Vietnam is an absolutely must visit country. I know I say this a lot, but I really mean it about Vietnam. The people are so friendly & inviting, there is so much to see and do from cities, beaches, sand dunes and trekking. Not to mention the food is incredible! It’s quickly become of one of my top tier cuisines. We spent a whole month exploring and I’d happily go back tomorrow to keep exploring.

Arriving in Vietnam as a first stop in South East Asia might feel slightly overwhelming. As we drove from the airport to our hostel in Hanoi, the driver zooming across lanes and nipping between the thousands of mopeds, it was a bit of culture shock. However after we arrived at our hostel in Hanoi, we went out on the hunt for food and within an hour, I was sold. I knew then that we would love Vietnam & that I was SO happy to be there. 

I would recommend starting in Hanoi and working your way south to Ho Chi Minh as it was quieter than the south to north way (we didn’t do the usual SE Asia route, the banana pancake route) and this schedule will work with most plans. As this is a month overview, I’ve added a rough idea of days/nights to spend in each spot and then more detailed blogs are also linked. And of course, as this is just a guide it might not be the best route for you but it should hopefully give you some ideas.

Just a heads up, this blog is going to be a long one, so if you’d prefer more detailed but separate itineraries, you might want to head to the individual itineraries. And, at the bottom of this one, I’ve popped a really simple skeleton route in case you’re feeling frazzled!

Hanoi

How Long to Stay: 3/4 full days

We spent around 10 days in total in Hanoi, as we ended up going back to Hanoi between places. We found it easier to go back for a night between stops to break up journeys and we had the time to do so. If you’re on a shorter time scale, you can do most things in 3 or 4 days.

Where We Stayed: Hanoi Buffalo Hostel & Tabolo Hostel – both are located in the Old Quarter. Hanoi Buffalo was busy and full of life with social events and noisier dorms. We slept well but fancied somewhere quieter after a few days. Tabolo was much quieter, but we enjoyed the peace and still found it sociable. As a male/female couple, we always opted to stay in mixed dorms, so all our experiences are on this. In both hostels, we had either 4 or 6 bed dorms.

As there are so many things to do, I’ve written a 3 Days in Hanoi blog and I’ve popped a few highlights below:

• Banh Mi 25 – The BEST of the best. Many of these were consumed and you cannot go to Hanoi without sampling one. Perfect at any time! They even have a seating area opposite so we had to try one that came with a fried egg – perfect for breakfast (middle photo below).  
• A Walking Tour – Our first hostel, Hanoi Buffalo, offered a daily walking tour which was so informative (and FREE! We did tip our guide as she was amazing) and we saw areas that we wouldn’t have seen or known about without doing the tour.
• Vietnamese Womens Museum – With only a 40,000 VND entrance fee (£1.35ish), it’s so worth adding a visit to this museum. It was so informative and refreshing to visit somewhere that is just about women. The museum covers Vietnamese women’s history from past to present, featuring wedding rituals within different ethnic groups to the fashion trends in Vietnamese culture.  

Ok, so you’ve arrived in Hanoi, and you’ve had a few days of exploring and settling in. Hanoi is full on hustle and bustle, so before you start heading South, a popular stop first is actually in the North. Jump on a bus and head up to Sapa, a village nestled in the mountains.

Sapa

How Long to Stay: 2 days/ 2 nights (this is dependent on what you want to get out of Sapa!)

Where We Stayed: Lustig Hostel

Sapa is a great spot for trekking, spending time with local ethnic groups, trying North-Vietnamese food and spending time in the mountains. Whilst it wasn’t our favourite stop in Vietnam due to the weather, I would absolutely go back.

We stayed in the Lustig Hostel, which was nice and friendly but the reason most people go to Sapa is to experience a homestay. Everyone we spoke to who stayed with a local family in Sapa said how amazing it was.

If a homestay isn’t your thing, then there are plenty of hostel/hotels, just book in advance as the best ones fill up quickly. As it was our first stop outside of a big city in SE Asia, a homestay wasn’t on our radar. We would love to do one on return and I would recommend choosing to do homestay in Sapa, especially. That being said, Lustig was a good hostel. Sociable but not loud with an included breakfast, comfy common areas and the beds were good with privacy curtains. We stayed in a mixed 16 bed dorm, which sounds horrendous, but was actually one of our faves of the whole month.

