South to North? or North to South?

Honestly, it does not matter which direction you travel Vietnam because there is great transportation in both directions. No I would recommend choosing what direction to go based on flight costs to either Hanoi or Ho Chin Minh city- the 2 major airports in Vietnam. We came from a bus from Cambodia so it made sense for us to enter via Ho Chi Minh and fly out of Hanoi!

Getting Around Vietnam

We chose to mainly take night buses and trains to travel from South to North. It was more economical than flying, and it allowed us to be flexible. It also saves you money, since it counts as a night of accommodation. In cities, we either rented a scooter for about 120,000 dong or we used their ride sharing app called Grab. Grab works the same as Uber and is really reliable in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 2 Nights

One thing to note is absolutely nobody calls it Ho Chi Minh. All the locals refer to the city as Saigon so that is what we will use.

Where to Stay

There are so many choices in Saigon. We just stayed at a basic hotel, but my main advice is to stay in a good area! The tourist area is in District 1 and we really liked this area. All the main attractions are close by and there a ton of good eating options.

Saigon is a crazy city with the most scooters and motorbikes I have ever seen! It can be a bit of a culture shock. I was happy to have gone to the city, but I don’t think that you need more than 1 night if you are short on time.

Things to do

Saigon is one of the best places in the country to learn about Vietnam’s history and I highly recommend going to the War Remnant’s Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels. You can visit these tunnels en route to Cambodia as part of a tour if you are short on time.

I was shocked to learn about the long lasting effects of Agent Orange and I just found they did a really good job with the museum. It is only a 40,000 dong to go so put it on your list. The musuem does not really have AC so dress accordingly. We were expecting a nice cool break in the middle of our hot Saigon day. This was not the case.

Da Lat 2 nights

Getting There

From Saigon you can take a night bus to Dalat. Note: Make sure to get a VIP bus and spend the extra dollars because we made the mistake of getting the budget bus and it was really uncomfortable. Dalat lies in the central highlands of Vietnam and is a little less popular than others on this list. Dalat has a lot of cooky and wierd sites, and I think it is a worth a visit! We mainly used 12go Asia and bookaway for our bus bookingsbut you can also use your agents and in most cases your hotel. We found it usefull to use the online sites because you could read reviews about the bus companies. Some of them have crazy bad reviews depending on the routes you choose.

Where to Stay

We stayed in a private room at the Backpackers Hostel in Dalat and it was nice because it was affordable and they helped a lot with our Vietnam plans. They had a nice rooftop with family style dinners, free breakfast, and several tours and activities that you could join.

Things To Do

When you get there make sure to walk around and explore the city. The Crazy House, as it is something out of Alice in Wonderland. You can also check out Fairy Tale Land, which is like a little hobbit village that is also a winery. This is a short Grab ride away.

Down in the center of the city take a stroll along the picturesque Xuan Huong Lake. As you walk around you might forget that you’re actually in Vietnam. Be sure to stop a moment at Lam Vien Square and check out all the modern structures in this flower-themed space. Make sure to eat at the Da Lat night market where there is a variety of amazing street food. Then head to Maze Bar, which is a really cool bar with maze like rooms, a rooftop patio, and great drinks.

Da lat is a great place to rent a scooter and explore, book a tour, or Grab around! We chose to rent a scooter, so that we had the freedom to go wherever we wanted to go. First, we went to the Big Lady Buddha which overlooks Elephant Falls. You can actually walk up the Buddha, and from up top it has the most beautiful and unobstructed view of the falls, and it is free!

Da Lat has several coffee plantations, and since we are coffee lovers we made this is a must on our list. We went to Em Ta Nung coffee farm which had the best coffee ever, and a really picturesque garden and shop. There are also some really cool temples along the way.

Da Lat has some pretty amazing waterfalls too. Just a short ride out of the city you will find Datanla Waterfalls and Prenn Waterfall. A small roller coaster runs from the top to the bottom and back, making it easy to get back up from the lowest waterfalls. We were not able to go but Pongour waterfall looked great too, however, it is 50km out of the city.

Hoi An 3 Nights

Getting There

Once again, from Dalat we took an overnight bus! It was quite a long 13 hour journey, but it was comfortable enough and had some breaks along the way. You can also choose to fly to Danang airport which is 25km out of the city. We have a drone and Danang airport is famous for drone confiscation scams so we elected to bus. However if this isnt a problem for you this is a great area where it is worthwhile to take a short flight.

Where to Stay

We really enjoyed staying outside of the old town in the rice paddies. This put us right in the middle of everything and made it easy to see it all. Maison Fleur Luxury Hoin An really was a great choice and a lovely boutique hotel. Check them out! It was pretty much 1.5-2km away from everything and there were several cute coffee shops nearby.

