Hong Kong & Vietnam 2 Weeks

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Off to Hong Kong for 3 days with hubby & teenage son and then going to Hanoi for 4 days and then Hoi A for 6 days. Hotels with breakfast are paid for as well as pickups from the airport for each location. I’m trying to get a feel for how much money I’m likely to spend in each location. I appreciate its dependent upon what we do whilst there, how much we eat/drink etc. We will be drinking, doing day trips when in Vietnam and taking ourselves around HK seeing the Buddha/star ferry etc.
if anyone has done similar or been to HK for 3 days, please let me know what you did and how much you spent. Vietnam is obv far cheaper so, if anyone has done 10-14 days there for 3 adults, please let me know what you spent for spending money. I’m just trying to get a guesstimation. I’m assuming HK take care more than Vietnam and can change money easily. Thanks

Hk - by public transport is v v cheap. Theres an abundance of pretty reasonable lunch places - £5-15 is the norm - take simply life and go up to the botanical gardens. Dinners can be similarly cheap or v v high end - around mid levels expect to pay £30-40 a head. Beers are around £5-9 in mid levels (though no one will stop you taking a 711). Definitely go to Cheung Hing Kee Dumplings (a few branches).

For Buddha, I think the cable car is expensive and actually enjoyed a day trip taking in mui wo (great restaurants in the market by the jetty), bus ride up and over, maybe stopping off at Cheung sha beaches on the way back, but all depends on what you want to fit in. Happy valley races are worth a go too (though 18+).

Vietnam - as you say, much cheaper in general. Massages and spas, as well as cookery courses are all v good value as they keep you entertained and fed for the day. I’d say £3-10 for lunch, maybe £10-30 for dinner (esp if you want a feast!)

Hk is pretty cashless; given the lower amounts in Vietnam cash is still king.

In Hoi An
Recommend going to see the "Memories" out door theatre, song & dance story about Hoi An

Day trip to Cham island

Day trip to My Son temples

Day trip to Bana Hills

Da Nang white buddha & night market next to Dragon bridge

Markets, food, hand made clothes

What is your plan in Hoian?

We were in Vietnam at Easter for 12 nights. Took £750 worth of Dong with us and were only spending the last of it in the airport on the way home. All accommodation (including breakfast) was paid for in advance. If we take out the night on the Halong Bay cruise then worked out at about £20 per person per day.

Obviously put trips, spa visits and souvenir shopping on credit cards but the cash comfortably covered meals, drinks, coffees etc. We didn’t eat street food - just regular local restaurants - so wasn’t like we were only eating in the really cheap places.

Thanks sounds similar to us RatherBeOnVacation

When in Hoian we will visit Da Nang, possibly Hue and My Son, Marble Mountain, beach. Probably have to return at some point to do it all

HK food is expensive to eat out, you can’t just walk into any establishment otherwise you’ll be looking at 90 quid a day for food per person. There are some cheaper options though. We like One Dim Sum Yi Dian Xin (一一点心,) Fu Wah Cafe (Pineapple Bun, Hong Kong-style Milk Tea,) Waso Cafe, there’s Deli France which is affordable too. Activities: walk through Kowloon Park, Ferry to Cheung Chau from Central is fun! Most modes of transport - Star Ferry, double decker trams, the transport up to the peak (forget what it’s called) etc.
Hanoi and Hoi An, food is much more affordable, family of three can eat for 5 pounds all in including drinks. This is what we ate in Hoi An:
1 Banh Mi (Vietnamese Baguette, as seen by Anthony Bourdain)
2 White Rose Dumplings
3 Banh Dap, Che Bap (smashed rice snap)
4 Cao Lau (meat noodles)
5 Chicken Rice
6 Quang Noodles
7 Cau Mong BBQ Veal
8 Thit Nuóng - Vietnamese bbq grilled pork
9 Bánh bèo waterfern cake
10 Bún Bò - beef noodles
11 cà phê đá (Vietnamese coffee (hot & cold))
12 hot pot
All delicious! Enjoy your trip!

Will you fly out from Danang or Hanoi airport?

Just adding a few more tips:

We landed at Hanoi at 11.15am and had paid for immigration fast track. We were very thankful we did as we were through in about 20 minutes. Some people from our plane who were staying in the same hotel as us said they were queuing for three hours. Check out the number of international arrivals landing at roughly the same time as yours to see if it’s worth it.

Don’t underestimate the heat. They were having a heatwave at Easter and temperatures were almost 40 degrees every day and it didn’t rain once. We found ourselves getting up early, sightseeing until lunch and then sitting by the pool in the afternoon before going out again in the evening. We actually scrapped a lot of our planned day trips as it would have been just unpleasant and unmanageable.

People say it’s dirty and polluted. Yes, air quality especially in the cities can be poor, but we didn’t find it dirty. Public toilets in restaurants etc were always clean (no wee on the seats!!!!) although make sure you have some tissues as there wasn’t always loo roll. Toilet bins (you can’t flush ANYTHING) were emptied regularly and you soon get used to using the “bum gun” to clean off. Business owners can be seen cleaning off the pavement in front of their shops etc.

The WiFi worked everywhere we went and the infrastructure was decent. I was expecting things to be a bit hit and miss but everything worked great.

Download the Grab app for taxis and we also used it for food delivery one night. Taxis are really the only scam we saw taking place - people pretending they are your Grab driver but they’re not. Just politely say no thank you and stick to the app info.

I was expecting to find lots of lovely local souvenirs to bring home - pottery, carvings, art etc - but what there was all seemed to be the same mass produced stuff in every shop you went in. My best souvenir of the memory of the numerous iced coconut coffees I consumed!!

It’s a great place to visit. Sure, we didn’t see as much as we wanted because of the heat, but we adapted and still had a great time. My best advice is don’t try and do too much.

An Bang beach is a nice little seaside village to visit whilst you are in Hoi An, it is actually walkable, we got to see the paddy fields and a smiley man sunbathing on his water buffalo 🦬

Thanks for all your comments everyone and taking the time writing them, it is appreciated.