NUMBER OF DAYS IN EACH CITY IN VIETNAM 🇻🇳

Vietnam has officially become my favourite country in Southeast Asia (of course apart from my home country - Singapore 💀) Unlike its popular counterpart Thailand, I feel like it’s a little less touristy with LESS Westerners congregating the bars and tourist spots. (eg. In Thailand, all the popular tourist spots/party spots just seems to be a European, American, Australian Town honestly… you hardly see any locals except for the shopkeepers, and the activities are highly catered to the taste and preferences of tourists) Vietnam on the other hand has a huge amount of domestic tourists so the experience always feels a lot more local than that of Thailand.

I have visited 6 major “SPOTS” in Vietnam across 2 trips. I write my recommended route and number of days of stay from South to North as it’s usually much cheaper to fly in to Ho Chi Minh than other major Airports such as Hanoi and Danang, though that can definitely be done as well.

1. HO CHI MINH (2-4days)

- Walk around the city centre in district 1, enjoy the different food, retail shops, nightlife, night markets

- This is the place to do your Self CARE 💅 and utilise your strong currency - Nails, Hair, Lashes, Brows ETC

- Visit the Cu Chu Tunnels

- Take a 2D 1N trip from HCM to Mekong Delta and Cai Be floating market. (The reason why it usually requires an overnight stay is bc the floating market opens SUPER early in the morning so it makes sense to stay in Cai Be instead)

2. Da Nang (1-2 days)

Despite the hype, i felt that Da Nang had a lil less to offer than its counterparts. However, you will usually have to pass through here to get to more popular places such as Hoi An. Some cool things to do would include:

- Ba Na Hills (will take the whole day as the place is a “European themed park by sun world 😂)

- The fire show at the Dragon Bridge if you’re here on the weekends

3. Hoi An (3-5 days!!)

You will want to stay here the longest!!!! Hoi An is a quaint little town and a UNESCO heritage site. It is a tourist destination so travelling here is fairly comfortable as the locals speak conversational english and grab is great. The town is decorated with beautiful lanterns and has great coffee places at every street.

- Casket Boat Ride

- Cafe hopping!!

- Dress up in their traditional wear and walk around their old town

- Watch the Hoi An Memories Show

- Take a romantic boat ride in the ancient town

- Possible to take day trips to My Son or Marble Mountains if time permits

Recommended Stay: Mulberry Silk Eco Collection

4. Ha Long (1-2 days)

- Don’t stay overnight UNLESS you are doing the overnight Ha Long Bay cruise

- The only attraction in Halong really is Halong Bay. I made a mistake of staying here for a night in a random homestay. The experience wasn’t great as grab is non existent and in the town, not many people speak english and things just feel abit more backwards. (My pho was filled with ants 😂)

- I tried to go around the town but there really isn’t much to do and even finding a cafe was so so difficult…

5. Sapa (3-4 days!!!)

BEAUTIFUL Beautiful beautiful

One of the most picturesque points of Vietnam is Sapa and there are endless nature and cultural attractions for you to visit.

- Love Waterfall & Silver Waterfall

- Mount Fansipan

- Hike through the different villages

- Would highly recommend you do a homestay as well in one of different villages to experience the way of living of the villages. Lao Chai & Ta Village is less touristy compared to Cat Cat Village which seems to be made into a “mini Bali” for tourists enjoyment.

CONS: It is a relatively small town, less people speak english and grab is pretty much non existent at my point of trip in 2022.

Recommended Stay (It’s pricy tho but has the best hotel views in the entire area)- Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel

6. Hanoi (1-3 days)

I personally feel that the other cities in Vietnam has more to offer than Hanoi. For example for nightlife, shopping etc, HCM still takes the crown. While this is the capital city of Vietnam, I feel that the area is a little dirtier, and traffic is a little more messy and people are less friendly. However, this is a great place if you want to discover the cultural part of Vietnam such as the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the changing of guards, the different cathedrals and temples, though that isn’t exactly my cup of tea.

- Alternatively, you can use your time in Hanoi to do day trips to nearby towns such as Hoa Lu, Tam Coc which offers beautiful nature scenery.

And yeah that’s it!! Vietnam is such a beautiful place with so much to offer and is NOT limited to what i mentioned in this post. In fact, I hope to revisit the country soon to go to experience what else it has to offer!! Will update on Lemon8 then!!

#vietnamtravel #vietnam #hochiminh #danang #hoian #sapa #halong #hanoi