For first time travellers to Vietnam, planning your trip to see the best of the country is not an easy task. If you only have 5-7 days, visiting one of three regions (North, Central and South) or main cities is the most suitable option. To visit the whole country, you need at least 10 days. The following is a typical itinerary for a 2 week trip in Vietnam to help you experience Vietnam at its finest.
First 2 days: Ha Noi and surroundings
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam for more than a thousand of years therefore it apparently deserves your attention. You can explore the city centre on a full one day then go to the outskirts on the second day.
The first day: visit Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh complex, One Pillar Pagoda. The complex opens at 9 am so spending 1 hour and a half seems most reasonable. Move to Sword Lake and visit Ngoc Son Temple. Right next to the lake is Old Quarter where the famous 36 streets of handicraft villages locate. Roam around here to see the daily life of the Old Quarter in modern days with both new and old traits. Do not miss Dong Xuan market where you can find a lot of Vietnamese delicacies for your lunch. The market is also a good place to buy things, especially the night market opened on every weekend.
In the afternoon, personally I think the Temple of Literature is great but the Museum of Ethnology is much more interesting because you will have a chance to know about 54 ethnic groups across the country. The museum introduces very well the cultures of each group and even has a special exhibition or activity on the weekend. The museum is not far from West Lake – biggest lake of Hanoi – where you can see the beautiful sunset with the city’s buildings on the background.
At night, go back to the Old Quarter for dinner and draught beer at Ta Hien street. Later, you can enjoy a water puppet show at Thang Long Water Puppetry Theater which is just opposite to the lake and a few steps away from the quarter.
The second day: if you are not tired after the exhausting first day in Hanoi, you should visit Duong Lam ancient village full day. Otherwise, visiting Bat Trang ancient pottery village for a half-day is not a bad choice. Duong Lam is about 50km away much further than Bat Trang which is only 10km away from the city centre. To Duong Lam, it’s better to book a tour with a travel agent while with Bat Trang, you can totally go by yourself.
Duong Lam represents the true rural village of north Vietnam with a village gate, old houses and building, village’s pond, village’s temple and pagoda. There are hundreds of old traditional houses in Duong Luong some of which are well maintained. Most of the houses here are made by laterite stone – a common stone that used in construction for a long time.
Bat Trang is very proud of its craft which makes the finest white pottery and ceramics across the country. Come to the village and the pottery market, you can find a lot of small little things made of pottery and ceramics which are so cheap and have chance to see how a pottery product is made and eventually make one yourself.
Day 3 to Day 6: Sapa/Ha Long/Ninh Binh
Hanoi is in the center delta of the north. Most tourists to Vietnam go either to the east for Ha Long bay or the northwest for Sapa, depending on the season they are travelling. In recent years, Ninh Binh is becoming a strong candidate in the south.
In summer, we suggest you take on the route to Ha Long Bay for a world heritage seascape which needs no more word of compliment. A cruise tour with a night on the bay would be a fantastic experience. However, 3 days for only Ha Long seem a bit wasteful. You can combine with other destination like Cat Ba or Lan Ha Bay. Remember to check for the weather before you book for an overnight tour because if the weather goes bad, the local government will force all ships to return.
In autumn, winter or spring, Sapa and Ninh Binh are perfect choices. Ninh Binh can be described as a “Ha Long Bay on land” featuring rice fields. Tam Coc, Bich Dong, Van Long and Trang An are truly wonders of nature with their immense scale of cave and river systems. As holy and majestic as nature’s beauties are the cultural and spiritual works which we can find in each and every major cave and mountains. Moreover, Ninh Binh offers more than caves and rivers: Bai Dinh pagoda is the largest Buddhism pagoda in Vietnam while Phat Diem stone cathedral is so unique with its unrivalled architectural brilliance. The first day, you should take time to visit Tam Coc and Bich Dong by boat. Spend the following day to visit Bai Dinh pagoda and Trang An complex. And in the last day, visit Phat Diem stone cathedral and Cuc Phuong national park. If you are not really fond of church and pagoda, you can cut off these sites and spend the time at Cuc Phuong instead. It is up to you if you go by yourself.
Sa Pa is no stranger to many visitors to Vietnam. The destination indeed has so much to offer from natural beauties to cultural charms. If you choose to train to travel to Sapa, three days seem not enough since the night train would take up to 8 hours. There is no such problem if you catch a coach from Hanoi to Sapa through the new highway. By this way, the travelling time will reduce to 4-5 hours so three days are still comfortable for you to have a nice trip at Sapa. The fact that all destinations in Sapa are quite close to each other makes it very easy to plan your trip here. Even Fansipan, the roof of Indochina, now can be visited within 45 minutes or less.
