My travel diary continues… After Thailand, the second country on my solo backpacking trip was Vietnam. I spent four weeks travelling the exotic land of thousands motorcycles, warm people and nón lá hats, from north to south. Here is my complete Vietnam itinerary!

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HANOI

My trip to Vietnam started with getting my 30-day tourist visa at Hanoi International Airport. (Apply for your visa on arrival here!) I spent three days exploring Vietnam’s capital city and while many people find Hanoi boring and not worthy more than a one-day stay, I loved it. If you are in Vietnam for the first time, Hanoi is a great introduction to the country’s chaotic culture.

While not as big and busy as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi’s endless stream of motorbikes and lack of traffic rules are still something to get used to. I also came to Vietnam straight from Thailand where cars drive on the left hand side, which turned every street crossing here into a little adventure.

Generally speaking, Hanoi is a nice place for simply walking around, getting lost in the streets and discovering local street food. There are also quite a few lakes, parks and museums in Hanoi. Possibly the most famous attraction in Hanoi is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which we skipped (why would you want to see a dead body anyway?). Walking through Ba Dinh Square next to it was a strange enough experience with guards chasing off everyone who crossed the clearly drawn lines on the ground.

My favourite part of Hanoi was definitely the famous train street. An ordinary street where locals live, only with train tracks right in the middle. We were lucky to experience a train passing through the street, which happens several times a day. The train is so wide and the street so narrow that there is only a small gap left between the train and the houses!

If you are from outside of Asia, Vietnamese people will often ask for a photo with you…

CAT BA

Almost everyone who travels to Hanoi usually wants to see the famous Ha Long Bay, about three hour drive away. I took a bus to Cat Ba, the biggest island in the bay. Staying here for two nights allowed me to go on a one day boat trip around the less crowded part of Halong Bay. I have already written a whole post about my experience, which you can read here.

SA PA

Northwest of Hanoi, close to the Chinese border lies Sapa Valley. Someone once told me it was the most beautiful part of Vietnam so I stayed in the town of Sa Pa for five nights. I did a little bit of hiking around the beautiful rice fields, visited the closest “authentic” Cat Cat village and went up the Ham Rong mountain with a beautiful view over Sa Pa.

I also took the cable car to Fansipan, the highest mountain in Indochina (apparently you can hike to the top in two days). While the views from the cable car were spectacular, I definitely picked the wrong day to do this. Not only were the queues extra long because it was a Saturday and it looked like every Vietnamese person decided to come to Fansipan, but also when we finally made it to the top, we saw… absolutely nothing. There were some temples and a huge Buddha statue but everything was hidden in fog, despite it being a sunny day down in the valley. Not quite sure it was worth the 700.000 Vietnamese Dong (£22)…

I loved Sa Pa but unfortunately it is already quite ruined by tourism. Everywhere you go, you are being offered a tour, a motorbike ride, a taxi, a souvenir, accommodation… And small children selling stuff on the streets instead of being at school is quite an upsetting sight. Besides, most days were still pretty cold in early March (around 10°C) which made me book a few days by the beach.

Read my thoughts on Sa Pa here.

NINH BINH

After spending some time in Sa Pa, I started heading south. I took a bus to Ninh Binh, a town south of Hanoi, and stayed two nights to enjoy the beautiful sceneries around Ninh Binh and Tam Coc.

Some people choose Tam Coc for their accommodation since it’s more in the countryside and closer to nature but I just rented a bicycle from my hostel and cycled around the area. I didn’t feel like anything was particularly far from Ninh Binh town (there is literally nothing in the town itself) except for a few things so if you rent a motorbike you can go further and see even more.

My favourite part was the view from Hang Múa – you have to climb 500 (giant) steps but it is so worth it! I was also considering the Trang An boat tour but the weather wasn’t great so decided against it.

They often call Ninh Binh the “Dry Halong Bay” because you can see very similar landscapes to those in the famous bay, only without the sea (so that’s a tip for you – if you don’t want to spend money on a Halong Bay cruise, come here instead). But the picturesque views are not the only reason you should come to Ninh Binh. You will find a side of Vietnam here which you will never see in the cities: women working in rice fields, buffaloes and goats crossing your path and children playing outside.

