Asia - Help Planning Trip to Vietnam

My wife and I will be traveling with my mother-in-law and father-in-law in Vietnam for 2 weeks. None of us has ever visited Vietnam.

We would like to visit the best hotels and have the best possible travel experience.

All suggestions welcome. Is there a group that we might want to research?
We are actively researching hotels, itineraries, travel companies.

My research to date has yielded recommendations for Ann Tours, Goldenfish Travel, Asco International.

Hotels that have been recommended: Park Hyatt Saigon, Evason Hideaway, Victoria Sapa Resort, Hanoi Sofitel Metropole.

Also recommended the Halong Bay Emeraude Cruise: (a one night cruise on a luxury boat).

One thought, maybe you could use comforable high end hotels in Saigon, Hanoi and one of the beach areas as base points and just find some local or regional tours to pick up from there. From both Saigon and Hanoi there are plenty of day trips and you can adventure around these cities for a few days. Plus you have the convenience and comfort of a nice hotel, A/C, a pool etc to seek shelter in. Currently in the midst of a SE trip that is based on that model b/c my wife is more comfortable that way. Both these cities have great, modern, comfortable hotels and you can find tons of day trip tours or just hire a car and do things on your own. My one piece of advice is to research carefully the weather, there are some times you might not want to come...

I am using Goldenfish travel for my trip this spring
A friend used them last year and was very pleased
www.goldenfishtravels.com
I have been using Anne Leveque
anneleveque@cs.com

Good luck GRF1953

I can highly recommend Ann Tours (http://www.anntours.com/i_vn.htm) and if you do an Internet search you'll find lots of positive reviews. They can arrange anything and everything all over Vietnam. Guide I had was superb; college educated, spoke excellent English, and knew a trememdous amount about the history of the country.

I can also endorse Ann Tours- ouir guides and drivers were great and arranged a personal itinerary for us!

I have stayed at the Victoria Sapa and Victoria Hoi An, both great hotels (in Sapa there is not a large choice of international style hotels -- and the Victoria is pretty much it. In Hoi An the hotel is right on the beach and about 5km back into town. Great property and location to the beach.

The Hilton Hanoi Opera is also a very nice hotel if you are looking for options.

I arranged any tour related travel in the towns that I stayed in. The only exception was booking the Victoria hotels train car from Hanoi to Sapa, which was done in advance. If you are heading to Sapa by train -- given your stated requirements -- this is a must.

Have fun.

in hanoi stay at the church hotel. it's wonderful, small, reasonable and in a great neighborhood. (an austrailian coffee place across the street, a french restaurant next door, an italian restaurant).

the basic problem with vietnam is that that two weeks is really really tightly stretching your time. There's a lot to see and the transit system isn't always the greatest.

Depending on how many days you really have. You end up with five stops which are:

hanoi
saigon (yes it's ho chi minh city but everyone calls it saigon).
hue
hoi ann
aboard a boat in Ha Long harbor.

you basically fly from saigon to danang, then take a cab to hoi an, take a train or bus to hue (the old colonial capital) and fly to hanoi.

anything else (mekong delta, the tunnels) can be done on a day trip, and unfortunately if you try much else, you'll be pushing the envelope time wise.

Try not to do ha long harbor on a day trip. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there by bus from hanoi, which means that 7 hours of your day will be on bus if you do.

Note that you can book pretty much anything within vietnam and the hotels charge a pretty good premium to book tours available elsewhere at about half the price (the exact same tours)

also seamstresses in hoi an can duplicate anything at incredibly cheap prices. bring pictures.

the hotels in vietnam are much better than you might think. in saigon, it's the sheraton and I believe it's the rennaissance and I believe it's the park hyatt that has recently opened. but i stayed at a very nice hotel across from the sheraton. that was $55 a night

Oh Sapa is supposed to be nice, but the train schedule, essentially makes it impossible to do on a two week trip. It's like two overnight train rides and a night there. I wanted to go and it was impossible to schedule.

