to each. Unfortunately, Da Nang is arguably my least favourite city in Vietnam. The coast road along China beach now runs to 10-20 kms of mega hotels, mostly frequented by Chinese tour groups.

Those tour groups will head off to Hoi An for the mornings and evenings which makes for a very crowded experience in the old town. The best time to explore the old town is around lunchtime when the crowds are elsewhere. My Son make for a nice half day trip if staying in Hoi An. Hoi An is undoubtedly one of the quaintest places in Vietnam, almost to the point of being disneyfied and the crowds can be overwhelming at times. For tha5 reason we tend not to stay there anymore.

Hue is much bigger and more spread out than Hoi An so the effect of overtourism there is much less of a problem. it is one of my favourite cities in Vietnam. The Imperial Citadel and Tombs are incredible and you probably need a couple of days to do them justice. Hue is one of my favourite cities in the country and is where we usually end up staying in central Vietnam.

We covered both places in various entries in our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Difficult to offer any other suggestions without knowing more of your plans for the country though I would say that we usually fly into Hanoi and out of Saigon or vice versa.

That said, on balance, I think I would choose to stay in Hue (the Azerai La Residence is a fantastic Art Deco style hotel) and then just do a very long day trip (2 hrs each way) to Hoi An and take in the Marble Mountains and Hai Van pass on one of the legs. A bonus would be that you would miss the worst of the crowds in Hoi An.

I hope this makes sense!

Crellston - Thank you for that information - very helpful! Looks like we will fly from the US into Da Nang - but stay in Hue. We can stay five nights, and do a long day trip to Hoi An one of the days. After Hue, we are heading to Hanoi to meet up with a two-week cultural tour that will begin in Hanoi and environs and then fly south to HCMC for five days before continuing on to Siem Reap for the final few days.

We really didn't want to miss central Vietnam, so we'll be visiting Hue and surrounding areas on our own. Our only constraint is that we have another trip planned the second week of February, so we want to get home with a few weeks to catch our breath in between the two trips. It looks like we may be arriving in Da Nang on New Years Day (Jan 1) - but thinking it won't be an issue - we will hire a driver to get us from the airport to our hotel in Hue.

Any glaring errors in this plan?

You are welcome scdreamer. Sounds like a great trip. I would try to make time for at least an overnight stay in the Mekong Delta. It will be wonderful at that time of year.

New Years day wont be problem in Vietnam. We have spent a few New Years and Christmases in the country and barely noticed it. Get is an entirely different matter!

Thanks again - our tour includes two nights in Chau Doc, where we will explore the Mekong Delta. Glad to hear NYD won't be an issue - and yes, we knew to avoid Tet!

Excellent. We love Chau Doc and have gone that way to Phnom Penh several times and our nieces came the other way by bus a couple of months ago on their gap year trip. We have always used the Hang Chau speedboat from CD to PP but read recently that one of their boats crashed into a ferry! It seems they are still operating though so presumably they have other boats https://e.vnexpress.net/photo/traffi...n-4737653.html

Lots to see in and around Chau Doc, Tra Su submerged forest, Sam Mountain, The Cham villages across the river etc. On elf our favourite corners of Vietnam.

Stay in Danang and take day trips to Hoian or Hue is another option.
Are you planning to spend a few days in Phnom Penh before heading to Siem Reap?

Yes - two days in Phnom Pen as we head to Siem Reap.

Good plan!
Hang Chau fast boat from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh is still a good choice.

Stay in Danang and make a daytrip to Huê does not make any sense; First, Huê demands at least 2 days. Secondly, Danang scenery is beautiful, but it is a large city, the economic capital of the Center Region. People stay in very charming HOI AN 34 km south of Danang.

Take a taxi to go from Huê to Danang; tell the driver you want to go up the Pass of the Clouds, NOT the tunnel, and,, in Danang, visit the small very interesting Cham Museum (1/2-hour visit OK)

crellston - this is a question for you - but anyone else feel free to share info or advice.

We have decided to fly into Danang, after which we will have five days before we fly to Hanoi. We will go directly to Hue from the Danang airport and have reserved a room at a nice hotel for our five-night stay. We really want to see Hoi An - but of course taking just one day to get there and back would be ridiculous, if not impossible. I'm thinking we can arrange to take a tour to Hoi An, spend a night there, and then return to Hue. We'd probably do this on our second and third days, which will leave two and a half days for Hue, although divided. We would just stick with the Hue hotel we have reserved - we can leave extra stuff in the room while we overnight in Hoi An - does this seem doable?