Things to do

There are so many things to do in Hoi An that we extended our stay! We stayed four nights but for this 2 week itinerary I recommend 3 nights; however you could spend a week here if you have time!

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If you are not sure how to spend your time check out our Top 5 Recommendations.

1. The old quarter of Hoi An is a must on any itinerary. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to historic buildings, narrow streets, and colorful lanterns. You can take a stroll through the streets, immerse yourself in the city’s rich culture and admire the riverfront.

This is where you find the picturesque Vietnam that you see in pictures. It is colourful, vibrant and very busy. Night time in the old quarter is especially beautiful with all of the lanterns lit up and little boats doing tours on the river. There is a a very big market with everything from food, to clothes, to souvenirs, so you can walk around for hours. There are also alot of really good restaurants.

During the day make sure to check out the art galleries in the old town and all of the cute little shops. This is the best place in Vietnam to buy clothes or have clothes made, as it is the clothes manufacturing hub of Vietnam.

2 . Try the basket (Coconut) boats. These traditional round boats, made from bamboo, are used by local fishermen to catch fish and crabs. You can take a ride on one of these boats and experience the craziness of Vietnam. This turned out to be way more of a party than we expected. Bring some boat drinks.

3. Bike through the rice fields. Hoi An is surrounded by lush rice paddies and picturesque countryside. Rent a bike and explore the scenery. There are plenty of coffee shops that are nice to stop at and cool down.

4. Try the local food. Hoi An is famous for its fresh and delicious cuisine, and there’s no better way to experience it than by trying the local street food. We try some city favorite like Cao lao, Mi Quang and Bahn MI.

5. As mentioned earlier, get something tailored. Hoi An is well-known for its skilled tailors and affordable prices. You can choose from a wide range of fabrics and designs and have your outfit made to measure. The tailors seem to need about 2-4 days on average to get things done. We recommend giving yourself and extra day so they have time to make revisions if you need them.

Extra – If you have more time you can also go to the beach if it is a nice day, go to a lantern making course, take a cooking class, or just hang out at all of the lovely cafes.

Danang 2 Nights

Getting There

Danang is only about 17km from Hoi An, so we just took a Grab there. There are public buses but they take triple the time, so it depends on your budget. The Grab is about 150,000 and the bus is about 40,000 each.

Where to Stay

We decided to stay at a more upscale hotel, as we really wanted some rest and relaxation. We stayed at the Wyndham Golden Bay Danang, and it was amazing. They had the most epic infinity pool I have ever seen! The staff was amazing, they had free bikes, free shuttles, and the views of the bay were priceless.

Things to do

Danang is a pretty metropolitan city compared to Hoi An, so it is quite a different world. I would recommend going to Marble Mountain to do a bit of hiking and to visit the temples and caves in the mountain. This area is quite spiritual so make sure to cover up. The entrance fee is 50,000 dong.

The beach in downtown Danang is really nice too, however, we found it to be quite busy and not our style.

I would highly recommend exploring Son Tra Peninsula. We made a day of it and rented a scooter. There are some great hiking spots, viewpoints, beaches, and amazing temples. There was some road damage from landslides and some areas were closed so do check with some people before you head out there.

When scootering up the penisula higher up there are some checkpoints where they wont let you scooter higher unless you have a manual. So if you can ride a manual motorbike or scooter this is the place to get one. They dont seem to care about CC of engine just the manual or auto.

We got stopped at one of these points but still managed to walk up and see some of the rare Red Shanked Douc monkeys. Some people consider these guys the most beautfiul primates in the world. They are really unique looking and super cool to see in person. They are endangered and live in a narrow area of SEA. The biggest concentration of them in the world are up the hill in Son Tra. 

Make sure to stop at Lady Buddha and Linh Ung Pagoda too!

If you have time you can also visit the Hot Springs Park or Ban Na Hills. Ban Ha Hills is known for the golden bridge and the recreated european city. Ba Na Hills is targeted towards locals who havent been to europe before. As we had just left europe we felt this wasn’t going to be for us.

Nin Binh 2 nights

How to Get There

From Danang you can either fly to Hanoi and 3 hours to Nin Binh, or you can take a night bus or train. The bus is the cheapest option, but we really wanted to try the night train. We found it to be really comfortable and a great way to travel. It cost us 770,000 dong. We took the 1st class train as all the second class beds had been sold out. If available I would recommend Second class to save some dong. The 1st and 2nd class seemed virtually the same after walking around the train. On shorter journeys the AC soft seats are a great option.

Where to Stay

When you are looking for a place to stay in Nin Binh, you actually do not want to stay in Nin Binh. The best area to stay is called Tam Coc. This area is close to all of the major temples and hiking spots, and it is a great area to rent a bike and explore. There are a lot of highly rated accommodation options, so you can’t go wrong.