Most people go to Cat Cat Village when in Sapa so we had high expectations but sadly it felt completely unauthentic and just like a tourist trap. You’re encouraged to visit to experience the local lives of the H’mong Tribe who live in Cat Cat Village but there were only tourists inside. It cost a lot in comparison to other activities in Vietnam (£10 per person!) and everything inside was set up for tourists to spend more money. Some of the viewpoints in the village even had additional entrance fees. It just felt very scam-y and the locals that we came across were not friendly (understandably) and seemed unhappy.

We later realised a large part of the Cat Cat Village experience is purely for Vietnamese tourists who visit to rent extortionately priced traditional H’mong clothing and have posed photos around the village. We really didn’t enjoy our visit to Cat Cat & felt pretty uncomfortable for the hour or so we were there.

There are 54 recognised Ethnic Groups in Vietnam and many rely on tourism, monetising parts of their culture to improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, sometimes this may either consciously or unknowingly lead to the exploitation of their children by using them to sell sweets, bracelets and homemade gifts.

Whilst in Sapa, or anywhere in Vietnam, often children are encouraged to work but please do not give any money or buy the items they offer. It may seem like it is the right thing to do but it is actively discouraged. The Vietnamese Government has had a long term focus on improving the education of children in tribes that live in remote and isolated places. With implementing programmes that focus on reintegrating and re-socialising those who have left school before the end of their compulsory years, children are completing education and experiencing a higher quality of life. It is really positive to see the Vietnamese Gov. is so invested in vastly improving the wellbeing for all children.

Ok, so, back to the blog – if you’re doing a homestay, you’ll get to see village life without the tourist trap side of things and this is a much better way to support local families. If you do head to Cat Cat, be prepared to pay a fairly pricey entrance fee and meet some rather persistent sellers on the way down and into the village. 

Han’s Hint: Sapa is built in the mountains so it is super hilly and steep. If you’re comfortable it can be a good place to hire a ped to get around, but it is also perfectly walkable – just pack lots of water and wear comfy shoes. We did everything on our trip in trainers, but it would be have been really handy to have walking shoes here. 

We ate in the town for dinner and tried a traditional hotpot in A Phu Restaurant which was soooo delicious and really unique way of eating. It warmed us up too as it was rather cold up the mountains in January. Another restaurant recommendation is Little Sapa, which was also really lovely & so cheap. Both meals were so tasty and run by local families.

If you’re into trekking, you might want to allow yourself a few more days in Sapa to really explore. But for us and with the cold temperatures, 3 days was enough. So we headed back on a night bus from Sapa to Hanoi. The next stop is Ha Long Bay, and although you can go directly there, we found it easier to do a tour from our hostel in Hanoi.

Want to know more? 3 Days in Sapa is linked here.

Ha Long Bay

What To Do: 2 Days 1 Night Cruise 

A very popular activity on most Vietnamese itineraries is a trip to Ha Long Bay. We had Cat Ba recommended to us by asa few people we met in Hanoi who hadn’t been impressed with Ha Long Bay. We decided to give it a go as we were already loving Vietnam so much that we knew we’d be making a return trip. Unfortunately, we should have listened as we soon wished we had gone to Cat Ba instead.

I am not sure if it was the weather (there was a potential typhoon when we arrived at the docks) or whether it was the amount of rubbish that was just floating in the National Park or the overcrowding, Ha Long Bay just did not hit the spot. To say that Ha Long is a UNESCO site and a protected area of Vietnam, we were really surprised by how dirty it was.

The tour wasn’t a complete disaster and we did enjoy parts – the accommodation was clean, the staff were friendly, we had really tasty food on the boat and we enjoyed the hilarious karaoke in the evening. For the price we paid, around £50 per person, the amenities and activities were great value. It is just a shame that Ha Long Bay doesn’t seem to be getting the respect it deserves.

I would not recommend visiting Ha Long Bay unfortunately, and although I cannot speak from experience as we did not go, add a trip to Cat Ba instead to your itinerary if you fancy experiencing a boat cruise in Vietnam. The full review of our Ha Long Bay experience is here.

Han’s Hint: There are so many different budget options for the tours, it really depends whether you want to splurge or keep in your budget. Just book it through your hostel, hotel or on 12Go.

Once you’ve completed your cruise in Ha Long or Cat Ba, it’s time to start heading down South. We went back to Hanoi for another night as part of our tour booking through Tabolo Hostel, they had also included a nights stay at the hostel after the cruise. If you’re short on time, I would recommend booking a direct bus to Ninh Binh. 

