I have created a new category on top called “Sample Itineraries”. I get many personal requests for help in designing them. As some of you may now know, I am now working with my tour company friends and one of my responsibilities is tour design. Many of the itineraries are the old well trodden path and some of them are newly designed. A basic rule of thumb for all of these itineraries is that you can remove a location, add or remove a day from one place to another. All of these itineraries are to give you a general idea of places and the times it takes. You should also refer to the weather charts here to be sure that you are not planning to visit places such asHue or SAPA in times where conditions are not favorable.
We will cover the main tourist spots and some of the lesser travelled. You can find more information on specific cities and towns in the right hand column. Please feel free to suggest your own and I will only edit them if not possible or unrealistic.
Let us start with 4-6 day itineraries. I will monitor the traffic and if this information is popular with people, I will add specifics of what to see and do.
South/Mekong
2 nightsSaigon
1 or 2 nightsMekong
1 nightSaigon
South/Island
2 nightsSaigon
2-3 nights Phu Quoc or Con Dao
South/Beach
2 nightsSaigon
2-3 nights Mui Ne
South/Beach/Action
2 nights Saigon
1 night Dalat
3 or 4 nights Nha Trang
North/Halong Bay
2 nightsHanoi
1-2 nights Halong bay
1 nightHanoi
North/Inland
2 nightsHanoi
1 night Ninh Binh
1 nightHanoi
Hanoi/Mountains
2 nightsHanoi
1 or 2 nights Mai Chau
1 nightHanoi
hi. We are a family of 5 wanting to visit Vietnam in November. We have max 5 or 6 nights where we want to cover hanoi and the halong bay cruise. Which other city or place is better to be squeezed in this itenerary for 1 night ( preferably in the north )
I suggest taking a look at Ninh Binh. Happy planning
Hi,
Do you have a tour to cover Halong Bay and Sapa? Planning to be in Vietnam from 7 to 14 Dec.
yes I do. I will email you
Hi,
We’re travelling to vietnam for 5 complete days (early arrival and late departure times) and 4 nights. Based on your articles, I interested in doing Saigon, Mekong and Nha Trang. Do you think its’s feasible?
Thanks.
Sorry, 5 days will give you enough to do Mekong, saigon and perhaps a side trip to Vung Tao, but to include Nha Trang you would need at least 2 nights to see anything.
Hi there,
My friend and I are spending 6 days in Vietnam (Oct 23-28) and will be spending it in the South. Still trying to figure out the itineraries and which tour agency to go with as I’ve read about the tourist traps.
What we have in mind so far is to spend 2d1n in Saigon and then go to Mekong delta with overnight stay and visit Cai Rang floating market (or other local floating market). On the same day, we would like to be dropped off in Can Tho as we are flying off to Phu Quoc until Oct 28th.
It would be great to have some suggestions from you with regards to which places we should visit to avoid the tourist traps during that period and experience the local culture more.
Thanks very much,
Vegis
Yes. You are correct that most places go to the tourist traps. I specialize in non touristy and help V’Explore build less touristy trips. I can suggest a tour by Sampan that only V’Explore offers…….. You can customize it to return you to Saigon instead of exiting to Cambodia http://www.vexploretravel.com/tour_detail.php?tourID=218
First, thanks for this interesting blog.
Will be in Vietnam for a week just to get a taste… I know one week is not enough..
I myself have traveled extensively and lived in India.
You mentioned somewhere that this site contained info about wholesale markets, I couldn’t find it… In case you can give me some clues I am interested to buy wholesale ladies garments (with preference for export surplus or fresh as well) I would be grateful.
Either wholesale markets in Saigon, addresses, or some agent or factories contact, that would be useful.
I am also interested about the short itineraries you described above, if you could recommend THE number 1 destination for a short time, what would that be ?
I am hesitating between your off the beaten track 3 days itinerary and the mekong non touristic.
Keep the good work and thanks for your input.
Sam
The best market in Saigon for wholesale items in Cho Lon (Chinatown) it is easy to find. The number 1 destination for me is the Central highlands and Nha Trang (the non touristy area) but with limited time I might suggest Saigon for a couple of nights for your shopping excursion, then into the Mekong to for a few days. If you are interested in traveling non touristic riding pillion on a motorcycle, I may be able to help with that.
Hello,
we are 2 honeymooners wanted to go to vietnam for 6 days. at first we thought of going to hanoi for 2 nights then halong bay for 1 night then hoi an for 1 night. but, we think that the airfare to hanoi is too expensive and we might not get to enjoy with such a short time. this was the route suggested by v’explore the travel agent u recommended. from travellers reviews we were thinking of taking 2 nights in halong bay in the cruise instead of 1 night (since it’s a 4 hour drive). but, if we choose 2 nights in hanoi and 2 nights in halong bay, what do u suggest after that? i kind of like Sapa, but are 2 nights enough? your feedback is very appreciated. we’ll be travelling around middle/end of May. Also any recommendations for cheap flights around asia? Thank you 🙂
Sorry to say SAPA is 3 days minimum requiring 2 night trains. If Halong is a must for your honeymoos, takwe a look at the smallest Junk offered by indochina sails. You could do 2 nights Hanoi, 1 night Ninh Binh/Tam Coc or Mai Chau.
You could also do 1 night Hanoi, 1 night Halong, 1 night again Hanoi, and 2 or 3 nights in either Hoi An, or Nha Trang or even SAPA before returning for your connecting flight
whos the big guy lol