Travelling to Vietnam in December. Need help with our itin
Replies: 26 - Last Post: Jul 18, 2007 3:12 PM Last Post By: Taekyon2
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Travelling to Vietnam in December. Need help with our itin
My partner and I are travelling from New Zealand to Vietnam in Dec/Jan this year. We are currently planning our itinerary and hope to get some help from the seasoned travellers out there who have been there done that!Our trip will be 3 weeks long.
We will probably fly into Bangkok and get a flight when we get there into Vietnam.
So many questions...
1. Should we try and see the whole of Vietnam in one trip or is it better to focus on just the North or South?
2. Is it better to travel overland or fly and if flying is better is it easy enough when we get there to get internal flights?
3. Are rental cars a viable option in Vietnam?
4. What are the 'must do's' while we are there?
5. Anything or anywhere that is simply 'over rated' or to be avoided?
6. Just how inexpensive is Vietnam?
7. Any suggested itineraries?
8. We'd like to see a bit of Cambodia if we can but if it's going to be too much of a time stretch we'll leave it.
Any other advice to help with our planning would be gratefully recieved!
Vin and Nikko
1
I can see how you have a lot of questions, but really, some of the are so vague it's hardly possible to answer them at all, like 4 and 6 for example. 4 is about personal preferences. Read the guidebook, check the internet, make up your mind, come back with precise questions. Then people will be able and willing to help you out. 6 will be answered by any guidebook. Just look at some price examples for accommodation and food and you will know...! Or what did you want to hear? It's cheap, very cheap, super cheap?!?ad1) Again, very vague. This totally depends on your preferences, interests, and style of travelling. Personally I'd say you can easily do North and South in 3 weeks. But that's just me. If you receive other answers to your question I am sure there will some people telling you how three weeks is just about right or even too little for either one of those regions. See what I mean by saying "vague" yet???
ad2) Getting flights is easy while you are there. Stay flexible. Is it "better" to travel overland or fly...?! Well, I guess it depends (again) what you prefer, want to see, expect...
ad3) Of course they are. If you are up to the challenge is a different question though. Getting one with a driver is always an option.
ad4) See above. This is impossible to answer. Too subjective
ad5) I can tell you what I thought was overrated. Other might have loved it. You might love it. So I don't know how useful this is for you. Probably not at all. I didn't like the "Perfume Pagoda" near Hanoi. It takes forever to get there, it's an uncomfortable ride, boat trip, and in the end what you get to see is pretty disappointing.
ad6) Sigh...
ad7) Well...looking at the map of Vietnam it's not too difficult to figure that one out. Either North to South, or South to North. For a list of worthwhile stops and recommendations...look at your guidebook.
ad8) Is that a fact or a question? If it's a question I'd say yes it's doable. You could travel from Saigon through the Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh and even further on to Siem Reap. Allow at least a week.
Hope this helped a bit...
Enjoy.
4
You may not be able to get flights immediately you arrive in Bangkok and you won't save money doing that. Better to get a flight from NZ to Vietnam via Bangkok. Or direct if there is such a thing. Try Vietnam airlines and if possible a Vietnamese travel agency- my experience is that they have access to the best deals. As there is a big Vietnamese community in NZ (Auckland I think) this is likely.In three weeks I think you can do highlights of the whole country. Read a guidebook (borrow a few from your local library to get ideas) and see what you like the look of. I would recommend not staying anywhere for fewer than 2 nights, 3 would be better. You just spend too long getting your bearings. My suggestion would be Saigon, 2 or 3 nights, bus to Dalat, stay 2 nights, 4 night trip with Easy Riders (you can go by car or get a bike each) through the central highlands, Buon Ma Thuot, Kontum to Hoi An where you stay 2 or 3 nights. Get a cab to Danang (see the Cham museum while there) and get the train to Hue (great train ride costs about $2 and you will be able to get the ticket when you arrive see vr.com.vn for timetable but there's a train about 1pm). Hue 3 or 4 nights and make sure you spend some time walking around- it's a beautiful city, especially on the citadel side. Go by train overnight to Ninh Binh, where you stay 2 nights then train to Hanoi for the rest of the time (though you could spend a lot of time here- I just spent a month and it just made me want more). You could ditch the Dalat Central highland trip and go to the Mekong instead- terrific area.
Perhaps I have included too much- all those places could absorb more time and going too fast doesn't give a chance to really get to love a place.
