Vietnam in August

bcros90

Myself and my boyfriend are looking to head to Vietnam for 3 weeks in August. We were in Thailand last year and loved the nightlife and the buzz of it in general. Havent heard much about Vietnam and am wondering if anyone recommends it for a young couple in their 20s.

Tipperary animal lover

You'll love vietnam it's a fantastic country, with only three weeks you'd want to plan your time right. The south of the country will be in the rainy season in August ... You'll fly into Saigon head to district 1 it's where all travellers converge .....cheap beer cheap restaurants and cheap hotels!!! Get a cheap flight up to nha trang or da nang(for hoi an), nha trang is the main beach city in vietnam with plenty of you guested it cheap bars restaurants and hotels.
If you need any help with hotels in nha trang and Saigon let me know..... Don't forget you need visas to enter the country and have to be sorted before you arrive. We love the place find it way more easy going than Thailand.

bcros90

Thanks a million for your advice, do you know how to go about getting a visa? I'm guessing its not similar to Thailand then when you are issued it on arrival in airport?

Gatica

no, you'll need to order a pre-approval letter from one of the many websites that do it. We used http://www.starvietnamvisa.com/

con1982

Hey.

I did this trip last year with my girlfriend. 3 weeks in Vietnam travel North to South.

We flew to Hanoi via Bangkok. 4 days in Hanoi. Lots to do and see. Night markets, old town, waterpuppets, etc. We then took a two day, one night trip to Halong Bay.Loved it.

We flew from Hanoi to Hue. You can get the train but it costs 60% the price of a flight and takes 9 hours. 3 days in Hue. Amazing old walled city. Real backpacker feel to the place. We stayed in the new town across the river. Most of the hotels are in this area.

We hired a taxi for the trip from Hue to HoiAn. There are some temples and sights to see on the way. think it cost 40e all in.

HoiAn was amazing. Spent 4 days there. Could easily spend a week. One of my favourite places in Asia.

We flew from HoiAn to Nhan Trang for a beach break. 4 days and 3 nights in Nha Trang. Its OK, nothing special. Maybe try somewhere else if you want a beach trip. I heard there are some nice beach places near HoiAn.

Flew from Nha Trang to HCM. 4 days in HCM City. Fantastic place. Has a French Riveria feel to it. Lovely museums and shopping. Did a 1 day trip to the Mekong Delta. Nice trip but very touristy.

Finished off our holidays with 3 days in BKK. Love Bangkok !

Brian2208

Hey, it might not be your cup of tea but i'd recommend getting a motor bike and doing some travelling off the beaten track. I hired one for a few days in Hoi An and saw a bit of the country side around there. It's quite cheap to rent them too, can't remember how much though.
Or you could buy a bike from a back packer for $200-$300, drive it around the country and sell it to another backpacker for the same when you leave. But that's probably not practical if you're only going to be there for 3 weeks

Tipperary animal lover

Brian2208 wrote: »

Hey, it might not be your cup of tea but i'd recommend getting a motor bike and doing some travelling off the beaten track. I hired one for a few days in Hoi An and saw a bit of the country side around there. It's quite cheap to rent them too, can't remember how much though.
Or you could buy a bike from a back packer for $200-$300, drive it around the country and sell it to another backpacker for the same when you leave. But that's probably not practical if you're only going to be there for 3 weeks

Renting a bike is all well and good but if you have an accident your fcuked even if not your fault.... Your travel insurance will not cover you, by law only people with licences can drive on the roads and westeners can get licences but takes for ever and a lot of paperwork /red tape, but loads of people take the chance and get away with it, but I've seen many westeners over the years with bandaged arms and legs from accidents ... Just a warning.

We use myvietnamvisa.com for our voa(visa on arrival) much cheaper than going through the embassy in London, on there site they explain everything you've to do, follow it to the T and you'll be grand.

bcros90

Thanks so much for all the tips and advice it's really appreciated!:)

solerina

con1982 wrote: »

Hey.

I did this trip last year with my girlfriend. 3 weeks in Vietnam travel North to South.

We flew to Hanoi via Bangkok. 4 days in Hanoi. Lots to do and see. Night markets, old town, waterpuppets, etc. We then took a two day, one night trip to Halong Bay.Loved it.

We flew from Hanoi to Hue. You can get the train but it costs 60% the price of a flight and takes 9 hours. 3 days in Hue. Amazing old walled city. Real backpacker feel to the place. We stayed in the new town across the river. Most of the hotels are in this area.

We hired a taxi for the trip from Hue to HoiAn. There are some temples and sights to see on the way. think it cost 40e all in.