Tam Coc (Ninh Binh) 

How Long to Stay: 3 days/ 2 nights

Where We Stayed: Tam Coc Mountain Bungalow – Our first private room in Vietnam! We splurged a little as this stop fell over my birthday, it was worth every penny and one of my faves of our entire trip.

Tam Coc, located just outside of Ninh Binh, is nicknamed ‘Ha Long Bay on Land’. It is so beautiful. Even in the rain, it was just so quiet & peaceful. It’s such a lovely spot to visit when you want to explore more of Vietnam’s countryside and breathe some fresher air. Our accommodation was incredible and run by a lovely Vietnamese family who were kind enough to organise flowers & a cake for my birthday. It was such a treat to stay in a private room (there are also dorms) and sleep in a really comfy bed. Breakfast was included, but they also had a menu for lunch & dinner options as well as moped rental, bike rental, tour bookings, free wifi & a pool for when the weather is warmer.

There is a fair amount to do and see in Tam Coc, but it also isn’t an action packed place. The most popular of things to do is a boat tour through the many caves. You can do one from the centre of Ninh Binh or you can head over to Trang An and book on one there. We used the moped rental from the accommodation and drove to Trang An in about 15 minutes. The boat tour from Trang An is slightly more pricey at 250,000 VND per person (a whopping £8.50!) but it was 2 hours long so we felt that we absolutely got our moneys worth.

Han’s Hint: If you haven’t tried a ped yet, this area is a good place to have a go as the roads are fairly quiet and wide. Just make sure you’re covered on your travel insurance!

Also definitely consider what activities you want to do before you arrive as you can really take the time to relax in Tam Coc. Explore the coffee shops & restaurants – a popular choice is Chookies, or you can be out and about, exploring on mopeds or on bicycles. If you’re wanting more on what to expect in Tam Coc, here is my 3 Day Itinerary!

Once you’re rested up from a few days in the beautiful countryside, it’s time to move on.

Phong Nha 

How Long to Stay: 2/3 days 

Where We Stayed: Phong Nha Tuan Garden House 

Heading from Tam Coc/Ninh Binh to Phong Nha is quite a chunk of travel (around 7 hours without stopping) so we decided to do this as a night bus. It was one of many! Our Tam Coc hostel arranged the taxis & bus so all we had to do was get on the right one and then get off in Phong Nha. Don’t worry though, it is fairly well organised – even if you feel like they don’t know what is going on and you’ve pulled over on the side of the verge for the 6th time for people to get on or off the bus! 

Arriving in Phong Nha should be early morning if you’ve done a late night bus like us. We decided to go for a quieter accommodation rather than a dorm in a hostel, so we were located off the main strip. We needed a ped to get around here, so just bear that in mind when planning. 

We really liked our accommodation, the family were lovely & very welcoming. We were able to check-in in the early hours of the morning when we arrived which was so appreciated. We also tried one of their ‘family’ dinners one night which was a selection of homemade Vietnamese food & had a fair amount of happy water (rice wine)! I’ve written more about our accommodation in my ‘3 Days in Phong Nha’.

Again, there is a fair amount to do here but the reason why we wanted to visit was to take a trip to The Duck Stop. Owned by a Vietnamese family just outside of Phong Nha, The Duck Stop is a farm where you can visit to meet and feed their ducks. It was only 100,000 VND per person (£3.40) and this included a cold drink, fresh spring rolls and the duck experience. The ducks were so cute! 

If ducks aren’t your thing, still consider going to Phong Nha as the Botanical Gardens (it was a rainforest!) are just incredible. It is a bit of a drive so we hired a ped and did this all in one day. We completed a short hike to a waterfall & swam in the pools at the bottom. The entrance to the botanic gardens is around 40,000 VND so again really cheap. I think we spent less than £10 each this day, including the ped hire. It’s such a beautiful drive out to the gardens as well.

More Phong Nha information here!

After a few days in Phong Nha, head on to the next stop. 

Hue

How Long to Stay: 2 days 

Where We Stayed: New World Hostel 

We had another late bus from Phong Nha to Hue but it was only around 4.5 hours. By getting a late bus, we had had a full day in Phong Nha before moving on. We arrived in Hue with the plan to have 2 days and then book on to a Hai Van Pass tour. This is more than enough time, unless your 100% set on seeing alllll of the Imperial Citadel (which is kind of impossible as it’s HUGE). A day to visit the Imperial Citadel is more than enough as the rest of the city is quite business district-y – it’s where a lot of young professionals move to for work. 

