Okay, I'm back with more questions after doing some reading. My first focus is Vietnam, and we're now thinking about 14-15 days, max.

I think I've narrowed down how long I'd like to spend in the major cities/towns, but not sure about Sapa and Nha Prang. Is Sapa worth the trek? If so, how long should we allocate in the city itself? Also, I'd like to stay in Nha Prang, but don't want to spend more than $150 or so a night for a decent place --- can anyone provide any suggestions. I'll be going at peak season.

So far, my itinerary is as follows (including Sapa), and any advice would be great!

Day 1 - arrive Hanoi (explore city prob 1/2 day)
Day 2 - Hanoi - explore city
Day 3 - day trip to Halong Bay (night cruise)
Day 4 - complete Halong Bay, back to Hanoi
Day 5 - possibly leave for Sapa
Day 6 - explore Sapa
Day 7 - leave Sapa for Hanoi
Day 8 - Hanoi to Hue (flight)
Day 9 - explore Hue, leave for Hoi An
Day 10 - Hoi An
Day 11 - Hoi An
Day 12 - leave for Nha Prang
Day 13 - Nha Prang
Day 14 - leave for Saigon/HMC
Day 15 - Saigon/HMC; depart

Is my time in Hanoi enough? Is the night cruise to Halong Bay worth it? I've heard mixed reviews. Are there any other do not miss places I should include? What is the best way to travel to HMC from Nha Prang?

Thanks!

If you really want to make the long journey to Sapa worth the time you will invest on the train trip, you will need to add one more night to that section of the trip. The trick is to leave Hanoi on a Sat night and arrive at the station in Lao Cai on Sun morning. This is the only day that the Bac Ha market operates and it's one of the major highlights of the region. Bac Ha is 90 min in one direction from Lao Cai and Sapa is an hour in the opposite direction. So if you arrive on Sun, you can save some time later on, by going directly from the train to Bac Ha and then heading up to Sapa. We stayed at the Victoria Hotel in Sapa and they sent a guide and driver to meet us in Lao Cai. After the market, we visited a village, a school and a few other sites before arriving in Sapa in the late afternoon.

Had a good rest that night and then spent the whole next day (Mon) hiking through the rice paddies visiting tribal villages. You could potentially catch the night train back after that, but you will be filthy and exhausted after trekking and a hot shower and good meal in the hotel will be very welcome. The next day (Tues) we wandered leisurely around the town and did one short easy trek before leaving midafternoon for the train station. Had dinner on the train and arrived in Hanoi on Wed morning at dawn.

we also did the overnight on a junk boat in Halong Bay and thought it was worth it. It's a long, bumpy 3.5 hour ride to get there, so you want to be able to take time to absorb the surroundings once you are there. The overnight boat cruise takes you farther out into the bay than the daytrippers cruise. Also we did not want to make that round trip in a single day...too much time in the van.

I'd give more time to Hue, one more night maybe, and more to Saigon. You won't see much of anything in either Saigon or the Mekong with only one night.

I think you are trying to do too much. Hanoi itself is well worth several days. As I read your itinerary you have a day and a half to explore the city. I think you need to choose either Halong Bay or Sapa. Some peopole love Sapa, others hate it. It is renowned for having street sellers who are the most persistent and profane in the world. Some people love the trip to Halong Bay, others feel it's a waste of time. When I went to Hanoi, I chose to spend the week in Hanoi, with a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. I found plenty to keep me busy and interested for a week.

Hi, I just did a similar trip in early April (except I didn't include Nha Prang (not sure where that is) and spent one more night in each of Hue and Saigon).

The time I spent in Halong Bay (a day cruise and then an overnight on Cat Ba island) was the highlight of the trip and I wish I'd done an overnight on the boat (it was a beautiful wooden junk-style boat with two cabins).

I liked Sapa, but preferred Bac Ha so would definitely agree with the suggestion to time your trip to include the Bac Ha Sunday market if you can (you could do the suggestion in reverse, too, if that works better for your itinerary). I chose to go by car with my driver and guide to Sapa/Bac Ha because I don't sleep well on overnight trains and because I wanted to see the scenery, and while the trip was VERY long, I liked being able to see the rural countryside.

If you decide to skip Sapa, I'd add another night in each of Hanoi, Hue and Saigon. I really enjoyed visiting the temples and mausoleums outside of Hue and you'd need a night there to do that. Another highlight of my trip was renting a bike in Hue and cycling around the Citadel--it was a little scary cycling from my hotel to the Citadel due to the traffic but once I was inside the walls, it was great. It just gives you a different perspective to be on a bike!