KenMi

My friend and I will be traveling through Vietnam later this month. We have our eVisas, and most of our hotel and transportation set, though we still need to finish the plan in Hue.

Below is our South to North itinerary, any suggestions for “must see” or areas of concern or “tweaks” would be greatly appreciated!
1/23 - Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City @10pm - Alagon Central Hotel will pick up at Airport
1/24 - Full day in Ho Chi Minh City
1/25 - Full day in Ho Chi Minh City
1/26 - Full day in Ho Chi Minh City

1/27 - Full day in Ho Chi Minh City
1/28 - Fly to Da Nang @Noon on Vietnam Airlines La Residencia Little Boutique Hotel & Spa in Hoi An will pick up
1/29 - Full day in Hoi An
1/30 - Full day in Hoi An
1/31 - Travel from Hoi An to Hue Check into (Hotel TBD)
2/1 - Full day in Hue
2/3 - Fly to Hanoi @ 10 am on Vietnam Airlines - La Beauté de Hanoi Hotel
2/4 - Full day in Hanoi
2/5 - Full day in Hanoi
2/6 - Leave Hanoi - Fight from Hanoi @11pm

I am looking for a few suggestions, or thoughts on the itinerary so far, and where it might be improved.

Hotels / Transportation:
Our hotel stays in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An and Hanoi have already been booked.
In Hue, we have been considering Rosaleen Boutique Hotel, Orchid Hotel, Hue Serene Palace and Hotel la Perle. Thoughts on a hotel or alternative in Hue?

In Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An we have complimentary airport transportation. In Hanoi, the hotel is offering a car each way for $19 US. Is this a good deal? They have offered to hold our luggage (at no charge) while we continue to explore Hanoi as our flight is at 11pm that evening.

We would like to hire a car to “tour” as we move from Hoi An to Hue (hotel to hotel). Any recommendations on contacts and what to see along the way (My Son / Da Nang / Monkey Mountain)? Should we book before, or once we arrive in Hoi An?

As this is during the lead up to Tet, we understand that the airport (and other transportation) will be busy. How soon should we plan to get to the airport for our flights (1/28 - Ho Chi Minh City @noon, 2/3 - Hue @ 10am and 1/6 Hanoi @11pm)?

Side Trips / Activities:
We would like to make a day trip to the Mekong Delta area. Any suggestions on where to go or how to get there - such as tours or contacts?

We were planning on making a trip to the Chu Chi tunnels - have been concerned as we have been reading up on threads - sounds pretty much like a tourist trap. As we are Baby Boomers, we will be taking in sites / museums that involve the war. Any suggestions for more informative / historical settings?

As we know it is Tet, we have been planning accordingly. We arrive in Hanoi on Sunday 2/3, and plan to check out the weekend / night market that evening. We are expecting Monday 2/4 to be busy, with fireworks at Hoan Kiem Lake at midnight. Also assuming things will be pretty quiet for our last two days, Tuesday 2/5 and Wednesday, 2/6. We plan to check out the temples and park areas during this time. Any suggestions on other activities in Hanoi in the lead up, and during the first days of Tet?

DinHo

It looks good but too much time for HCMC!
You can consider doing overnight stay in Can Tho (Mekong Delta) and then flying Can Tho to Danang (Hoian).

crellston

I would normally say that 3 days is a good amount of time for Saigon but if you do want to visit the delta then I like Dinho’s suggestion. Lose a day there and spend a night in either Ben Tre or Can Tho. Can Tho would be a lot easier for flying to Da Nang.

The former is all about the smaller canals and rivers, cottage industries etc. The latter will give you a taste of the wider Mekong and the floating market at Cai Rang ( the main reason for going. Some photos and detail of both on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Either place is easy to diy by taxi or bus. Get accomodation there and get them to organise at boat tour. Cai Rang market you can just turn up at the boat dock in the centre of town and hire a boat. Approx $20 as I recall. Alternatively there are hundreds of agencies in Saigon that will organise trips for you. Most are best avoided. If you really want a day tour, get your hotel to organise for you as they have a vested interest in getting it right ( albeit at a substantial mark up). SinhTourist is good but there are a lot of fake copycat agencies with that name.

You are spot on re Cu Chi - it is very much a tourist trap and not worth the time.