The entrance fee for the Citadel is around 200,000 VND per person. A lot of people recommended doing it as a tour or with a guide, but we wanted to just explore at our own pace. I actually missed the trip to the Citadel but my boyfriend, Mike, really enjoyed it and I was pretty gutted as the photos look amazing. 

Ok, so here’s the real reason for going to Hue…If you’re an OG Top Gear fan, you might have seen the Vietnam special in which they drove motorbikes across the Hai Van Pass – a windy mountainous road between Hue and Da Nang. The views looked incredible so we had to do it. Even if you haven’t seen Top Gear, this is such an impressive tour to do and was a highlight of Vietnam for us. If you fancy watching for a little taster, you can find it on YouTube!

You can do the pass on your own by booking just a bike through a moped rental company. They’ll take your luggage to their office in your end location and have it waiting. This is great as it would be pretty impossible carry a massive backpack on a bike.

We opted to do a tour as we thought it would be safer to be part of a group and so we booked with Le Family Riders. If you’re inexperience with driving a ped, I’d recommend booking with a tour as you can use an easy rider – a person who drives, whilst you get to be passenger princess! We actually didn’t use an easy rider as Mike drove, but we were in the minority. If you are not 1000% comfortable with riding a ped or have any doubts, please use an easy rider. You have to navigate some difficult roads, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

As I said already, we LOVED this day and it’s a huge highlight of our travels. Our tour started early, with a trip down some back roads to a small fishing village, we cruised to a waterfall and had a lunch at a really nice seafood restaurant before zooming over the pass. The tour took us down into De Nang, to the Marble Mountain to see the sunset before finishing up in Hoi An in the evening where we collected our big backpacks at the office and then we were each driven to our accommodation.

The tour guys were great – professional, friendly, organised and spoke incredible English too. Their insta is @lefamilyriderstours if you fancy booking with these guys.

Han’s Hint: If you’re doing the drive yourself, stop for a night in De Nang. Take a break here and then you can take your time on the pass and complete your journey to Hoi An the next day.

Hoi An 

How Long to Stay: 3 days 

Where We Stayed: The Green Apple Hotel – a little out of the way but really lovely accommodation. 

If you’ve seen photos of Vietnam, you’ve probably seen photos from Hoi An as this city is famous for it’s beautiful lanterns. I truly loved Hoi An! It was busy but quaint and had things going on in the evening. We ate really good food at Morning Glory Signature, enjoyed Banh Mi’s at The Banh Mi Queen and ate at Banh Mi Phuong (where Anthony Bourdain visited!). I loved Hoi An for so many reasons including the lighting of the paper lanterns, the coconut boats, all the souvenirs you could think of, the bustling markets and some of the best food we had in the entire of Vietnam. 

As I couldn’t write it all in this blog, here’s the full 3 Day in Hoi An.

Once you’ve had your fill of Hoi An, take a night bus to the next stop. 

Dalat

How Long to Stay: 2/3 days 

Where We Stayed: The Dalat Family Hostel

If you’re on the same schedule as we were, you’ll arrive in Dalat early morning. The first thing to do is to go & get checked in and dump those big bags before finding some food and recovering from the night bus. Dalat is a bit random, there are things to do but it wasn’t our favourite stop and on a return trip to Vietnam, we wouldn’t go back. However, if you’ve got the time, you might as well stop here and break-up the journey south. 

We mostly included a stop in Dalat for the Alpine Rollercoaster which is a drive out of the city, so we hired peds and did a day trip. We visited the coaster first, it wasn’t too far and it was a nice windy drive round the mountains. We went for return tickets on the coaster which I would recommend this if you don’t fancy the hike back up! 

You can also take a trip to the Linh An Pagoda, the flower park and the night market which is really popular and good for trying lots of different Vietnamese snacks. If you’re wanting a night out, a popular spot is the kooky Maze bar. It is what it says it is, a maze inside a bar! It’s fun & the drinks were cheap too. A good place to go to socialise and it seemed like some of the hostels regular bar too. 

Here’s the link to my 3 Days in Dalat.

If you’re ready to move on, get yourself on the next bus and head to Mui Ne! If you get travel sick, you’ll definitely want some tablets for this journey. 

Mui Ne 

How Long to Stay: 2 days 

Where We Stayed: Gia An Hung – This was more of a hotel, but it was so nice & worth the extra pennies because we wanted a pool!

