Vietnam With Teens

[Tedaaaaaaaaah]

We are thinking of Vietnam at Xmas, but only have 2 weeks. What are the ‘must do/see’ sites? It feels like a short time in a very varied country.

Following as we are thinking of the same with our teens. Was wondering about booking an individualised tour to make things easier but haven't got very far with that yet.

You can travel North (Hanoi) to South (HCMC) via Mid Vietnam (Danang/ Hoian) including their surroundings; Pick 2 parts of Vietnam, otherwise.
For beach time, Phu Quoc island or Mui Ne beach is good at that time.

Start in Hanoi and do hop on, hop off bus tour to work out what you want to go back to.
Ha Long bay cruise and cave tours include kayak for those with energy or local guided boats for those who just want to soak up the scenery.
Hoi An for the old town and lantern festival ( DH went on a couple of dive trips here). Cooking classes and just lazing by the pool. Stayed in a hotel on the river for best views from pool.
We also did some full day and half day trips with a local guide.
Da Nang and golden hands bridge tour takes you to an amusement park that was still under construction when we were there a couple of years ago. Again with a local guide who told us where the best rides and views were.
Also did waterfall tour with local guide. DH also did some diving here. A lot of the local dive areas were closed as they realised marine life was regenerating during covid and no visitors. They 5hen closed the local marine park for another 3 years, so check to see what is open if you like water sports.
Beautiful country.

Why Vietnam?

I would recommend Japan as an alternative. Really wonderful country and culture.

Maybe because the @Tedaaaaaaaaah wants to go to Vietnam??

With only 2 weeks would suggest focusing either on north or south. This is what we did last April with our two tween/teens - Hanoi 3 nights (recommend Hanoi Kids food tour) Bai Tu long bay boat tour (we used indochina junk - excellent) (3 days, 2 nights), overnight train to Hue, one night Hue, car to Hoi An via Golden Hands amusement park, 2 night Hoi an including cookery school and basket boats, then 4 nights chilling on beach in da nang. We had a great trip. Happy to share hotel details etc if you’d like

You don’t need to book full tour - very easy to book individually

We did two weeks last summer with teens .
Hanoi - Halong bay - Hoi an - Ho Chi Minh .
Saw sights at all places and had a nice rest in middle with beach at Hoi an .
Arranged very easily through trailfinders so all transfers etc done .

I use this website for ideas and also weather info
https://www.selectiveasia.com/vietnam-holidays/weather/december
would recommend Vespa adventures
https://vespaadventures.com/vietnam/ my dcs loved it. Have done tours with them in Hue, HCMC and also in Cambodia.
December is a good time for Halong Bay, Hanoi, HCMC, Mekong delta. I would avoid central Vietnam.

We’ve been to Japan, but not Vietnam. We do want to go back, but to ski.

We did consider South Korea instead, but Vietnam is def higher on my wish list. The weather is also not as good at Christmas and my FIL wants to join and he doesn’t ski.

Thanks all, will consider our options.

@ShanghaiDiva I assume it wasn’t too scary on the Vespa?!

The Vespa tours in Ho Chi Minh are brill. We did a food one. We went with Selective Asia (link above) with teens traveling North to South. Ours enjoyed the Chu Chi tunnels and you can fire an AK47 if that’s their thing ( not mine at all). We preferred the towns to the coast because they were more interesting.

Following as thinking the same!

Picking up on this, looked at the co. you recommended for HB cruise and can't see prices. Do you mind sharing roughly how much they charge?

Also would be interested in hotel info please and any guide for daily budget for food/ eating out.

Headed there this summer with teens and all v excited but on a budget!

🙏

No, not scary. Dd was about 11/12 at the time and loved it. Traffic in HCMC can be insane but no issues.

@adventurealltheway
recommend this hotel in Hue if that’s on your itinerary- good value and central location, ideal for exploring the city.
https://www.thescarletthotels.com/room-rate/

We are going this summer - as it’s rainy season North and South we are just sticking to the middle. If we love it we will revisit later without the teens/YAs.

We are doing 3 nights Singapore and then 9 nights Hoi An. We will take a number of trips from Hoi An. Don’t fancy haring around living out of a suitcase so this suits us better.

Thanks! Will take a look as have one night in Hue.