Group v Independent travel Vietnam

[dulcieM]

I’m thinking of going to Vietnam and like the sound of a guided holiday as it seems much more convenient with travel arrangements, destinations etc all built in. DH thinks guided holidays will be following a guide with an umbrella all day with no free time. Any insight on the pros and cons of each travel style would be appreciated!

Travelfish is a good site to do some research on what places in Vietnam that appeal to you.
Do it yourself in Vietnam is really easy now.

You can go on a private tour, doesn’t have to be a group. Families Worldwide are worth a look.

I would just do a bespoke tour for you. The only issue with group tours is that the itinerary is pre ordained. You don’t have that extra time you might want. You don’t necessarily have to follow the guide but why have guided if you don’t? Plus guided group tours will have little or no choice of hotels? If you do bespoke, you get much more choice. I think Vietnam is very easy to navigate. I’d probably swerve the guides but buy a tour locally if you need one.

Companies like Intrepid, Explore etc usually have a decent amount of free time so might suit. Check the itineraries for each.

If you go with a group, just be aware of
the fact that large groups carry some irritations (or perhaps that’s just me!). If you’re the sort of family that can laugh about it, or ignore another party being late every morning, that’s what’s needed. Personally a private tour is worth a bit extra IMO! I love having someone doing all the donkey work and stressing about timings/locations/check ins etc. We tend to move about a lot though and try and really see lots of any country we visit.

Vietnam isn't a difficult country to get around. I would book accommodation in Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh city and wherever else you want to go and then you can book trips out to places in the countryside when you get there.

It's really easy to travel around Vietnam independently if you are fine booking things yourself. As a family it was often fairly economical (and also very easy) to get private drivers to take us between destinations and do side trips on the way, or to take us to sites that were a bit further out, so you can do mini private tours quite easily e.g. https://huracars.com/tour/hue-to-hoi-an-by-private-cars/
You can also do sleeper trains/bus or fly for the longer journeys. I wouldn't do it any other way but we've always travelled independently so are comfortable doing that.