Vietnam- possibly Cambodia

[Wanderlustnearorfar]

Hi, we are after some advice and recommendations. We are looking to book a trip to Vietnam for April/may time for around 16 days. When we travel we generally hire cars and book tours however with Vietnam we are unsure whether to go with a package kind of holiday which we aren’t as keen to do ,or book flights/ accommodation and figure it out independently. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations of companies they have used for tours drivers,transportation etc
thank you

16 days is good for VN (Travel South to North) so you should leave out Cambodia for another trip.
Do it yourself in VN is really easy!

12 years ago, but did Vietnam north to south with a Cambodian stop over. Booked everything separately.
Flew to Hanoi, few days there - did Halong bay, beautiful but a bit underwhelming and a long drive from Hanoi.
Back to Hanoi for a flight to Siem Reap - I cannot recommend Cambodia enough! Absolutely loved it. Angkor Wat at sunrise was beautiful but very busy. The other temple ruins are great too, we hired drivers for the day - not expensive and great company.
Think we got a boat from siem reap to Phnom Penh, really loved it there too despite its brutal history. Then flew to Phu quoc for a relax for 5 days, HCMC for a couple of days then home. Time frame may have been slightly longer, nearer to 3 weeks away.

Honestly, if you can fit in Cambodia then you must go!

Ditto that, Cambodia is a must! I’d choose it over Vietnam to be honest.

You could do say 12 days in Vietnam then fly to Siem Riep to explore Angkor Wat, one of my favourite places on earth! We lived Halong Bay (took a bus from Hanoi) and we did an overnight boat trip around the fish farms and islands. Amazing! We just went day today, using public transport and staying 2 nights in each place because we wanted to take our time. We didnt prebook anything apart from our first two nights in Hanoi. It worked out fine! We spent time in South Vietnam (and Cambodia) on one trip and in the north another time. Going back in 2024.

Thank you all for the messages, we have decided to stick to Vietnam as I feel it might be too rushed for us to squeeze in Cambodia too. We are In the planning stages now and getting very excited. If anyone has any recommendations of companies,restaurants,food ,things to Definetly do, or see please share.we have decided to fly to Ho Chi Minh and work our way up and fly back from Hanoi.

If you want to do some beach time, do it in Hoian (Danang) in Central VN due to limited time.

@dinhoecotour thank you for the tip we might squeeze one day in if we have the time. Have you been to Vietnam recently? Any other recommendations, restaurants,companies etc thank you for taking the time to reply

Ho Chi Minh city, Mekong Delta, Dalat, Hoian (Danang), Hue, Phong Nha cave (Dong Hoi), Ninh Binh, Hanoi, Halong Bay… Check out what places appeal to you.

Go only VN...best place ever. Relaxed place and so enjoyable! The nature is unbelieved and the people are so nice to meet.

Hi, I’m mid way through planning and am trying to book some internal flights from Ho Chi Minh and then probably hue to hanoi. Does anyone recommend any particular airlines any to steer clear of? Thank you

Op please visit hoi an. Its amazing!

Sounds amazing I did very similar to what you’re planning 20 years ago, it was fab

i wouldn’t rent a car though. Back then everyone had mopeds or motorbikes and it all seemed a bit crazy for driving in any kind of vehicle tbh.

Oh yes

We went with travelbag I'd recommend

Vietnam was one of the easier places to solo travel in Asia from my experience. It wasn't one of my favourites if I'm honest but it may have been because it was the last stop on our trip. Cities were very western could have been any city anywhere. Keep an eye out while swimming or kayaking on the ocean, there were huge jellyfish everywhere when we went, particularly Halong Bay. Cambodia was emotionally hard (begging/ poverty) and at the time we went (15 years ago) the infrastructure wasn't great for doing it without a group.

We did it 5 years ago going north to south.
Hanoi
Ha Long Bay
Flew to Hue
Private car drove us from Hue over the Hai Van Pass to Hoi An (visit the Ba Na Hills from here or DaNang - ogle the Golden Hand Bridge!)
Flew from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh.
We managed to book our trips when there, eg Mekong river, Cu Chi tunnels.