HoiAn was amazing. Spent 4 days there. Could easily spend a week. One of my favourite places in Asia.

We flew from HoiAn to Nhan Trang for a beach break. 4 days and 3 nights in Nha Trang. Its OK, nothing special. Maybe try somewhere else if you want a beach trip. I heard there are some nice beach places near HoiAn.

Flew from Nha Trang to HCM. 4 days in HCM City. Fantastic place. Has a French Riveria feel to it. Lovely museums and shopping. Did a 1 day trip to the Mekong Delta. Nice trip but very touristy.

Finished off our holidays with 3 days in BKK. Love Bangkok !

I agree with the idea of travelling north to south. I loved the north and wasnt overly impressed by the south. Hanoi is a great city busteling with life and you feel like your in Vietnam....however in HCMC I felt like you could be in many cities in the world. Highlights were Halong Bay (would recommend Indochina Junk for a cruise), Sapa, and Hoi An (spent 5 days but would have stayed way longer if we had time...gorgeous and we loved the beach there..there are 2 An Bang and Cui Dai) We used www.myvietnamvisa.com to get our pre approval letters as they are reliable and cheaper than via the embassy in London. Its supposed to be rainy season but we got no rain so I wouldnt worry about the weather (we were there in July/August). We got the sleeper train from Hanoi to Hue as we went through the night rather than wastuing daylight going to and from airports....it was a a fun experience anyway as we met some nice people along the way. When you get there take taxis from Mai Linh or Hanoi Taxi group as both use meters and are safe...avoid all other taxis (just in case)

Challo

I agree with all of Con1982's post.

Vietnam is a gret country and three weeks North to South will be a super trip.

Mr.Prodston

I was there for 3 weeks earlier this year with 2 friends. Absolutely loved the place. We probably spent more time North rather than South. Ended up with only 1 night in Ho Chi Minh but we had a schedule to keep to unfortunately.

I would highly recommend Phong Nha national park and the farmstay there. It's between Hanoi and Hue about 10 hours on the the train from Hanoi. Great place away from the hustle and bustle and beautiful. The caves there are huge. We also got a motorbike from Hue to Hoi An over the Hai Van pass (Top Gear) although myself and one lad sat on the back while our other friend drove himself. A great day that was.

Nha Trang was grand, nothing special just a general resort type place. Found a great place for €5 a night each for 3 of us. Basic,no window but was lovely and cool because of it and the shower was actually powerful and such friendly staff. I'll dig out the name if you had any interest in staying there.

But yes go to Vietnam you'll love it. The visa is simple to sort really. We flew in Hanoi from Luang Prabang in Laos and it took about 5-10 to process the visa.

bcros90

Thanks a million for the advise everyone our flights are return ho chi minh city so wer gonna spend 2 nights in ho chi minh then bus to mui ne for 3 nights, anyone any advise on mui ne? and then after that we still have to plan, any advise on internal travelling? is bus the best option or would people recommend flying or trains? Any accomodation advise and advise on good cruise trips on halong bay would be great

Challo

Oh I only spent one night in Mui Ne as apart from sand dunes and walking up the river, there is very very little there. It's tiny1

roro2

bcros90 wrote: »

Thanks a million for the advise everyone our flights are return ho chi minh city so wer gonna spend 2 nights in ho chi minh then bus to mui ne for 3 nights, anyone any advise on mui ne? and then after that we still have to plan, any advise on internal travelling? is bus the best option or would people recommend flying or trains? Any accomodation advise and advise on good cruise trips on halong bay would be great

Flying can be a good option if time is limited and is not too expensive, otherwise you could spent a lot of your trip on buses. If you do get a bus, avoid those operated by TM Brothers. You'll sometimes find that they stop at filthy cafes connected with the company and intentionally arrive late into town to try and get you to stay at connected accommodation. Took one train while I was there - it was an alright experience. The train station was packed and there was little info on when the train might arrive and it wasn't all that clear if there would be room on it. The train itself was fine and wasn't full of tourists which was a nice change, the loud Vietnamese music and tv shows got a bit tiresome though!

Tipperary animal lover

bcros90 wrote: »

Thanks a million for the advise everyone our flights are return ho chi minh city so wer gonna spend 2 nights in ho chi minh then bus to mui ne for 3 nights, anyone any advise on mui ne? and then after that we still have to plan, any advise on internal travelling? is bus the best option or would people recommend flying or trains? Any accomodation advise and advise on good cruise trips on halong bay would be great

Feck all in mui ne the beach is eroded away and waths left is full of kite surfers and full of Russians .... 3 days defo a waste there... Fly fly fly its cheap if you book in advance.... The distances are great