Vietnam, going to Hanoi, Hoi An and Na Trang, what are my must do’s? I am late 50’s but reasonably fit.

[Weenurse]

What do I need to see and what to avoid?

In Hanoi, I definitely recommend visiting the railway street.
Take an overnight trip to Cat Ba Island, from where you can take a local boat to Viet Hai catbafreedom.com/cat-ba-town-viet-hai-village.htm and a Sunset boat trip catbafreedom.com/a-three-hour-tour-looking-for-sunset-on-lan-ha-bay.htm
Combine your visit to Trang An with Tam Coc and Ngo Dong River. Walk from Tam Coc to Bich Dong Pagoda

Thanks, things I had never even thought of, great advice.

The railway street is wonderful, but I'm pretty sure it's closed to tourists now 😥
I love Hanoi (I've got family there) and always enjoy having a mooch!
The Temple of Literature is beautiful, and the 'Hanoi Hilton' museum is really interesting.
Hoi An is definitely worth a visit but I did find it a bit 'Disney-esque'. Great little bar where they filmed some of The Quiet American.
The area surrounding Hoi An is gorgeous and interesting - i took a car from Hoi An to Hue and saw lots of interesting places.
Oh - and Beer Corner in Hanoi. Great place to (have beers and) watch the world go by!

Go and see Uncle Ho (Chi Minh) in his mausoleum - a fascinating and surprisingly moving experience. Ha Lang Bay cruise. The Museum of Ethnicity - way more interesting than it sounds. Eat at Cau Gai in Hanoi, great food and views over Hoan Kiem Lake. An Bang beach near to Hoi An used to be my favourite in the world but haven’t been for a few years and suspect it may be less unspoilt now.

Form Hoi An you can visit the Bana Hills with a fantastic cable car ride up to see the Golden Hands Bridge.

We spent a morning in Hanoi with two students who showed us around, it was a free service as they use it as a chance to practise their English but we bought them coffees and gave them a decent tip for lunch.
We didn’t see Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum as the queue was so long and it was getting quite hot, The Temple of Literature, Hao Lo prison are well worth a visit.
Ha Long Bay is a must see too.

I did this food tour/day in Hoi An hoianecotour.net/ absolutely recommend this. It was one of my favourite aspects of travelling around Vietnam. A full day out which ends in a cooking class.

Great food in Morning Glory restaurant Hoi An too.

I did the same tour! Loved it. I'm a vegetarian and they happily adjusted ingredients for me.

OP if there's any chance you can. I'd add on a stop to Ninh Bin. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I stayed in a very budget home stay but it was set in a beautiful area. There are other more luxurious options that are still cheap but I'm not sure the location can be topped. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/HotelReview-g303945-d9456914-Reviews-NinhhBinhValleyyHomestay-NinhBinhhNinhBinhhProvince.html

We loooooved Hoi An. Really want to go back. Lovely beach (not the tourist one, the locals one - as it was described to us) with great bars you can sit in and relax all day and enjoy food and drink and watch people herd goats up the beach!

We cycled up to it and stayed all day.

My DH got a suit made there, which is still going about 8 years later.

Great food. Also recommend the morning glory restaurant.

Hanoi was super polluted on certain days so take a good mask if you can. It was overwhelming.

We did a fantastic street food tour in Hanoi which was really worth doing - we would have had no idea where to go otherwise. You must have the banh mi!

Not thinking of going to Ha Long Bay? We did an amazing boat tour. We did some cookery, kayaking. Ate some amazing food. Obviously fantastic scenery! Well worth it but I wouldn't go for the cheapest option of this as have heard some horror stories.

I also quite liked Ho Chi Minh City. It was interesting, particularly the War Musuem which I wish we'd had more time at.

Amazing country! Have a really great time!

The citadel at Hue is a fantastic day trip from Hoi An. Beautiful scenery on the way, we stopped at an Oyster Farm, and bought some amazing Vietnamese coffee. Another day trip for Hoi An is Cham Island, fantastic snorkelling, and again stunning scenery.

You want www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4574287-useful-phrases-duolingo-has-taught-me-this-week?page=2&reply=118708061

Because someone on there can tell you how to say ‘I have only two things: a pair of pants and a luxury plane’ in Vietnamese & you never know when it might come in handy.

Thanks for all of these suggestions.
off to check them out!

Surely title should be "late 50s AND reasonably fit".

I forgot to say, in Hoi An, eat a banh mi at Madam Khanh - The Banh Mi Queen. It was so good that after going there for lunch with my tour group, I went back to get one for breakfast before we left the following day. I had the veggie version with egg and DH had the chicken. We both declared them the best sandwich in the world.