I have decided to make a side trip to VN while on a month long trip to Thailand. 1. Does anyone know any travel companies that can help me with a visa and accommodate a custom itinerary.
2. I have heard that booking from Thailand may be easier/cheaper
3. How flexible is the visa; do you need to stick to a specific itinerary or can you diverge spontaneously?
Any help/advice is appreciated. -Rob-
Visa requirements are dependent on your nationality.
Flights with in Asia are cheap, but it would save you time if you did Vietnam first or last, rather than in the middle of your trip. Look at flying in to Bangkok, then home from Hanoi or Saigon, and get a cheap one way flight
from Thailand to Vietnam, or vice versa.
Most contributors here will not use tour companies but travel under their own steam. However there are plenty of companies in Thailand that offer tours to Vietnam and you will see them in travel agents and in the classified section of the Bangkok Post
As above on visa without nationality we can not help you
Vietnam has 15 days visa free entry free for some nationals. For the rest of us there are two online options, the first is an "agency type" visa such as vietnamvisapro (google) and the official e-visa. Both have a similar price but the vietnamvisapro type only allows flying in (no land border crossing). With these you do have to specify the entry point other than that they don't care about your itinerary or anything else. You can also get a regular visa at your embassy if your country has one, but that's usually more expensive and you have to go there to do it.
It's very easy to purchase cheap flights online between Bangkok and a few large cities in Vietnam. If you're doing a side trip I recommend the North, and Hanoi is more interesting than Saigon, unless you want to see the Mekong Delta. You don't need a tour company to arrange your side trip, it's very easy to arrange everything online and once you're there just ask your hotel for the local tours or go any of the numerous local tour companies.
Thank you all for the info; I feel a little better informed now and will proceed with a little more confidence.
I will post more as more questions present themselves.
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.