r/VietnamTravelAdvice

As the title suggests, I'd appreciate thoughts on my September itinerary.

I'm a fairly easy-going person who enjoys walking around and just soaking in the atmosphere.

Would like to know if I'm leaving anything out that I'd later regret not seeing/doing ?

Thanks.

Friday 11th (Arrive 6.30am)

Sim Card in Airport (bought via Klook)

L'Hotel du Lac

Jetlag Sleep

Money from VP ATM (no fees)

Walk around Hoan Kiem Lake

Ngoc Son Temple

St Josephs Cathedral

Ho Guom Walking Street - pedestrian after 7pm

Saturday 12th

Vietnam Military History Museum

Hỏa Lò Prison

Train Street & Mural Street (Phong Hung)

Ta Hein/Beer Street

Night Market

Sunday 13th

Tran Quoc Pagoda in Tay Ho (Early)

Imperial Citadel of Thang Long

B-52 wreckage in Huu Tiep Lake

Temple of literature

Dong Xuan market

Monday 14th

Hạ Long Bay & Overnight Stay

Genesis Luxury Regal Cruises 8am Hotel pickup

Tuesday 15th

Hạ Long Bay return 4pm

Food Tour

Wednesday 16th

Water Puppet Theatre

Nothing planned for remainder of day

We are starting to plan a 16 day trip to Vietnam.

What’s the best way to get around. Rent a car or use public transportation/ ride share?

Would we be better off with a tour company or plan our own trip. For reference, I planned 2 weeks in Thailand (2025) and 2 weeks in Costa Rica (2026) and it worked out well. Both places we had a rental car.

Thanks all.

I'm currently on my second day of my Vietnam back-half of my trip. Just left Hanoi and on the bus to Ha Giang to do the Ha Giang route for 4 days. From there I plan to go directly to Ninh Binh, which I'm still trying to decide whether I should fly out of Ninh Binh from Hanoi or take an overnight train to Da Nang/hoi an. I plan to maybe stay there for 2 nights and then from there a possibility of going to Hue another couple nights, ending up in Ho Chi Minh for the remainder of my trip.

I know there are a lot of days left spent in Ho Chi Minh but I'm curious if anyone has other suggestions on maybe doing something else. Nothing is currently set in stone, no hotels, no current flight or train. I am literally booking a couple days before my next idea. Please let me know if there's anything to change or should change.

13 November night Reach Ho Chi Minh City

Saturday, 14 November (Ho Chi Minh City)
Pink Church (Tân Định Church)
Saigon Central Post Office
Notre Dame Cathedral
Saigon Center Mall
Nguyen Hue Walking Street

Sunday, 15 November (Da Nang)
Oasis Cafe (Ho Chi Minh City)
Fly to Da nang
My Khe Beach
Love Bridge
Dragon Bridge

Monday, 16 November (Da Nang / Hanoi)
Ba Na Hills (Da Nang)

Tuesday, 17 November (Da Nang & Hoi An)
Marble Mountains (Da Nang)
Bảy Mẫu Coconut Forest & Basket Boat Ride (Hoi An)
Japanese Covered Bridge (Hoi An)
Hoi An Ancient Town / Lantern Boat Ride (Hoi An)

Wednesday, 18 November (Hanoi)
Fly to Hanoi
Hanoi Train Street
St. Joseph’s Cathedral
Sword Lake (Hoàn Kiếm Lake)
Beer Street (Tạ Hiện)

Thursday, 19 November
Ninh Binh

Friday, 20 November
Ha Long Bay

Saturday, 21 November (Ho Chi Minh City)
Fly to Ho chi minh
Saigon Walking Street
Bùi Viện Walking Street
Saigon Open Bus Tour

How is my itinerary?
If i want to skip Ha Long bay, what can i replace it with?

Couple travelling to vietnam in November
Planning to do Ha long bay day cruise on Nov 20th

Is it worth it? If yes, should go with klook?

Hey guys! My mum and I are heading to Vietnam at the end of August for 12 nights. We’re flying in and out of Hanoi, and currently planning to visit:

Hanoi → Ha Long Bay → Sapa → Hoi An

Would love some opinions on our itinerary! Any recommendations, places you’d definitely visit/avoid, or thoughts on whether this is all doable without being too exhausting would be really appreciated.

I’ve tried to build in enough rest/down time, and I’ve accounted for our actual arrival/departure times, so the days below are based on the time we genuinely have available.

The one place I really wanted to fit in but couldn’t was Ninh Binh. I’m tempted, but I don’t want to make the trip too action-packed, especially as we’re flying down to Hoi An and I want to give that area enough time to make the journey worthwhile.

