Travel Advice Needed: 9 Day Trip to Vietnam (Yes, Another One, Sorry: P)

boovohh on 10/08/2025 - 18:41
Last edited 10/08/2025 - 21:06 by 1 other user

Hi everyone, firstly thank you for your help with the Melbourne Airport transit. Booked a hotel for those 7 hours.

I have gone through the other posts in this forum on this same topic and have gotten a rough idea of what to do but I am just a bit confused with how many days i spend in each city and whether I am overdoing it. Below are the details of my current travel

Arrival in Hanoi: 11/10/2025 14:30
Departure from Ho Chi Minh: 19/10/2025 21:00

Thats the only thing I have booked right now. I am still planning things in between. How many days should i spend in each city? Some say HCM is boring and 2 days is enough, some say you can spend more time so kinda confused

I was looking at

11/10-14/10 in Hanoi (Do Ninh Binh and/or Ha long Bay)
14/10 Evening flight to Da Nang
15/10-16/10 Da Nang and Hoi An
16/10 Evening Flight to HCM
17/10-19/10 HCM

Is this doable? Should i remove something from the plan or add a new region?

We are looking for a chill trip. Dont want to pack it a lot with travelling to be honest

Any advice from folks that have travelled there would be great.

Thanks a lot!

Edit: sorry I didn't add this, we are a group of 4 friends aged 25-28. We are not looking at a lot of travelling TBH. Looking at sightseeing and exploring local stuff, markets, shopping etc. It is our first time there. We are not looking at splurging on high end hotels, will stay in good 3 star hotels or book Airbnbs. We are from South Asian countries so I think we would be fine adjusting to the weather and stuff

Travel Asia Vietnam

Comments

  • p1 ama on 10/08/2025 - 19:06
    +1

    Too few details to make any meaningful suggestions.

    Are you travelling solo, or with friends, or with family? Are you mostly staying in resorts, or are you looking to explore those cities and take part in local activities? Are you going for the first time, or are you returning? Are you intending to come back?

    Probably many more questions.

    How many days should i spend in each city? Some say HCM is boring and 2 days is enough, some say you can spend more time so kinda confused

    Again, impossible to answer really. What do you intend to do in each city.

    You should make a list of what you want to do, then you figure out the amount of time you need to do those things (not the other way around, which is what I suspect you're doing).

    Similar about how long to spend in Saigon - you could spend a day there, you could spend weeks there. What I would say is that 2 days is probably fine to go around and see a few things, but it's probably a bit too short to really get a feel for the city and understand life there and see some of the less touristy things.

    Is this doable? Should i remove something from the plan or add a new region? We are looking for a chill trip. Dont want to pack it a lot with travelling to be honest

    FWIW, I think you have way, way, way too many things for a chill trip. You're basically going to Ha Long Bay, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An and Saigon - so you're spending around 1.5 days in each place which is basically "get in, have a look around, see ya".

    If you want a chill trip, I would suggest spending the entire 9 days in one city - most likely either Hanoi or Saigon, and you can do a day trip or an overnight trip to some of the more touristy areas if you like resorts / beaches.

    Since you're already committed to coming in via Hanoi and leaving via Saigon, I would recommend doing 3-4 days in Hanoi (with potentially a day in Ha Long Bay), and 3-4 days in Saigon (and do an overnight trip to Nha Trang or somewhere similar).

    • boovohh on 10/08/2025 - 19:19

      ok cool, sorry i didnt include many details. i have added it now

      Edit: sorry I didnt add this, we are a group of 4 friends aged 25-28. We are not looking at a lot of travelling tbh. Looking at sightseeing and exploring local stuff, markets, shopping etc. It is our first time there. We are not looking at splurging on high end hotels, will stay in good 3 star hotels or book air bnbs

      I mean we are out there just exploring but dont want our trip to be travel heavy, so initially we decided on doing just ha noi and ho chi minh, later on we added hoi an. We are thinking of limiting it to that. Planning to do Ninh Binh, dont know if we can /will do Ha Long Bay.

      • JDMcarfan on 11/08/2025 - 11:33

        Ive been 3 times and am ur age group/ethnicity. I'd focus on just the one half of the country and spend time there. Its a big country really, and getting around is slow.
        Viet airports can be a bit time consuming so would ideally just limit flying if possible.

        If only you had more time, I would seriously recommend the Ha Giang loop. Perfect for your ages and a raved about adventure. It is a little adventurous (so sitting on the back of a bike for 3 days might not be ur thing), but countless travellers do it and rave about it - myself included.

