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You are here: Experts > Travel > South Asia for Visitors > Vietnam > travel between hanoi and vietnam
Vietnam - travel between hanoi and vietnam
Expert: Al Slagle - 10/29/2009
Question
I will be in Ho Chi Minh City on 8th feb til 17th feb with family in Vietnam. After that I will be in the country and leaving for the UK on the 27th/28th Feb.
My parents were born here and escaped to UK in the 70s. I was born in the UK and am now 29 years of age and this will be my first trip, ever, to Vietnam. I will be traveling with my partner so I will not be on my own.
I basically have between the 17th-27th (10 days) to experience as much of Vietnam as possible with my partner. We will be back packing and so the world is our oyster but we do not have long.
I want to see Hanoi and the coastline and my initial thought was to fly into HO Chi Minh, to see family, and then travel upwards and fly out to the UK from Hanoi.
Is traveling between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi along the coastline in 10 days possible? If yes, How?
Any advice that you could give would be amazing.. thank you
Answer
Hey Sarah,
I think your plan sounds very doable but you may have to make a few choices depending on what and how much you want to see. Generally speaking, you can either travel by train or bus up the coast. For a sleeping car on the train, it'll be comfortable but a little more expensive. The bus is considerably cheaper but much less comfortable as you can imagine. The roads are fine though so in terms of bumpiness, it's not too bad...just may be a little cramped if there are many people.
From Ho Chi Minh City, the first logical stop I guess would be Nha Trang. It's a nice beach resort town and a good place to relax for a day or two. The next stop would be a combination or choice of Hoi An, Danang, and/or Hue. Personallly, I visited Hue and skipped the other two out of consideration for time. Hue is a nice, historical city with The Citadel in the center. The river cruise option was nice and enabled us to see many temples including the famous Thien Mu Pagoda. We heard about many other travellers going to Hoi An so it's also probably a very nice town as well though you'll have to research that one more on your own I'm afraid. I'm not really sure what Danang has to offer but it may be of interest.
It sounds like you're most interested in Hanoi so I'd focus most of your attention there as well as allowing some time for Halong Bay. Hanoi has a more relaxed feel than HCMC and is a bit nicer all around. You can set up a tour pretty easily for Halong Bay in Hanoi which will include transport to and from Hanoi as well as the tour of the bay. There are different tours available depending on time and what you want to do and they range from a day trip to 3-4 days with overnight stays on Cat Ba Island or actually on the boat. Halong Bay is a 'must-see' in my opinion and I would spend at least one night to get the most out of the experience.
So to budget the time within 10 days, here would be my sample itinerary:
Nha Trang - 1-2 days
Hue/Hoi An/Danang - 2-3 days
Hanoi/Halong Bay - 5-6 days
If there are any other places you would like to see, you'll have to factor those in as well. We found that a lot of backpackers were heading towards Sapa (NW of Hanoi) on their way to China and heard great things about it. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go there but it may be a consideration.
Anyway, I hope this has been a little helpful in your planning. If you have any other questions, I'd be more than happy to try and answer them for you. Happy planning and have a wonderful trip!
Al
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