Vietnam
A thousand miles from top to bottom, and different at every stop. A country to travel through.
Vietnam is long and thin: about a thousand miles from the Chinese border to the Mekong Delta, and in places barely thirty miles wide. That shape makes it a country of regions. The north has Hanoi, limestone bays and mountain valleys; the centre has an imperial city and a merchant town on a coast of long beaches; the south has the energy of Ho Chi Minh City and the waterways of the Mekong.
What links them is a culture with a strong sense of itself: a cuisine admired around the world, eaten on low stools at the roadside as happily as in restaurants; coffee taken seriously; markets, temples and pagodas; and a pace of change that makes its cities fascinating to walk through. It is a country to travel through, a few places at a time.
Auria Travel is an independent UK travel agency, and we arrange holidays to Vietnam in whichever way suits you: an escorted tour from a tour operator, a ready-planned private tour, or a tailor-made journey through the places you choose, with a beach at the end or another country alongside.
How Auria can help you travel through Vietnam
A Vietnamese holiday is a journey of several stops, and the art is in choosing them. Tell us what interests you most, whether food, history, landscape, city life or simply seeing somewhere very different, and how much moving around you enjoy. Our travel professionals will suggest a route with the right number of places in it, which is usually fewer than people first expect.
If an escorted tour already follows a route you like, we will find it and book it, with your flights. For a first visit this is often an excellent choice: the country is long, and a well-planned tour takes care of every connection.
If you would rather travel privately, we can put the journey together: the flights within Vietnam, the hotels, a night or two on a boat among the islands of the north if you would like one, and the days between.
On a private journey of several stops we work with trusted local experts in Vietnam, because so much depends on things connecting: a car and driver to meet each flight, a guide in each city who knows it street by street, boat and rail tickets, and someone on hand locally if plans need to change. Those arrangements are provided by them and chosen by us. The benefit to you is simple: you travel through a long and busy country without having to organise any of it yourself. An escorted tour has all this built in, and a week by the sea needs only a transfer.
Ways to see Vietnam
- Escorted tours
- The length of the country, or half of it, with a tour manager, local guides and the internal travel arranged. A popular way to see Vietnam for the first time.
- Private touring
- The same kind of route for your party alone, with a car, a driver and a guide in each region, and the pace set by you.
- A tour and a beach
- Ten days or so of travelling, then time on the coast: near Hội An, further south, or on the island of Phu Quoc.
- Luxury
- Heritage hotels in the cities, resorts on the central coast and smart boats in the northern bays.
- River cruises
- The Mekong can be travelled by river ship, between the delta and Cambodia, as a holiday in itself or as part of one.
- Family holidays
- It suits older children and teenagers well: boats, bicycles, cooking classes, caves and beaches. Journeys need keeping short for younger ones.
Tailor-made and multi-centre Vietnam
Almost every visit to Vietnam has several centres, and the usual temptation is to try to see all of it. Planning around your brief means choosing the regions that matter to you, travelling between them by the quickest sensible means, and leaving some days free.
These are shapes a trip can take, and no more fixed than that.
North, centre and south
Hanoi and a bay, Huế and Hội An, then Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong, with flights between the three. The classic route, comfortable in two weeks.
The north in depth
Hanoi, Ninh Bình, a night or two on the water and the mountains towards the Chinese border.
Culture, then the coast
Hanoi and the central towns, finishing with several days by the sea.
The south and the Mekong
Ho Chi Minh City, the delta and a beach, with shorter journeys throughout.
Vietnam and Thailand
Two countries a short flight apart: Vietnam for the journey, and a Thai beach to finish.
Vietnam and Singapore
A few nights in Singapore on the way out or back, as a contrast and a rest.
Places and experiences
In order, from the north to the south. Few visitors see them all in one trip, and few need to.
Hanoi
The capital, a thousand years old: the narrow trading streets of the Old Quarter, lakes, pagodas, French-era boulevards and a street-food culture that many visitors remember above everything else. Two or three nights.