LANG CO

From Ninh Binh I took an overnight train to Hue. It was the only train I used during my time in Vietnam since sleeper buses are generally not recommended for this 570 km journey. Despite my original plans I didn’t stay in Hue – somewhere along the way I realised Vietnam is too big and it’s impossible to see everything. Hue was one of the places I ended up crossing off my list.

Instead, I headed to Lang Co because, as mentioned earlier, I was ready for the beach! Lang Co is a place in the middle of nowhere and to be honest, I am not sure I would recommend going. Getting there is not easy since the train and bus stop there pretty much once a day, and I ended up taking a taxi. You also don’t have many options when it comes to accommodation: it’s either big expensive beach resorts or a few lousy hotels. (Guess which option I picked.)

However, I still had a nice couple of relaxing days here. The waves were too big to properly swim in the sea but I was just glad to finally be at the beach (for the first time on this trip). I also managed to do a little beach clean up because like in most of Southeast Asia, rubbish was everywhere 🙁 Some locals were giving me a thumbs up or taking pictures, probably thinking I was crazy. Maybe I didn’t do much, but wouldn’t it make a difference if everyone picked up this much?

I don’t regret going to Lang Co, at least I saw something off the beaten path. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would skip Lang Co and just spend more time in Hoi An (which has beaches, too!).

HOI AN

I skipped Da Nang (even driving through was enough to see it’s just a beach resort town with no real charm) and headed straight to Hoi An. Hoi An was by far my favourite town in Vietnam! Colourful old buildings, beautiful lanterns and great food – I already posted my best photos from Hoi An here so you can have a look 🙂

Quite frankly, I wasn’t feeling too well when I was in Hoi An. I had a cold (thanks bus aircon!) and at the same time suffered from really bad face sunburns. (Yes, I had used sunscreen and no, falling asleep on the beach is not a good idea – ever had sunburnt eyelids? Trust me, you don’t want to…) Needless to say, the hot and sunny Hoi An weather wasn’t really helping with my recovery.

So despite falling in love with the city, I didn’t do as much as I would have liked. I definitely want to come back one day and explore more – see the nearby My Son ruins or cycle around the rice fields, for example.

DA LAT

The overnight bus I took from Hoi An to Da Lat was the worst journey of my trip. I booked it through my homestay in Hoi An and they assured me it was a direct bus arriving in Da Lat at 9am the next day. Turned out that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I can take a lot but it was certainly not fun when we were dropped off by the side of the road in Nha Trang at 5am without any prior warning and told there would be another bus taking us to Da Lat. After waiting for two hours, we finally got on a tiny bus which was freezing and full of mosquitos and continued our journey through the mountains. Almost five hours and countless sharp bends later, we finally made it to Da Lat – only 3 hours later than advertised. Lesson of the day: Do not use the Queen Café Open Bus company! (Find better transport options on 12Go Asia 😉 )

I only stayed in Da Lat for one night but wouldn’t mind spending more time here. It’s a nice city with lots of hills, views and strange architecture and it’s a bit different from the other cities I visited in Vietnam.

While in Da Lat, I took the local cable car, walked around the city and went inside the Crazy House (super cool building you shouldn’t miss when you are in Da Lat!).

HO CHI MINH CITY

To be perfectly honest with you, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is the least exciting part of Vietnam (travel-wise). It is Vietnam’s largest city and my next flight was departing from there so I couldn’t exactly skip it. But having seen so many amazing sights and landscapes all around Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City just felt a bit boring.

Essentially, I only did two tourist activities here. I went to the War Remnants Museum (it’s kind of a must to learn more about the Vietnam War when visiting Vietnam) and took a Mekong Delta tour. The tour was a disappointment – one of those where you make a lot of ‘souvenir shop stops’ which is very common in Asia and I absolutely hate it. But hey, I got to spend all 10 minutes on one of those popular rowboats…

Places in Vietnam I still want to see: Ha Giang mountains, Hue, sand dunes in Mui Ne, Phu Quoc island.

AND NEXT?

It has already been a month since I left Vietnam. I made a detour from Southeast Asia and flew to Japan just in time for the sakura season, stayed for two weeks and continued to its overseas neighbour, South Korea. My next destination will be China (I need to get a visa in Hong Kong first). Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram – my IG Stories are usually more up-to-date than my articles!

Did you enjoy this article? If you prefer something more enlightening than my travel diary, read this post full of things you should know before you travel to Vietnam!

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