I'm looking into ways to extend our trip so we can squeeze Sapa in. Sounds worthwhile.

just to give you a little more info:

the mekong delta is a day trip from Saigon, but it takes most of the day.
doing the tunnels and the dao temple is another daylong trip.

so that itself is two days in Saigon and that doesn't cover the local sites or reflect jet lag issues.

hoi an, which is wonderful and which I loved, is at least a day of sight seeing and more if you want clothes made. I believe it works out with travel time from saigon or wherever that it's two nights and getting on to hue from there will take about half a third day.

Hue sightseeing is pretty close to a full day of sightseeing and the timing essentially works out to your staying two nights there, arriving one day, spending a day sightseeing and flying to hanoi in the morning (assuming you are going north).

And in Hanoi, there is a lot of sightseeing and as I mentioned previously, just the trip to ha long harbor (with an overnight) is two days. And there are several other daylong trips out of town that are interesting.

anyway I skipped na trang (reluctantly), didn't go to Sapa (which by the way will be cold the time you are going) and still felt pretty rushed arriving in saigon on a monday and leaving on a Sunday two weeks later from Hanoi.

Sapa is a minimum of two days and that is as I remember with two overnight train trips and one night in Sapa.

I spent 17 days in Vietnam and 5 in Cambodia in October . My trip looked like Donald Trump meets backpacker. High end hotels, trains, planes, autos and local boats for transport.

Hanoi-Zephyr hotel-new boutique type hotel-EXCELLENT breakfast, great laundry service, very accomodating service, very good location

Halong Bay cruise-Emeraude looks like a Mississippi river cruiser.
Try one of the overnight, Chinese junk cruises. I will try to find the EXACT name of the one we took. It was new in July, had 1 deluxe suite and 3 other cabins. As it turned out, we were the only ones on the boat and it was FANTASTIC.

Took the overnight train from Hanoi to DaNang. Booked the entire compartment for $200.00. Not bad at all and got to see lots of scenery, including Hai Van pass, which was the DMZ in the Vietnam War.

DaNang-Furama resort-EXCELLENT location right on China Beach, infinity edge pool with the ocean behind is picture perfect. Booked the beachfront suite for less than $150.00.

Hired a car from DaNang to Nha Trang. Now that was a ride-300km was almost 10 1/2 hours. But oh, the stuff we saw. It was really a great trip, even if we did have sore butts.

Nha Trang-VinPearl resort-private island resort-you can stay at the resort and enjoy the beach and facilities or you can go back and forth on the speed boat to Nha Trang town any time you want (24 hour boat service). You MUST do the Mama Hahn boat trip-everyone said we would not like it-too backpackerish for us-but it really was one of the highlights. Floating in the bay on inner tubes, with the soundtrack of "Good Morning Vietnam" blaring from the boat was one of the most surreal experiences I have EVER had.

Flew from NhaTrang to Saigon. Vietnam Airlines is VERY nice for a short flight.
Stayed at the Rex-excellent location, lots of history in that hotel. The old bomb window coverings are still in place, although they have removed the grenade doors. Rooftop bar is very nice at night. Floor 23 ?? in the Sheraton has very good food and absolutely excellent service.

We took a boat from Saigon to Phnom Phenh, with overnight stops in Can Tho and Chau Doc. Stayed at the Victoria hotels in both stops. Tu Trang Travel runs boats all the way. It was $680.00 to charter the boat for 3 days.
We saw the Mekong River tourist boats. I personally would not bother. You are driven from Saigon some place upriver and then a 2-3 hr cruise up the river, and includes a visit to a BIRD sanctuary. Not on my stupidist day would I go to a bird sanctuary in Vietnam now.

We used IndoChina Travel http://www.indochinatravel.com/home.html out of San Francisco to book a lot of our trip.The owners are a combination of Americans and the original Singh cafe owner.

