Is the question for me or to the thread starter? If for me, I asked locals what is the preferred method of transport in and out there and one thing pretty much everyone said - avoid local buses as much as possible, especially night buses.

Lucky you but won't work for me - I and my wife have just 2 weeks in a year and we need do sync our calendars/do planning 6-9 month before departure. So no unplanned so called 'spontaneous escapes' for us.

Nha Trang is the 'do not go close to it' place for me - it is primary destination for packaged/chartered tours from Russia and China and I do not want to be near any place where such tourists end up in mass numbers. Nothing personal, just business.

So don't take a bus then. Take the train, take a private car, or rent a motorcycle. Read the link I sent you.


I never suggested Nha Trang. Good Lord.


Also, Sapa is definitely on the beaten path.

I will be in Vietnam next month and I really would like to bring back Plumeria (Frangipani) cuttings to grow in my yard. You can buy them in Hawaii at local stores already certified for transport, do they sell any that you know of in Vietnam? I have already contacted both dept. of Ag here in the states and an office in Hanoi but no response. Thanks for any input you might have on this.
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I've seen it. I usually read both wikivoyage and wikitravel. While both have about 70% duplicate content due to spin off of wikivoyage several years ago, it is the info which is in one but not in another worth to read.
Also for train reservations the best authoritative source is seat61. I did buy tickets from www.baolau.com for Hue to Danag and had no problems.

I did not say that you did. I just expressed my opinion about places where I would not go.
On a separate note - I wish to know where in Vietnam one should go to see nature/parks (excluding Halong Bay cruises). All my travel there were in cities/towns so far.

Coming to Vietnam for 12 days in about 2 weeks from now:

Current Plan:
2 Days Hanoi
1 night, 2 day Halong Bay Cruise
Fly to Danang - taxi to Hoi An
3 days Hoi An
Fly to Saigon
Taxi to Cai Be - 2 days 1 night there
3 days Saigon
Wife wants to add Sapa because a friend told her to but I don't think we have time. Any suggestions? is 3 days in Hoi An too much?

Seems like Sapa is at least 2 days given the travel time.

You don't have enough time to add Sapa.

How many nights are you staying in Hoi An?

4 nights, 3 days (we get there late at night the first night and leave first thing in the morning the next day)

One more question - in booking the cruises in Ha Long it seems like there's two ways to book - on booking.com that doesn't include transfers or from the operator that does (and is more expensive). Would we be better off just booking on Booking.com and arranging our own transport (especially since they want to charge us extra to return to the airport vs. returning to our hotel in Hanoi), or should we go for the "all inclusive" option? Are there better/cheaper ways to book than through booking.com or others?

You can fly from Cat Bi airport (Hai Phong) to Danang (Hoian) => Save time other than get back Hanoi for a flight.
3 full days in Hoian is ok.
IMO, you should head to Can Tho (Overnight stay for doing a floating market tour next early morning) instead of Cai Be. Did you check out a flight from Danang to Can Tho already?

3 nights in HCMC
2 nights in Dalat
The remaining time in Nha Trang
IMO, 6-7 nights in Nha Trang is too much.

Agree with you - An Bang beach in Hoian or My Khe beach in Danang.
Besides that, you can check out Con Dao island or Phu Quoc island.

HPH airport flight schedule didn't work out - only flights were in the morning and we wanted to fly in the evening.

Also looked at both Can Tho and Saigon from DAD but isn't the floating market in Cai Be? Would you recommend staying in Can Tho instead of Cai Be? Haven't booked that flight yet but thought Saigon was better given the number of daily flights vs. the one flight we could take to Can Tho.

Figuring out Ha Long was a bit tough for me. There are so many agents for the cruises. Finally I asked some other expats here and they recommended a site called halongbaytours. It was very smooth, they confirmed right away and asked about food allergies and for more details. They take a down payment at booking, then arranged to meet at the hotel in Hanoi to collect the remainder. Transportation to/from the boat was included. Since the airport is a good deal outside town, I think it is reasonable to quote a higher price for that, tbh, but if it's a very large amount you could just hire a car from Ha Long to the airport. (Also, fyi, they just opened a new highway up there, I'm not yet sure if it cuts down on the transportation time for all these tours or not.)

FWIW, I really really enjoyed the 2d 1n cruise we did in 2017, after not expecting to. I did a day tour there about 15 years ago and did not enjoy it much, so my expectations were low. I thought the food was good, the boat was clean and met expectations, and the bay was very pleasant and beautiful, staff was friendly and helpful with my elderly mother.

I'm not a Sapa expert. But I can say you can cut a day out of Hoi An and a day out of Saigon pretty easy. Or take a day trip to the Mekong and cut a day from the floating market excursion as well. Sapa would make things rushed, but if it was a "must-see" for the wife, you could do it.

May I suggest not to spread all over Vietnam? Please take into consideration that if you count time to get from place to place, it will easily add on 3 days and more.

I am not a big fan of Saigon (mildly speaking). I would suggest to replace Saigon with Dalat and limit your travels to 3 places maximum. For Hoi An you would need 3 days only if you plan to order some clothing made from one of local shops. If not, 2 days/nights should be sufficient - one for Marble Mountains, My Son and coming back via boat, second day for the town itself.

I noticed nobody mentioned Hue - given that we'll be in Hoi An it seemed like a logical day trip. Worth it? Better than My Son?