Ninh Bình
Limestone hills rising from rice fields and rivers, a couple of hours south of Hanoi. It is seen from a small rowing boat or a bicycle, and makes a peaceful contrast with the city.
Huế
The capital of the last emperors, on the Perfume River: a walled citadel, royal tombs in the hills and a cuisine of its own.
Hội An
A small trading port preserved from an earlier age, with ochre-walled houses, lanterns, tailors and some of the country’s favourite dishes, close to a long beach. A place to slow down for three or four nights.
Ho Chi Minh City
The largest city, still widely called Saigon: fast, commercial and young, with markets, rooftop bars and cafés everywhere, as well as museums and buildings that record its twentieth-century history.
The Mekong Delta
A flat, green world of rivers, canals, orchards and floating markets south of Ho Chi Minh City, seen by boat, as a day trip or with a night on the water.
- Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay
- Thousands of limestone islands rising from the sea east of Hanoi, seen from a boat, usually with a night on board. Ha Long is the famous name and the busier; Lan Ha, beside it, is quieter. The boats vary a good deal, and choosing well matters.
- The mountains of the north
- Rice terraces and market towns around Sa Pa and beyond, for walking and cooler air.
- The beaches
- Long sandy beaches run down the central coast around Da Nang and Hội An, and the island of Phu Quoc lies off the far south. Each has its own season.
- Food
- Noodle soups, fresh herbs, grilled meats, rice-paper rolls and strong coffee. A street-food walk with a local guide, on your first evening in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, is well worth arranging.
- History
- Vietnam’s long history is told in its temples, citadels and museums. The wars of the twentieth century are part of that story, presented in museums and at sites such as the Cu Chi tunnels, and many visitors want to see them. They are one chapter of a much longer one.
When to go
Vietnam covers about fifteen degrees of latitude, so its three regions have three climates, and there is no month when all of them are at their finest. There is also no month when none of them is. A good itinerary is planned around the season, and sometimes that means choosing two regions and not three.
- The north
- Hanoi and the bays have a real winter: cool, grey and sometimes misty from about December to February. Spring and autumn are mild and often the most comfortable. Summer is hot and humid, with the heaviest rain from about May to September.
- The centre
- Huế, Da Nang and Hội An are usually dry and warm from about February to August. From about September to December comes the rainy season, when heavy rain, flooding and the occasional typhoon can disrupt travel.
- The south
- Warm all year. The drier months run from about December to April; from about May to October or November there is rain most days, usually a heavy afternoon shower that passes.
- Tết
- The lunar new year, in late January or February, is the great family holiday. It is a remarkable time to be there, but much closes for several days and transport is very busy, so it needs planning around.
Planning your trip
Vietnam is easy to enjoy and takes some organising. A few things to know.
- How many places
- Three or four bases in two weeks is comfortable. More than that, and the holiday becomes a series of journeys. This is a guide, not a rule.
- Flying between regions
- Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City are linked by flights of about an hour to two hours, which is how most itineraries cover the long distances.
- By road
- Within a region you travel by car with a driver. Self-drive is not usual for visitors. Some drives are highlights, such as the coast road over the Hai Van Pass between Huế and Hội An.
- By rail
- A railway runs the length of the country. It is slow, and most visitors use it for one overnight or scenic stretch, if at all: for the experience, not for speed.
- A night on the water
- The boats in Ha Long and Lan Ha Bay range from simple to very comfortable, and the route and the time spent under way vary. We will explain the differences.
- Flights
- The journey from the UK takes around twelve hours when it is direct, and longer with a change. Arriving in the north and leaving from the south, or the reverse, avoids doubling back.
- Booking ahead
- The cooler months and Tết fill early, as do the better boats and the small hotels in Hội An.
Related holiday types
Thinking about Vietnam?
Tell us what draws you to Vietnam, how long you have, roughly when, and how much travelling you are happy to do. Tell us whether you would enjoy a group or prefer to travel privately. We will suggest which regions to include and in which order, and say so if a tour that already exists would suit you.