I also haven’t properly researched everything to do in each place yet, so some of the days are intentionally blank/open — recommendations very welcome!

Day 1 – Hanoi
Shopping
Train Street
Old Quarter
Food/cafés
Generally taking it easy as we’ll have arrived very late the night before after a long flight!

Days 2–3 – Ha Long Bay
2D1N Ha Long/Lan Ha Bay cruise
Staying overnight on the cruise

Day 3 – Ha Long Bay → Hanoi
Cruise ends and transfer back to Hanoi
Explore/chill in Hanoi for the rest of the day

Day 4 – Hanoi → Sapa
Early morning limousine to Sapa, hopefully arriving around lunchtime
Fansipan cable car
Sapa sightseeing

Day 5 – Sapa → Hanoi
Rong May Glass Bridge
O Quy Ho Pass
Then either a VIP sleeper/cabin bus or sleeper train back to Hanoi. Still undecided on this and would LOVE opinions from anyone who’s done either!

Day 6 – Hanoi → Hoi An ✈️
Fly Hanoi → Da Nang and transfer to Hoi An
Assuming around 3–5 hours of the day will be spent travelling
Chill once we arrive
Shopping/exploring
Hoi An Old Town + lanterns at night

Day 7 – Hoi An
My Son Sanctuary
Other Hoi An attractions

Day 8 – Hoi An
Currently open! Recommendations welcome 😊

Day 9 – Hoi An → Hanoi
Probably spend some of the day in Hoi An and fly back to Hanoi later

Day 10 – Hanoi
Open/exploring Hanoi

Day 11 – Hanoi
Final full day in Hanoi

Day 12 – Home ✈️
Leaving the hotel around 4:30am for our flight home

So… what would you change?
Is this a good balance for a first trip, or are we trying to fit too much in? Would you sacrifice any Hoi An/Hanoi time to squeeze in Ninh Binh, or leave it as it is?

Also very interested in recommendations for Sapa, Hoi An and Hanoi, and whether you’d choose the VIP cabin bus or sleeper train from Sapa back to Hanoi.

Thanks! 🇻🇳❤️

So later this month I'm travelling to Vietnam. Will be staying in Da Nang for 2 days 1 night. Give me your best travel advice. Also can you please let me know if the tailoring in Hoi An is as good as it's claimed? I'm looking for a budget option in linen suits, shirts and trousers.

i work as a manager in an it company (joined jan 2026). a few friends at the same level in different fields mentioned that the company usually organises an international trip for managers every year. i got really excited, but this year it didn’t happen for some reason.

i didn’t want to drop the idea, so i decided to plan an international trip myself with friends who work in different it companies. after a lot of discussion we settled on a two-week vietnam group tour covering sapa, halong bay, hoi an and phu quoc.

we’re now looking for the best vietnam group tour packages from india. we’ve checked quite a few providers but are still confused about which ones are reliable and give good value for money.

if anyone has done a similar group trip to vietnam recently (especially covering these places), please share your experience and any operator recommendations. what went well, what to watch out for, and which companies you’d actually book with again?

thanks!

My travel group (4 adults with luggage) will be landing in Hanoi on a Friday night around 9:35, and I'm trying to decide if it makes sense to book a private transfer to take us from Noi Bai to our hotel in Old Town, or if we should just hold off and order a Grab after we clear immigration. Is it reasonable to think there will be Grabs available that can accommodate all of us and our bags?

Originally, I planned to book a transfer through 12Go (our hotel doesn't offer this), but I'm a bit worried about taking too long getting out (or being delayed) and having a driver leave the airport without us. A quick look at the arrivals for Noi Bai shows there will likely be several other arrivals right around the same time that night. By the time we land, we will have been travelling over 24 hours, so I expect we'll be tired and not particularly smart. I'd like to have a clear plan in place we can just follow without thinking.

Any advice is appreciated!

leaving for vietnam in 3 weeks. what are the biggest tips and travel hacks you have?

Hi all. My husband and will be back in Vietnam in March 2027 because we missed Ha Giang when we were there before. We're looking to do a private or very small group easy rider tour of Ha Giang and Cao Bang including Eye of God Mountain, Ban Gioc, and Ba Be National Park, thinking 6 days/5 nights. We could start in Hanoi or Ha Giang City and would like to end in Hanoi. We're in our early 60s and my husband likes his comforts so looking for accommodations on the 'fancier' end vs hostel-style. I'm hoping someone here might have recommendations for an easy rider company that could make this work. Thanks in advance!