Vietnam, Hoi Ann?

[RobertaCratchit]

Hi there,
We are considering Vietnam but are tied to school hols. It seems the Hoi Ann region is not too rainy in July?

Hoi Ann sounds fascinating, but some Tripadvisor reports say the beach area nearby is dirty and over developed. Any experience?

How easy is it to book an independent flight / hotel holiday, and maybe travel to another area, Halong bay, or a National Park? A two Centre holiday in two areas in July?

Thank you!

You are correct - Hoi An will be nice and dry in July. Have also been to Hanoi then and it was mainly sunny with a couple of wet days, but plenty of museums, temples to visit so bad weather does not mean a day stuck in the hotel. Sapa in the north will be very wet then - so avoid that area, but not sure about HCM City.
It's really easy to book flights and hotel independently. Train travel in Vietnam can be booked on line and it's easy to book domestic flights with Vietnam airlines.
I really like Hoi An - loads of great restaurants and the old town is lovely at night. The hotel I stayed in was in the town and had its own area at An Bang beach - free transfer and collection. I am not a beach person, but the area we went to was really quiet - walked along the shore, also quiet, just a couple of fishermen and it was clean with some restaurants just off the beach.

I've travelled through the entire country of Veitnam starting in the north. This was in the month of January though. I loved Hoi An. It was really pretty. I didn't go with a child though, me and dp went travelling before I got pregnant. I found Nha Trang not as nice as Hoi An. I would highly recommend Phu Quoc as a beach resort though. We stayed for four days and it was like paradise.

VIEtnam I mean! Whoops!

We travelled around Vietnam in July and had great weather. Look at the Selective Asia website: they have very helpful weather by month maps. (They're also great value for money!) we stayed at Boutique Hotel Hoi Ann, which I'd highly recommend.

Vietnam is lovely and soooooo easy to travel in. We went in July for 4 weeks and the only rainy place was Dalat.

Hoi Ann is lovely but I'd suggest starting in Hanoi or Saigon and working your way to the other. It's really easy to book trains/flights etc once you are there and every time you get off a train/bus etc then there are touts trying to get you to view their hotel.

I travelled without kids but would go back with kids in a flash (if someone gave me some money that is) as it's the nicest, easiest place I've ever travelled in.