I had put together the entire itinerary, down to the specific hotel rooms I wanted. Booking everything myself became a problem with all the different methods of payment required. Some places wanted credit card info faxed, some would take credit cards online, some wanted money orders or checks. It was beginning to become a large problem. A local TA who knew nothing about Vietnam found Patrick Morris (IndoChina Travel). I called him, sent him EVERYTHING I wanted, down to specific hotel rooms. It cost me $200.00 more than booking it all myself. And I got 24/7 emergency phone numbers in Vietnam and guides who were constantly available. There was also some kind of medical insurance included. I had my own trip insurance, so don't really know. We got T-shirts, presents, and a VERY VERY nice dinner at Wild Rice in Hanoi. It all really worked out well. The agency got us the new boat in Halong Bay, escort to the train in Hanoi at midnight, and guides who really bent over backwards.

I am so enthralled with Vietnam and especially Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I have booked a return trip for late January. Business opportunities abound there. Even thinking about buying an old hotel in Cambodia.

Enjoy Vietnam. I sure am glad I went.

I was in Vietnam last year at this time. Someone on this forum recommended this company, Haivenu, http://www.haivenu-vietnam.com/, and they were tremendous. I've recommended them to several others, all of whom have had great trips.

Vietnam is great...but, I agree that two weeks is not very much time. Everyone's different, but I loved Hanoi, and was always sorry that I had only about 3 or 4 days there. It seems to be that if you want to do Sapa (which I skipped), Halong Bay (which should definitely be overnight), you really don't have much time to concentrate on the south.

Look at places that have convenient transportation to them. I was on a tour and the tour used a bus to get from Hanoi to Halong and return. Speed limits are 30 mph equivalent with heavy policing and so so roads. The trip to Halong took a long 4 hours each way. It was raining and we had a day trip on a boat on the bay. It was very similar scenery to the Liu River area in China. Overall, that was my least favorite part of the trip and I would give it a pass.

Hanoi, Saigon, and Hoi An were favorites. Hue was fine as a fourth choice. We spent two weeks in Vietnam.

Just my opinion.

One of the problems with the day trip to halong harbor is that you spend 8 hours on a bus.

splitting it into two days, makes for a far better experience. I obviously agree on hoi an, and liked hue

oh there is mention here of taking the overnight train from ho chi minh city to danang (and hoi an). I ruled it out basically for time reasons. The overnight train , while offering some nice scenery, doesn't arrive as I remember it in Danang til like 11 a.m. A flight instead allowed me to compact more into limited time

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you might want to skip Hoi An. Anything you want made in Hoi An can be done cheaper, more quickly, and more easily in Saigon--provided that you can navigate the city. Hoi An has always struck me as a sort of "Epcot Center" version of Vietnam--is it just me? I don't get this charm thing everyone talks about. Even if I was in the area, I'd vote on spending a couple days at the Furama outside of Da Nang, or russling up some ATV-type vehicles and driving around the deserted sand dunes near Tam Ky. YMMV.

Two weeks isn't enough to do the entire country, so you may want to concentrate in certain areas. e.g., Sapa itself is so far from Hanoi that you're going to have to devote several days to it alone, and there's no point in doing Sapa if you're doing it rushed. As others have aluded to, it's a tiresome, long train ride up to Sapa and back.

I've been fortunate to get to go to Vietnam more than once, and each time I find myself always going back to Ha Long Bay--I always find something different than I haven't noticed before. Do the multi-day trip through Ha Long--a day trip just isn't worth the 3.5 hours drive from Hanoi. If you're up for it, you've got to do the kayaking tour if you're able. There's nothing quite like having the limestone walls drip cool water on you in the middle of a hot day as you pass, or sneaking into little hidden grottoes that are accessible only when low tide exposes about a foot of opening under a rock arch. Don't worry, there are a million travel "shops" in Hanoi that will sell you a tour for whatever you want/are willing to pay.

In addition to Nha Trang, also consider Mui Ne. I love Mui Ne just for the drive out there from Saigon, passing through fields of bright magenta dragonfruit (well, at certain times of the year). And the smell of Phan Thiet on the way, from miles away--well, fish sauce is something you either really dig...or not. A couple people have mentioned Phu Quoc to me as another beach-resort place to hit, but I've never been there--all I know is they say it's the "next Phuket" and has daily flights from Saigon.

