12 days: Northern Vietnam & Laos?

#11
If you want to do Mai Chau and the Halong Bay and Hoi An, you will indeed not have enough time to also include Luang Prabang. There is no right or wrong as I already said, so go for the places you feel most attracted to. Both LP and Hoi An are beautiful places, and both are worth visiting. Personally I prefer Luang Prabang, but thats me. In terms of "logic" it probably makes more sense to stick to Vietnam on this trip and keep Laos for another trip.

The itinerary in #15 looks good (I would go to Mai Chau on days 7+8). And as mentionned before, you can do a cooking class in Hoi An.

I did North Laos to Sapa last spring. I needed a fleece in Laos, but all my clothes in Sapa. Cat ba was cloudy, but milder. Dong hoi mixed weather, cloudy/ sunny. Hoi an, hot and sunny, which I was desperate for, which is part of the reason I liked it so much. The old town is very touristy, but stunning visually. Ang bang beach is great, as is the bike ride out there. You only have a short trip, and a few days in Hoi an will give you beach, history, culture, islands, temples, the lot.

Stick to Vietnam, save Laos for next time. Fly Danang to Hanoi to catch your flight home. What you see between Hanoi and Danang is your choice. You can go from Cat ba, via Haiphong, to Tam coc ( Ninh binh), overnight there, and take the night bus the following day to Phong na. Then do the caves. Bus to Hue, overnight, then train to Danang, so you see the Hoi van pass, and end up in Hoi an.

So there is a flight option to fly into Hanoi via a connection in Singapore and depart Da Nang to Singapore to catch our flight back home to the USA, rather than booking a RT ticket to Hanoi and then booking a separate flight from Da Nang to Hanoi... I think that is the best option here... :)

So you are all suggesting we do the linear route N-S down to Hoi An, but what about the lantern festival on May 9? Is that worth changing the schedule for/arriving in Hoi An earlier than expected? Better- my question is how can we rearrange the itinerary: Hanoi - Sapa - Halong Bay - Ninh Binh - Phong Nha - Hue - Hoi An - to be in Hoi An for lantern festival on May 9 (Day 7)

In addition, is it even still possible to include Sapa in this itinerary instead of Mai Chau, or would it be too rushed?

Thanks!

UPDATED -- We purchased our flights and have decided to focus on Vietnam only... very tough choice as Laos was incredibly tempting!! Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. Our flight schedule is as follows:

SFO - ICN - HAN (Arrive in Hanoi at 9:30PM on May 2)
DAD - ICN - SFO (May 13 with a 12 hour layover in Seoul at 5:15am - 4:30pm)

We are still a bit stuck on the itinerary. My boyfriend is more interested in Halong Bay and Nihn Bihn but I have been reading that one should NOT skip Sapa when in Northern Vietnam... I would appreciate a little more help with an "official" itinerary now that flights are set in stone.

May 1: Departure
May 2: (Day 1) Arrival in Hanoi at 9:30pm - get to the hotel
May 3: (Day 2) Halong Bay - overnight
May 4: (Day 3) Halong Bay - return to Hanoi
May 5: (Day 4) ---
May 6: (Day 5) ---
May 7: (Day 6) ---
May 8: (Day 7) ---
May 9: (Day 8) ---
May 10:(Day 9) ---
May 11:(day 10) ---
May 12:(Day 11) ---
May 13: (Day 12)Departure DAN - ICN 10:40PM
May 14: ICN layover 5:15AM - 4:30PM

my question is how can we rearrange the itinerary so that we hit Hanoi, Halong Bay, (Sapa), Ninh Binh, Phong Nha, Hue, and Hoi An, to be in Hoi An for lantern festival on May 9 (Day 8/12)

Thanks again everyone!

Its possible fly to Danang on May 9. The stay Hoi An 2 days Then go to Hue for 2 nights.

Sapa in May should be good. Its just how long for.

It is going to be tight, but depending on what time you get back to Hanoi after Halong, could you go straight on to Ninh Binh? You can get a bus from Haiphong to Tam coc, but it left Haiphong about midday. You need to be in Tam coc first thing in the morning, i.e. staying there overnight, to make the most of the boat trip at 7 am. Then tour the area by bicycle, returning for the overnight bus to Phong na at about 9 pm. The long hotel in Tam coc will sort all your travel needs. Arrive in Phong na in the middle of the night, but hotels seemed aware of arrivals, and open. Do the caves, and then bus to Hue, which you could do in an afternoon, train to Danang next day to take in the Hoi van pass, and minibus transfer on to Hoi an. Yes, you can do this trip in your timescale, but really I think you need to get back from Halong to Hanoi, and get the last bus out to Ninh Binh/Tam coc, so you are there for the full day, starting early.

As for Sapa, if you have time after Hoi an, then go for it. Really, I think with your time restraints it would be better to forget Sapa, and maybe try and find a more secluded mountain getaway out of Ninh Binh or Phong na, even if just for a daytrip by private taxi. This will give you time to enjoy the rest of your trip, not be racing around like a lunatic, and won't cost you any more than another transfer thru Hanoi, and return to Sapa.. Sapa is beautiful, but hideously touristy, and I'm sure you can find somewhere else just, if not more enjoyable, by taking a 20 dollar taxi tour from Phong na, close to the Lao border, or out of Tam coc.
Just re read your post, flying out of Danang. Leave out Sapa, then you can do all the rest. Accept you can never see everything, and I think you will have seen a really good chunk of Vietnam. I was in Sapa in April, and the rice fields were disappointing. Ninh Binh and Hoi an were much greener.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.