Choose how many days you have and we'll lay out a day-by-day plan built around the experiences and flavors you can only get here. Pick your trip length below.
Hanoi is an early-rising city — breakfast pho is best by 8am. Crossing Old Quarter streets is an art: move slowly and steadily, and the motorbikes will flow around you.
The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum keeps short morning hours and a firm dress code (covered shoulders and knees), so do it first. Train Street's running times are fixed — check the day's schedule and never stand on the tracks.
Ha Long is the icon but busy; Ninh Binh is the day-tripper's quieter gem and easier as a same-day return. For Ha Long, an overnight junk (the long-trip option) beats the rushed day cruise.
17 pinned stops across the route. Tap a pin to open it in Google Maps. Hold Ctrl and scroll to zoom the map.
Hanoi is the soul of northern Vietnamese cooking — subtle, herb-laden, and famously the birthplace of phở — best eaten curbside on a tiny plastic stool.
Every place along the selected itinerary, plus the dishes, ingredients, and goods to take home. Tap any photo to enlarge.
Hanoi's Old Quarter is best on foot, though crossing the scooter-filled streets takes nerve — move steadily and predictably. Ride-hailing via Grab (car or motorbike) is cheap and the easiest way around; there's one elevated metro line and buses. From the airport, a pre-booked car or Grab is simplest.
Some links here are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works.
Each of these is a comfortable there-and-back day. Travel times are one way, by the route most visitors actually take.
Limestone karsts rising from jade water. Doable in a long day, but an overnight cruise is far better.
Tours & tickets ›"Ha Long on land" — row-boats through caves between karst peaks and rice fields. The better day trip.
Tours & tickets ›A working pottery village where you can throw your own. Half a day, minimal effort.
Tours & tickets ›A boat up a river then a climb (or cable car) to a cave temple. Busiest during the spring festival.
Tours & tickets ›Not traditional but increasingly appreciated — small amounts for guides, drivers, and good service.
Don't drink the tap water. Bottled is cheap and everywhere.
Agree taxi and cyclo fares up front, or use Grab. The shoeshine and 'try my doughnut' routines around the Old Quarter end with an aggressive price demand — decline firmly and keep walking.
Dates shift from year to year, so these are anchored to their season — always confirm the exact dates before you book flights around one.
Vietnam's biggest holiday — families travel home and much of the city closes for a week. Beautiful, but plan around closures.
Lanterns, mooncakes, and lion dances through the Old Quarter.
The links below are affiliate links: we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more.