If this is your first time, I'd recommend Saigon for a couple days, flying up to Hanoi for a couple days, and skipping the middle of the country. It's going to be raining in Da Nang anyway, if you're going anytime soon.

Trip will be in March.

Has anyone used any helicopter service at all for transfers? I saw one travel group that was offering that.

no on the helicopter service.

saucesee is more experienced in vietnam, but I loved hoi an and a cousin who had gone had the same reaction. I also thought ho chi minh city was just ok, not great, but I was pretty jet lagged at the start of the trip and that may have contributed to my impression of the city.

I also love hue, but part of that was I rented a guide with a motorcycle and he spoke excellent english and took me and two people I met there on a motorcycle tour of the monuments that was the best tour I've ever been on and it was pretty eclectic.

as i and saucesee have indicated, Sapa is a minimum of a two and a half day trip and while it's supposedly wonderful, you really don't have time to do it in a two week trip to Vietnam. Ha Long is a minimum 2 days to do it reasonably and to do the kayaking, it's three days.

You can save some time by turning to flights as opposed to train, which means flying from saigon to danang to go to hoi an, and from hue to hanoi by plane. You can go by train or bus from hoi an to hue (they both run about the same amount of time).

but first of all be reasonable. figure out how much time you have. I had 15 days on the ground as i remember, didn't see everything I wanted to, and Sapa would have taken at least another 2 to 3 and I only went for 2 days to ha long harbor.

Further sapa sounded like a very tiring trip done in two days (meaning overnight train, one day in city, overnight hotel, another day, and another overnight train). I'm not sure your inlaws will like that much.

so unless you have significantly more time, forget sapa.

I am hoping to get to Vietnam in the next two months (before starting a new job) and am just starting my research. Looks like we'll only have 5 or 6 days anywhere we go due to required stopovers to drop off/pick up the kids with friends in Hong Kong. I would absolutely love to go to both Hanoi and Saigon. I realize it's not enough time to do anything but whet my appetite for a future return visit, but is it worth it to spend three days in Hanoi and three in Saigon, and if so, which would be the better one to visit first? Or should we just spend the time in Hanoi and do a day trip or two out of town and hit Saigon on a future trip?

. . . is it worth it to spend three days in Hanoi and three in Saigon, and if so, which would be the better one to visit first? Or should we just spend the time in Hanoi and do a day trip or two out of town and hit Saigon on a future trip?

Splitting your time between Hanoi and Saigon is a viable option (better to start with Hanoi, if flight choices are roughly equal), but if you plan to return to Vietnam, it's probably more sensible to focus on either the north or the south.

Spend your time in Hanoi, with an overnight (or two-night) sidetrip to Halong Bay. Or spend your time in Saigon, with a two-night sidetrip to the Mekong delta (quintessential Vietnam).

On future visits, you can pursue the option above that you didn't choose, trek to Sapa via Hanoi, and hit the beaches via Saigon.

OK. Great great posts from many people here. Thank you very much.

At this point it looks like we will have ~15 days in Vietnam and I am still probably going to skip Sapa. We want to minimize the long train rides and drives and will fly when possible.

I'm also thinking that we will start in the north and make our way to the south - possibly hitting Nha Trang if I can get the others to agree. Evason Hideaway sounds quite nice.

Sooo.. just to go over some of the things people have posted...

We will look at the Chinese Junk cruise over the Emeraude.

Note sure about Hoi An - will be reading more about it and will take saucesee's advice into consideration.

Ha Long Bay sounds great... particularly the kayak trip. I'm going to try to work that into our itinerary. Also Mui Ne.

Will skip Phu Quoc. I do not need to see anything being compared to Phuket.

We are going in March so I don't think it will be particularly rainy. I would like to see Da Nang and the environs. I'll be looking into travel options in terms of getting in and out. Someone had recommended a train but I'm thinking flying may be a better option for us.

Hanoi-Zephyr sounds PERFECT for myself and my wife but perhaps not for her parents who will be with us. Sofitel or Hilton may be more appropriate. What do you think for parents of a 30 year old who really enjoy the more luxurious things in life?

