Solo female traveler, 5 days in Vietnam, north or south?

VN is very safe to travel, so dont worry! Personally I vote for the North, beautiful and traditional. Hanoi is an amazing city with many French colonial buildings/houses, small streets and a big number of street vendors, markets, restaurants, coffee shops.....great street food. Sapa and Halong Bay, of course, stunning. Mid Apr is still nice to travel in the North as well

I prefer traveling in the Southern and Central region. I think April is ideal time for you to visit Vung Tau, Phu Quoc, Mui Ne or Dalat.

5-6 days is not long by the time you include travel so plan carefully according to your interests

If you want to experience tropical Vietnam, and a beach, then head south. If you prefer a cooler climate, and don't mind potential mist and drizzle, then the north is stunning. Sapa, Halong bay and Ninh Binh are all easily accessible from Hanoi. Sapa will be the most time consuming place to get to, so if you don't trek it may not be worth it time wise. I was there last April, and found Ninh Binh great, because I hired a bicycle, and got out into the countryside under my own steam, and the weather was perfect after the dankness of Sapa. Absolutely no problems being a lone female. You can take an overnight bus from Sapa (with minibus Inc to Lao cai) to Haiphong, then boat over to Cat ba island, where you can pick up a day tour of Halong bay. How much you can really fit into your 5-6 days will probably depend on your arrival and departure flight times, and how fast you are prepared to travel.

The temperature has yet to rise in the North and remains constant in the Central and the South between 25 and 33 Celcius degree. Therefore, personally, you should visit the north of Vietnam

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