deptrai

In years past, we've spent a few days each in Hanoi & Saigon and liked them both. After a week in Bangkok, we will arrive in Saigon Nov.13th. We fly home from Hanoi on Nov. 23rd. I was thinking of spending a couple days in Saigon then fly to Danang and spend a few nights in Hoi An. Maybe then spend a couple nights in Hue or Danang before heading back to Hanoi for the final couple nights.

We typically don't do tours although we did a 2-night Halong Bay tour and the Cu Chi tunnel tour and loved them both. We really enjoy renting a motorbike and getting away from the masses and relying on our phone's GPS to guide us back to our hotel at the end of the day.

Saigon & Hanoi hotels will be at Marriott because we're using points and I'm a Platinum Elite. I do realize the new JW Hanoi is far out from where one would like to stay.

Nov. 6-13 Bangkok (booked)
Nov. 13 Fly BKK-SGN (booked)
Nov. 13-15 Saigon?
Nov. 15 Fly SGN-DAD?
Nov. 15-19 Hoi An?
Nov. 19 taxi to Hue or Da Nang
Nov. 19-21 Hue or Da Nang
Nov. 21 Fly to DAD-HAN
Nov. 21 - 23 Hanoi?
Nov. 23 Fly home from Hanoi (booked)

Just the 2 of us. Couple in early 40's. I can speak a bit of Vietnamese.
Appreciate feedback & suggestions

yestravel

I would spend time in Hue as opposed to daNang which didn't seem to have much. Hue is interesting for a couple days. I have read people ride motorcycles from Hoi An to Hue. We did it by car and it's a scenic trip. Be nice on a motorcycle.

Kathie

November is the worst time to visit central VN: Hue, Hoi An, DaNang. There are likely to be hard rains, and two out of three years there is flooding with loss of life in those areas in November. So I would re-think your itinerary with this in mind.

deptrai

Good point about the rains. What might be an alternative in the region? Cambodia, Mui Ne, Da Lat, Phu Quoc? Keep in mind I will be starting in SGN and need to end up in Hanoi for at least the last night.

internetwiz

We were in Hue and Hoi An in November (2012) we were lucky, with just some minor rains. I found a map of the hotels most apt to flood in Hoi An, and we stayed at a place a little bit away from the river, just in case. One day it did rain and there was minor flooding, but if you have water shoes, an umbrella or a good raincoat, you should be fine.

In Danang, the Cham Museum is very interesting, but that's all we did there. On this forum, some people like either Hue better than Hoi An, or vice versa, but at the very minimum, Hoi An had better restaurants.

In Saigon, do the Vietnam Vespa tour, especially since you're not spending much time there. We're a bit older than you and we thought it was a blast!