Honeymoon - Cambodia/Vietnam

Tefral

Started looking at suitable places and ideas for my honeymoon in Feburary 2016 in Cambodia/Vietnam.

The way im looking at it is:

Dublin - Abu Dhabi or Dubai or to Heathrow and onwards- Straight to Cambodia Via either Bangkok or kuala lumpur.

I have 2.5 weeks to play around with in Vietnam/ Cambodia and then was going to fly back to Dubai maybe stay a day or so and then fly over to Maldives for a week of relaxation before flying home.

Can anyone see a flaw to that plan and also things that are worth seeing.

Before anyone says Thailand, I've been there to the south islands etc before so want to go somewhere new.

THEIRISHMOB

cronin_j wrote: »

Started looking at suitable places and ideas for my honeymoon in Feburary 2016 in Cambodia/Vietnam.

The way im looking at it is:

Dublin - Abu Dhabi or Dubai or to Heathrow and onwards- Straight to Cambodia Via either Bangkok or kuala lumpur.

I have 2.5 weeks to play around with in Vietnam/ Cambodia and then was going to fly back to Dubai maybe stay a day or so and then fly over to Maldives for a week of relaxation before flying home.

Can anyone see a flaw to that plan and also things that are worth seeing.

Before anyone says Thailand, I've been there to the south islands etc before so want to go somewhere new.

Vietnam: Deffo visit Da Nang/Hoi An- Stunning and very romantic.
What budget per night you have for accom?
I've stayed in some amazing places there, villas, etc.

Ho Chi Minh again is a great city, great food and easy to get around.

Cambodia I cant comment on as not been yet.

Dubai. plenty of great places to stay there and loads to do.

Maldives is all about your budget!
I could recommend some resorts there also.

Enjoy...

Dublin - Dubai - Dubai - Ho Chi Minh - Da nang- back Dubai.
Da Nang 1hr (approx. 100euro)
Dubai to Maldives is 4hrs.

Id do Vietnam 10 days 4-6 Da Nang & Hoi An - 3-4 Ho Chi Minh
Dubai 2
Maldives 5-6

Tefral

THEIRISHMOB wrote: »

Vietnam: Deffo visit Da Nang/Hoi An- Stunning and very romantic.
What budget per night you have for accom?
I've stayed in some amazing places there, villas, etc.

Ho Chi Minh again is a great city, great food and easy to get around.

Cambodia I cant comment on as not been yet.

Dubai. plenty of great places to stay there and loads to do.

Maldives is all about your budget!
I could recommend some resorts there also.

Enjoy...

Dublin - Dubai - Dubai - Ho Chi Minh - Da nang- back Dubai.
Da Nang 1hr (approx. 100euro)
Dubai to Maldives is 4hrs.

Id do Vietnam 10 days 4-6 Da Nang & Hoi An - 3-4 Ho Chi Minh
Dubai 2
Maldives 5-6

Thanks a million.

I suppose im trying to keep the budget to 10k so anything you can recommend ill have a look and try juggle it.

Dick Turnip

Hi OP,

I spent a month between Cambodia and Vietnam before xmas when I was backpacking around SE Asia.

So I'll tell you where I think you should go but can't recommend accommodation as we would have vastly different budgets and expectations I think given it's a honeymoon! I flew from Bangkok in to Siem Reap then went south through Cambodia, from there went accross in to Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City and worked my way north through Vietnam. Bare in mind that flights are very cheap in SE Asia so as you're tight for time and have the budget, I'd recommend you to fly between the cities where possible.

Cambodia

Siem Reap - go to Angkor Wat and go for sunrise. Gets very busy during the day. There is a lot of tourism here so you should get some nice hotels here.

Phnom Penh - go to S21 prison and the Killing Fields. Not exactly your usual fare for a honeymoon given the grim nature of them but are a definite must see. I also went to a restuarant where you eat in complete darkness and all the waiters are blind. A really interesting experience. Google Dine in the Dark Pnom Penh for more info.

Koh Rong - I could recommend here for some beach time but as you plan on going to the Maldives I'd skip it and spend longer in Vietnam instead.

Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City - Visit the Cu Chi Tunnels and also maybe a day trip or 2 day trip around Mekong Delta. Go to the sky bar or heli bar for drinks one of the evenings.

Fly from here to Da Nang and stay in Hoi An for a few days. If you want to get some suits/clothes tailor made. Hoi An is the spot to get them done. Maybe do some cooking lessons here too.

Hue - used to be the capital and the old imperial city is here, which is best thing in Hue that I was at but not sure if I remember much else going on. I rented a scooter and did a day trip in a group from Hoi An to get to Hue. Probably my favourite day in 6 months travel, the company was Le Family Rider. Couldn't recommend it more. Google Hoi Van Pass to see some images and get an idea of the roads and scenery of the trip.

Go to Hanoi then. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum was closed when I was here but would be good to go to. Go to Halong Bay for a 1 night or 2 night trip. So many companies to pick from. I can't remember the name of the one I went with. It will be overwhelming trying to pick one though I can guarantee you that. Go back to Hanoi, if you're feeling adventurous go to the snake village and go to one of the restaurants. I just loved Hanoi for sitting on the streets, drinking dirt cheap beer and amazing coffee and people watching. I did very little tourist things here per se but spent more time in Hanoi than anywhere else.

If hiking and trekking are your thing and you have the time then get an overnight train to Sapa and go for a day trek or a 2 day/1 night trek. Def worth it if you have time, the scenery here is amazing and quite different from southern Vietnam.


That was a bit of a rambling post! I'm not long back after 7 months travelling. I think I was in 17 or 18 countries in that time and Vietnam was probably my favourite.

