You can start your travelling in Vietnam from Hanoi its capital city! You ll arrive at Noi Bai International. We suggest that you choose a central hotel, which is quite cheap and in walkable distance to the city’s highlights. First day take a rest guys and explore the city by yourself! Discover the market area Dong Xuan Market or the night market Hang Dao. There are a lot of trully cheap hostels centrally located but it wasnt an option for us since we didnt like the district where they are located.

vietnam hanoi

Day 2

On the second day you can visit the Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, and his former residence, the one Pillar Pagoda and the Quan Thanh Temple. Before travelling make sure you have checked the opening hours and days. You can also visit other sites on the same day such us the Temple of literature, Ngoc Son Temple, Hoan Kiem Lake. Between those visits you can try having a cyclo tour and in the evening you can watch a Water Pupper Show for some Vietnamese folklore art.

vietnam hanoi

Day 3

Third day must be spent at Hallong Bay and enjoy a cruise discovering this amazing  natural beauty! The name Hạ Long means “descending dragon”. Administratively, the bay belongs to Ha Long City, Cam Pha City, and is a part of Van Don District. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes.

vietnam hanoi

Day 4

Book a fight to Danang airport and arrive at Hoi An. Start exploring this colourful place, its quite small and more touristic that Hanoi. You ll see the difference immediately. Visit old markets, old houses, silk factories and get some info about the floods! If you are visiting Hoi An on full moon you ll get the chance to enjoy a beautiful festival thta takes place. On that noght people put some candles into the river and make wishes!

vietnam hanoi

vietnam hoi an

Day 5

You cant leave Hoi An without visiting a traditional house of a close village. Visit the countryside ask for the families that use to accommodate and take around tourists and spend half day with them. Ask them if you could eat with them and feel like a local!

Day 6

Last city visited must be Ho Chi Minh or Saigon! Again our first day advise is to walk around the city on your own without any planning. This is a big city with too much noise and scooters all over the place! We liked a lot the flea market Ben Than Market where you ll definetely get lost! Watch out for your stuff, its really overcrowded over there! Yu can also visit Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum and Notre Dame Cathedral. Later explore the bay area!

vietnam hoi an

Day 7

One of the most unique experiences in Vietnam is visiting the Cu chi tunnels the iconic area of whole Vietnam. Stay awake while driving to the tunnels and look at the spectacular rise fields! The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi District of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. The Củ Chi tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong’s base of operations for the Tết Offensive in 1968. he tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous North Vietnamese fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces, and helped to counter the growing American military effort.

Day 8

Last but not least you can visiti the Mekong Delta this peaceful place and a small town called Ben Tre.You will get lost into jungles, rivers, canals. You will meet local people who are really hospitable, share theri stories and even have some lunch with them. Try local flavours, they are really great! A great fact about Mekong river is that it is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. It is the world’s twelfth longest riverand the seventh longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,350 km, and it drains an area of 795,000 km² , discharging 475 km³  of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China’s Yunnan Province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Food ideas at Hanoi (proposed by a local to us):

• Street food (Pho, Cha lua, Cha gio, Cha ca)
• Madame Hien Restaurant
• Lý Club Hanoi
• Wild rice

Useful info:

• Vietnam’s currency is Dong (VND) and Credit cards are generally accepted.
• Carry small money on you.
• Tipping is a common thing to do when in Vietnam, everyone expects you to tip them!
• Watch out when it comes to street food.
• Only drink bottled water and stay hydrated.
• Bargain at the markets! Everyone expects you to do so!
• Always respect the locals.
• Transportation: rickshaw rides or cyclo (always negotiate first) and taxis (prefer the green ones).

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We sent almost 2 weeks wondering in Vietnam, Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), frstly we ll present to you the capital of Vitetnam! Meet Hanoi!

Hanoi is one of the oldest and most interesting cities in the world, at least we believe so, Its ancient pagodas, sprawling public parks, colonial buildings and boulevards make what we call the city’s history. Long ruled by China, more than six decades of French colonisation and of course struggled for the unified Vietnam.

Life in Hanoi moves at a slower pace than in Ho Chi Minh City HCMC which is located southest. The city still owns its charming old streets, and retains its age old charisma! Everywhere you can find those street peddlers in non la, the conical hats we all know, navigate the city on bicycles carrying oversized cargos of fresh flowers and fruits, food vendorssell steaming hot oho, rice noodle broth on every street corner.

80% of vehicles in Hanoi are motorbikes, and it will certainly overwhelm you at first. Crossing the street is like…we cant really describe it guys! and it doesn’t help that there are no street lanes!!  My best piece of advice is to always walk the same pace when crossing the road, and the drivers will go around you. If you slow down or speed up, then you might be in trouble…

Hanoi may be an old settlement but it ofeers new experiences as underground acts and jazz bars.  Also you can find museums of history, art and culture of Vietnam! Some of the main attractions are, the Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, the lake, the Turtle tower, the town of Sapa and of course Ha Long Bay!

Ha Long Bay... is a UNESCO world heritage listed site and one of the 7 wonders, you can just take a full day trip to explore this amazing and spectacular vew! Towering limestone pillars and tiny islets topped by forest rise from the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1994, Halong Bay’s scatter of islands, dotted with wind- and wave-eroded grottoes, is a vision of ethereal beauty and, unsurprisingly, northern Vietnam’s number one-tourism hub. Dont forget to check out the symbol of Ha Long Bay, Kissing Rocks!

Street Food is available everywhere and we recommend eating as much as possible! However, some tourists get food poisoning because of the water, so always make sure to drink bottled water and only eat fruit that you peel yourself. Avoid the women on the street trying to sell you doughnuts or pre-cut pineapples, because they probably used a dirty knife and/or they have been sitting there for days.

To do: Watch Thang Long Water Puppet Show, its an age old artform that originated in the flooded paddy fields of North Vietnam! Accompanied by a traditional orchestra, master pupeteers in waist deep water manoeuvre colourful puppets to tel  enchanting Vietnamese folk tales!

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