ITINERARY PLANNER

Vietnam’s skinny shape is perfect for road trips

Something like 99% of the visitors to Vietnam follow the same trail – at various levels of intensity. Visitors start in Saigon or Hanoi, and work their way to the other along the long skinny coast. You can follow the same route comfortably, and occasionally bump shoulders with the ‘real Vietnam’ that lurks outside the travel-oriented scenes — OR you can follow the same route and rare bump shoulders with foreign travelers at all. This online guide tells you how to do both.

Click FAQs for information on best times of the year to go to Vietnam.

Follow the following links for understanding how to plan your trip. And within the guide look out for ‘One-Day Planners’ and ‘Top 7′ lists for the essentials of some destinations, and asides weighing the options between ‘Group Tours vs DIY’ trips.

WHERE TO GO? Breaks down the difference between Vietnam’s distinct three regions.
HOW TO GET AROUND? What to expect from trains, planes, buses, motorbikes and those cute cyclos.
ONE-WEEK ITINERARY A sample itinerary planner, focusing on either Saigon or Hanoi.
TWO-WEEK ITINERARY A rushed Saigon-to-Hanoi itinerary.
THREE-WEEK ITINERARY A more leisurely Saigon-to-Hanoi itinerary.
DOUG & CATHY TWO-WEEK ITINERARY If my friends Doug & Cathy were planning a first-time two-week visit, here’s what I’d suggest.