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On this article, I’ll share our 7-day itinerary for Vietnam. 1 week in Vietnam isn’t a lot, but it surely’s attainable to go to a number of the major highlights of this wonderful 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 acquired you coated with this 7-day itinerary! Prepare for an thrilling journey by way of a few of Vietnam’s most gorgeous 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 complete, we spent 7 days in Vietnam, which isn’t loads, however we beloved it a lot and can gladly be again to discover the center of Vietnam (Hoy An, Da Nang and different wonderful locations).Â
Helpful hyperlinks in your journey to Vietnam:
I’ve acquired a number of requests to offer a quick abstract of all of the necessary 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 inside flights. I like to recommend flying with Vietnam Airways
Taxis: Seize
SIM card: you’ll be able to both purchase one on the airport or purchase a multi-country sim like Drimsim that works in plenty of totally different locations world wide
Plug sort: use this multi-country adapterÂ
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
Inns: Hammock Ho Chi Minh Metropolis Ben Thanh, Salinda Resort Phu Quoc, JM Marvel HanoiÂ
Earlier than we begin with the itinerary, listed below are a few FAQs:
What’s the very best time to go to Vietnam? When did you journey to Vietnam?
Vietnam is an all-year-long vacation spot. Nonetheless, summer time in Vietnam might be extremely popular and humid. We visited Vietnam in winter, December & January, and we had the very best climate within the South – Phu Quoc and Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, but it surely was very chilly, unusually chilly, in Hanoi. After we had been in Hanoi, it was simply 15-16 levels. Nonetheless, it was somewhat uncommon – it’s not usually that chilly in Hanoi in December!Â
It’s onerous to say what’s the very best time to go to Vietnam – it relies on what precisely you want to go to. Since we picked a time of the 12 months first – we knew that we may solely have sufficient annual go away for this journey in December; over the Christmas holidays; we needed to work round that and embrace the locations which have the very best climate in winter. If we had been to journey in October, it could have been a distinct situation, and we’d probably tweak this itinerary a little bit bit and go to totally 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.Â
What’s the easiest way to journey round Vietnam?
Travelling round Vietnam could be very inexpensive, however provided that you journey by bus and practice. Nonetheless, for that, it’s good 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 proscribed, you will have to purchase flights – and people aren’t too low cost. Nonetheless, I discovered inside flights in Vietnam to be very dependable and fairly good total, particularly should you fly with Vietnam Airways.Â
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 nations, and it’s fairly dependable and really inexpensive. You need to 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 very best locations to go to in Vietnam in winter.Â
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 day by day of our journey to Vietnam, I wished to offer a quick 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 decide up from the Ha Lengthy Bay cruise firm, cruising the Ha Lengthy Bay
Day 7: Getting again to Hanoi, exploring the townÂ
Day 8: Morning in Hanoi and flying againÂ
Now, let’s speak about this itinerary in additional element.
Days 1 & 2: Exploring Ho Chi Minh Metropolis
Touchdown in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis
When you 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.Â
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 inexpensive lodge subsequent to the airport simply to sleep for a few hours. We ended up reserving Victoria Airport Resort, which wasn’t an ideal place to sleep because it was very noisy, however at the very least we may calm down for a number of hours, from 6am to 11am.Â
Exploring Ho Chi Minh Metropolis
We arrived at our house for the following 2 nights, lodge Hammock Ben Thanh round 12pm and, fortunately, managed to examine in early. Hammock Ben Thanh is situated in the very best space of Ho Chi Minh for exploring the town – there are many cafes, eating places and points of interest close by, and you’ll stroll to many of the different main points of interest.
