Ho Chi Minh Metropolis to Hanoi

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On this article, I’ll share our 7-day itinerary for Vietnam. 1 week in Vietnam isn’t a lot, nevertheless it’s attainable to go to a few of the principal highlights of this superb nation: from Ho Chi Minh Metropolis to Ha Lengthy Bay.

Hey there! Are you planning a visit to Vietnam however unsure the place to start out? Look no additional as a result of we’ve received you coated with this 7-day itinerary! Prepare for an thrilling journey by means of a few of Vietnam’s most beautiful locations, from the bustling metropolis streets of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis to the serene waters of Ha Lengthy Bay.

I’ll share with you the precise itinerary that we adopted in Vietnam: we landed in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, then went to discover Phu Quoc due to its good seashores and the truth that it was the one heat seashore vacation spot in Vietnam in winter. Afterwards, we flew to Hanoi and, from there, went to Ha Lengthy Bay. In whole, we spent 7 days in Vietnam, which isn’t lots, however we beloved it a lot and can gladly be again to discover the center of Vietnam (Hoy An, Da Nang and different superb locations). 

Helpful hyperlinks on your journey to Vietnam:

I’ve obtained a number of requests to offer a short abstract of all of the essential and helpful hyperlinks used on this publish for different articles that includes our itineraries, so right here’s an outline of helpful hyperlinks for the Vietnam 1-week itinerary:

Flights: Skyscanner for the flights to Vietnam and inner flights. I like to recommend flying with Vietnam Airways

Taxis: Seize

SIM card: you may both purchase one on the airport or purchase a multi-country sim like Drimsim that works in plenty of completely different locations all over the world

Plug sort: use this multi-country adapter 

Excursions: road meals tour of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis by motorcycle with native college students, Hanoi sightseeing tour, Phu Quoc snorkelling tour

Ha Lengthy Bay cruise: e book right here

Lodges: Hammock Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Ben Thanh, Salinda Resort Phu Quoc, JM Marvel Hanoi 

Earlier than we begin with the itinerary, listed below are a few FAQs:

What’s the most effective time to go to Vietnam? When did you journey to Vietnam?

Vietnam is an all-year-long vacation spot. Nevertheless, summer time in Vietnam will be very popular and humid. We visited Vietnam in winter, December & January, and we had the most effective climate within the South – Phu Quoc and Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, nevertheless it was very chilly, unusually chilly, in Hanoi. After we have been in Hanoi, it was simply 15-16 levels. Nevertheless, it was somewhat uncommon – it’s not usually that chilly in Hanoi in December! 

It’s arduous to say what’s the most effective time to go to Vietnam – it is determined by what precisely you wish to go to. Since we picked a time of the yr first – we knew that we may solely have sufficient annual depart for this journey in December; over the Christmas holidays; we needed to work round that and embrace the locations which have the most effective climate in winter. If we have been to journey in October, it might have been a unique situation, and we might doubtless tweak this itinerary slightly bit and go to completely different locations.

The center of Vietnam, the realm of Hoi An, will get very wet in winter – therefore, we determined to skip it and go to different locations with higher climate. 

What’s the easiest way to journey round Vietnam?

Travelling round Vietnam may be very reasonably priced, however provided that you journey by bus and prepare. Nevertheless, for that, it’s essential to have greater than 1 week in Vietnam. In any other case, you spend most of your time in Vietnam simply getting from one vacation spot to a different. If time is restricted, you’ll need to purchase flights – and people aren’t too low-cost. Nevertheless, I discovered inner flights in Vietnam to be very dependable and fairly good total, particularly in the event you fly with Vietnam Airways. 

When travelling contained in the cities, I like to recommend utilizing Seize – which is an Asian model of Uber. It really works in lots of international locations, and it’s fairly dependable and really reasonably priced. You should use my referral hyperlink to put in it.

Alright, with out additional ado, let’s begin with the itinerary for Vietnam in 7 days – the most effective locations to go to in Vietnam in winter. 

The proper itinerary for 1 week in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Phu Quoc, Hanoi & Ha Lengthy Bay: a day-by-day overview

Earlier than I’m going into an excessive amount of element on what we did do on daily of our journey to Vietnam, I wished to offer a short overview of our itinerary.

Days 1 & 2 – Exploring Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, staying at Hammock Inn Ben Thanh

Day 3: Morning flight to Phu Quoc, staying at Salinda Resort

Day 4: Exploring Phu Quoc

Day 5: Afternoon flight to Hanoi, an evening at JM Marvel

Day 6: Morning choose up from the Ha Lengthy Bay cruise firm, cruising the Ha Lengthy Bay

Day 7: Getting again to Hanoi, exploring the town 

Day 8: Morning in Hanoi and flying again 

Now, let’s speak about this itinerary in additional element.

