Thailand and Vietnam - where shall we go?

[seekinghoneymoon]

My husband and I got married earlier this year and we’ve finally agreed on a destination for our honeymoon - Thailand and Vietnam!

We’ll have 4 weeks in total and are looking to go end November to just before Christmas.

We backpacked around South East Asia years ago and did pretty much the banana pancakes trail (the Thailand places we went to were: Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Sukothai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai, Krabi, Railay, Koh Phangnan and Koh Lanta) and this time we’re looking to hit some different places within only Thailand and Vietnam.

Ideally we’ll fly into Hanoi, Vietnam and spend 1 week to 10 days there, then will head over to Thailand, do some exploring and end in a lovely resort near Krabi for about a week before flying home.

I’m thick into the research of it all, but wondered if anyone has any recommendations of activities/areas/towns, etc! My only real “must” is that I’d love to do a cooking class.

Our Thailand itinerary for next month is 4 days Bangkok, 4 days in Khao Yai National Park with a private guide for 3 days to take us jungle trekking to see elephants in the wild, night time safari and seeing waterfalls and batcaves. Then off to Koh Samui for 5 days on the beach- we have snorkelling trips planned, visiting some temples, gardens and waterfalls and some spa and beach time.

The Trailfinders office we booked it through were absolutely raving that we were going to Khao Yai; several of them said it was their favourite place in Thailand and amazing for wildlife but that it was an unusual destination for western tourists!

Haven’t been yet so can’t comment but our itinerary feels like a good mix of city, jungle and beach. We’re saving Chiang Mai and the north for another trip because we don’t like to spend too much time on transport/flying around so will save for another trip.

Exactly the type of tip I was looking for, thank you! Have never heard of Khao Yai so that could be interesting, will do some research.

We did Koh Pha Ngnan last time instead of Koh Samui, so could definitely do Samui this time.

Thank you! Hope you have an amazing time, I've always loved it in Thailand.

What places do you plan to visit in Vietnam in that amount of time?

If you're interested in seeing elephants there is a lovely place called I Love Phants near Hua Hin (easy drive from BKK, and they offer a pick-up if you don't want to drive or hire a driver).

Get the pool villa. Infinity pool overlooking the roaming elephants, who sometimes come right up to your wall! You can feed the elephants but not bathe with them. There are other animals do and it feels much less ethical if you view those, but this is largely down to the fact they take in badly treated creatures who need to be kept isolated etc.

1 night is enough, 2 would be a treat.

In Khao Yai you could try glamping at Lala Mukha (something like that!) but you would need to hire a car to do that really.

Hanoi is just beautiful. Go to a tailor on Day 1 (check for recommendations online) and get clothes made!

We don't really know yet, nothing is set in stone so we could also extend to 2 weeks Vietnam and 2 weeks Thailand if we fancy it. I'd love to see Hanoi, DH would love to see Sa Pa, obviously Halong Bay too. DH would love to do the Ha Giang Loop but I'll need some convincing. Not overly fussed about beaches because we'll get that in Thailand.

At this point we're just trying to get ideas of lovely places that are worth adding to the list (as I'm sure we'll be going back again at some point) and then choosing what suits us for this trip.

All absolutely fab tips, thank you so much! The villa with the pool overlooking the elephants sounds absolutely dreamy, I'll be doing some research into that, thank you!

Have heard all about the tailors in Hanoi and would LOVE to get myself something. Apparently they also do shoes!

I found a lot of Vietnam pretty hectic. Absolutely loved Laos, though. Luang Prabang is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Nong Khiaw is totally stunning. And the Nam Kat Yorla Pa resort would be an incredible place to stay on a honeymoon. You can travel between Thailand and Luang Prabang on a 2-day river cruise.

I've heard that from lots of people! Hoping it's good chaos 😁We've already been to Laos and unfortunately didn't really see the fuss with Luang Prabang, although we enjoyed it all the same. One of the best places for us was Cambodia, we couldn't have had a better time if we tried!

Not been myself yet but have heard great things about Hoi An and Phu Quoc in Vietnam

If you still have time, you can consider adding Ninh Binh into your list.
Do research the weather in Ha Giang and Sapa on weatherspark site if it suits you or not.