Hello All;
To those people who have been to Vietnam south and North, iam seeking for your help and advice. I will be travelling on mid of october (most probably) for 3 - 4 weeks around Vietnam. Iam a little bit confused from where shall I start my trip? shall i land in Saigon and travel all the way north or shall i do it in the other way round, from Hanoi and all the way south ?
Another thing which iam worried about is, where shall I spend more time ?! in the south or in the north? Iam worried if i will start my trip on the South and spend much time there , then i will miss wonderful places in the North and the same goes if it's in the other way round?
little bit confued because there is a small possibility of visiting Yunnan in China .. Maybe.
looking forward to hear from you 😊
** Recommand some places as well please. Thanks.
Reply to this I will explain about the weather first. In northern Vietnam, there are 4 seasons and in southern Vietnam, there are only 2 seasons (rainy and dry seasons). When you go to Vietnam in October, it's cool and dry in the north (it's autumn), while it still rains in the south.
If you have 4 weeks, I suggest you fly to Hanoi, visit Ha Long bay and Cat Ba island for 3 days then go to Sapa by train, back to Hanoi and go to Hue city in central Vietnam, take a bus to Hoi An old town, finish central part here and head south. Most tourists go to Nha Trang/Mui Ne, Sai Gon (HCM city), Cu Chi tunnels, the Mekong Delta. Not sure if you like beaches or not, since you come from Malaysia where the beach may be better than Vietnam. If you don't want to see the beach, I suggest you go to Da Lat. Look at Vietnam's map and you will find all these locations.
It's easy to travel around Vietnam since we have good train/bus/plane system. See website of Sinh cafe (http://www.sinhcafevn.com/), you will find all necessary info about the bus.
Reply to this Hi,
You go to vietnam in the mid of october, its the best season to visite the north of vietnam, and it's the rain season in the south, so you should spend more time in the north, specialy in Ha Noi, I think you should start your trip in Ha Noi, stay in Ha NOi for 2 or 3 days, and then take a trip to Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba island, then you go to Sapa, at that time it's also best season to viste Sapa, you can see the yealow os the baddy field with nice weather at the, you can stay in Sapa for 3 or 4 days.
In the north you should go to perfum pagoda in Ha Noi and Three grotos in Ninh Binh Province.
Then you go to Hue, you viste Hue citadel and some tomp of the king, and you go to Hoi An ancient town,Hue and Hoi An are the center of Vietnam,
You also can go to Da Nang city, if you like beach you can go to Nha Trang, one of the most beatiful beach in vietnam then go to Da Lat with nice weather and beautiful flower
Finaly you go to Sai Gon and do a trip in mekong delta
Wish you have good trip in Vietnam, If you need some more information, plz cantact with me.
Reply to this Thanks a lot , I'm planning my trip as well....very very usefull information...
Does somebody know about this 'OPEN BUS' in Vietnam?...Is it worthy?
cheers!!
Reply to this Hello ,, Well thank you all for the informatin you have provided .. but i was wondering, about the North of Vietnam, most of the tourist fourms i have read is recommending three places only, Hanoi, Halong bay, and Sapa ?! there is no other places there to see ?
Thanks again for your help and support 😊
Reply to this As with everywhere tourists visit, there are the popular places on the typical tourist trail. Then there are lots of other places that you can visit for whatever reason.
Nimh Binh is famous for Tam Coc and Cuc Phuong National Park and the Endangered Primate Research Centre. You can visit Cat Ba on a Halong bay trip, or do it on your own. Many people stop in Haiphong now on the way to Cat Ba. Just to see a city that has not been affected by mass tourism. From Hanoi there are various circular routes you can go North too.
Have you got a Vietnam guide book? That would help.
Reply to this Hiiii Kris;
Thanks for your reply .. Well Cat ba will be on the way to Halong Bay and from what I have read that ,, If iam taking the 2 nights / 3days package then for sure they will stop me in Cat Ba? Do u advise me to take a tour or better to do it by my own ?
I will check the other places you have mentioned .. Well i havenot buy my travel guide yet .. iam going to soon .. it will gonna be Lonley Planet. 😊
Reply to this Hi Ray,
As the above advices, September and October is the rainy season in the South of Vietnam, so in my opinion you should visit the North first ans spend more time here😊. In general, there are some options to visit Ha Long bay, 1 day visit: you only have time for the bay, 1 cave on the bay and kayaking; 2 days visit: the bay, the cave and Cat ba island, you may spend 1 night on boat. 3 days visit: you may have 1 night on boat and 1 night on the island.
Sapa, Ha Long, Hoa Lu- Tam Coc...are the most popular choices in the North of Vietnam but besides there are other places which are not really easy to get ( but the scenery is very beatiful) or not popular with almost tourist.
Anyway, welcome you to Vietnam. if you need any information or help in Vietnam, just tell me. I'm glad to help you.
Reply to this Hi Ray,
IN the north, Ha Noi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa are the famous places, many tourist at there, Do you like some places with many tourist or less? If you do the tour 3 days 2 nights in Ha Long bay you can go to Cat Ba island, you stay 1 night in Ha Long bay and 1 night in Cat Ba Island. About Sapa, you should go to Sapa on the weekend, you can visit some nice markets, they call weekly market, for example: Bac Ha market on sunday. And you should book a tour in vietnam, it's easy for you to discover all of vietnam, if you need some more information or helping in vietnam, you can send email to me.
Good luck
Reply to this Whether or not to visit Cat Ba as part of a tour depends on how long you want to stay and what you want to do there. Most tours stay overnight and go trekking in the National Park. Then they move on. If you want to stay longer and are interested in rock climbing, a longer trek or relaxing on the beach then do it yourself. It's easy enough both ways. If you take a tour you will stay in the hotel they choose and do the activities that they decide. If you do it yourself it's your choice, but more organisation on your part.
Up to you.
Reply to this Hello All Again;
Well thank you all for the useful information you have provided me. Yesterday i have called the Vietnam console and I found that Iwill be given a tourist VISA for 2 weeks only !!!!!! that's fine, but what really shocked me that they said we will not be able to extend it !! I have kept Vietnam away in the past because i didnt want to do it in 2 weeks as I feel it will be a short time and I will be in rush. Errrrrrr.
It doesn't make sense to me that, a touristic country like Vietnam will give you only 2 weeks and that's it ?! Does anyone have any information about this?! Does anyone knows a website that I can contact to ask about extending my stays in Vietnam?! or is there is any place where i can I get the extension while iam there ?!
Reply to this Hi Ray,
I'm so sorry for hearing about your problem with the visa. it is so strange because I have never heard about something like that from the tourists in Vietnam.
www.VisaToVietnam.Org . Have u ever visited this website? I think it may help you. anyway, I do hope that the visa problem will be dealt soon and Vietnam is waiting for you.:D
Reply to this Hiiiiii kimvn;
Thanks for the website you have provided me .. Nope i didnt visit this site before ,, I will check it out and will update you. Thanks anyway 😊
Reply to this Hiiii Kate;
Iam from Oman, Middle East, Gulf Region.
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