Mui Ne is another spot that if you’re short on time, it can be missed to prioritise those places you really want to see. As we had flexibility, we decided to stop off and see it! If you’re wanting a chilled couple of days, this is a really good place to relax. There isn’t loads to do and our accommodation & the hostel bar we visited were both really laid back. If you want a bit of a nightlife, I’d recommend opting for a hostel!

I have to mention the food court here – Dong Vui. It was really modern, with 13 different restaurants & one bar. The food was soooo good! There was a real variation of food choices from pizza, curry to tacos. We love Vietnamese food but we just fancied something familiar and we could get that here. We spent all 3 evenings here, eating, drinking and playing cards. It was a really unique and cool spot to go to. 

The popular things to do include the Fishing Village, Fairy Stream and the Sand Dunes. We actually did all three in a tour, so it is possible to do so. I would recommend having a look into what you actually want to see as the trip to the Fishing Village was more of a look, than a visit. It felt like we paid a lot for what we saw. We’d just booked through Trip Advisor so I’d definitely speak to your hostel/hotel and see what they offer. If you’re heading to the sand dunes, be prepared to pay more money on arrival, as unless you’ve booked the fancy pants tour, it’s unlikely that the quad bike hire is included and this is the best way to see the dunes (the only way really, which we discovered on arrival). I’ve written more about the tour in my 3 Days In Mui Ne blog.

Ok, so on to the last (but not least) stop of the trip – Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon as it was originally known. This is another longish bus ride and it’s best to do an evening bus from Mui Ne so you get a full day there & then arrive in Ho Chi Minh late, ready to check in and have a good nights sleep before hitting the city exploring. 

Ho Chi Minh 

How Long to Stay: 3/4 days 

Where We Stayed: Cou Cou Homestead 

OK so, there is a fair amount to do in Ho Chi Minh. Nicknamed the Capital of the South, this city is huge! It has a population of over 9 MILLION people. 

There is loads to see and do in this mammoth city and as with the other stops I couldn’t do it justice here, so here’s a link to the 3 Days in Ho Chi Minh and I’ve popped a summary of what we did below instead.

• Cu Chi Tunnels – The most obvious thing to do when visiting the city. They’re actually not very close to the city – over an hour away so it’s a full day tour kind of thing. They are really popular and absolutely worth a visit, you really can’t comprehend how tiny the tunnels were/are until you’ve been and seen. I couldn’t personally go all the way down, the claustrophobia was crazy, but if you’re up for it you can actually go through a tunnel and experience what it was like. We booked through our friends hostel, but all the tours did the same things and offered the same trip for very similar prices. The only difference will be if you’re staying in a nicer hotel/booking a private transfer then you’ll pay more and have a slightly different bus. 

• The War Remnants Museum – It is a heavy thing to do and it was genuinely harrowing to read the first hand accounts but I think it’s really important to include a visit here if you’re taking a trip to Vietnam. The museum was one of the most detailed we visited the entire six months we were away. It had thoughtful exhibitions, lots of photos, facts, background information and surprisingly, also it seemed reasonably unbiased. I think people were so shocked about the facts it displayed – I know I was.

• More Things to Do – Consider taking a trip to Cong Caphe for delicious coffee, trying out some nice fancy brunch spots, visiting a roof top bar – Taboo was cool, or send a postcard from the famous Central Post Office. I loveeeed visiting the post office & it was such a good spot to find some souvenirs too. 

Congrats, you’ve made it to the end! Apologies for the length, sometimes it’s impossible to keep it short and sweet.

Just to say before ending this blog, one of the most popular activities in Vietnam is the Ha Giang Loop. To maximise our time, we opted to save this for a return trip as it takes around 4 days. We have regrets of not including it in our first visit, but it’s always good to have something new to do on a future trip! Everyone we spoke to that did this tour, loved it. It seems like a truly incredible and hilarious 4 days so if you have time, I’d definitely include this in your itinerary.

As promised, I’ve popped the skeleton route below incase you’re feeling frazzled and I’ve highlighted some of the stops in red that if you’re super short on time I’d recommend missing out.

• Hanoi
• Sapa
• Ha Long Bay 
• Tam Coc
• Phong Nha
• Hue
• Da Nang
• Hoi An
• Dalat
• Mui Ne
• Ho Chi Minh City

Really hope this has been helpful when you’re planning your route and what to do. As always, feel free to leave any questions or comments below or find me on Instagram or tiktok where I’ve shared even more of what we got up to. 

Thanks for reading!