Vietnam, bay to delta.
Ha Long day boats, Hoi An lantern nights, the Ha Giang loop and the sampan run through the Mekong: what each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Karst, terraces, lanterns, delta.
Ten days or three weeks, these are the ones people come home talking about: a morning under the Tam Coc cliffs, a sampan through the coconut palms, the alley kitchens of the Old Quarter after dark.
From HCM City: Mekong Delta Tour with Sampan Journey
A 9-hour Mekong Delta day trip from Ho Chi Minh City with temple visits, canal sampan cruising, island life, and coconut treats.
From $16 per person
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The bay does not photograph small.
Close to two thousand limestone islands, and the gap between a fine day and a wasted one is the boat. Day cruises leave Hanoi around eight and are back for dinner. The bigger boats push past the day-trip moorings into water that goes quiet after four.
Day boat, overnight, or the quiet bay?
Every Ha Long itinerary comes down to this, and the three answers cost very different money. Pick the one that sounds like your trip; the list behind it is already costed and rated.
Back by dinner
The day boat
from $40 · 2,551 reviews
Out of Hanoi around eight, three hours on the road, five or six on the water. Sung Sot cave, an hour in a kayak at Luon, lunch cooked on deck, home by seven. It is a long day and it works, and it is the cheapest way to stand under the karst.
See the day cruises →
One night aboard
The overnight
from $188 · 3,300 reviews
Boats that sleep aboard clear the day-trip crowd by late afternoon and anchor where the water goes black and quiet. Sunset from the top deck, squid fishing off the stern, Ti Top before the first day boat arrives. This is what people mean when they say the bay was worth it.
See the overnight boats →
Fewer boats
Lan Ha and Cat Ba
from $41 · 3,317 reviews
Same limestone, different gate. Boats out of Cat Ba work the southern bay, where the moorings are smaller and a beach can be yours for an hour. Add a night on the island and the national park is there in the morning.
See the Lan Ha trips →
At six the lanterns come up along the Thu Bon.
Silk lanterns go up along Bach Dang, the Thu Bon fills with paper boats carrying candles, and the whole town walks. Boat trips run late into the evening, and the lantern workshops will have you folding your own by the afternoon.
Plastic stools, one dish, done properly.
Bun cha in Hanoi, banh mi in Saigon, cao lau only in Hoi An because of the well water. A guide gets you to the stalls that sell one thing and shut when it runs out.
The country reads better from a bike.
A pillion seat through Saigon traffic, a Vespa around the Hanoi backstreets, or four days on the Ha Giang loop behind a rider who knows the passes. The ones with a driver need no licence of your own.
Hue and My Son keep their own hours.
The Nguyen citadel wants a slow morning; the royal tombs want an afternoon and a driver. My Son opens at dawn for a reason, and travellers who take the early slot get the Cham towers and the whole valley to themselves.
The wartime sites, described plainly.
The tunnel system at Cu Chi outside Ho Chi Minh City, the War Remnants Museum, Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, and the DMZ north of Hue with Vinh Moc and Khe Sanh. These are memorial places. The reviews set out what each visit involves, how long it takes and what it costs, so you can decide before you go.
Pick the stretch of country, then the day.
Vietnam is a long thin place and a trip here is really a sequence. Ha Long for the limestone. Hoi An for the lanterns and the tailors. Hue for the citadel. Saigon for the noise, and the delta for the quiet straight after it.
Days on water, days on two wheels.
Boats, bikes, kitchens, workshops, coffee. Choose the shape of the day and the list behind it is costed and rated already.
The long way is the point.
Half of Vietnam happens on the road out. Terraces above Sapa, the karst valley at Ninh Binh, three days of switchbacks on the Ha Giang loop, and the coast road over Hai Van with the sea on your left the whole way.
North to south, in three legs.
Most first trips run Hanoi to Saigon or the reverse, with one internal flight and a night on a train. This is the sequence that wastes the least of them.
Leg 1
The north
Hanoi for the Old Quarter and the train tracks, two days out to Ha Long or Lan Ha, then Ninh Binh for the rice valley. Add Sapa or Ha Giang if the days are there.
Plan the north →
Leg 2
The centre
Train or fly to Hue for the citadel, then the coast road over Hai Van into Hoi An. Give Hoi An three nights: the tailors, the beach, and the lanterns after dark.
Plan the centre →
Leg 3
The south
A couple of days in Saigon, a night down in the delta rather than a rushed day trip, and an island finish on Phu Quoc if the flight home allows it.
Plan the south →
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