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Hello Flyertalkers, I'm currently based in Hanoi and I have lived in Saigon (HCM City). I have traveled extensively throughout Vietnam, especially to popular tourist destinations such as Halong Bay, Sapa, Ninh Binh, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Mui Ne, Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc. I'll be happy to answer questions about Vietnam. There are lots of Vietnam experts in this forum, please join in. Safe travels everyone!

I plan to visit the Ninh Binh area, but hear some conflicting information. I plan to stay for a couple nights. What area should I stay in and why?

Some people say the Tam Coc boat tour / 3 grottoes are amazing, but it seems like they have not been to the Trang An boat tour. The people that have been to the Trang An tour mostly recommend to skip the Tam Coc boat tour. Which do you recommend, and why?

It's quite early, but I am planning on spending December 2019 in Southeast Asia, dedicating a week to visiting Vietnam. I have never been and would appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction of where to spend my time.

I'm not much of a relax-on-the-beach type of traveler and enjoy something a little bit more active and/or culturally oriented. Hue, Hoi An, and My Son looked really attractive, but I've read that the weather isn't so great in December. I don't mind rain, but would I be better off visiting other parts of the country? Any tips would be greatly appreciated; thanks in advance!

Traveling to Hanoi with two of my friends from India and we are booked at the JW Hanoi. We will have 1.5 days to explore Hanoi before heading out of a bike tour of the countryside, then a day at Ha Long Bay and then bike back to Hanoi.

What should we do in Hanoi? I was looking at doing the street food tour and exploring the Old Quarter. Any other suggestions you can think of?

Stay 1 night in Tam Coc and do a boat ride in Trang An next morning is a good option. Ninh Binh is worth a 1 or 2 night stay!

OP can we get some answers to our questions?

I hadn't heard of Tay Nguyen, so I'll check that out. Thanks!

For a first visit to the Ninh Binh area, IMHO both boat tour routes are fine because they offer different sightseeing.
The Tam Coc tour will take you close to the old citadel of Hoa Lu and the temples of the Kings of the Dinh and the Le dynasty from the 10th century.
The Trang An route, beside going through more caves (not necessary more or less beautiful), will take you close to the Bai Dinh pagoda complex, and the location of the filming of the movie Kong - Skull Island. Bai Dinh is an incredible architecture achievement. It is especially beautiful when visit at night with all the lighting. In a contradictionary fashion (at least for me), it is one of the reason why I view Bai Dinh as more of a tourist attraction rather than a true place of faith. For this spiritual feeling, I can only find in century-old pagodas elsewhere in Vietnam.

With what you have in mind currently for 1.5 days in Hanoi (which I agree), you can squeeze in a visit to the West Lake and the 2 religious spots by the lake side: the Tran Quoc Pagoda and the Quan Thanh temple.
The Quan Thanh temple is one of the four temples built originally to guard the 4 gates to the Hanoi Citadel. Quan Thanh temple is at the North gate. When you visit the Old Quarter, try to see the White Horse temple (76 Hang Buom street), this is the temple guarding the East gate.
You probably know already but the JW Marriott is a bit outside of town, aiming toward the business travelers and the people attending events/expos at the National Conference Center nearby. But it is a top notch hotel, one of the best in Ha Noi.

Travelling to Danang in the last week of April for two weeks, would like to visit Nha Trang also but wondered which area would usually have the best weather at this time of year.

This thread is already a magnet for the tour operators that have been visiting the Vietnam threads on FT in the past few months. They're not always wrong, but be careful who you listen to.

I am not the OP obviously, but will add a little from a SGN perspective.
I stayed in Ninh Binh. It was convenient with the hotel offering pickup from the train station, although it's a small town so less than 100k to most any hotel IIRC. There wasn't much to do or see in town, but it was a good place to rent a motorbike and explore from. It was nothing special though, just convenient.

I did not take the Trang An tour, and so am one of those you describe. But from the videos I've seen of it, and my own experience on the Tam Coc tour, I agree with hxhbk's post and find his/her comments accurate. I did enjoy Tam Coc a lot, it was beautiful and I was glad we chose it especially after seeing more videos of Trang An. The rice fields along the river really add such a vibrant green and made it more beautiful than just jungle type foliage for me. And fwiw there were some Vietnamese tourists on the Tam Coc tour, although I also hear they prefer the Trang An one. For Tam Coc, you do get pressure to buy some water or drinks at the turnaround, including one for your rower who then does not consume but gives back to the salesperson to sell again, but I didn't find any real scam more than the price of a water bottle.