Can you tell me a bit more about the overnight train from Hanoi to Danang? How comfortable was it?

Furama Da Nang sounds like the place to stay there.

I think we will skip the car from DaNang to Nha Trang... I'm sure it's beaufitul but it will also be nice from above (minus grinding out 10 hours of soreness).

Mama Hahn boat trip sounds intriguing.

Rex in HCMC (are we supposed to call it Saigon?) sounds very nice but I'm leaning toward Park Hyatt.

HCMC to Phnom Phen... is the boat worthwhile? I'm thinking fly as much as possible... but of course you miss the sights on the ground. What do you think?

I would like to do a day of Mekong Delta while we are in HCMC.

As for travel agent/tour co, we are considering a few.. one being Kuoni out of Switzerland. Anyone have experience with them in Vietnam? I think http://www.haivenu-vietnam.com/ looks interesting.

A few more things...

We will definitely be visiting Siem Reap.

Hotel choices:

HCMC: Park Hyatt (or Caravelle)
Hanoi: Sofitel (or Hilton)
Da Nang: Furama
Hoi An (if we go): Riverside Resort
Nha Trang: Evason Hideaway
Sapa (though we probably will not go): Victoria
Siem Reap: Raffles


Thanks again for all of your advice/ideas/experience and keep it coming!

Just got back from a trip to India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Hong Kong. We had a private tour arranged by a company called Cox and Kings. An English company, founded in 1758 if I recall correctly. We have never done a tour before. We werent part of a group, we arranged everything with them before leaving, picked itineraries with them and such then they arranged it. A guide and driver would pick us up, at the airport, take us to the hotel (all prepaid) and then take us touring. They handled all transfers, had a driver and guide at our disposal and made the trip a real treat. They were picked by Conde Nast as one of the top 5 premium tour operators and I certainly think they deserve that. It was an absolutely first rate experience and I can recommend it without any reservation whatsoever, except price, it isnt cheap.

In Hanoi we stayed in a suite at the Sofitel Metropole and it was great. We also spent a day and a night on Halong Bay. The company had arranged for my wife and I and our guide/translater to go out on a junk for the day and stay on the bay overnight. It was the three of us and a crew of about 6 on this roughly 60 foot boat. They cooked fresh seafood from the bay for us, it was a great experience. The living quarters werent as nice as the hotel but they were okay, private bedroom with a private bathroom/shower combination. I would really recommend Halong Bay as a destination.

Also, being in that area I think it would be very adviseable to fly to Siem Reap and see the temple complex at Angkor Wat. We were there two days and found it unbelieveable. We stayed at the Raffles Grand there which was a great hotel also. It is definately worth a couple days out of your trip to go there.

Angor wat is a 3 day adventure and with travel connections normally takes four nights minimum. It's wonderful to spectacular, but because the temples are spread out and must be climbed, next to impossible to do quickly. Trying to fit that to a two week trip to Vietnam would be a challenge, unless you cut out a lot.

The raffles grand hotel d'Ankor there is wonderful, but EXTREMELY expensive. (I had drinks at the elephant bar). you are probably talking about $250 a night or more.

as I said earlier, the church hotel in hanoi is a wonderful boutique hotel in a great location and half the price of the hilton opera.

oh, da nang and hoi an are like 10 miles away. if you go to that area, simply stay in hoi an. there is probably no reason to stay in da nang

We have managed to tack on a few days - I think we are up to 19 including travel time. So we should have 16-17 days of travel in Vietnam and environs. I really don't want to miss Angkor Wat if I can manage it.

Angor wat is a 3 day adventure and with travel connections normally takes four nights minimum. It's wonderful to spectacular, but because the temples are spread out and must be climbed, next to impossible to do quickly. Trying to fit that to a two week trip to Vietnam would be a challenge, unless you cut out a lot.

The raffles grand hotel d'Ankor there is wonderful, but EXTREMELY expensive. (I had drinks at the elephant bar). you are probably talking about $250 a night or more.