Days 1 & 2: Exploring Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

Touchdown in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

If you happen to solely have one week to spend in Vietnam, I like to recommend shopping for multi-city flights, identical to we did. We landed in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis and departed from Hanoi, which was very handy. 

Our flight to Ho Chi Minh Metropolis was a direct flight from London, and it landed very early within the morning, round 5AM. Since we hadn’t managed to sleep on the airplane, we determined to e book a really reasonably priced resort subsequent to the airport simply to sleep for a few hours. We ended up reserving Victoria Airport Resort, which wasn’t an important place to sleep because it was very noisy, however a minimum of we may chill out for just a few hours, from 6am to 11am. 

Exploring Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

We arrived at our dwelling for the following 2 nights, resort Hammock Ben Thanh round 12pm and, fortunately, managed to examine in early. Hammock Ben Thanh is situated in the most effective space of Ho Chi Minh for exploring the town – there are many cafes, eating places and sights close by, and you may stroll to many of the different main sights.

Central Market

We went for a stroll across the Ben Thanh space, tried a standard Vietnamese sandwich, Bahn Mi, for lunch, after which later spent a while exploring the Central Market. The Central Market is known for its replicas of designer items. Nevertheless, we have been all in favour of one other part of this market – the realm with fruits, teas and sweets from Vietnam. We managed to purchase just a few edible souvenirs there. If you happen to’re trying to purchase some items, e.g. sweets, espresso or tea from Vietnam – it’s an excellent place to buy them. 

Avenue meals tour by bike

Within the early night, we had our Ho Chi Minh Metropolis road meals tour by bike with native college students. We booked this tour upfront on GetYourGuide right here. It’s a tour that I positively advocate to everybody visiting Vietnam. Not solely we tried plenty of completely different dishes we wouldn’t have tried in any other case, however we additionally discovered lots in regards to the historical past of Vietnam, rode a bike within the metropolis with most bikes in Vietnam (and possibly your complete world) and hung out in nice firm! Every of us received assigned a scholar who drove us round by bike and confirmed us the most effective issues to eat in Vietnam. The tour lasted for nearly 4 hours, and it was incredible! We ended the tour close to the Strolling road – the get together road of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis!

Making an attempt Egg Espresso

Just a few folks really useful we strive the normal Vietnamese Egg Espresso, and the following morning; we headed to essentially the most iconic place to strive it, Little Hanoi Egg Espresso. Egg espresso is a really distinctive factor, and I haven’t seen it wherever else however Vietnam. It’s espresso with an egg inside, and it ought to be consumed scorching (I’ve tried the chilly model as properly, and it wasn’t that nice).

Strolling across the upscale a part of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

Later, we went for a stroll across the extra upscale a part of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, the place many of the boutiques have been situated, proper subsequent to the Ho Chi Minh Monument, the Folks’s Committee Constructing and The Opera Home. That is most likely essentially the most lovely a part of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, so it’s positively price exploring.

Taking a look at Ho Chi Minh Metropolis from above in Bitexco Tower

One other must-visit place in Ho Chi Minh is the Remark Deck on the Bitexco Tower. The doorway prices lower than $10 per particular person, and the views from there are nice! Bitexco Tower was once Vietnam’s tallest constructing for a protracted whereas earlier than Landmark Tower was constructed. Nevertheless, Bitexco Tower continues to be one of the crucial iconic buildings within the nation and even in your complete world.

Sipping cocktails with the most effective view at Landmark Tower

Our subsequent vacation spot, the Landmark Tower, was a brief Seize drive away (btw as I discussed earlier than, Seize is an Uber various in Asia), and you should use my hyperlink to put in it.

At Landmark Tower, we have been heading to the Clean Lounge Espresso Bar by Nest – one of many highest cafes/bars in Asia. We didn’t have a reservation, however fortunately, there have been some obtainable spots on the open-air terrace, which was terrific. We additionally beloved the cocktails and desserts there – the menu was inventive and really scrumptious. If I used to be to advocate one place in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, it might be Clean Lounge. 

Exploring the Outdated Publish Workplace and the Notre Dame Cathedral

Our ultimate vacation spot in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis was the previous a part of the town with the Publish Workplace and Notre Dame Cathedral. The publish workplace (Sai Gon Central Publish Workplace) is free to go to, and inside, it has a working publish workplace and some memento retailers. Notre Dame Cathedral is without doubt one of the oldest surviving buildings in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis (it was completed in the midst of the nineteenth century), and it’s a working cathedral that you may simply go to. 

