We have got tickets to fly to Vietnam over Christmas, thus avoiding the gift-giving season. That was the easy part. Now I have to decide what to do. I have put together the itinerary below which seems to hit some of the must see stuff, with a bit of less obvious, and some R&R at the end.

What I’d really appreciate is for someone who’s actually been to these places to give me an idea of how practical the trip is from a logistical point of view, what’s worth seeing, what’s a disappointment, and what I should add.

Thanks or your tips!!

16th Dec: Fly into Hanoi, muck around / sleep there
17th Dec: Morning in Hanoi / sleeper train to Sapa
18th Dec: Sapa
19th Dec: Sapa, sleeper train to Hanoi depart 8pm
20th Dec: arrive Hanoi 5am, 7am coach to Halong City, get on junk / sleep on junk
http://www.indochina-junk.com/halong-bay-and-bai-tu-long-bay-cruise-2-days-1-night/
21st Dec Bai Tu Long bay, back in Halong City, coach to Hanoi arrive 5.30pm / sleeper to Da Nang (taxi to Hoi An)
22nd Dec: Hoi An
23rd Dec: Taxi to Da Nang airport, flight to Ho Chi Minh City, train to Can Tho (Mekong Delta) / sleep in Mekong
24th Dec: explore Mekong Delta / sleep in Mekong Delta
25th Dec: Flight from Mekong delta (Can Tho) to Con Dao
26th Dec: Con Dao
27th Dec: Con Dao
28th Dec: Fly Con Dao to Ho Chi Minh City / sleep in Ho Chi Minh
29th Dec: relax in Ho Chi Minh and head to the airport in the evening for flight home

Some of your timings seem very tight. The Vietnamese roads, trains etc are a bit chaotic at best and a 4 hour journey can easily turn into 8!

I’ve not been to all the places mentioned but I’d recommend going to Cat Ba Island (instead of Ha Long)and spending a few days on a junk with these guys:

http://www.asiaoutdoors.com.vn

The scenery is very similar to Ha Long but much quieter.We climbed and kayaked during the day and spent the night of the junk with them and it was bloody brilliant. Bonus if your into climbing at all as you can do some DWS. The crew on the ship were locals and came swimming with us in the phosphorescent plancton after a few too many rice wines haha.

Doing the tunnels from HCMC was pretty cool, I really enjoyed that too.

As above seems very rushed, I spent 4 days walking around Hanoi and only scratched the surface.

The Delta will be brutally hot and humid.

I didn’t like the tunnels, if you can the War museum in Saigon is worth a visit.

I really enjoyed the madness of Saigon but it’s a bit of a culture shock coming into it straight from the Uk due to the 40C heat, 100% humidity and 8 million people.

We started there for 4 days so everywhere else felt pretty “quiet” in comparison. The jet lag was pretty wild and we slept for 24 hours on arrival.

I’d recommend cutting either Sapa or Ha Long just to fit more time in either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh.

I usual have at least 3 days in Hanoi. If your staying in the old town you’ll spend a great deal of the first day lost. Its a maze of old streets that all look very similar.

Sapa is great if you want to do some trekking but it’ll probably be quiet cold in December. I’ve been in February before and it was cold and miserable. The hotel had no central heating and i slept in a barn while trekking. A fairly grim trip.

As mentioned above, the transport can be erratic especially around the big cities so having fairly tight schedules can be a nightmare. We once queued to get in to Ho Chi Minh city for 5 hours in a tailback.

I’ll be going next year and plan on 4 days Hanoi, 4 days Hoi An/Danang, 4 days Ho Chi Mihn and leaving a couple of days loose to extend anywhere.

I’d also add that Danang is pretty grim and I wouldn’t bother. It’s basically an artificial city which the government has forced as the third city of the country and thus it has very little history / interesting sites.

Not been south of Hue, so cant comment on the south, and it is 16 years ago but…..Hanoi is worth more than a fleeting glimpse, drinking bia hoi, great food, uncle ho’s tomb etc, its great. And +1 for Cat Ba.

