[notmenotme]

I had the pleasure of spending 2 weeks in Vietnam and a week in Siem Reap, a few years ago. Six days is not enough time to do both countries. Unless your child is interested in temples, skip Cambodia on this trip. As @tramor01 stated, pick either northern or southern Vietnam. Going with HaNoi for 3 nights, then go to DaNang for 3 nights. Hotels are not expensive, but don’t skimp on price. About $100 US is fair. That way the room will be a decent size for 3 people. For HaNoi, you want to stay in the old quarter, for the best experience. Hiring a guide is up to you. One can do the sights of HaNoi without a guide. But if you want to see the main sights in one day, hire a guide with explicit directions for no shopping stops. If you decide on Ha Long Bay, one can do a day excursion, just arrange it with the hotel. There are numerous flights, HaNoi to DaNang, so getting there is easy. Also leaving from DaNang, had many international flights, but who knows what Covid will do to that. DaNang has beautiful beaches and you can go to HoiAn for sightseeing. HoiAn is about a half hour from DaNang. DaNang has “China Beach” famous from the “American War”. We found the beaches in DaNang to all be very nice. The 3 nights in DaNang will give you some sightseeing in HoiAn and some down time at the beach. Hotels in DaNang are varied. Here would be a good place to use points if you have them. Although this not a good place for IHG points as there is only one property. While the IC Danang is an excellent property, it is located far from everything. I know, I have stayed there. The suggestion for US currency is also accurate. But you can exchange money into Vietnamese Dong, and get even better pricing.

Six nights in Vietnam is very doable. With wise choices, you can make this a relaxing trip. I can recommend a local Vietnamese package operator, who I have actually used.

[alistairNicoll]

yes you may be able to do a one day tour to Halong Bay but not something I would recommend at all if you go make it a two day trip minimum

[notmenotme]

[postquote quote=1084729][/postquote]

Considering that most visitors do a day cruise and others do a one night cruise. We did a two night cruise. It was nice, but the islands themselves are very touristy. We cruised to BaiTu Long Bay, but also thru-out Ha Long Bay. BaiTu is much less visited as there are limited permits. When we went to Thien Canh Son cave, and all the stalactites/stalagmites were broken off. The scenery is beautiful but it was very over-touristed. The primary reason to see Ha Long bay is the beauty of the limestone karst islands. That can easily be done on a day cruise. This is not an easy day-trip as the travel time to the port is 3 hours each way. One can also see Ha Long Bay by seaplane, which is easier, but not an actual visit. The OG poster says he only has 6 days to spend in Vietnam. Keeping that in mind, I recommended a day cruise. Doing HaNoi and DaNang in 6 days is still a stretch in itself.

[alistairNicoll]

I agree about the day cruise and I may have been less precise as I should have been because I did not mean necessarily a night on the boat

but I would certainly suggest that they stop the night before rather than try and do the whole thing in a day and I would be tempted if you are hiring a car+driver that you take your time over the trip out to the bay and go by a more scenic route than the one via Haiphong stopping along the way

[DanielRawson]

Thanks for all your ideas. They are giving me lots to think about.

[Blanicka]

Hi Daniel

I love Vietnam, traveled there a few times and missing the place so much!
For only 6 days I would go to HoiAn and Hue, maybe Hanoi, if that is your starting point but I flew Cathay directly from HKG to Danang a few year back (do not know what timetable they will have now). I took a few of my friends to Vietnam in the last few years and they all said that HoiAn was their favourite. It is such a pretty place, easy to walk or ride a bike, with plenty of cute restaurants and shops. From there you can do day trips to My Son ruins on Marble mountains.

[fatbear]

Vietnam is just about the only country where there are currently no restrictions on the number of spectators allowed to watch football matches !

Here is some background…………..

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2021/01/review-of-2021-vietnamese-vleague-1.html

1 user thanked author for this post.

AnthonyDunn

[fatbear]

Two V.League 1 matches postponed this weekend due to Covid outbreaks in Hai Phong and Da Nang.

[fatbear]

Hmm……the next two weeks of the season have now been postponed due to Covid………….

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DanielRawson

[DanielRawson]

Thanks for the regular replies.
Anyone think there is a chance of my trip happening?

[notmenotme]

Practically speaking, no. You are in the UK, correct? If you’re from the UK, I would say countries may allow you in, if you are vaccinated. Otherwise, slim chance you will be able to travel to Vietnam. The Vietnamese have done very well controlling Covid. They don’t want any chances of undoing that. Especially with all these mutations.

[Stevescoots]

[postquote quote=1090509]

I very much doubt it, i was due back to Saigon this friday first via CX who cancelled, then via EK, who cancelled on friday due to Uk banning flights from Dubai. now scrabbling to try and book QR. Info i get from inside Vn is dont expect any tourist openings until Q3 at the earliest

[AnthonyDunn]

Hi Daniel,

If you have only six nights, do yourself a favour and limit it to one country and probably a maximum of two sites. What is the point of getting somewhere only to start packing almost immediately upon arrival to travel somewhere else?

Old town Hanoi is, to both my and Senior Management’s eyes, one of the pearls of the Orient. It retains much of its old colonial architecture and much of its pre-colonial architecture. It reminded both of us of just how wonderful old Hong Kong used to be with the back street markets and shops.

There are some very interesting (that might even be “interesting” if you enjoy your museum visits with a dripping overlay of Vietnamese Communist Party historiography and ideology) museums, some fascinating street scenes and some of the finest food we have eaten anywhere in the world. There is some marvellous shopping to be had and the locals simply could not have been more friendly, helpful and downright charming. We had the pleasure of entertaining (or was it “being entertained by”?) two charming young ladies aged 10 and 11 one evening in a park overlooking the lake opposite the main post office. They sidled up and asked if they could talk with us to practice their English. This turned into such an agreeable experience, we repeated it the following weekend (their parents were close at hand) so we ended up with a very child-centric understanding of Vietnamese family life and what it was like to be a youngster in a very dynamic developing economy. They learned that the life of a domestic English moggy (cat) amounted to luxury and self-indulgence beyond measure.

There are plenty of walking tours around town and plenty of trips out of the city to some of the nearby lakes and geological formations including to Hailong Bay which is pretty spectacular. If you were so minded, the overnight train up to the NW border with China and then onto Sapa – but if your child is young, that might be a bit more hassle than you could do with. Or, gulp, a plane trip down to DaNang which has been turned into a monstrosity of a beach strip resort… Not our cuppa but each to their own.

Oh, and try Vietnamese coffee – not the cheap stuff but the genuine article. It makes a Mocha taste bland in comparison. And we concluded that Ha Noi Bia was definitely superior to Saigon Bia. Vietnam Airlines provide excellent domestic services and we used them between Da Nang and Hanoi and then down to Saigon. Otherwise, we much enjoyed Vietnamese trains which were definitely quite a few notches up from Burmese Railways but not as good as Sri Lankan….

Happy to respond to questions.

[DanielRawson]

So I’ve moved by trip to Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore to October. Is there as much chance as me travelling to the moon in October?

[alistairNicoll]

Daniel, if you booked with Virgin for your trip to the moon I would imagine you have a far better chance with Vietnam

Although to be honest I would not be that confident that all three will be welcoming travellers by then

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DanielRawson

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