Days 3-4: Phu Quoc

On the third day of our 7-day journey to Vietnam, we awoke fairly early to go to the airport and seize a flight to Phu Quoc. Out of all of the seashores, there in Vietnam, we determined to select Phu Quoc as a result of it was just about the one place with good climate in December!

The place to remain in Phu Quoc?

There are many choices for lodging in Phu Quoc, and we did quite a lot of analysis earlier than committing to 1 place. We booked Salinda Resort – which is without doubt one of the finest resorts in Phu Quoc, it has nice scores, however isn’t overly costly. It has a beautiful seashore, and it’s only a brief taxi journey from Phu Quoc city with its evening market. 

Issues to do in Phu Quoc in 2 days:

If you happen to simply need to relaxation, you are able to do that completely properly at Salinda Resort. You possibly can spend more often than not enjoyable on the seashore and swimming and within the afternoon, stroll alongside the excessive road and go to a therapeutic massage place or a espresso place, for instance.

If you happen to’re eager on doing a bit extra sightseeing in Phu Quoc, you may rent a motorcycle and do a tour across the island. Alternatively, listed below are the highest issues to do in Phu Quoc:

1. Discover the bustling evening market in Phu Quoc, the place you may pattern scrumptious Vietnamese road meals and buy souvenirs. The market is definitely accessible by taxi (simply 9 minutes by taxi from Salinda Resort).
2. Take a scuba diving or snorkelling tour and uncover the colorful coral reefs and various marine life round Phu Quoc. You possibly can pre-book this tour upfront right here
3. Embark on a guided tour of Phu Quoc Nationwide Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the place you may discover lush forests and encounter uncommon wildlife.
4. Go to the historic Phu Quoc Jail Museum to be taught in regards to the island’s previous throughout the Vietnam Conflict and acquire perception into the resilience of the Vietnamese folks.

There may be additionally a tremendous cocktail place/speakeasy bar situated throughout the street from Salinda Resort, which we beloved and I can 100% advocate! 

Day 5: Afternoon flight to Hanoi 

On our fifth day in Vietnam, we took a flight to Hanoi. Our flight was within the afternoon, so we had an opportunity to spend the morning on the resort and swim a bit extra. The flight from Phu Quoc to Hanoi is for much longer than the one from Ho Chi Minh Metropolis to Phu Quoc and takes virtually 2 hours (it’s far!). We landed in Hanoi round 3pm, and it took us virtually an hour to get to our resort, JM Marvel. We booked a taxi through Seize app, as at all times, nevertheless it took some time to reach. 

Issues to do in Hanoi in December

We had an entire night to so spend in Hanoi. Nevertheless, it was very chilly. The climate in Hanoi in December will be fairly temperamental. It was simply 14 levels on our first day in Hanoi, 16 on our second day and 21 levels in every week once we returned from Laos. When packing for this journey in winter, be certain to deliver some heat garments with you. I like to recommend bringing a light-weight, packable goose climate jacket (like those from Uniqlo) – I wore It on our first and second days in Hanoi and likewise within the night on the Ha Lengthy Bay Cruise.

On our first night in Hanoi, we determined to have dinner in a restaurant that’s really useful by quite a lot of guides, Duong’s. They’ve quite a lot of conventional Vietnamese dishes with a twist.

Afterwards, we went to see the trains on the well-known prepare tracks cafes. Mainly, it’s a pedestrian-only road with prepare tracks within the center and cafes and retailers on each side. Every so often, a prepare passes, and everybody must clear the road and keep within the cafes/retailers – the trains cross very near folks!  

After that, we walked slightly bit across the centre of Hanoi, had some milk tea and headed again to our resort, JM Marvel, to sleep early to organize for the early choose up for the Ha Lengthy Bay cruise.

Day 6: In a single day Ha Lengthy Bay Cruise 

Which Ha Lengthy Bay Cruise to e book

It’s important to e book your Ha Lengthy Bay cruise upfront – we booked ours a month upfront, and many cruises have been already offered out. We tried to e book Athena, however there was no availability, so the company prompt Paradise Class Cruise as an alternative. Paradise Cruises supplied a free switch to the cruise and again, which was very useful, and the minibus was very comfy. You possibly can examine the provision of the cruise right here.

Attending to Ha Lengthy Bay

Our pick-up was round 8:25am from the foyer of our resort. Then we drove to select up one other couple from a resort close by. 

The drive to Ha Lengthy Bay takes round 2-2.5 hours, relying on the visitors. Most transfers additionally make a technical cease on the Pearl Museum, the place there’s a museum, a big pearl store, just a few cafes and a bathroom. 