I have not included beaches because I'd thin they are better in NZ and anyway it's not the best time for swimming. I really don't like Nha Trang- though I find it interesting away from the few streets around the beach, but I met some young people who thought it was the best place they went. I also met a couple who went on a 5 day tour of Saigon, Mui Ne, Nha Trang who thought Vietnam was a terrible place and the Vietnamese people the worst they'd ever encountered!
As for expenses- it varies such a lot. There are expensive luxury hotels and absolute dives. My average for a 3 month trip was just under $12 a night- the bottom was $5, the top was $25. You can eat street food for less than $1 or pay big bucks for fancy restaurants. I think increasingly not very good tourist reastaurants are charging quite a lot for pretty ordinary meals, but there's heaps of info on here about good restaurants.
Re transport. I love to travel by train, but planes are inexpensive and can save a lot of time (not always since you have to be there an hour before and many go in the middle of the day then there's the transport time out to the airport). I quite like local buses but all the buses seem to go fast and furious and the roads are increasingly dangerous. We did an Easy Riders tour with a good car with seat belts and a careful driver and we mostly travelled on quiet back roads. When I did the same trip on local buses (much cheaper and met some great people, but more difficult and couldn't have seen all the things we did with Easy Riders) we went on busy highways.
Don't hestitate to pm me if you want more detailed info on any part of your trip. My next trip will be to NZ!
5
All my advice is broad because I don't know your budget. I travel on the "cheap". 5 times to Vietnam.1. 50/50 - You can focus on the North or the South and when you get done you'll know you have to go back and see the rest. OR You can quickly see all of it and then you'll know you have to go back again anyway.
2. I've flown and taken the train from Hanoi to Danang. You can get to both Hue and Danang by air from Hanoi. Danang is the airport closest to Hoian. There are a few touristy things in Danang, but most people pass thru Danang airport to get to Hoian. Fly if you're tight for time. Check Vietnam Airline schedules here Take the train from Danang to Nha Trang. Trains are great for meeting Vietnamese that may not come into contact with foreigners/tourists on a daily basis.
3. No. Recommend hiring a car and driver if you want private transportation. Check with your hotel staff in the city where you're staying.
4. North to south: SaPa, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hue (?), Hoian (Village & My Son Cham Ruins), Nha Trang, Dalat, Saigon, Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc Island.
5. Political museums. Traditional art museums are interesting.
6. Very, family run tourist hotels as little as US$5 - $10. Meals US$1 - $5. per person.
7. Fly from Bangkok to Hanoi. Or NZ direct to Hanoi. In my opinion Hanoi is less frantic than Saigon for first timers. See #4.
8. If you decide to tour the north and central coast of Vietnam (south to Hoian), put Cambodia and southern Vietnam on the next trip.
Good Luck,
Contact me with any questions.
Your Vietnam Tour Guide
Dwight Z.
6
#5 suggested too many places for 3 weeks. One week for Hanoi, Ha Long bay, Sapa, one week for Hue and Hoi An, one week for Mui Ne, Sai Gon and Mekong Delta is my suggestion. However, it all depends on your interests.7
Check the link at the bottom where there are some fabulous images of VietnamThey may point you in the right direction as to what you may want to see.
Then perhaps you can come back with some further questions.
You were a bit tough on # 1 as most of your questions have many answers
If you can decide which part of the journey you may want to fly in Vietnam then fly Vietnam airlines and book the lot
The internal airfares are about half the going rate in Vietnam if you prebook. You can change the internal dates once you are there FOC
3 weeks sounds a lot of time its less when you say 21 days, contradiction i know but works for me
Say a day from nz via oz and a day back you are now down to 19.
Sa Pa 3 days
Ha Noi 3 days
Halong 2 days
Ninh Binh 3 days
Mai Chau 2 days
Hue 2 days
Hoi An 2 days
17 days and travelling between these places has not been taken into account
2 days left.
Leave the rest of the country for next time.
Butterflying does not do the country justice
Ask yourself , could you really do justice to NZ in 3 weeks
Good Luck
images of vietnam
8
NikkoVin:To be totally honest I only took the time replying because I was bored out of my mind at work. But anyway, excuse the perceived sarcasm. I am very willing to give helpful advice anytime and to anyone who asks questions about regions I am reasonably familiar with, as long as people have done at least a minimum of homework before asking them. “Just how inexpensive is Vietnam” is not a question that can be precisely answered.
