Vietnam or Singapore & Langkawi?

[Splety]

We are pondering holiday for 2024, early July. Looking at the weather and where might not be a washout and places where yellow fever jab not required. 2 adults and 2 adult DC 18 & 20. Not silly prices and not Europe.

Settled on Vietnam (middle bit, not North or South due to weather) or Singapore and Langkawi. DH not a traveller/backpacker so not 1-2 nights in each place, probably a bit longer with 2 weeks maximum overall.

Would appreciate any thoughts on these two options and or any other suggestions!

All lovely options! I enjoyed all three places. However, two weeks in Singapore would be too much ‘urban’ for me unless I broke it up by visiting Malaysia (you can get a train or cheap flight to Kuala Lumpur)

Vietnam for me has everything - lovely weather, sites of historical interest, great food, beaches, excellent scuba diving. The Cat Ba islands were lovely (maybe too far north for you) and Hoi An is beautiful.

I didn’t spend too long on Langkawi but it is also beautiful. A great place if you wanted to just relax for a fortnight.

Thank you! If we did Singapore it would be with Langkawi ie 3 nights Singapore and 7 nights Langkawi. If we did Vietnam it’d probably be 3-4 nights Hanoi and 5-6 nights Hoi An.

Can recommend Hội An, Vietnam as it's central coast, ancient and has a beach in close proximity. We stayed 7 nights for approx. £272 in a Family Room (slept 4.) At that point, we had teenagers, there was enough to do and see for all ages. We took a few tours out and about. Flew into Da Nang International Airport and the hotel picked us up, around 40 minute drive. The hotel offered a cheap laundry service and breakfast. Would definitely return as the food was delicious (best banh mi as recommended by chef Anthony Bourdain.)

Singapore is all well and good but's very expensive, like staying in any major city. There's Universal Studios, Sentosa island (a man-made artificial tourist island,) wonderfully diverse cultures and histories so very delicious food (Indian, Malay, Chinese and British.) You can get Michelin Starred street food (noodles.) Hotels would start at around 150 pounds per night, for a family, though and it (the city) is a giant air-conditioned mall.

Can highly recommend Tioman, Malaysia (close to Singapore, 3 hours drive door to door (including immigration and boat) The Minang Cove Resort if you want to learn to dive or snorkel and spend time in paradise. Good luck and have fun choosing and planning.

I thought summer was rainy season in Langkawi?

Visiting Vietnam but only the middle bit seems a bit of a waste to me. Have had the same debate myself.

Can I suggest Singapore plus eastern side of Malaysia (Perhentian islands for example) for better weather at that time? Or Singapore and Borneo is fab if you like nature.

oh yes Tioman!

Ooh Tioman looks a great suggestion thank you! I went to Singapore many years ago, and DD really wants to go. We’d only do 2-3 nights there.

Less bothered about not seeing the whole of a country in one trip. If we loved Vietnam it’d be an excuse to revisit in the winter once the DC have finished uni or don’t want to come with us any more. Could then do all the other bits we didn’t do first time round.

Besides Danang/ Hoian, you can consider the other 2 places in Central VN, Hue and Phong Nha cave (Dong Hoi).

Singapore and Lankawi.
Vietnam is great but I would suggest going to the north, not in the rainy season.

Vietnam is fab, but I'd go when you can see more of the country perhaps. The north around Sapa and Nin Binh is gorgeous.
I live in Singapore, 3-4 nights here would be fun, then I would tie in with somewhere that's a short hop. Best weather around here in summer is Indonesia so have a look at Lombok, Gili Islands, Bali maybe. Rawa island is a very easy drive from here and much easier to get to than Tioman.

Cambodia and Vietnam together was my best ever holiday but 2 weeks isn't enough.
Turkey is brilliant for a couple of weeks around the Fethiye area.

I absolutely love Singapore and my kids have also loved it at every stage from primary age, teenage and young adult but accommodation is expensive. Vietnam was the in place for Aussie families with teens a few years back. Japan is now the destination of choice but I never met anyone who didn't have a great holiday in Vietnam. If you do end up on Tioman beware the jellyfish! DH and I got badly stung but it’s probably seasonal.

My DSis did 2 weeks in Vietnam at the end of November. She loved it. They stayed in Singapore on their way there ( the “boat” hotel”) then on to Vietnam. DSis has a friend there so he acted as tour guide and had organised their itinerary. She said the people are great and the history fascinating. They used the extensive train network to travel and so they could taken in the scenery. I think they used Trailfinders to book everything and paid around 1.5k each including 2 nights in Singapore. They paid for accommodation and travel locally but it was very cheap.