The church hotel in hanoi is a wonderful hotel in a great location and half the price of the hilton opera. more of a boutique hotel.

oh, da nang and hoi an are like 10 miles away. if you go to that area, simply stay in hoi an. there is no reason to stay in da nang


I disagree, we only did one night there. There are hundreds of temples and it would take weeks to do all of them. But I think the short time we spent there was well worth it. We took an early morning flight to Siem Reap from BKK, arriving by about 9:00 I think. We checked in at the hotel, and then spent the morning and early afternoon at Angkor Thom and a few smaller temples. We then took some time off for lunch and went back in the late afternoon after it cooled a lot. We saw the jungle temple as our guide called it, I forget the other name he used, but it is the one only partially reclaimed from the jungle. The next morning was spent at Angkor Wat itself. After lunch we toured some villages in the area and saw their local monument to those killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. We then took a late flight to Hanoi. I could have certainly spent longer and plan on going back. But if I was that close to it (in Vietnam) I would absolutely go there, it is well worth it even for a couple of days.

i'm the last one to say no to angor wat. I loved it. Just be practical. There is a lot of climbing. It is very hot and it saps you fast. The temples aren't all very close to each other and the connections there and out aren't the easiest.

to really see it takes 2 1/2 days, and getting in first thing in morning or out late in the day ain't easy. When you put it all together, it's basically nearly four days of traveling and touring.

It's also not cheap. the flights in and out of siem reap are some of the more expensive ones in southeast asia. And then everyone needs an Angor Wat passport (which is a 3 day ticket)

is it worth it? of course, but you'll likely have to cut some other things.

here is one of the big travel companies there (they used to do american express travel there and may still)

http://www.diethelmtravel.com/cambodia/touridea.aspx

We have managed to tack on a few days - I think we are up to 19 including travel time. So we should have 16-17 days of travel in Vietnam and environs. I really don't want to miss Angkor Wat if I can manage it.

From what I saw and have read here on various threads Siem Reap is the LAST place I would leave out. I would definately cut Phnom Phen and everything except Hanoi in Vietnam before cutting Siem Reap.

i'm the last one to say no to angor wat. I loved it. Just be practical. There is a lot of climbing. It is very hot and it saps you fast. The temples aren't all very close to each other and the connections there and out aren't the easiest.

to really see it takes 2 1/2 days, and getting in first thing in morning or out late in the day ain't easy. When you put it all together, it's basically nearly four days of traveling and touring.

It's also not cheap. the flights in and out of siem reap are some of the more expensive ones in southeast asia. And then everyone needs an Angor Wat passport (which is a 3 day ticket)

is it worth it? of course, but you'll likely have to cut some other things.

here is one of the big travel companies there (they used to do american express travel there and may still)

http://www.diethelmtravel.com/cambodia/touridea.aspx

The tour company we used, Cox and Kings, subcontracted to Diethelm Travel from what we could tell. The driver, guide and arrangements they made were first rate. Not sure who did which between the two companies but the driver and guide seemed to be from Diethelm and were fantastic.

How worth it is it to do the overnight Ha Long boat trips (Emeraude or Junk)? We have found a helicopter service that can take us from Hanoi to Ha Long... that way we would just do a day trip out there and stay back in Hanoi. Do you think we would be making a mistake to do so?

How worth it is it to do the overnight Ha Long boat trips (Emeraude or Junk)? We have found a helicopter service that can take us from Hanoi to Ha Long... that way we would just do a day trip out there and stay back in Hanoi. Do you think we would be making a mistake to do so?

I found the drive interesting. It goes through some areas where they is traditional rice farming going on. We also stopped at a large facility about halfway there that is run by the government and sells jewelry and other crafts made by children who they are training as craftsman. You can tour the workshops and buy stuff. I found the items to be a good value for the money although I am not an expert at jewelry.

