Shanna123

Hi Folks,

I am currently planning a trip for my family (Husband, Sister and her husband, my parents as well as 4 children (7, 10, 11, 13) for 3.5 weeks to Vietnam and Thailand. My husband and I have both been to SE Asia (myself, I have been to Thailand 3 times, Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia). I have always wanted to make my way to Vietnam so hence the plan. My family has all decided to jump on board so there's a lot more pressure to plan everything out logistically (rather than wing it a bit like my husband and I like to do with our own well traveled kids). Please let me know if this is doable or if I should add/remove etc:

1. Hanoi (2 nights)
2. 3 day/2 nights Ninh Binh and Halong Bay Cruise Tour - Connect back to Hanoi to fly to Danang
3. Hoi An (5 nights) - Plans to see surrounding areas as well, but just wander the streets and also give our kids some pool/beach time
4. Fly to Ho Chi Minh (3 Nights)

• Should we do day trips to Mekong Delta and Chu Chi tunnels or should we do an overnight in the Mekong?

5. Fly to Krabi - 2 options here and I am very conflicted, being that I have already been to Thailand 3 times.

a) Go straight from Krabi airport to Koh Lanta

• Koh Lanta (5 nights)
• Khao Sok (2 days/ 1 night)
• Khao Lak (4 nights)

I have not been to Koh Lanta since my first time in Thailand and I remember absolutely loving it. Secondly, I have never been to Khao Sok/Khao Lak area and feel that it has a lot to offer. I would like to see the Similan Islands as well as do an elephant sanctuary with the kids.

b) Stay in Krabi for the first half

• Railay (5 nights) - rock climbing, island tours etc
• Koh Lanta or Khao Lak (5 nights)

Railay is truthfully one of my favourite places on Earth, but I have been many times and am inclined to try something new this time. As my family is going to Thailand for their first time, I feel selfish not including this area. That said, it is possible to send them their on their own and head our own way - I just doubt they will feel comfortable. I know that we could probably fit all 3, but it's a lot of traveling around for the 4 kids so we were hoping to have the Thailand portion be a lot more relaxing.If I DO pick option B, should I follow with Khao Lak or Koh Lanta?

Thoughts, opinions, ideas?

Thank you!

DinHo

Day trips to Mekong Delta and Cu Chi tunnels, it depends on your interests. But if you do not have enough time, a day trip to Mekong Delta is still fine.

crellston

Hi Shanna,

My immediate thoughts are that the Vietnam part of your itinerary is extremely rushed and that the travel logistics of including so many destinations means that you will spend a LOT of your time in transit. This maybe ok for a couple but for such a large group it could become very stressful, especially for you, the organiser!

Two nights in a place only allows for one full day of usable time to explore. in the case of Hanoi, this is nowhere near enough. I would suggest 3 nights and two full days minimum.

I confess I am not a great fan of Halong Bay - too polluted and too crowded. Bai Tu Long or Lan Ha bays may be better though I would probably sip the bays completely and add the time to Hanoi. Ninh Binh is great once you get away form the heavily touristed areas and avoid weekends. I don't think we have ever been to Railay so that may be another option.

Saigon is one of my favourite cities in Asia but very different from Hanoi. One of the fastest changing cities in Asia. 3 nights /2 full days is a good amount of time to explore the city and its main sights. I don't think a day trip to the delta is a good use of time. Far better to spend at least a night there. Ben Tre is close to Saigon and is all about cruising the smaller rives of the delta and the cottage industries there. A little further away is Can Tho which is the wider Mekong and home to Cai Rang floating market. You could get a limo bus for your group out there to arrive after lunch, spend the night in Can Tho or at a homestay outside of the city (Green Village is good) and visit the market in the early morning (i.e. 05:30). You would be finished by 09:30 and head back to Saigon for your next destination .

Hoi An beaches I found disappointing but some love them. Hoi An town is very quaint but only needs a day and when the Chinese resume traveling to Vietnam it will once again become unbearably crowded. for some a price worth paying. Personally , I prefer Hue, 60km along the coast.



If you didn't want to go to Thailand , I would suggest heading deeper into the delta to Chau Doc and then getting the boat to Phnom Penh and spend some time in Cambodia.