By 11:20am, we arrived at a resort for a cruise check-in, the place we received bracelets of various colors. The color of your bracelets dictates your boarding time. We received black bracelets and have been among the many final ones to board. Our boarding began at 12:20pm, and we had one hour to kill within the resort foyer. There was only one cafe and never sufficient sitting house for all visitors, so the wait was fairly tiring. 

Onboard expertise on Class ship (Paradise Ha Lengthy Bay cruise)

By 1:30pm, we had boarded and already had a fast briefing and lunch (it was a buffet, and the standard and selection have been wonderful). There are 2-3 actions you are able to do on the primary day and 1 exercise on the second day of the cruise.

The primary exercise included kayaking and a go to to the pearl farm, which required an extra cost of round $12 per particular person. Nevertheless, because it was solely 16 levels outdoors and also you needed to be in a swimsuit, we determined to skip the exercise.

At 4pm, the second exercise began – it was a go to to Titov island – there’s a good seashore – if there climate permits, it’s good to swim there. Alternatively, there’s a hill in the midst of the island, and you may climb it to see magnificent views of Ha Lengthy Bay – a few of the finest views have been seen throughout our go to to Ha Lengthy Bay.

Nevertheless, the island is insanely busy, so it takes 20 minutes and quite a lot of stairs simply to go up and possibly, much more, to go downstairs. 

We received again to the boat round 5:30pm, simply in time for the sundown. Throughout sundown, there was a free cooking class, and after dinner, there was stay music in one of many rooms on the cruise.

The following exercise was very early within the morning, and it included a go to to the most important and essentially the most well-known collapse Ha Lengthy Bay. Nevertheless, you needed to be prepared by 6:35am to go on this tour. By 8:15am, you needed to be again on the boat and have breakfast and the checkout was at 9:30-10am. 

As you may see, the 2-day, 1-night Ha Lengthy Bay cruises do not likely take 2 days – it’s extra like 24 hours. By 10:30am, we have been already within the foyer of our resort, ready for the return switch and by 1:30pm, we have been again in Hanoi! 

Day 7: Exploring Hanoi 

On our final day of seven days in Vietnam, we had on a regular basis since 1:30pm to see the town, so we determined to do some sightseeing. Listed here are some landmarks I like to recommend visiting:

Imperial Citadel 

It’s one of many oldest and most spectacular buildings in Hanoi. It was the political centre of Vietnam for over 13 centuries and served because the capital of the nation throughout the Ly, Tran, and Le dynasties. Contained in the Citadel, there’s quite a lot of buildings, together with palaces, temples, and residences. These buildings have been constructed in numerous durations, and every displays the distinctive architectural types and cultural influences of its time.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

This imposing constructing is the ultimate resting place of Vietnam’s most well-known chief. Guests will pay their respects to Ho Chi Minh and study his life and legacy. 

The Temple of Literature

The Temple of Literature is a historic temple devoted to Confucius, with beautiful structure, tranquil gardens, and a wealthy historical past. This website is a must-visit for anybody all in favour of Vietnamese tradition and historical past.

Another locations I like to recommend visiting in Hanoi: 

• Hoan Kiem Lake: That is the guts of Hanoi, surrounded by lovely parks, temples, and historic buildings. Take a stroll across the lake or sit by the water and people-watch
• The Outdated Quarter with plenty of conventional retailers, road meals stalls, and historic temples. This space is a glimpse into Hanoi’s previous and an important place to expertise the town’s vibrant tradition. Nevertheless, it’s doubtless that you’ve got seen most of it already throughout your first night in Hanoi
• Thang Lengthy Water Puppet Theatre: a novel and conventional artwork type that originated in North Vietnam, water puppetry is a must-see expertise in Hanoi. Performances are held on the Thang Lengthy Water Puppet Theatre, that includes elaborate puppets, stay music, and vibrant lights.
• Cong Ca Phe – our favorite espresso place in Hanoi. It’s a sequence with just a few espresso retailers, and so they have superb distinctive drinks. 

Alternatively, you may take a sightseeing tour in Hanoi – a educated information will have the ability to deliver you to a few of the most essential landmarks and share the historical past of Vietnam with you. This tour, for instance, is superb – as you get to be pushed across the metropolis on a classic motorcycle!

Abstract of seven days in Vietnam: from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh Metropolis

I hope you loved this itinerary for every week in Vietnam, visiting Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Phu Quoc, Ha Lengthy Bay and Hanoi. I like to recommend taking this itinerary in winter, because it’s the most effective season to go to the South of Vietnam, and it’s additionally a dry season within the North (nevertheless, it may possibly get a bit chilly). You too can invert this itinerary and begin from Hanoi and end in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis!

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