Around Tet in Hanoi can be quiet and do check the opening hours of museums etc. Most close at lunchtime and on Mondays but may have different opening hours around Tet.

Key sights include:
Ho Chi Minhs Mausoleum and house
The military museum
Train Street

All the above are pretty close to each other

The Women’s Museum
The Museum of Ethnology
Hoan Kiem Lake ( especially at dawn)
Temple of Literature
One Pillar Pagoda

Beer corner in the old quarter is worth a visit in the evenings to sample Bia Hoi and some "unusual" snacks.

LancasterLad

Hanoi in February can be quite chiily, especially before 1000 and after 1600. Hoan Kiem Lake are is traffic-free at weekends, so ideal then.

You'll find a lot of Vietnamese students the Lake area, eager to speak to you.....do so it's good fun.

Add Hao Lo Prison on you Hanoi to-do list. Quite close to The Womens Museum, which is a must-see.

Most museums close at lunch time, so worth checking opening hours beforehand. xx

italylover23

KenMi,

We are leaving a few days before you and doing the same itinerary in reverse. My husband and I are traveling with my 2 siblings. We are doing 5 nights in Hanoi, which includes one night on a boat in Bai Tu Long Bay (the less touristed part of Halong Bay, according to posters in this forum). The hotel is reasonable enough that we are not checking out and can just take what we need to the boat. In Hue and Hoi An we are staying in AirBnB properties. They were very reasonable and enable us space to hang out together instead of retreating to separate hotel rooms. And based on this forum and my brother's lack of interest in HCMC, we are spending 2 night there, but thats 1.5 days of touring. Since the rest of the lodging is so reasonable, my husband decided to splurge for the last 2 nights at The Reverie.

Since we have essentially the same itinerary at the same time of year, I'll pose my question here instead of starting a new thread, and we can both benefit from the responses. We are spending 4 nights in Hue and 2 in Hoi An. The main attraction in Hue is the Imperial City. I did find a few other sights, including Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Duc Tomb, An Dinh Palace, Temple of Literature, etc. I was thinking we would also get a driver to take us to Son Tra Linh Ung Pagoda and the Goddess of Mercy near Da Nang. Another day trip of Hai Van Pass and the Marble Mountains. From Hoi An, we were thinking of visiting the My Son ruins. Any other suggestions, recommendations or critiques of this plan? Thanks in advance!

Kathie

I think Hanoi is worth more of your time than HCMC. If it was me (and it isn't) I'd rebalance my time in those two places.

KenMi

Agreed on too much time in HCMC. Unfortunately I have already booked the flights on Vietnam Airlines. Found there is no direct flight available from Can Tho to Da Nang until February 1. Other option with separate flights - Hanoi / Da Nang would presents other issues.

Thinking an overnight from HCMC to the Mekong might take care of 1) too much time in HCMC 2) opportunity to experience the area and 3) least cost impact (one night in hotel if they won't change the reservation).

Any thoughts on an overnight option? Connections for driver / tour / place to stay in the delta overnight before returning to HCMC? Ben Tre looks like a possible starting point with travel to Can Tho for the overnight and then return to Ben Tre / Saigon?

KenMi

Italylover23 - By all means! I have been searching on these threads, got a number of good ideas in doing so myself. Based on what I have read, I should have done my research here much sooner - I had an idea reading these threads that I had too much time in HCMC. I look forward to learning from your responses!

KenMi

crellston and LancasterLad - Thanks for the Hanoi recommendations! As Kathie noted, I wish I could rebalance my time for more exploring in Hanoi. Unfortunately, flights and hotels are set for this trip - so this will be a learning experience. Next time I will be searching here before making any reservations.

Still looking to book a place in Hue. If there is a good homestay or other alternative, I would be interested in checking it out. Otherwise, I need to get a room booked pretty quick - have been looking at Rosaleen Boutique Hotel, Orchid Hotel, Hue Serene Palace and Hotel la Perle. Thoughts on a hotel or alternative in Hue?

Also interested in setting things up for a drive from Hoi An to Hue. Looking for recommendations as to a reputable service to hire, or ways of going about booking. With this being just before Tet, I think I may want to be sure to have things in place ahead of time (maybe before we leave?).

crellston

Ken -I haven’t stayed in any of those hotels but have stayed in places close to the Rosaleen and Serene Palace which is a good location. Lots of restaurants nearby.