Some of the other replies on this thread are actually very thorough and good advice, yet mostly relate to the travellers personal preferences that may be completely opposite to your own. As you haven’t mentioned in your post what your particular interests are, your budget, your preferences when travelling, even your age, it’s next to impossible to really address your questions. It’s like as if I wanted to travel to New Zealand and asked you what is cool about the place and what isn’t, without giving you any idea whatsoever who I am and what my interests are. That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense, would it? To give you an extreme example...Maybe you'd recommend bungee jumping in Queenstown, yet I'm 75 years old and handicapped.
And if you read closely, most other replies also point out that “most of your questions have many answers” and that “it depends on your interests…”
Also, if you look at my answers, you will find valuable advice there to an extent I felt I could provide to you without being too biased in regard to my own preferences.
If you can’t see that I’m sorry. If you still feel like I have done you wrong you may want to look at the forum rules and the suggestions for opening new threads again. That is, if you have looked at them at all yet. They state very clearly that it's not a wise thing to ask vague questions, especially without giving any information about oneself and one's interests...
Happy travels! (Sincerely!)
9
I'll work somewhat backwards to your questions.Quote
8. We'd like to see a bit of Cambodia if we can but if it's going to be too much of a time stretch we'll leave it.
Might be possible BUT you will be moving rather quickly and my suggested itinerary below is designed more trying to fit Cambodia into your trip.
Like Violet, I don't know the details of any direct New Zealand to Vietnam presumably Saigon or Hanoi so IF you have to go via Bangkok, you could book weeks if not months in advance for a budget airlines Thai Air Asia flight to Hanoi.
for northern Vietnam , I'd set aside 8-9 days with the breakdown of:
3days for Hanoi
4N/3D for northern Vietnam/Sapa/Ba Ha--begins with an overnight train journey to Lao Cai wherein you'll transfer up to Sapa or northeast up to Bac Ha. On the 4th night you'll take the train back from Lao Cai to Hanoi, arrive in the early morning, where you'll transfer for your Halong 'organized trip' via travellers' cafes and if you use the same company, they're likely to provide a free transfer to their waiting bus. I'd recommend the 2days/1 night trip for Halong so that you can sleep on a boat in the bay.
After returning to Hanoi for a day then you could take the overnight sleeper train or fly to Hue which would be good for a couple days.
From Hue, transfer by minivan to Hoi An, good to visit for a couple days; or by train to Danang and then to Hoi An.
Return to Danang for a flight to Saigon for a couple days visit.
From Saigon, you should be able to book a flight in ADVANCE to Siem Reap/Angkor, which would be good for 3 days before you fly Bangkok Airways back to Bangkok.
If you can add just another 3-4 days into your trip, you'd be able to see/do a lot more without rushing as much since this will be a whirlwind pace.
11
People on this forum can be experts at everything, forgetting they once travelled for the first time.We just came back from Vietnam. I would say that Sa Pa (especially the rural markets), Halong Bay and Hoi An are the major draws. Coming from NZ, the scenery in Halong is likely to underwhelm you slightly and I would only do a 1 night boat trip if I were you. It is quite relaxing if you go on with a nice company and don't try to pay as little as possible. Handspan are a great company.
We were there for three weeks and flew between places, so I felt we could have included Angkor and regretted we didn't. We ended up spending too long in HCM at the end, so its not a bad idea and I knew lots of people who included it in their Vietnam trips.
Sa Pa should certainly not be missed.
I found the Mekong overrated, but thats just me.
12
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People on this forum can be experts at everything, forgetting they once travelled for the first time.
Give me a break. There's a huge difference between asking serious questions and wanting things handed on a silver platter. Everyone here has been very polite about either trying to give advice or pointing the OP to the FAQ and other info presented on this website. I'll bet you the OP doesnn't return to thank all those who made detailed replies, or else he'll come back demanding more details.
13
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I found the Mekong overrated, but thats just me.
Just goes to show how divergent likes and dislikes are, I think Ha Long Bay is very overrated.
14
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Just goes to show how divergent likes and dislikes are, I think Ha Long Bay is very overrated.
And that's the point I've been trying to make. There's nothing like a general "must do" that satisfies everyone's taste. Ha Long might be amazing for someone who has never seen anything like that. If you have been to Southern Thailand and particularly the El Nido area in the Philippines before, Ha Long will probably not excite you much. Personally, I found Ha Long quite disappointing myself for a multitude of reasons, despite only having been to Southern Thailand before at that time.
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Sa Pa should certainly not be missed.
Another example...I thought it wasn't really worth my time travelling up there. Same goes for Nha Thrang and even Hoi An to a certain extent.
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I found the Mekong overrated, but thats just me.
The Mekong Delta to me was probably the most enjoyable bit of my time in Vietnam.