Things to do

Nin Binh was one of my favourite spots in Vietnam. It is an outdoor paradise, and the landscape is really picturesque.

One of the best things to do here is to take a boat trip through Trang An, where you will find many limestone mountains perching up from green rice paddies. There are a couple of different boat routes in Tam Coc, but the Trang An one goes through a 1-km long cave, which we thought was really cool. The Vietnamese paddle with their feet, and our lady was really funny, so we had a great time.

Make sure to hike up to the Hung Mua Viewpoint. It will require you to hike up 486 steps along a stone stairway that zig-zags its way up to the top of a limestone mountain. It gives sweeping views of Tam Coc, where you will see why they called it the on land Halong Bay. We went up for sunset and it was crazy busy, so if you can get up for sunrise it would be very peaceful.

Make sure to go to Bich Dong Pagoda, which is an ancient tiered pagoda nestled in between the limestone mountains in Ninh Binh and one of the most scenic places in the area. There is a little bit of a hike to a viewpoint through the temple and this is completely free.

We also rented bikes to get around and sightsee. Biking through the rice paddies was so amazing and we liked exploring Nin Binh at our own pace. There are tons of amazing sights and photo spots along the way. We went to Mua Viewpoint, Trang An and the Bich Dong Pagoda by bike. Ninh Binh is a great area to set a loose objective of a temple and explore / get lost in the scenery.

On our second day we rented a scooter and got a bit out of the city and checked out Bai Dinh Pagoda. It is a massive temple complex in Ninh Binh that spans more than 700 hectares, making it the largest temple complex in Vietnam and one of the largest in Southeast Asia.

It was really impressive and we spent hours there. you can walk the complex or spend more and get chauffeured by a little electric car type thing. We chose to walk and explore, and we found we saw a lot more hidden gems this way. When you enter the park you can choose where the electric car drops you. Deffinetly choose the top of the hill instead of the bottom where it usually drops you. The place is huge and walking downhill is a way nicer way to spend your time.

Halong Bay 2 nights

Getting There

You can go to Halong Bay from either Nin Binh or Hanoi, as it is pretty much the same distance away. We booked a Halong Bay cruise in Nin Binh and it picked us up there and dropped us off in Hanoi, which was greet for us.

Where to Stay

I would highly recommend booking a Halong Bay cruise for 2 nights that goes to Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay. The cruise is your accommodation, so it really depends on your budget as there are a lot of options.

Our Cruise

We chose to do a midrange cruise because we did not want to be on a party boat. We chose our cruise based off the itinerary.

We really wanted to do a lot of kayaking and exploring, so we chose to do a cruise that left from ahlong Bay and went to Lan Ha Bay and Cat Ba Island.

We just made sure to read reviews and look at pictures of our room, and we were super happy with the choice we made. It cost us 210usd each for a 2 night 3 day cruise, and this included transport from Nin Binh to Hanoi, all food and activities, and accommodation. It did not include drinks.

Make sure to read what is included as some itineraries do not include transport or some activities. The price started at 270usd, so make sure to bargain. Most of the companies have many boats with greatly varying standards. When deciding which cruise to book make sure you confirm which boat you will be on. Most of the companies have many boats with greatly varying standards.

Most rooms have little fridges so I would bring drinks and some snacks too. There are some locals on boats that go around with drinks too! It is much cheaper than the cruise, and we were happy to support them. A bottle of wine was about 6usd.

Hanoi 1 night

Getting There

Hanoi is one of the main international terminals in Vietnam, so it is a good starting or ending point for any Vietnam itinerary. It is 3 hours from Halong Bay and Nin Binh by bus.

Where to Stay

Hanoi is quite big, but for any first time trip try to stay near the lake or train street. There are a lot of accommodation options. There are endless amounts of things to see in Hanoi, but if you’ve only got one day in Hanoi, I highly recommend the Old Quarter.

Things to do

The main thing I wanted to do in Hanoi was hang out by the train street! It has become quite famous lately, so I am sure you have heard about it. There are usually a couple of trains per day around 3 and 7 pm, but they change all of the time. Note: get there before the train or the “security guards” will not let you through up to 30 minutes prior. They are not friendly to tourists, so you will have to wait and miss the train if you don’t get there in time. We just found a cafe to sit at with a good view, and it was perfect.

In Hanoi, make sure to eat and drink everything! It is a foodie paradise and there are hundreds of good restaurants and street stalls. Beer and drinks are also really cheap and under $1. We loved going to the little street stalls and just banging out on the little chairs and people watching. This is a great spot to try out Bia Hoi stalls if you havent already. You can find decent drapht beer for 10,000 dong and it is kind of fun to drink with the locals. Hanoi is your picturesque Vientnamese city for ambient street food.