Northern Vietnam tips please!

[Nugg]

I’m heading solo to Northern Vietnam in a couple of weeks Hanoi then a 2 night Ha Long Bay cruise and then Ninh Binh/Tam Coc
Any hints or tips? I’ve booked the train street café and also a street food tour in Hanoi on my first night really grateful for any advice x

Keep your wits about you the scooter riders don’t know the difference between the road and the pavement.
visit the old prison, you’ll see why Vietnam wanted freedom from the French and went to war.
the pond in the center of Hanoi is a good place to visit especially at the weekends.
water puppet show is good, and try an egg coffee

What time of year? You can check out another place, Sapa in North of Vietnam.

The food tour is a really good idea. We did it the first night and our guide also showed us how to cross the road.

Definitely recommend the water puppet theatre - it’s very funny. There are two theatres, and several shows a day, but you do have to book.

They close the roads around Hoan Lake at the weekend which is lovely. When we were there there was some sort of celebration with singing and flag waving.

We found the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum interesting. We went late afternoon when it was less busy.

Don’t sleep on the early morning coach to Ha Long Bay, look out of the window. You can see so much of everyday life. People in the traditional conical hats, working in the fields with water buffalo. Like a National Geographic illustration.

We loved Vietnam. You will have a wonderful time

I’m planning a solo trip and have spent extensive hours researching! The main tips I have seen for ninh binh etc is mainly to go early to do a boat trip and the cave before the day trips arrive.

i am terrified about crossing the road!

have you book the Halong bay boat? There seem to be other bays which are a bit quieter - lan ha & bai tu long.

If you start crossing the road, just keep
walking!

Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I may try a water puppet theatre it didn’t feel like it was my thing, but I think I’ve got time to fit it in. @whiteroseredrose I am naturally an early riser and I am happy to set my alarm to do things in the morning So hopefully I will make the most of my trip, thank you!

@thestraycathouse I have booked a two night cruise with orchid. It was what everybody seemed to recommend. When are you going?

Oh, until today and this thread I had not heard anything about crossing the roads. So I’m guessing this is something I need to check out😂😂

Not until March 28 but it’s all planned - I wanted to go earlier but it’s daughters gcse year (I’m going solo but dont want to leave her for 2 weeks in the run up) so cannot do spring 27 and I am doing south / central as well so wanted to stick to spring as it’s the best month for weather across all regions.

Watch videos of road crossing…..apparently you just start crossing, keep at a steady pace and they will drive around you…..

@thestraycathouse i’ve just checked and because I’m doing the two night cruise we do lan ha as well as ha long.

We booked a day tour with a student in Hanoi- it was free but we gave her about £50 for the day as she was amazing. She told us all about her life and her thoughts and opinions as well as showing us the city it was so worth it, the girl was really fun and interesting it was a highlight of our trip.
I can’t remember the website we booked it in but it was in the lonely planet guide.

That sounds interesting - I have seen a couple of ads pop up for this. We did a big Apple greeter tour in NY which was local volunteers - saw the ‘real’ NY. Chinatown in Brooklyn was a world away from a touristy city centre one.

@Gonnaeatalotofpeaches oh, that sounds absolutely fascinating. I’m gonna have a look into this thank you.

We did a walking tour with Hanoikids and agree it was really great- it was free but you paid for their entry tickets, food/drinks, etc. They took us to a yummy restaurant and we gae them free reign to order us a bunch of stuff to try! We did this our first day there and it was really nice because we were jetlagged and it was a nice soft landing to help us get oriented.

https://hanoikids.org/

Also if you like coffee be sure to get the egg whilte coffee while in Hanoi!

@SimoneSpeaksSoftly this is who we used also I think, you have jogged my memory. It was really worth it and fun.

I would also recommend Sapa. One of the best places I went to when backpacking through Vietnam 20 odd years ago.

Sapa is too far sadly as I already have plans booked in Hanoi ha long and tam Coc. The kids your sounds great, I may book it for my last day back in Hanoi. Thank you!