What I really enjoyed around there was driving through the small roads. If you're an Asian level motorbike rider, it is very pleasant to get out and in the hills and on the small trails and roads among the villages. Maps.me works great and has pretty accurate road markings. The hiking can be very nice too if you like that.

You might get some rain then. The beaches and waves will be a little less inviting. But it is not the daily rains of August and September, if it looks attractive to you, I would not think December weather will ruin your trip. The Mekong would be pleasant at that time of year, and has a lot of culture including homestays. Sapa is active and culture but you end up with more weather issues - doable but fog limits views and it can be muddy. Duc mentions the highlands, and Da Lat is real nice and plenty of culture, and you don't see nearly as many western tourists there, so you might like it. I liked the waterfall hikes and touring the various coffee shops and restaurants and flower garden. There are lots of small places to visit, but not really any one awesome site there IMO. But it's just relaxed and nice temps. I do not know much about the weather there, but I would think it's far enough south you get cool temps but rain tapering off by Dec. I am sure you can find more info on that somewhere.

But I would note: The last two years we've had unusual weather in SGN. Usually mid- Nov to June should be no rain at all. Last year it rained almost every week or two, and this year it was about once every 2 or 3 weeks. So weather questions might be a bit hard to answer.

Nha Trang is ok, but I would rank Da Nang/Hoi An above it in general. But depends on which hotels and if you want beaches. The Amanoi is obviously top notch, so Nha Trang can be great. But Da Nang has more culture with Hoi An, Hue, all within easy reach, IMO. The areas between the two have some nice small beaches but not many luxury options that I'm aware of. Phu Quoc is getting more and better hotels, for better or for worse, and April would be ok there for weather. Note there is a public holiday in April next year.

Both should be hot and dry in April. You do get the storms coming in May, so if they are early at all, you could get some. Hard to plan for that though. Note the holiday comment above for April.

Sorry, It has been a bit crazy at work.

I have not stayed overnight in Ninh Binh, I have only taken day trip from Hanoi. If you want a little quite time out of the city, Ninh Binh is ideal. From what I heard the Emerald Resort is a nice place to stay. I have only done Trang An boat tour, and really enjoyed it. The boat operators (all women) work on tips, about $10USD or 200K VND per boat at the end of the tour should be enough. Enjoy Ninh Binh, one of my favorite spots in northern Vietnam.

December is rainy season in central Vietnam. I would recommend northern Vietnam for December because the weather is cooler. For culture experiences, Hanoi, Ha Long, Sapa and Ninh Binh are great for December. The weather ranges from cool to chilly, so bring light jackets and/or sweaters.

JW Hanoi is a nice hotel but a bit far from the Old Quarter for tourists. FWIW, Four Seasons is building a hotel right in the center of Hanoi lakeside at Hoan Kiem Lake. Personally, 1.5 days in Hanoi is a bit too rush. I would say 3 days would be ideal to enjoy Hanoi. It's a compact city, most of tourist things are within 5 km of Hanoi center. The Old Quarter is a must visit at night, on weekends, the streets around Hoan Kiem Lake is blocked off for pedestrians only.

Things to do in Hanoi are Night Market on Hang Ngang & Hang Dao streets, Ta Hien & Luong Ngoc Quyen streets for fresh beer (Bia Hoi) and snacks. Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, Ngoc Son temple in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Street foods are everywhere in Hanoi, a must try is Bun Cha (Hanoian's grilled pork with vermicelli), Obama & Anthony Bourdain's shared a meal of Bun Cha in Hanoi, but don't go to that shop, it's expensive and mediocre at best. My favorite spot for Bun Cha is on Cửa Đông street, they only open for lunch. Other food to try is of course, Hanoi Pho Bo or Ga (Beef or chicken) and Xoi Yen, a famous sticky rice place in Hanoi. Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) is one of Vietnam's French influence culinary favorites. Kafa coffee is ubiquitous in Hanoi, a great place to have Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk) relax and people watch. May be I should offer a street food tour for Flyertalkers. :).

Tay Nguyen is not a city, it's the central hightlands region. Buon Me Thout or Gia Lai / Dak Lak are some of the cities in that region, a bit off the beaten path for tourists.