I would hate to miss Hoi An, as it's unlikely we will ever be back in that area, but I don't want to have it be super rushed. I guess the other option would be to go directly to Hoi An from Danang airport, stay overnight, and then hire a driver to take us to Hue. Does that sound more reasonable? I can easily revise our Hue hotel reservation.

Where did you see "one day" to go Danang-Hoi An ? It's 34 km = 20-mn drive on extra-large road

Both options would work and it is a long way from Hue at around 2.5 hours each way. I think it is ultimately down to your own personal preferences and to an extent, how you are coping with jet lag after your international flight?

A couple of other considerations. There is a very nice train ride between Da Nang and Hue which winds along the coast. Maybe consider that one way. Another option is the drive between Da Nang and Hue over the Hai Van pass and visiting the Marble Mountains . Last time we went that way, I think the driver and car cost around $50/60. Train fares are very cheap and it is a great experience and take around 4 hours as I recall see https://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm for more info.

I first visited Hoi An around 30 years ago when it was very quiet and relaxed. The massive hotel development along the cost road from Da Nang means that the Old Town areas and Riverside are inundated every day with tour groups from those hotels. Best way to avoid is either to go out very early morning before they arrive or explore around midday when they have moved on, Evenings are also very busy. That said , it is unbelievably quaint and definitely worth a look. The logistics of a one night stay would concern me a little given you probably wont be able to check in until say 3pm. I think I would probably leave from Hue by private car in the morning, drive to Hoi An via the Hai Van Pass and Marble mountains, dump your bags at your hotel if you cant check in and explore the old town when its quiet. Brave the crowds and venture out again to the old town and riverside for a boat ride and the lanterns. Next day, maybe a taxi to Da Nang and take the Tring back to Hue.

We have usually spend a week or two in Hue and so have done it at a very leisurely pace. The Imperial Citadel needs a half a day and is often combined with a trip on the perfume river. A visit to one of the markets will take care of a day. I would spend another day, or even two visiting the Imperial Tombs. If not too hot is is great by bike, otherwise driver guides are readily available to ferry you around. Hue is renowned for its food scene so worth exploring that whilst you are there. My wife wrote a couple of posts about Hue's food in our blog linked above which cover the actual food and some places to eat.

Suggest you read the post. They are flying into Da Nang and transferring to Hue

I did a similar itinerary and the timing may be useful to you. This was 15 years ago.

I flew into Da Nang (from Nha Trang) and took a prepaid taxi to Hoi An, arriving mid morning. I stayed 2 nights.

That first day I explored the town (which was not crowded in those days) and had a good lunch and dinner at local restaurants. The next morning I took a bus trip to My Son. In retrospect I could have skipped this as I had already seen the Cham sights of Po Klong Garai and Po Nagar but it would be worthwhile otherwise. Back to Hoi An in time for a late lunch, some more exploring, and a good dinner.

The next day I took a prepaid car to Hue via the Cham Museum in Da Nang (I skipped the Marble Mountain) and then over the Hai Van Pass, with a good stop for coffee at the summit (unfortunately it was foggy, so no views) and on to Hue, arriving mid afternoon, where I stayed 2 nights.

The next day I explored the Citadel and other places in town. The following day, I hired a taxi to visit the tombs (Minh Mang, Khai Dinh, To Doc) and then to the airport (to fly to Hanoi). Again, good meals. It rained all the time I was there (late November).

I thought 2 days each in Hoi An and Hue was OK, though more would be welcome. I had to work a couple of hours each day (I was on my way to a meeting) so you could probably do more if you are unencumbered.

2 days Huê is OK, but Hoi An definitely deserves more, at least 3

Hi,
For a balanced experience, staying in Da Nang is the best choice. It offers a central location with convenient day trips to both Hoi An (about 30 minutes) and Hue (2.5-3 hours), and provides a range of accommodation options. Staying in Hoi An or Hue would result in longer travel times to one of the other destinations, with Hoi An being about 3 hours from Hue and vice versa. Thus, Da Nang offers the most flexibility and convenience for your trip.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions - especially creIlston. I think this is the final plan!

We will fly into Da Nang from the US - a long flight with two legs - and will stay in Hoi An for the first two nights, then move to Hue for three nights before heading north to Hanoi. The hotel I've reserved in Hoi An is providing a driver to pick us up at the airport in Da Nang. I don't usually do this, but we'll likely be quite tired, and it will make it easy to have someone there waiting for us after the long flight to get there.

One more question - it seems easy enough to get to the Da Nang train station from Hoi An and take to train to Hue - or would it be more rewarding to hire a driver or guide for that? Looks like there are plenty of options - are the views and potential stops along the way worth doing the relatively short trip by car as opposed to taking the train, which I have read is very scenic on its own? Thanks again for any suggestions or advice!