The first day, if you start in the morning from Hanoi then you will have a half-day at Sapa. Right in the town is Mount Ham Rong which is designed more like a park. Have a small walk up to take in the view of the plateau and town. Near Sapa Square is the market where you can find all kinds of foods here. If you arrive on Saturday, do not miss the love market at night. It’s a very distinctive cultural trait of H’Mong people. In the second day, you should rent a motorbike to go around and check-in at Silver Waterfall, Love fall, trek at Cat Cat village, Sin Chai village with magnificent sights of terraced rice fields. In the last day’s morning, go visit Fansipan by cable car. Return to Hanoi in the afternoon.
Day 6 today 10: Da Nang and Hoi An
Flights from Hanoi to Da Nang will take about one hour, from Da Nang to Hoi An, it’s about 40 minutes by bus. You should spend 2 days in Da Nang and 2 days in Hoi An or alternatively 3 days in Da Nang and one day in Hoi An.
Ba Na hills is expensive but worth your visit. My Khe beach is one of the nicest beaches in Vietnam while Ngu Hanh Son offers wonderful views of mountains and sea. At night, Da Nang is exciting with a lot of activities like night markets, dragon bridge, food streets, bars and clubs….
From Da Nang, it’s best if you can rent a motorbike to ride your way to Hoi An which is located 18km away through highway 1A. You will have a chance to see the magnificent beauties seaside throughout the way. You should only use one day to explore the ancient towns with features like assembly halls (5 in total but should visit one or two only), Bridge pagoda, markets for food and tailor shops for finest silk ao dai. Night in Hoi An is rather dreamy with lighted lanterns, especially on 14th of the lunar month. The second day in Hoi An is for the outskirt of the town where some peaceful villages locate. Tra Que vegetable village would be a nice place to visit before coming back to Da Nang.
Day 11 to Day 14: Phu Quoc – HCMC/Mekong Tour
If you prefer blue water and nice sunlight to work on your tan, then Phu Quoc is a perfect choice. Direct flights from Da Nang to Phu Quoc are available and won’t take much time. For the first day on Phu Quoc, explore the national park, Ganh Dau Cape, and Da Ban stream. There is a jeep tour available here and they can take you everywhere you want. And scuba diving service on Phu Quoc island is the most perfect in Vietnam. Go Back at Duong Dong town to spend the night here. On the second day, check out Sao beach, Long Beach, Tranh stream and Phu Quoc prison. Late flights from Phu Quoc to HCMC are available so you can decide comfortably on when to fly back to HCMC.
Most of the sites in HCMC are either markets or war museums. Ben Thanh and Cho Lon are great places to have good foods. War Remnants Museum would be a strong emotional experience and Cu Chi tunnel (50km away) rather informative.
Alternatively, a trip to discover the Mekong delta is also a good choice since the culture and environment in the south are very different compared to the north and the central. We recommend you to book a tour for this trip because Mekong delta is a large region and it’s quite difficult to travel by yourself in the dense network of rivers and canals. The rainy season is the best time to take this tour because Mekong delta in the dry season has nothing to see. However, the rains sometimes will annoy you so check the weather before booking for this tour.
A typical Mekong tour for 4 days and 3 nights will feature My Tho island, Ben Tre, Chau Doc and Can Tho. You will be visiting islands, farms, Cham villages, and especially floating markets; having a chance to see the life of the southern people that are attached and affected deeply with water and the Mekong river. The south also has many tasty street foods with distinct flavor from the north and the central.
In recent years, there are some cruise operators that have been opened cruising tours up the mighty Mekong to Cambodia’s territory. These cruises offer top quality services and a neat itinerary to see the essences of Mekong delta. There are many tours from 1-day tour up to 8-10 day tour. The daily tours are operated by Indochina Junk, The Lady Hau Cruise, Le Jarai Cruise, and Bonsai River Cruise. While longer tours, 4-5 days to 8-11 days are often offered from luxury cruisers Pandaw, L’Amant, Amalotus, Jahan…
A period of 2 weeks is not too short to enjoy the top destinations of Vietnam but by no means, it’s enough to take on the off-the-beaten-track route and there are many sites that are unexposed to foreigners.
With some destinations such as Hanoi, Sapa, HCMC, Da Nang, Hoi An and Phu Quoc you can explore by yourself quite easily. Others like Halong bay and Mekong delta would be visited better with a tour.
Fiona