        Nothing towards the south, but I've found the north to be just a little bit more hospitable and nicer in terms of vibe, so I'll bias towards it.
        For 8-9 days, I'd do
        2/3 nights Hanoi (you will be cramming in a bit sadly)
        1n night (1.5 day) Ha Long bay trip - I recommend Oasis Bay (its no where no as party as it suggests, but has again people in your age range, amazing food and cheap alc)
        2n nights in Ninh Binh (but get transport booked to go straight from HLB to NB)
        It about 1.5 hour drive to hanoi airport from NB to fly to Da Nang, or otherwise consider a sleeper train (can book luxury, but gives you a bit more of an authentic exp imo - super safe and comfortable too).
        2 nights (3 days) in Da Nang/ Hoi An. You can go between each daily if you need as theyre like 30mins apart.
        Da Nang is a modern cityish beach town with good surfing/big beach (cheaper accom too, but a little bit boring outside of watersport). If you can ride mopeds theres a nice driving road to the north, golf and that hand bridge to the west.
        Hoi An is much more culturally vibey, but has heaps of tourists swarming everywhere. Its nice and probably the better place to go out.
        I'd then take whatever flight from Da Nang to HCM to connect to your Aussie flight and return to VN another time to enjoy the south.

      • Dr Phil on 11/08/2025 - 18:15
        -1

        Why not just do a package deal guided tour?

  • freefall101 on 10/08/2025 - 19:07

    What do you feel like doing? Easy to fill a couple of days in Hanoi itself with sight seeing, shopping, eating and such but it comes down to what you want to do there. Last time I went there I basically ate and shopped and spent very little time in cities, it was great. Lot of time on buses htough.

    Ha Long Bay, for example, will be up at 7am and back to the hotel at 7pm as a day trip, there's a good 2.5 hours of travel each way. For me, that's part of a chill trip, it might not be for you if you have kids.

    • boovohh on 10/08/2025 - 19:21

      I just added more details, sorry for that . Edit: sorry I didnt add this, we are a group of 4 friends aged 25-28. We are not looking at a lot of travelling tbh. Looking at sightseeing and exploring local stuff, markets, shopping etc. It is our first time there.

      the only thign we know is we dont want to do much travelling. initially we decided on doing just ha noi and ho chi minh, later on we added hoi an. We are thinking of limiting it to that. Planning to do Ninh Binh, dont know if we can /will do Ha Long Bay.

  • poor_me on 10/08/2025 - 19:19

    The schedule's too packed but that's just me…

    If it's your first time in Vietnam it takes a day or two to get your bearings.

    • boovohh on 10/08/2025 - 19:43

      so you reckon we just limit it to hanoi and ho chi minh?

      • bargaino on 10/08/2025 - 20:32

        Those are the major cities. You could, but I'd just pick one, plus another place or two. North or South. 9 days is too short for a grand tour of the country.

        • boovohh on 10/08/2025 - 20:46

          we are flying into hanoi and departing from ho chi minh, so cant choose one

          • bargaino on 10/08/2025 - 20:51

            @boovohh: Easy then. 4 nights in each. Maybe a night in the Mekong delta or elsewhere on an overnight 2-day tour.

      • poor_me on 10/08/2025 - 21:04

        Yeah skip Da Nang/Hoi An.

        Da Nang itself ain't much. The Dragon Bridge sucked. Night markets were nice if small. The beach is huge and long but as an Australian it didn't impress me much.
        Ba Na Hills is theme park pretty but without the rides. Hoi An is charming, but I saw 80% of it i reckon on a day/night trip from Da Nang.

        Hanoi has a huge night market. It's a good base for Ninh Binh/Halong Bay. I'd recommend the overnights over the endless driving of a single day.

        I haven't been to HCM but it's bigger than the above so I expect more to see and do.

        As it's your first time, the culture shock is huge. (In Hanoi Old Quarter) Trying to cross traffic without road rules. The lack of sidewalks. The markets. Just the general overwhelming of your sights and senses.

        • boovohh on 10/08/2025 - 21:49

          Oh i am not worried about the culture etc. I come from south asia so familiar with crossing road without any rules or traffic signs/lack of sidewalks. You reckon if i do Hoi An, a day there is enough?

          Heard a lot about it so thinking if i should go or skip

  • Shadowsfury on 11/08/2025 - 09:21

    I'd skip Da Nang itself - Hoi An is nice though.

    If you want items tailored there though it might be a rush.

    If you want chill, maybe consider overnight on a boat in ha long bay. Skip Ninh Binh due to lack of time.

    If you had 2 weeks spare the trip would be a lot more manageable tbh. I spent 3 weeks in Vietnam a couple of years ago and only did 2 more places than you're hitting.

  • dasher86 on 12/08/2025 - 10:43

    I'd say if you want to chill cut out Ho Chi Minh City.
    Focus on Hanoi and Hoi An.
    Hanoi will allow you to go to Ha Long Bay / Lan Ha Bay / Catba Island - I would recommend overnight Lan Ha Bay.
    If time you can day trip to Nimh Binh from Hanoi.
    Then for a first timer I would suggest Hoi An over Da Nang (first timers really don't know how appreciate Da Nang), and stay on Ang Bang beach. Hoi An and Da Nang are only 30 mins from each other.
    Custom tailoring can take a bit of time so that is why I chose Hoi An.
    If you're not done shopping at markets from Hanoi, Da Nang has some good priced markets and is only a taxi ride away and can make a good afternoon evening trip as the Night Market is better than Hoi An (imo).

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