ITINERARY : TRAVELLING VIETNAM IN 4 WEEKS

If I hadn't already mentioned it enough times, this summer I am doing quite a lot of travelling, including 5 and a half weeks of backpacking around Southeast Asia. Last summer I spent 4 weeks solo travelling around Cambodia (you can read my tips for solo travelling as a female here and the first of my Cambodia Diaries on Phnom Penh here) and decided that I wanted to travel more of Asia this summer. My housemate and I are going together, and the current plan is to visit Thailand, namely Bangkok, Vietnam and Laos. We fly into BKK mid-July and the next day we fly to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. We will be in Vietnam for less than 30 days so will be able to apply for our visas online before we go. 

As aforementioned, the first stop on our tour of Vietnam is HCMC. We fly in at about 4pm, have two full days there and then leave early on the third day. One thing I'd like to do whilst there is visit the Cu Chi tunnels - I think it'll be one of those things that you don't fully understand and comprehend until you see them for yourself. Ben Thanh Market is another place on my list to visit, gimme all the food.

With regards to getting around Vietnam, the current plan is to buy an open bus ticket that will allow us to travel all the way from the bottom Vietnam up to Hanoi. From what we've read online the tickets are very affordable and the service isn't horrendous - win win! 

Next up is Da Lat. This is meant to be very good for canyoning, which it's fair to say I'm already a bit apprehensive about. I have absolutely no balance and the athletic ability of a wooden spoon, so we shall see how that goes... We're spending two whole days in Da Lat and then heading to Nha Trang.

We've heard mixed reviews of Nha Trang but decided we wanted to see it for ourselves for a couple of days and make our own judgement. Following this, we're then getting a sleeper bus to Hoi An.

Hoi An is potentially the place I am most looking forward to visiting. I have heard so many good things about it and I can't wait to experience it for myself. Our three days here will be spent wandering the ancient town, eating all the good food and just relaxing on the beach before heading to Da Nang.

The Marble Mountains are the main thing we want to see in Da Nang before heading to Hue two days later. I'm not sure we have any set plans for Hue, but I'd really like to see the Hai Van Pass. Then, after Hue is Phong Nha.

In Phong Nha we plan on visiting the Paradise Cave and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park - google it, it's gorgeous. We have scheduled two full days here before heading to Ninh Binh on a sleeper bus. We have two full days in Ninh Binh (are you sensing a theme here?) and plan on taking a boat ride here between the rice fields and mountains. 

Then from Ninh Binh we're heading to Cat Ba Island. Halong Bay is perhaps the most visited part of Vietnam, unsurprisingly, just look at that white sand, turquoise water and the limestone mountains. We're not actually going to go to Halong Bay, instead opting for a very similar but slightly less touristy option; Cat Ba Island. We're planning a few days on the Island before heading to our last stop in Vietnam: Hanoi. 

After a good thorough explore of Hanoi we are flying to Luang Prabang, the first of our three stops in Laos. This itinerary is of course entirely flexible, and we probably won't stick to it, but if you're planning a trip to Vietnam I hope this was helpful!

Have you ever been to Vietnam?