April time frame in Danang and Nha Trang are pretty much the same. Personally, I would stick with Danang & Hoi An.

The JW offers a free shuttle to the city so we can just use that and then grab a taxi or UBER to where we need to go. Trying to see everything in one go is not our thing .. we will try to get to the lake and just walk around. Eating is our thing. We will do the night markets for sure.

We are doing a three day cycling tour to spend time together -- "This journey will bring you to a new side of Ha Long Bay. Starting from Red River out of Hanoi city we cycle to the famous UNESCO world heritage site of Ha Long Bay. We cruise on crystal clear water to beautiful Cat Ba island and visit one of the world's biosphere reserves, Cat Ba National Park. Here we'll be treated to green jungle and beautiful scenery, We spend the night ion the beach before we cycle along the coast to meet our next boat. This one takes us to the newly discovered Thien Long cave before we head back to Hanoi."

I appreciate your insight! I have been doing some research over the past few days, and the Mekong delta does look enticing. Perhaps I could take a full week to explore Saigon and the Mekong delta? I'm beginning to realize that I can easily spend a month in Vietnam alone! Thanks for the heads up regarding the weather; will definitely keep that in mind when preparing for the trip.

I appreciate the recommendation! How many days would you recommend to spend in the north to visit Hanoi, Ha Long, Sapa, and Ninh Binh without rushing?

Having been at the Son Tra Intercontinental, I will not make the same mistake again because, like you, I prefer to eat out at local restaurants downtown and around the public beaches. It takes around 30 minutes each way to go from the hotel to downtown by car.
I have since stayed at the Novotel Han River, centrally located downtown and on the bank of the river.

Great, thanks!

I disagree on your days per each place, but I would agree that 10 days is *okay* (he did say without rushing, so I'd add a few more days on there).

As an add on to my Vietnamese trip I am considering a 3 night stay in Siem Reap or HCMC. In terms of 'things to do' it appears that Siem Reap will have more appeal to me but am I missing something in HCMC? My interest in ancient history is probably greater than in modern history, but this isn't the only factor. Which is the better place for food and other interests? As a reference point I'm also staying in Hong Kong and Bangkok on this trip for flights and I know both reasonably well.

You're going to get a 100 different replies to this question.

In your research of things to do, what else did you find for Siem Reap besides the Angkor temples? I would say there are many more things to do in HCMC than Siem Reap. As for the historical stuff, I agree that Siem Reap will be better than a big modern city like HCMC. For food, I would say HCMC. Look into those food tours.

In my opinion the two places are completely different. You need to think about what you want to do, Angkor or big city. HCMC is different from Bangkok and HK, but again, it's another big city.

Food is Saigon for sure. Saigon things to do revolve around people more than history. Markets, neighborhoods, coffee shops and nightlife, along with visits to the Delta and farm areas, small temples that are not as old, some small museums maybe if you want to learn about the city and see some of the famous places from the conflict, or about HCM himself. Since you're used to BKK, I would compare it somewhat to that location, but without a palace and the old temples (and obviously less developed still, i.e. no BTS).

Siem Reap is tiny by comparison, and imo revolves entirely around the temples, with the lake being a compliment.

Just a little observations about Siem Reap. I was in Siem Reap 10 years ago, when it was a sleepy little town with no traffic and virtually empty temples. I visited Siem Reap again last month, I was surprised how much it has changed. It is now a much more vibrant little town, with night markets, pub streets and many more variety of restaurants. However, the temples are over ran with tour buses consist of mostly Chinese and Korean tourists. The good part is Siem Reap has a little more night life, bad part is crowded temples.

Back to Vietnam. Could you tell what would be the best time to visit Sapa, how many days one should allocate it, transportation included and are there any better, little known secret alternatives for it?

On a separate question - where would you recommend to go for someone who prefers off the beaten path?

Do you have a transportation method in mind for Sapa? There are several ways that tourists go there. You can read about them here : https://wikitravel.org/en/Sapa

I know you've been to SE Asia a bunch, and "off the beaten path" is getting harder and harder as the years go by. For me personally, if time is not an issue, I have thought about taking a train ride from bottom to top and just getting off at random stations. Obviously, don't go anywhere that any tourist bus goes to.
Qui Nhơn is a place on my list, but recent research indicates it's getting busier with expats looking for "off the beaten path". It used to be said that Qui Nhon is like what Nha Trang used to be like.

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.