As far as Thailand is concerned, I stopped visiting the south some years ago as it just got too touristy. The last time there was when we took my wife's parents for the wedding anniversary when we took them to Khao Lak and Khao Sok. Khao Lakhad changed out of all recognition since our prior visit pre tsunami and had become very busy. Not the best beach destination down that way. Koh Lanta would be better I feel for beach time.

Anyway, just a few thoughts and my apologies for rambling on! Here is a link to the Vietnam section of our blog which covers some of our travels in the country. https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/ There is also a Cambodia section but very little on Thailand I am afraid.

One further thought is that given the numbers you have travelling with you, it could prove cost and logistically effective to book a private small group tour with someone like https://www.intrepidtravel.com/uk/vietnam who have a good reputation (though I have never used them myself.

Shanna123

Hi Crellston,

Thank you so much for your detailed and thoughtful responses. I completely agree with you on the Vietnam portion feeling a bit too rush and in fact, if it were just my family of 4, we would forego Thailand altogether this time and just do Vietnamfor the 3.5 weeks, but alas, our family wants to do both.

1) Halong Bay being too polluted and crowded - I have been reading this a LOT and I would happily miss out on this and spend more time in Ninh Binh as I feel that Krabi with its Limestone Karts would have been similar, but on a smaller scale so I don't feel entirely drawn to this area.

2) HCMC - I have read so many conflicting views on this city. People seem to either love Hanoi and hate HCMC or the opposite. What I will say is that we don't like to spend a ton of time in large cities. We just did France and Spain and our least favourite days were spent in Paris and Barcelona. We much rather wander smaller towns and villages. - Do you think HCMC would be a big miss if we spent more time elsewhere?

3) If I COULD convince my family to forego Thailand and just focus in on Thailand, would you recommend adding Dalat? Nha Trang (this reminds me of Phuket in that it seems built up and busy - which I hate, but- perhaps I am wrong?)... Or how about Phu Quoc? We have to have beach time in there at the end which is the whole reason we were going to hop over to Thailand.

4) Cambodia - I loved my travels in Cambodia - but for my sister, husband and her two kids, I feel that would be a bit too much of a culture shock. Siem Reap is fine, but even I struggled with the poverty and history in Cambodia so I think baby steps for the rest of the family lol

I have been taking a look at your forum and there's a ton of good stuff in there so thank you. I plan to go in and read through in more detail.

Thanks again for taking time out of your day to assist me!

Shanna

crellston

You are very welcome Shanna.

1. I think Halong is another one of those places that people love or hate. It is one of the "iconic" sights of Vietnam and features on just about every travel agent and tour operator itinerary. Some describe Ninh Binh as Halong on land as the karst scenery is very similar as indeed is that of Krabi. Some feel it is a "must see" but I don't. I have been a couple of times to different parts and I enjoyed my first visit many years ago when it saw a fraction of the tourists it sees now. My last visit was maybe six or seven years ago and I was shocked by the change. The number of boats had multiplied tenfold and the rubbish floating in the water precluded any notion of swimming.
2. You are spot re Hanoi v Saigon. I have spent a lot of time in both cities but I love cities! Hanoi has arguably more of the old Vietnam whereas Saigon has grown out of all recognition for the cities with no cars or streetlights I fist visited in the eighties to the most dynamic metropolis Indochina. The "interesting bits are concentrated in quite a small area in District one and could probably be covered in a very full day. If you plan on say the Mekong Delta you will end up going through Saigon at some point so a couple of nights and one full day may be enough. Given your comments, of the two, I think you would probably enjoy Hanoi more and it is easier to get out into the rural areas like Ninh Binh, Mai Chau or even further afield to places like Ha Giang or Sapa
3. You are right about Nha Trang and it would would not be high on my list. I think it has suffered a lot from over development and the massive influx of Russians over recent years. There are some nice places out of the city but probably not nice enough to warrant a visit. Phu Quoc would certainly be a contender for beach time as would Con Dao or Qui Nhon. Dalat is easily visited from Nha Trang again, wouldn't be high on my list. Essentially I think Thailand has way better beaches than Vietnam (but I am not really a beach person unless for diving). Hue and Hoi An make a good combo in central Vietnam and nearby DaNang has a very long stretch of beach though it is way too developed wit mega hotels for my taste
4. Cambodia - yes it is hard to get away from the poverty and corruption and its tragic recent past. As cities go, I really like Phnom Penh but can understand why some would find it disturbing. Having said that we enjoyed our time in Kampot and Kep (which I think is covered in our blog) which are only a couple hour from PP and there are also some nice beaches and island down that way .

