Help plan itinerary through Vietnam

cooperguy

Hi, I am hoping you will be able to give me some pointers on my trip through Vietnam. Am I spending too long or too short a time in any place? Is there anywhere I am missing out on. Im struggling to know if I am timing this right!

Day 1 - Arrive in Hanoi
Day 2 - Travel to Halong Bay for overnight trip
Day 3 - Arrive back in Hanoi
Day 4 - Day in Hanoi followed by overnight train to Da Nang
Day 6 - Day in Da Nang (Marble Mountains?) Travel to Hoi An in the evening
Day 9 - Fly from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh (spend 4 nights in Saigon travel to Mekong Delta/Chu Chi tunnels
Day 13 - Fly to Siem Reap (4 days around Angkor Wat etc. then fly home)

rigamincedeal

If you haven't already booked your flights I'd possibly suggest flying into Siem Riep first then onto Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Min returning home, it may save you a stop over depending on your airline, however cost wise it still might be working out better for you.

First off I think you've a lot to try cover over a two week period, I did this trip last January an there was a lot of travelling involved, spent 18 days Hanoi to Ho Chi Min with Halong thrown in, we flew between everywhere too. Anyway it's possible to do in that time frame but that's just my opinion and I also feel that 3 days in siem reap would be sufficient as the temples are what they are but we felt two days of that was enough, we also did a quad bike tour there which was excellent and a highlight of our trip, if you want I can get you get you the details would highly recommend and it shows places off the beaten track.

Anyway on Vietnam we did the following;

Day 1-2 Hanoi, Went around the old quarter, did a guided tour and pottered about, crazy busy city.

Day 3-5 Went to Halong Bay and did two days two nights on junk boat, excellent trip and would recommend. I think a day trip up there while worth it would be a lot considering your planning on getting a night train after. You'll arrive back late after Halong and its a long enough bus journey. We arrived back in Hanoi and stayed another night catching an early flight to Hue the old capital of Vietnam.

Day 6 - Hue, spent one full day here and it was a nice little town, did all the sights here and felt a day here was probably enough if stuck for time.

Day 7 - 11 Hue to Hoi An - Motorbike Trip over the Hai Van pass - Google it and you will see the Top gear lads doing it, I would highly recommend and there are some fantastic stops along the way with breath taking views and a chance to learn from locals. This was a full 10/12 hour day, however you can do longer if you wish, we felt the day was perfect as your arse gets sore on the back of the bike!! We did stop in Da Nang which is on the way to Hoi An only bout 40km from each other I think however not much there and would recommend Hoi An for 2 days if suits, lovely little old town with famtastic restaurants and cafes, we did a cooking class there and just chilled in a nice hotel. It's a place where you can get clothes made to order. We spent 3 or 4 days there and got a taxi to Da Nang and flew to Na Trang

Day 11 - 14 Na Trang, we flew there after a short flight, stayed along side the beach and chilled at the pool, it's a holiday location and very much like a holiday resort in Spain or that. Didn't do much there it was fairly quite as it was the Chinese New Year -TET 2014 the year of the horse.

Day 15-18 Flew from Na Trang to Ho Chi Min Did the Chu Chi Tunnels, War Museum, Markets and a few other walking tours and a bit of shopping!

That was our itinary sorry if I am rambled a bit, anyway I'd highly recommend the bike tour, you take in so much including marble mountain, fishing villages, Old War checkpoints on the Hai Van pass and some seriously good views!

If I were you I'd book a flight to Hue from Hanoi they are very cheap around €30, then arrange the bike trip down to Da Nang/Hoi An.

It's a smashing country you'll have a great time, feel free to ask questions if you wish.

cooperguy

Thanks for all that. Its been very helpful!

I would appreciate the details of the Quadbike tour in Cambodia. Sounds like a good way to spend a day. It sounds like I'm spending a long time in Siam Reap but in reality I will be flying in on the first day and flying out in the middle of the last day so I wont have many full days there.

I dont think I will be able to get herself to get on a motorbike for a day so unfortunately I think that is out (though it does sound very good).

I had heard Na Trang was like a beach resort in Spain so I am happy to give it a miss.

Is there much to do in Ho Chi Min or is it all day trips to the likes of the Meking Delta and the tunnels?

rigamincedeal

The quad bike day is with Quadbike adventures, have a look at them on tripadvisor and you'll get a fair idea what it's about. As for Na Trang, id give it a miss if I was stuck for time, we had been travelling for a bit and that was our chill out stop as we were nearing the end of our trip. In Ho Chi Min we did the war museum chu chi tunnels and there was a big festival on for there New Years which lasts a few days. We didnt get to do the Delta although I heard there's a good trip you can do on it, which you can stay on a floating village for the night. Another thing to bear in mind is that the ATMs restrict you on daily withdrawal limits, so if you've planned to bring a debit card and use the ATMs just be mindful of that as you would be incurring bank charges each time you use the ATMS. Think the limit on most of them was 4m dong, that will get you quite far it's about €150 but just bare that in mind and possibly bring a nice chunk of US Dollars to exchange or use, however everything is slightly cheaper in Vietnamise Dongs, you'll need dollars to pay for your visa when you arrive and you'll have to have your visa letter sorted before arrival.

cooperguy

Thanks again. Last question (I swear!). What version of the quad tour did you do. There is the "Sunset" 16km tour, "Easy" 21km tour and "Discovery" 45km tour. Im tempted to go for the discovery tour but am wondering would it be too long or just the same stuff over and over again!

rigamincedeal

We did the easy tour, felt it probably was enough as you actually can get fairly tired after a few hours of driving the quad, along with the weather it was quite warm and also dusty so have some old clothes you don't mind getting a bit ruined or just buy some cheap ones on a local market. The longer tour basically brings you out further into the country side, there website should have the maps and will give you and idea. It's a brilliant tour and you'll see plenty i.e temples, farms, crops,orphanges, churches, and they even stop off at a shooting range! You can shoot at an extra cost.

solerina

We did Hanoi (far nicer than HCMC), Halong Bay (stunning), Hue (skippable) Hoi An (loved it), HCMC and Mekong in 3.5 weeks and it really wasn't enough time.
Pick the places you really want to see and focus on these, don't try to fit too much in !!