Itinerary Reality Check

My main concern is that opener -- getting to Saigon (and to hotel, then back next morning to airport), fly to Ban Me Thuot (get out to Lak Lake, then on to Dalat next day), then fly to Hanoi. Whew! Perhaps skip Dalat or BMT? Or think about swapping a beach day or Hoi An day or two (I really only need a day there).

I think you better look at the map of VN again because Dalat, BMT, Danang and Hoian are close and Hanoi Sapa and Halong are close, whay fly zizac like that. start from Saigon work your ay up then fly back.

Hi there,

You could save more time by just flying straight into Hanoi, and then working the rest of the trip in on your way down to Saigon.May give you another day in the Mekong. I agree with Robert that 2 days are enough in Hoi An.
I stayed at the bungalows near the long house at Lak lake: very good restaurant there. Recommend the Golf 3 hotel in Dalat, good walks to be had in the area.

Good luck

Two days in Hoi An is good for adults. I believe kids like to have longer term bases. I'd stick with 4 days there if the accomodations are cheerful and friendly - the twn is friendly and there are activities and walks that lend themselves to kid energy ad patience. If anything, I'd try to build in a couple days where you could choose to stay or move on. With kids (as I also travel), sometimes you run into the right guesthouse with a great family that loves (and has) kids themselves - hate to move on when the opportunity for a more rich cultural experience presents itself.

We did a homestay in the Mekong that was exceptional - we felt adopted by this huge cheerful and fun extended family who took us swimming and starfruit picking and took us to the market on motorcycles.... Highlight for our kids (and it even gave my wife and I a breath). Man, that grandma could cook! I highly recommend a home-stay experence (or two) if you have kids! It can be arranged through local tour ageencies once you're in any larger city.

Certainly take #3 into account - logistics could be made simpler and time more efficiently arranged. I might skip the Dalat visit (long ride - not that exciting for little ones), and trade a day in HCMC for another in Hanoi. I'd perhaps skip Saigon altogether except as a place to catch a return flight to Hanoi to catch your r/t flight.

Have a great time!!

Yes, get the map out - too much this way and that and you end up with grumpy kids from too much travelling. My partner HATES backtracking so I often have fund devising ways to avoid it.

Vietnam Airlines will start direct flight between Hanoi and Buon Me Thuot very soon, VND 2,800,000 round trip. Previously you had to transit in Da Nang. There is direct flight between Hanoi and Da Lat btw.

So maybe you can consider Sai Gon - Buon Me Thuot - Da Nang - Hoi An - Hanoi (if Vietnam Airlines still flies BMT - DN).

I'm so glad I asked - thank you all - you're advice has been very helpful.

I think having gone through so many iterations that I completely lost sight of the obvious - which would be to go straight to Hanoi and go back down in shorter legs - Hoi An - BMT - Dalat - Phu Quoc. Thanks for pointing this out Robert and Pollux. You're right Robert - I think that first part is a bit "phew". Pollux - thanks for the recommendations - how did you organise your travel to Lak lake?

Johnica & Juro - in defense of what I now realise seems like silly zig zagging I had wanted to minimise time in Saigon and didn't want to have to do an overnight there before catching the plane to Phu Quoc. Which from BMT is not possible because of late afternoon flights to HCMC - that's is why I thought we'd stop there on the way to Hanoi. But as I said I've gone round in circles a bit [with a map and timetables in front of me - thanks very much] trying to plan legs with direct flights rather than connecting ones. I'm so glad to have fresh look over this and point out things I'd missed.

stillwithus - who did you do your mekong trip with? It sounds great. I agree with your advice about staying longer if we find a gem and also allowing longer in Hoi An just so we can chill out a bit with the kids and slow down the pace (a bit). That's why I'd prefer to go to Hanoi early in the trip so I can pre-book Halong Bay tour and Sapa trains and then have the flexibility to spend more or less time somewhere.

hongha - thankyou for the info re direct flights between BMT and Hanoi - that could definitely work for us - I had wanted to avoid connecting in Danang.

Anyway again thank you for taking the time to make your comments.

Hi again,

I had actually used a Hanoi agency(Asiatica-travel) to do my logistics on the ground once I had my itinerary worked out, so I was met when I flew from Da Nang to Pleiku, from there by mini-bus to Kontum and back down to Lak lake.Although I did enjoy Dalat I agree with #4 that from Lak lake to Dalat is a tedious ride unless you stop overnight in BMT. Another solution, interesting for the kids, is a night out in the Nam Cat Tien national park that lies just off the main road between Dalat and HCMC. Nice bungalows in the jungle with a possible trip after sundown to see the wild deer and boar.

Good luck

Hi Pollux - Thanks for your reply and ideas - I thought we would need to organise through an agency to visit and stay at Lak Lake rather than do it independently. Do you recommend Asiatica travel?

The national park sounds nice but I didn't think it was en-route. Now I am a bit confused - I thought there was a reasonable road connecting BMT and Dalat with Lak Lake was 50 kms south of BMT and then Dalat a further 150kms on. Is that right? Is that the leg that you think would be really tedious? I read some travel blogs from people who said it was quite beautiful with places to stop and check out, which was why I thought it would be a reasonable thing to do. But I certainly don't want to endure a tedious, dull, long road trip with 3 hot, tired kids- just because of my bad planning.