We have stayed at a few places in Hue. La Residence is a wonderful 5* Art Deco style place but a little far out of the centre. A lot less grand, the last time there we stayed at Hue Garden Palace - cheap but comfortable and nice people.

From Hoi An to Hue your best bet would be to ask your hotel for a car and driver, either on arrival or in advance. We usually just ask a local taxi driver for a price. Travelling around Tet is not quite the probelm it once was. They will add a mark up but you can negotiate the price. It should cost $50 -60 US. The standard route is to stop at Hai Van Pass, the Marble Mountains, monkey mountain and the beach. They may try to take you to a Marble factory but unless you specifically want a 6 foot Venus de Milo copy, I would decline!

The drivers rarely speak English but you don’t really need a guide. There is a little about one of our trips that way with somephotos here https://accidentalnomads.com/2015/07...ue-via-hoi-an/

ItalyLover - starting a new post with an appropriate title will probably get more responses but I will answer here anyway.

I have only ever seen the goddess of mercy from the train, it does look impressive but I have never been tempted to visit up close. Not sure how much of a diversion it might be.

The sights between Hoi An and Hue are take around 4-6 hours and, as mentioned above, costs $50-60. In theory, you could included My Son in that trip but it is a diversion and would make a very long day.

It does get very hot at My Son by midday so I would leave as early as possible and aim to get there around 8am. You will miss the tour groups and it will be a lot cooler. Cost is around $30 for a private car and driver. It is a nice drive out through the countryside and there are a few interesting stops on the way back too.

In Hue there are myriad tours available to visit the Imperial City but it is very easy to DIY. I would allow half a day. Do it in the morning and stop at Lac Thien, my fav. Hue restaurant for th best Banh Xeo in the country https://accidentalnomads.com/2015/07...ue-via-hoi-an/

Some months of the year the citadel is open at night, if it is open when you are there, I would definitely pay a second visit.

As for the Pagoda and Tombs, there are lots of tours available mostly half or full day and include a boat on the Perfume River. Again there are photos and info on our visits around Hue in various posts in the Vietnam section of our blog https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

For most people, visiting 3 tombs would be enough but they are very impressive. They are spread out a bit but if it is not too hot, or wet, or both and you want some excercise, then visiting by bike is great as you can spend as much time as you like at each one. Hue market down by the river is also a must see.

KenMi

crellston Thanks for the info on Hue! I dug a bit deeper on hiring drivers - looks like the run up through Hai Van Pass will work for us. I might just check with the hotel in Hoi An or Hue to let me know what is available, and book from here. Prices I have seen on these hotel websites seem to be in the range you mention. Is tipping a driver expected for one of these excursions?

Hue Hotels: Could not find Hue Garden Palace hotel - did find Hue Garden Villa (they are booked up for our 3 days in Hue). La Residence looks nice, but best price I can find is about $200 per night. Its just a travel buddy and I on this trip, we hike and explore, looking for a good clean place to lay our heads, so I might just take one of those I mentioned above with the good location you noted.

Planning for Hue: We will schedule our driver/car for Thursday, January 31. Planning to arrive in late afternoon in Hue, head to the Citadel and explore depending on time available. Of course we would visit to Lac Thien to "pop" a few brews and some Bahn Xeo!) (Looks like Citadel is open late on Thursdays - but found one that said that is only between April and September.) On Friday and Saturday, considering a full or half day tour starting in the early morning. On the other day, would like to rent bikes to explore further out. If we don't get a great opportunity to explore the Citadel on Thursday, we would make time on one of these two days to revisit.

One other question - with all the time we have, we are thinking about a food tour in HCMC, and perhaps one more in Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi. Also considering a "cooking class" in one of these locations (where we don't do a food tour). Any thoughts on this type of thing - and if there is a tour or class that stands out to anyone?

crellston

Tipping the driver is not expected ( although they won’t be offended or refuse!!)

Sorry, my mistake, I did mean Hue Garden VILLA. One other place we stayed at in a similar location was Phong Lan Guesthouse. Cheap and cheerful but the hosts were very good at sourcing tours. One thing to be aware of in Vietnam is that the more upmarket the accomdation, the more they tend to mark up the tours. E.g the same tour booked with La Residence would be way more expensive than a cheaper hotel.