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 legendary for its replicas of designer items. Nonetheless, we had been fascinated with one other part of this market – the realm with fruits, teas and sweets from Vietnam. We managed to purchase a number of edible souvenirs there. When you’re seeking to purchase some presents, e.g. sweets, espresso or tea from Vietnam – it’s an excellent place to buy them.Â
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 suggest to everybody visiting Vietnam. Not solely we tried plenty of totally different dishes we wouldn’t have tried in any other case, however we additionally realized loads in regards to the historical past of Vietnam, rode a bike within the metropolis with most bikes in Vietnam (and doubtless all the world) and hung out in nice firm! Every of us acquired assigned a pupil who drove us round by bike and confirmed us the very best issues to eat in Vietnam. The tour lasted for nearly 4 hours, and it was improbable! We ended the tour close to the Strolling road – the celebration road of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis!
Attempting Egg Espresso
A number of individuals advisable we attempt the standard Vietnamese Egg Espresso, and the following morning; we headed to probably the most iconic place to attempt 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 must be consumed scorching (I’ve tried the chilly model as nicely, 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 had been situated, proper subsequent to the Ho Chi Minh Monument, the Folks’s Committee Constructing and The Opera Home. That is most likely probably the most stunning 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 Statement Deck on the Bitexco Tower. The doorway prices lower than $10 per particular person, and the views from there are nice! Bitexco Tower was Vietnam’s tallest constructing for a protracted whereas earlier than Landmark Tower was constructed. Nonetheless, Bitexco Tower remains to be one of the vital iconic buildings within the nation and even in all the world.
Sipping cocktails with the very best 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 different in Asia), and you’ll use my hyperlink to put in it.
At Landmark Tower, we had 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 artistic and really scrumptious. If I used to be to suggest one place in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, it could be Clean Lounge.Â
Exploring the Outdated Put up Workplace and the Notre Dame Cathedral
Our ultimate vacation spot in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis was the outdated a part of the town with the Put up Workplace and Notre Dame Cathedral. The publish workplace (Sai Gon Central Put up Workplace) is free to go to, and inside, it has a working publish workplace and some memento outlets. Notre Dame Cathedral is likely 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 you could simply go to.Â
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 numerous analysis earlier than committing to 1 place. We booked Salinda Resort – which is likely one of the finest resorts in Phu Quoc, it has nice scores, however isn’t overly costly. It has a stunning seashore, and it’s only a brief taxi experience from Phu Quoc city with its evening market.Â
Issues to do in Phu Quoc in 2 days:
When you simply wish to relaxation, you are able to do that completely nicely at Salinda Resort. You may 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.
When you’re eager on doing a bit extra sightseeing in Phu Quoc, you’ll be able to rent a motorcycle and do a tour across the island. Alternatively, listed below are the highest issues to do in Phu Quoc:
- Discover the bustling evening market in Phu Quoc, the place you’ll be able to pattern scrumptious Vietnamese road meals and buy souvenirs. The market is definitely accessible by taxi (simply 9 minutes by taxi from Salinda Resort).
- Take a scuba diving or snorkelling tour and uncover the colorful coral reefs and numerous marine life round Phu Quoc. You may pre-book this tour upfront right here
- Embark on a guided tour of Phu Quoc Nationwide Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the place you’ll be able to discover lush forests and encounter uncommon wildlife.
- Go to the historic Phu Quoc Jail Museum to study in regards to the island’s previous through the Vietnam Struggle and achieve perception into the resilience of the Vietnamese individuals.
There’s additionally an incredible cocktail place/speakeasy bar situated throughout the street from Salinda Resort, which we beloved and I can 100% suggest!Â
Day 5: Afternoon flight to HanoiÂ
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 nearly 2 hours (it’s far!). We landed in Hanoi round 3pm, and it took us nearly an hour to get to our lodge, JM Marvel. We booked a taxi by way of Seize app, as at all times, but it surely took some time to reach.Â
Issues to do in Hanoi in December
We had a complete night to so spend in Hanoi. Nonetheless, it was very chilly. The climate in Hanoi in December might be fairly temperamental. It was simply 14 levels on our first day in Hanoi, 16 on our second day and 21 levels in per week once we returned from Laos. When packing for this journey in winter, ensure to carry 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 advisable by numerous guides, Duong’s. They’ve numerous conventional Vietnamese dishes with a twist.