I enjoyed the overnight on the boat. The sunset was stunning and I found it quite relaxing and peaceful out on the boat anchored at night. Obviously a personal preference though. I really liked the whole Halong Bay experience, the sail through the region and the formations is really a sight. The floating fishing villages are nice to see also. And it was the best crab and prawn we have ever had. ;)

I didn't enjoy the drive as much, but the night on the boat was fun, and not only was the scenery breathtaking, but if offered an interesting way to talk to people from other places. There were probably less than 20 people on the boat, some from France, spain, japan and other places and we all started talking.

One of the more interesting cross pollinating times on the trip.

by the way if it hasnt been described the gulf of tonkin here has all sorts of islands with rocks shooting up straight into the air. really beautiful scenery.

p.s. as an afterthought, you might want to doublecheck that the helicopter trip will give you more time on a boat and just doesnt get you there early to sit and wait for other tourists coming by bus.

We recently returned from a 20 day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia...one of the highlights was Sapa, we did the Monday package on the Victoria express...a wonderful experience, overnight Monday and the day train back on Thursday...the day trip back to Hanoi was a great break from touring and the scenery was amazing! Try to see the Coc Ly market which is held on Tuesdays...amazing and not too touristy, mostly comprised of the Flower Hmong.

Halong Bay was another highlight but the drive there and back is long and not all that interesting (especially after the scenery from the train) we did a 2 night kayak on the Bai Tho junk...I would do the helecopter if you can schedule it...even though we were there 2 nights, we pretty much saw the same thing both days...the problem seems to be that all the boats follow the exact same schedule and route...a bit of a traffic jam in the middle of paradise! We asked to get away from the crowds but were told they were required to stay in certain areas...loved the junk experience but would recommend getting onto as new a junk as possible...ours was a bit worn...the Dragon Pearl seems to be the nicest!

We also loved Hoi An! We spent 2 nights at the Life Resort which was incredible! I know friends who stayed at the Furama and thought it was lovely but boring as it is off on its own...I would have enjoyed another night or two in Hoi An!

We flew non stop from Hanoi to Siem Reap and stayed 4 nights at the Victoria Angkor which was one of the nicest hotels of the trip...it is just across the park from the Raffles...we lunched at Raffles and checked out the property...found the Victoria to be nicer...a much nicer pool area which was heaven in the heat and humidity! We toured 3 days, but I would say go even if you can only tour 2 days!


We booked eveything including local guides with Exotissimo Travel...I did extensive research before booking this trip and found this company to be very professional, helpful and reasonably priced! Actually, they were referred to be by a fellow Flyertalker! Our guides were wonderful and all our flights and connections went without a hitch. (exotissimo.com)

We arrived in Saigon and just spent one day there...more than enough to see the sights! If you need to cut time, cut it here.

Cambodia was amazing, much less developed than Vietnam...our guide there was especially informative and helpful, Mr. Bunthin...bunthin2002@yahoo.com)

Other hotels:
Saigon: Caravelle -very nice but we could have been anywhere...the Park Hyatt is where I will stay next trip

Hanoi: Sofitel Metropole -charming, excellent service, a real treat but stay in the old section! 2nd choice would be the Hilton Opera

Sapa: Victoria

Feel free to email me with any additional questions...you will love Vietnam! The people were very friendly, the food was delicious and the sights amazing...a memorable vacation indeed!

We will look at the Chinese Junk cruise over the Emeraude.

A good choice however you will have to anticipate mostly drizzles or overcast days in March. But Ha Long is best experience is such time

Note sure about Hoi An - will be reading more about it and will take saucesee's advice into consideration.
Nice quiet town but has seen much change lately. Seems to be the place to get your dress done.

Ha Long Bay sounds great... particularly the kayak trip. I'm going to try to work that into our itinerary. Also Mui Ne.
Have you heard of Ninh Binh? Much less touristics and have all the features of Ha Long except the water.[/I]

Will skip Phu Quoc. I do not need to see anything being compared to Phuket.
[B]Yup

We are going in March so I don't think it will be particularly rainy.
In the north, yes it will be raining.

I would like to see Da Nang and the environs. I'll be looking into travel options in terms of getting in and out. Someone had recommended a train but I'm thinking flying may be a better option for us.