As above would suggest more time in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. I really enjoyed Hoi An. Hue is also worth a visit (amazing Citadel) as are the Cu Chi tunnels near HCMC. Passed through Danang – didn’t seem particularly interesting.

If you get the opportunity try and get out into the countryside where life is slower and more traditional.

I would skip Sapa at that time of the year. As previously mentioned the weather will very likely be rubbish and it’s not the most pleasant of spots in the cold and damp. Add the time onto Hanoi and / or Hoi An. Hanoi might very well be wet and cold as well but it’s an awesome city.
In HCMC there’s a few good microbreweries, Pasteur Street Brewing is worth a visit as is Quan Ut Ut which does surprisingly good American BBQ if you fancy a change from all the awesome Viet food.

Sapa at the moment is a big building site (was there a week or so ago) – the company which operates the new cable car that runs to the top of Mount Fansipan is building a huge new hotel/complex in the centre of town – this is going to completely dominate the place. The market which used be be just off the main street has been moved to the edge of town near to the bus station – might be more convenient for the traders and tourist coaches, but has lost its character and has left a big void in the heart of the town. Still worth a visit, but changing rapidly.

Hanoi – very easy to while away several days there drinking Bia Hoi and soaking up the atmosphere. Agree with comments about choosing Cat Ba rather than Halong Bay. Hoi An old town is nice, but the nearby resorts are characterless. Wasn’t particularly enamored with HCM – much prefer Hanoi.

If you want to avoid the hassle of organising everything yourself then look up a Hanoi-based tour company called More Fun Travel – very professional and 101% reliable.

Danang is well worth missing.
Give yourself plenty of time between any internal flights.
If your in the area go see Mr Vu http://www.annamtour.com

Agree with the above, spend time in Hanoi and Hue, you could potentially miss Saigon.. it’s a 4hr flight from Hanoi to Saigon, It’s not that small a country

As above, spend more time in Hanoi rather than passing through it. It was easily the best part of our tour because you can easily get off the tourist trail. Hue, Halong Bay, Mekong Delta and the Cu Chi tunnels are beautiful / historically interesting. They are all well worth a visit but are choreographed for tourists in a way that Hanoi isn’t. Ho Chi Minh is busy, fast paced and exciting but far more westernised and therefore less special / different compared to Hanoi.

Bookmarking for interest as I’m hoping to go for the first time early next year. Be interesting to hear your thoughts once you get back DrJ.

Thanks, everyone, for the info. I will tweak my itinerary and think some more!

I love the country, been going there for 20 years. I am a bit grumpy about how its changed but that’s inevitable.

My 2 cents echos some of what’s been said and is based on my personal preferences.

Skip HCMC and Mekong totally. I love the mountains of Sapa however as above it’s not the season. It can get frosty and will almost certainly be heavily clouded. Hanoi is great and as above 3-4 days can easily pass with museums (inc war museum – smaller than hcmc but imo better for it, Hanoi Hilton, womens museum …). Ha Long bay is fabulous, 2 nights there I suggest but again December may not be good weather and there is a safety element in bad weather with the boats. Danang never been, Hoi An is however fabulous – a mix of history and beach. You can take a train from Hanoi to Hoi An which if you have time is more interesting than flying.

If you don’t fill the time with Northern Vietnam you could spend more time in HK (if you are flying in via there, you can fly direct from Paris fyi). You could consider a whistle stop 2 day trip to Angkor Wat (a million times better use of time than hcmc / mekong imo)

I personally loved HCMC. A buzzing place where you can witness the changes that are gripping the country first hand.

I also would recommend booking a boat trip for halong in Hanoi and don’t waste time going to halong city, it isn’t necessary.

Ninh binh has some spectacular countryside near it. You can rent scooters and explore it in a day, a good animal sanctuary / nature reserve near there.

The highlight for me was the cave region. Biggest caves in the world and in a spectacular part of the countryside Phong Nha Ke- Bang National Park.

There are some traditional places to stay and you can get out on the ‘war road’ that they maintain well for the next time it kicks off with China.

The place is fantastic, but changing at an alarming rate.