You'll be fine with a budget of 10k. Vietnam and Cambodia are probably 50-70% cheaper than Thailand at this stage. If you want any more info just send me a PM and I'll get back to you when I see it!

tread_softly

If I can only recommend one thing, it would be to stay at Hotel 89 in Siem Reap in Cambodia. Sorry, just looked it up there and they're changed their name to Wooden Angkor Hotel.

We stayed there a few years ago, it cost €60 for 2 of us for 3 nights but it was one of the fanciest places I've ever stayed. Recommended it to a few mates when they were travellling and they all loved it too.

Gorgeous bedrooms, lovely staff, free brekkie and they deliver a Cambodian bedtime story to your room every evening

You can also rent bikes for little to nothing from them and we used them to tour around Angkor Wat. I know you may want to relax seeing as it's your honeymoon, but cycling around the temples was such an amazing way to see them.

As for Vietnam, I'll recommend Hoi An also, gorgeous city! If you fancy scuba diving, we did it in Nha Trang with some crowd called Rainbow Divers, they were brilliant.

Halong Bay is stunning and a definite must see. Loads of places offer tours so have a look around and see what suits you. It's such a gorgeous place.

Oh and you have to eat banh mi over there, they're these filled baguettes that street vendors sell, so yummy!

jester77

Good stuff already covered here. Phnom Penh is a bit of a sh*thole, I wouldn't stay long there. Old western guys trying to hook up with underage girls, and they are not subtle about it either. Accommodations have signs up telling you not to bring underage girls neck to the room. It's horrible really.

I took a boat up the Mekong from southern Vietnam into Phnom Penh, that is worth doing. I traveled from there by local bus to Siem Reap, that I wouldn't recommend.

Be wary of the different visa types, if you plan on crossing the border more than once, you need a multi entry visa.

Dick Turnip

Also, if you have 2.5 weeks for Vietnam and Cambodia alone and not including Maldives also then I'd recommend something along the lines of -

I flew with Emirates via Dubai to Bangkok and then got a low cost airline to Siem Reap. There are loads of low cost airlines in SE Asia, and a lot do this route. Just note that Air Asia for one, fly from Bangkok's 2nd airport and not the main international one.

Anyway, 2-3 nights in Siem Reap.
Fly from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, the roads in Cambodia are ****e.
1-2 nights in PP.

Total of 4-5 nights in Cambodia

Fly from PP to HCM. 2-3 nights here to include trips of tunnels and day trip to mekong delta
Fly from HCM to Da Nang. Spend 2-3 nights in Hoi An, maybe longer if you're going to get some suits/clothes tailor made.
Get bikes with Le Family Rider and do the day trip to Hue. I'd nearly recommend just doing the tour of Imperial City the next morning and flying from Hue to Hanoi the next evening so you only spend 1 night in Hue. It's not that it's a sh1thole or anything, time would be better spent elsewhere.
1-2 nights in Hanoi
1-2 night tour of Halong Bay
Back to Hanoi then 3-4 nights in Sapa, 2 of those would be the overnight train to and from Sapa and spend 1 or 2 nights there.
Back to Hanoi for a night.

Hope that helps! Would love to be going back!

Dick Turnip

Yeah, just as others said. Phnom Penh is a ****hole. Really seedy. I thought S21 prison and killing fields were grim and haunting but a must see. You can see both in one day, just get a tuk tuk to bring you to both. Maybe do both the one day, go to the dine in the dark restaurant that evening and fly out the next morning.

solerina

2.5 weeks isn't a lot of time to cover Vietnam so choose your destinations wisely. We flew Dub-Amsterdam-Bankok-Hanoi and same on way back except from HCMC. In total for 3.5 weeks we spent 4K for a couple. We didn't scrimp on any aspect and had an amazing time. I would recommend Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long Bay (not to be missed, recommend Dragon Pearl Junk) Hoi An(not to be missed either, lovely beaches). HCMC is OK but quiet 'western' unlike Hanoi which feels authentic. The Mekong delta is lovely too. I havnt been to Cambodia yet.

Exiled1

Travel agent in Athy runs a a great trip to those parts. EU Tours, I think... Bespoke - own car, guide and top hotels. Go for Three stops at least in Vietnam, Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh. Read up a little on the Vietnam war (I know, I know it's your honeymoon, but you will enjoy places better with little fore knowledge. Don't miss Cu Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh. you will need at least 10 days to do Vietnam alone.

Tefral

Great information so far!! Thanks a million

Tefral

Hey just noticed this got moved to the weddings forum, I posted in the travel one deliberately to get all walks of life's opinions including the back packers!!

Can a mod move it back please!

westernlass

There's a great blog called grand torisimo and they have lists of places to stay in Phnom Penn, siem reap and ho chi Minh. There's also great articles on shops worth visiting with some independent boutique being amazing with designers in store but so cheap.

Vietnam and Cambodia are two of the cheapest places in the world to drink alcohol but from my research I'd be fussy where I drank. We are going to Cambodia and Vietnam and Malaysia on our honeymoon next May with Thailand too.

Mr and Mrs Smith is great for honeymoon hotels. They have all been personally visited by staff and really cool places.

jaja321

I lived in Phnom Penh for 6 months, so I may be a little biased - but I love the place and Cambodia in general. It has a seedy side to it for sure, but you can avoid it. If you are looking for any restaurant, hotel recommendations etc PM me.

Went to Vietnam also and absolutely loved it. The food is incredible. If you want some nice beach time there Phu Quoc Island is nice - Long Beach is really touristy but there are some nice isolated places which would be nice for a honeymoon. We stayed at Bamboo Cottages - its only accessible via a Land Rover on a dirt road which is a few kilometres away from the main road. Has a bay to itself, so lovely and romantic for a honeymoon.