There are literally dozens of cooking schools in Hoi An. The more established include Vy’s Market and Morning Glory. Red Bridge is also supposed to be pretty good. Probably a better place for a class than Hanoi or Saigon.

Not a great fan of food tours as they always seem very expensive for what you get. One in Saigon that gets rave reviews is https://xotours.vn/tours/vietnam-food-tour.html . They whizz you around on the back of motorbikes. We are fortunate that we have never felt the need as the sister that run the Homestay were we stay when we visit HCMC take us around the city on their motor bikes. I will pm you with links to our own food maps of Hue, Hanoi and HCMC when I get a moment. In the meantime, you may find some useful stuff on Hue and Saigon food in the food section of our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/food-in-asia/ I think my wife has also posted a few of her fav recipes there.

italylover23

Crellston, Thanks so much for your reply. I did weigh the pros and cons of a new thread. Your insights are quite helpful and appreciated. We have about a week in total in Hue/Hoi An so that we can take our time enjoying the area. You also helped me months ago on a separate thread when we were first getting a handle on our itinerary. Thanks again!

crellston

Hi Ken

My apologies if you did not receive my response to your PM. I typed it last week but it doesn’t appear to have sent. I am re sending you the links to the maps now. If you don’t receive them please post here just in case their is something amiss with Fodors PM system.

I think I covered your questions re Hue hotels above so will cut that part out.

KenMi

Hi Crellston,

Got the links, but they are not working - got 404 errors for each of them for some reason. I have read, and copied the Hue food info to my phone so I can use them in Hue. Thanks!

crellston

They seem to be working fine for me. Maybe it is something to do with the Fodor’s messaging system. If you would like to send me you email address by pm, I can try emailing them to you and see if that works

KenMi

Very crazy start to this trip. Took off just a tad bit late from Detroit to Seoul on the first leg. Unfortunately someone who decided to do fly while ill required our flight to return to Detroit after over two hours in the air. We needed a new crew and an ice storm hit Detroit that afternoon so the crew was unable to make it. Huge mess, given vouchers by Delta but they didn’t make a reservation so we ended up sleeping on the floor in the airport. Luckily we had lounge access so we slept there for a while then got back in at 5 AM for a shower before the scheduled 9 AM flight. Of course that flight was late because the airport was still closed. We boarded sat at the gate for over an hour and then the pilot announced they passed their legal time so we deplaned. Another huge mess trying to determine what was going on next. Bottom line they got us out that afternoon we made it to Seoul South Korea and barely caught the connection on a busy Korean air flight to Ho Chi Minh City.

We waited for all the luggage to get off, of course neither my friends bag or mine made the trip. Evidently someone left it in the airport at Seoul, and failed to put it on the plane. All of this started on Tuesday morning in Detroit, it is now Saturday afternoon and I am still waiting for my luggage. Luckily my friends luggage was delivered yesterday afternoon.

Spent yesterday at the War Remnants Museum, Well worth the time! Reunification Palace was closed (2 days private event), so we will try that on Sunday.

LOVING the food (thanks for the preview crellston) and doing fine with the traffic - across streets and on the sidewalks! Spent time at the market today, now off to see Notre Dame and the Post Office.

flygirl

This may not be a popular opinion but I essentially lost a day in Saigon due to the airline bringing me here 8 hours late and ruining the first evening, and, being pretty sick after I landed and not even leaving the hotel the next day until close to 2 PM - basically lost a full day out of my time here... and I already feel I've seen what interests me and I still have another day here yet. It mostly seems like a big city to me. Undoubtedly the engine of Vietnam and a lot of energy and good food, but it doesn't draw me in like Hanoi or Hoi An did.

Knowing what I know now I would say give yourself two nights in Saigon and add whatever is left, to Hoi An. Or Hanoi.

I will say this, though, I rather liked Saigon at night, last night.

edit: or use your time in Saigon as a base for nearby things? Like crellston said...

crellston

What a nightmare start to your trip! Fingers crossed your bags turn up soon. Worth noting that most museums, the Reunification Palace included, close for lunch -usually 12-2pm and on Mondays. The Palace is definitely worth it.

KenMi

Thanks Flygirl. We definitely had too much time in Ho Chi Minh city- but, the way it is going (losing a day and luggage) it might all work out for the best. As it is very cold in Michigan (-10 Celsius) we are happy to enjoy the warm weather and sun!