Three weeks in vietnam

Hi there

My friend and I are just about to start a three week trip to vietnam, starting in HCMC and ending in Hanoi. The following are on our must-see list but we'd welcome your thoughts... is there anything else we should be fitting in?!

HCMC
Mekong delta: 2 tour tour (any recommendations?)
Cu Chi tunnels
Mui Ne
Dalat
Nha Trang
Hoi An
Hue
Hanoi
Halong Bay
Sapa

We'd also like to visit a national park - any recommendations on that too?

Many thanks in advance

You are going to need to scale down your list, unless you are going to use some internal fights.
Even with some fights, it will be a challenge to visit all the places on your list in 3 weeks, and spent some time in each one.
ONE LOVE !!
Mike

That should be internal "flights" as in Vietnam airlines.
Sorry for the mistake.
Damn I can't believe I mispelled it 2 times :>)
I guess we all have internal fights sometime in our lives :>)
Of course if you have an "internal fight" while in Vietnam, just make your way to the nearest "bia hoi" shop, and you will feel much better :>)
ONE LOVE !!
Mike

Eleven stops in 21 days, that's alot! As Mikey says, try to scale down your list.
Post again with how many days you intend to spend in each location and you will get more feedback letting you know if it will work and what you need to add or reduce.

We flew from Hanoi to Hue and then from Danang to HCMC, saved lots of time.

We recently did a trip to Ninh Binh and stayed at Cuc Phuong national park, it was really beautiful, the Primate Rescue Centre and Turtle Conservation Center were great and we did a couple of hikes in the area (be sure to have a guide with you!!)

Good Luck :)

i'm not even trying to cover that much in 5 weeks ;D

sometimes you like a place and want to hang around longer than expected. sometimes you hear of a place not on your list that you're inclined to check out... and the heat can send the best-laid plans awry

Unless you really like beaches or water sports, perhaps you can skip Nha Trang and/or Mui Ne. I heard the NP near Nin Binh is suppose to be good.

Amongst the National Parks that are not too far off the beaten track, Ca Tien offers the best chance to see mammals such as Gibbons; and it has heaps of birds. Both Cuc Phuong and Mach Ma are good for birding, but you will not see many mammals. Take leech socks, the rains have started and there is a good chance of leeches.

Hi Natalie

Even butterflies dont travel this quickly.
As others have said fly between a couple of cities.
At the primate rescue centre in the Cuc Phuong National Park you will see primates and if you are lucky you will see some that have been released into a secure area before being released to where they belong and of course you will see Ninh Binh etc. Not on your list though

Stay flexible at all times.

Cheers

I'd skip Mui Ne and Dalat offhand. It'll save you a few days. I wouldn't cut the Mekong, as no where else you'll go quite equals that as an experience. Dalat-wise, you'll get some mountains in with Sapa, and Mui Ne-wise you can get some beach time at Nha Trang (or Hoi An or Hue). Take an overnight train to Nha Trang from Saigon, or fly.

First, I am with you Mike - sometime I do have an internal battle between Me, Myself and I too ... :-)
Second, Mike is right. I just returned from a similar 4-weeks trip and when I get home, boy! I was like a dead meat for couple weeks !!!
So, unless you're determined to set some kind of a record, you probably needed to scale down the targets/destinations to enjoy the trip, and RR's recommendations quite make a lot of sense for you to think it over. Personally, I would skip the Cu-Chi and Nha-Trang (Mui Ne much better for being a "beach bum").

SweetRose,
You mentioned that you flew from Hanoi to Hue and from Danang to Saigon to save time but aren't there night trains available that also save time? I'll be attempting a similar route in August and wanted to know if there were night trains available to/from most locations. I've looked at seat61's website as well as the VN railway website but just don't know how updated the information is. Are there benefits to flying versus taking the night train? Besides cost, of course, are there any other pros to flying?

Robert Reid,
Why would you cut out Dalat? I'm sort of torn between Dalat and Hoi An. Here's my itinerary for more clarification:

Hanoi
Sapa
Halong Bay
Hue
(Hoi An)
Nha Trang
(Dalat)
Saigon

I'm trying to decide between the two. I have around 3 weeks and realize that this is pretty ambitious but want to try and fit as much in as possible. We're taking the night train to places also so that will cut down on travel time. I'm also leaning more towards Dalat because we're really into outdoorsy stuff but if Hoi An is an absolute must see, then we sure wouldn't want to miss out.

Sorry for hijacking this post!

Yes there are night trains, however we were travelling with four children and for us the very long train journey couldn't compete with a one hour flight! Some people love the train and have a great run while others find it pergatory and don't get any sleep etc. we just didn't want to take the chance. I think there are positives to both options, so each to their own!

Hope you get a good run whichever you choose :)

the train's fine but planes are quicker. even if you sleep on the train, you're still exhausted after a long haul and you tend to get more out of the day after an hour-long flight than the day after a night on a train - which can be important when there are time limits.

Dalat and Hoi An are both great and have probably been my two favourite towns thus far. there's plenty of outdoors stuff in Dalat, as well as interesting (bizzare) sights, and Hoi An is charming and chilled with loads of history.

Nha Trang on the other hand is bustling and seems to be a cultural void (unless you count beer-swilling backpacking as 'culture'). i reckon only go there if you're a mad-keen diver... or a beer-swilling backpacker. ;D (i'm a backpacker but just not quite as into the beer as some)

Yello Fello, yes, you can catch night trains for most of the long hauls. I'm in the group that would prefer an overnighter on a train to a trip out to an airport and another trip in from one when you get there. I'm not a total train freak, it's just a way of getting from A to B - but I do like train stations better than airports and they are usually more conveniently located. Without children, I've never had trouble sleeping in a good sleeper carriage, and the first class ac sleepers in Vietnam more than meet my standards!

The one train trip in Vietnam that is probably worth doing for its own sake, and in daylight, is the Hue to Danang trip. It may be cheaper to take the bus, but I really think the trip along that wild coast, away from the road, is just brilliant. There are different classes of trains: try and get the best ones for this leg, because they don't have wire over the windows. The wire is meant to protect you from kids throwing stones, but if you sit on the left, there'll only be mermaids to trouble you ...