Afterwards, we went to see the trains on the well-known practice tracks cafes. Mainly, it’s a pedestrian-only road with practice tracks within the center and cafes and outlets on each side. Once in a while, a practice passes, and everybody must clear the road and keep within the cafes/outlets – the trains go very near individuals! Â
After that, we walked a little bit bit across the centre of Hanoi, had some milk tea and headed again to our lodge, JM Marvel, to sleep early to organize for the early decide up for the Ha Lengthy Bay cruise.
Day 6: In a single day Ha Lengthy Bay CruiseÂ
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 had been already offered out. We tried to e book Athena, however there was no availability, so the company urged Paradise Magnificence Cruise as a substitute. Paradise Cruises supplied a free switch to the cruise and again, which was very useful, and the minibus was very comfy. You may 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 lodge. Then we drove to select up one other couple from a lodge close by.Â
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, a number of cafes and a bathroom.Â
By 11:20am, we arrived at a lodge for a cruise check-in, the place we acquired bracelets of various colors. The color of your bracelets dictates your boarding time. We acquired black bracelets and had been among the many final ones to board. Our boarding began at 12:20pm, and we had one hour to kill within the lodge foyer. There was only one cafe and never sufficient sitting area for all company, so the wait was fairly tiring.Â
Onboard expertise on Magnificence 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 had been glorious). 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 a further cost of round $12 per particular person. Nonetheless, because it was solely 16 levels exterior 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’ll climb it to see magnificent views of Ha Lengthy Bay – a number of the finest views had been seen throughout our go to to Ha Lengthy Bay.
Nonetheless, the island is insanely busy, so it takes 20 minutes and numerous stairs simply to go up and doubtless, much more, to go downstairs.Â
We acquired 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 subsequent exercise was very early within the morning, and it included a go to to the biggest and probably the most well-known collapse Ha Lengthy Bay. Nonetheless, 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.Â
As you’ll be able to see, the 2-day, 1-night Ha Lengthy Bay cruises do probably not take 2 days – it’s extra like 24 hours. By 10:30am, we had been already within the foyer of our lodge, ready for the return switch and by 1:30pm, we had been again in Hanoi!Â
Day 7: Exploring HanoiÂ
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 CitadelÂ
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 through the Ly, Tran, and Le dynasties. Contained in the Citadel, there’s quite a lot of constructions, together with palaces, temples, and residences. These constructions had been constructed in several 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 find out about his life and legacy.Â
The Temple of Literature
The Temple of Literature is a historic temple devoted to Confucius, with gorgeous structure, tranquil gardens, and a wealthy historical past. This website is a must-visit for anybody fascinated with Vietnamese tradition and historical past.
Another locations I like to recommend visiting in Hanoi:Â
- Hoan Kiem Lake: That is the center of Hanoi, surrounded by stunning 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 outlets, road meals stalls, and historic temples. This space is a glimpse into Hanoi’s previous and an ideal place to expertise the town’s vibrant tradition. Nonetheless, it’s probably that you’ve seen most of it already throughout your first night in Hanoi
- Thang Lengthy Water Puppet Theatre: a singular 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 series with a number of espresso outlets, and so they have wonderful distinctive drinks.Â
Alternatively, you’ll be able to take a sightseeing tour in Hanoi – a educated information will have the ability to carry you to a number of the most necessary landmarks and share the historical past of Vietnam with you. This tour, for instance, is wonderful – 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 per 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 very best season to go to the South of Vietnam, and it’s additionally a dry season within the North (nonetheless, it might get a bit chilly). You may also invert this itinerary and begin from Hanoi and end in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis!
When you have any questions, be happy to DM me at @lizatripsget – I’d have the ability to assist!
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