Happy planning!

mjs

I must admit to being somewhat conflicted about Halong bay. We did go to Lan Ha bay and saw little pollution in November. I am glad we went and it is pretty but guess I am not a cruise type person. Would not need to go back. Was disappointed with the western food served aboard our boat. Would have preferred local food.

crellston

A few years ago the Vietnamese government banned the selling of fish from the bay as the pollution have become that bad it was health hazard. I am pretty sure that ban has been lifted due to improvements in water quality. If you were there last November then it seems as though the actions taken by the authorities are working. We we in Bai Tu Long Bay, supposed to be one of the more pristine options but it was still pretty bad but that as 5 years or so ago.

I too am conflicted about Halong Bay, not just for the pollution but the overcrowding of boats boats but mainly because there are places in the country that I enjoy way more. I guess it is all a question of personal preferences, priorities and style of travel.

Larsay

I am afraid you went on a bad junk ! I have been to Halong many times and have never seen any typical western food served, I mean hamburgers, KFC, steak and French fries, etc. Of course, a fried fish is a fried fish and rice is rice everywhere, but I also ate nems, fish filet in soy sauce and ginger (delicious !) and others, As a matter of fact, the Locals are famous for being great sea-food product cooks.

laurieco

I agree with Crellston on Halong Bay. We were there on an overnight junk tour in February and I found it disappointing. It is very crowded, even though we were on a small junk and were able to go to some places bigger boats cannot. After about 30 minutes, it all looks the same and we would have been better served staying in Hanoi, especially since we had to cut our trip short and rush back to the US from Hanoi. We're going back in January and this time we will spend at least 4 nights in Hanoi, since we did no sightseeing at all there and haven't been there since 2000. (I'll be starting my own thread for advice soon.)

Larsay

"It all look the same " ? Small limestone peaks, big ones, in small chains or isolated, rocks with strange shapes, grottoes, tunnels, small and larger fllatinng fish farms, doesn't look all the same to me !

Larsay

Read FLOATING fish-farms and small houses

laurieco

We are each entitled to our opinions. Yes, it all looked the same to us after a short while. I'm not saying that the scenery was not nice, it just did not captivate us or keep our interest. I understand a lot of people love going to Halong Bay. I'm glad we went so we don't have to wonder about it anymore, but I would not go back.

Larsay

"Nice" ? I am curious to know why it is considered as "unique in the world", classified by the Unesco as a World Heritage site, and attract millions of visitor a year, to a point where the Viet government has built an airport not far from the Bay !!!!

laurieco

Give it up Larsay. You have a terrible habit of confronting anyone who doesn’t feel the same way you do. I didn’t care for Halong Bay, neither did my husband. I understand that a lot of people feel differently and I’m fine with that. Why can’t you be fine with my opinion? No one is asking you to agree with me, just respect my opinion.

Larsay

I deeply apologise for thinking that I have the RIGHT to contradict an opinion on this site !

laurieco

It’s the way you express your opinion, as though yours is the only one that counts and anyone who dares to disagree with you is flat out wrong. You come off as a 13 year old schoolyard bully. Even your choice of words is confrontational, contradict, implying that others are wrong and without merit, rather than just saying you feel differently. I respect that you have a different opinion. I do not respect the way you choose to express it.

crellston

Don’t waste your time Laurieco. People like Larsay that descend to sarcasm and bullying just make themselves look pathetic.

laurieco

True. Wait until he finds out that a taxi driver in Hanoi tried to scam us. He's so sure that it never happens there. Anyway, I stand by my comments about Halong Bay but I realize my opinion is just that, my opinion.

Larsay

"contradict", My Dear, is simply to say the contrary of what somebody says : A says "Halong is no big deal", B says" I do not agree, it is fantastic" ; B contradicts A and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Or should B says to A : "You are right, don't bother to visit";. Obviously, some people here DO NOT accept that one expresses an opinion different from theirs. Never mind !!!!

Larsay

Absolutely noyt a "Must" if you do not have enough time the North and the Center are much more interesting, unless you like to see endless water and rice-fields, with a very few historic centers like in Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, etc. (Saigon is no big deal !) This is MY opinion and I share it.