Originally Posted by
747FC
I am seeking advice on what might be good options to experience in our cruise stops in the following locations:
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) -2 Days
Da Nang (Hue) -1 Day, 8:00am-6:00pm
Halong Bay 1 Day, 7:00am-8:00pm
Will be the first time in Vietnam, so all options are on the table.
Many thanks for your assistance.
So there are quite a few posts on these places, you might find more info looking back. For Saigon, most of the city revolves around food and people, it's not packed with history. The typical recommendation I give starts with post 29 here, and is repeated somewhat often, but is basically two things. 1 - check out the history stuff, i.e. palace and war museum, and any small museums if you like that stuff, 2 - get out of d1/downtown, go in some alleys, take a food tour, and see what the people do. Also with two days, u might take a delta tour. The boat one is nice, their name escapes me now.
For Da Nang, you can do Hue which would take your full day, or you could focus on Hoi An. I think Hoi An is nice and would focus there. Some advice about 30-40 posts or so back on Hoi An and Da Nang sites is written.
Ha Long is basically set up so you can do a day tour of the bay I suppose. Not really a lot to do there other than that tour, unless you want to explore the town or the rural life around by hiring a car and just exploring, and maybe do some hiking. It's too far from Hanoi or anywhere else notable, except might be able to go to Cat Ba island if that is interesting to you.