Vietnam in January

saraj14

Hi myself and my partner are planning on going to Vietnam on our honeymoon next january.
Just wondering if anyone could give us some advice on where to go and for how long.
Any advice would be great. Thanks
I am thinking of doing the following :

Ho Chi Minh City 8th Jan – 10th
Day One Just look around the city.
That evening a dinner cruise on the Saigon river
Day two… Mekong Delta Discovery on a long tail boat. 2.5 bus journey then by boat up the delta visiting local villages
Day three… Cu Chi Tunnels Small Group Adventure Tour from Ho Chi Minh City

Day Four.. Fly from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang or Mui Ne Or Con Dao Islands (Beach Areas)
Spend Four days here doing nothing.

Day 8… Hoi Ann
Hoi An has hardly changed in centuries, and the centre is still car-free
Day 10… Hanoi – Look around Hanoi
Go on a cruise to Halong Bay 2 day trip
Day 14… Fly home

Tipperary animal lover

The north will be cold with rain and halong bay could be out if weather is bad, we're in nha trang at the moment it's a great city loads to do and great beach but in January again it gets rain!! You'll do the tunnels in a morning and the delta in two days, mui ne is just one long strip of resorts the beach isn't the best
Have a look at Phu quoc island for two days fly from hcmc. Hoi an is a lovely town but then again weather in January maybe against you.
We're living on €20 a day for food( not seafood) for two, were staying in a hotel called the capre dm hotel nha trang for $18 a night superior room and breakfast costs €4:40 for two with plenty to eat. Have a look at the hotel it's brand new.
Saigon beer goes from 30cent a bottle and up, all bars do happy hour 2 for 1 cocktails etc, wait till you get here to book tours, tour booths everywhere and see what suits ye....

Gatica

We were in North Vietnam in October. It's such a beautiful region. Unlike many people we actually liked Hanoi, though it is crazy busy. Went to Sapa and did 3 day Halong Bay Cruise. Would highly recommend both locations, though don't know what the weather is like in January.

mickyellow

Did the exact same route two years ago. As the previous posted stated, the north will be mixed weather that time of the year. A close friend of mine was in Vietnam last January. You should never let weather put you off travelling.

Highlights of the trip for me were the Mekong Delta day cruise and Halong Bay. We used a company called Emeraude Cruises (5 star job) but worth every penny. Hoi an is a stunning town. Well worth chilling out here for 2/3 days.

enjoy the trip. an amazing experience.

solerina

I was in Vietnam for almost a month last year and in fairness you really should consider spending more time in some places and viviting less places. Highlights for me were Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay and Hoi An. HCMC is really like a lot of european cities and in fairness its totally missable, whereas Hanoi is stunning and a great place to spend a few days. The Mekong is lovely but unless you have a decent amount of time you will see very little.
I can highly recommend the Dragons Pearl cruise for Halong Bay which we booked direct through the company website (there are sommany that its hard to choose)...everything was first class from start to finish !!

Third_Echelon

solerina wrote: »

I was in Vietnam for almost a month last year and in fairness you really should consider spending more time in some places and viviting less places. Highlights for me were Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay and Hoi An. HCMC is really like a lot of european cities and in fairness its totally missable, whereas Hanoi is stunning and a great place to spend a few days. The Mekong is lovely but unless you have a decent amount of time you will see very little.
I can highly recommend the Dragons Pearl cruise for Halong Bay which we booked direct through the company website (there are sommany that its hard to choose)...everything was first class from start to finish !!

Yeah I would agree with this. Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay and Hoi An would be the places to spend more time...

We did 2 or 3 days in Hanoi, 2 or 3 in Sapa trekking, 2 in Halong Bay.

To be honest, I thought Nha Trang was a bit of a kip. Felt a bit like the tacky resorts on the south coast of Spain. It's ok for a couple of days, but we found it pretty dodgy at night time. The beach is quite nice during the day though and I did have one of the best meals of my life there!

When we got to Hoi An, we were orginally only going to stay for 2 days, but we soon changed our plans and stayed for 4 days. It is a lovely town and it has lovely uncrowded beaches close by.... Great for unwinding after travelling. I would definitely recommend spending more time in Hoi An as opposed to Nha Trang.

Hue is supposed to be really nice as well, but we didn't get to go there. It's on my To-Do list for next time though.

Saigon/HCMC is a nice city, but nothing special about it. ChuChi tunnels is a good day trip.

Tipperary animal lover

In fairness we've been in nha trang last two weeks and yeah the backpacker area is touristy but not a kip!!! We haven't come near the area since the first two nights, if you head over the bridge to the real Vietnamese part of nha trang were hardly any tourist to be seen you'll really enjoy nha trang .... Eaten and drinking with the locals at locals prices, most people just stay in the mile radius of the back packer area where there is a hell of at lot more to do and see if you just make an effort!!!

solerina

Hue is supposed to be really nice as well, but we didn't get to go there. It's on my To-Do list for next time though.

We were there and to be honest its a really dull place (imo)...the citadel is nice and interesting enough but not worth visiting Hue for.....If you have limited time there are better places to spend your time !! The river is lovely and its fun to spend some time on the swan boats but otherwise I woulnt recommend it

whatsyourquota

I didnt like nha trang either and there are a lot of robberies there too. There is a woman gang on motorbikes who go around after dark and rob tourists, we were warned by the locals and even witnessed it ourselves, scary stuff!
Hoi An is amazing, best place in Vietnam by far the town is so pretty and the beach is deserted and gorgeous!