Hanoi-Zephyr sounds PERFECT for myself and my wife but perhaps not for her parents who will be with us. Sofitel or Hilton may be more appropriate. What do you think for parents of a 30 year old who really enjoy the more luxurious things in life?

Can you tell me a bit more about the overnight train from Hanoi to Danang? How comfortable was it?
You have the choice of the hardwood bench where the locals use, a semi-coach tourbus seats and a bunker bed with a thin camping like matress

Furama Da Nang sounds like the place to stay there.

I think we will skip the car from DaNang to Nha Trang... I'm sure it's beaufitul but it will also be nice from above (minus grinding out 10 hours of soreness).

Mama Hahn boat trip sounds intriguing.
If you are into roudy, pot smoking and cheap wine, it would be the perfect place.

Rex in HCMC (are we supposed to call it Saigon?) sounds very nice but I'm leaning toward Park Hyatt.

HCMC to Phnom Phen... is the boat worthwhile? I'm thinking fly as much as possible... but of course you miss the sights on the ground. What do you think?
The trip will take a whole day. The first few hours will be interesting but then.....

I would like to do a day of Mekong Delta while we are in HCMC.
Skip it. The one day Mekong Delta is a tourist trap which herds you through the place like a greyhound on a race day. Plus the girls rowing the boats are put up for tourists to take picture. You will need more than 2 days to really enjoy this trip. If you just want to see the water ways then take the boat trip down to Phnom Phen.

As for travel agent/tour co, we are considering a few.. one being Kuoni out of Switzerland. Anyone have experience with them in Vietnam? I think http://www.haivenu-vietnam.com/ looks interesting.

A few more things...

We will definitely be visiting Siem Reap.
You will need a multiple entry visa to get back into VN.

We are getting pretty close to finalizing our itinerary.

Ha Long... We are definitely going to overnight... Only question is whether to do Emeraude or Dragon Pearl. Emeraude does look like it has nicer rooms but the Dragon Pearl certainly is sufficient. Emeraude may be more comfortable. But Dragon Pearl offers kayaking.

Anyone done both by any chance? Anyone want to comment futher?

Dragon Pearl!

When is the monsoon season for coastal Vietnam? How is the weather in August, other than hot and humid? ;)

Two choices remain for us... hotel in Siem Reap and hotel in Hoi An. Choices:

Siem Reap: Amansara or Raffles or Hotel de la Paix
Hoi An: Life Resort or Riverside Resort


Please advise.

When is the monsoon season for coastal Vietnam? How is the weather in August, other than hot and humid? ;)

I'm planning a trip to Vietnam later this year and from what I've read, August is monsoon season (which goes to Oct. I believe). You can double check at frommers.com.

Two choices remain for us... hotel in Siem Reap and hotel in Hoi An. Choices:

Siem Reap: Amansara or Raffles or Hotel de la Paix
Hoi An: Life Resort or Riverside Resort


Please advise.

I think it depends a bit on the style you are looking for. We only stayed at one of these, the Raffles in Siem Reap and were completely delighted. It is an old French Provincial style and we were completely charmed by it. Well, it really wasnt French Provincial "sytle" since it was French Provincial, built as a grand hotel by the French in the 1920s for the few very well to do that made it to Angkor Wat from Europe. The service was outstanding and friendly. There were very nice little touches like when we would return to the hotel during the day there was someone to greet us right inside the door with cold towels on a silver platter since it was hot outside. The room was a nice size with a balcony overlooking the lawns in front of the hotel. We also really like the old wooden elevator from 1929, complete with operator.

Two choices remain for us... hotel in Siem Reap and hotel in Hoi An. Choices:

Siem Reap: Amansara or Raffles or Hotel de la Paix
Hoi An: Life Resort or Riverside Resort


Please advise.

If an Aman property is an option for you, then obviously you are not trying to limited to lower end properties. For Hoi An I stayed at the Victoria Hoi An about 2 years ago. It was a great property, awesome beach, close enough to town (10 minutes in car/bike). Get a beach front villa. Service was excellent and it was nice getting to "play" with the pet elephant.