10 days in Vietnam

[Msimbati]

In Sep/Oct - what do you recommend?  HCMC and Hanoi - but what about in between? Prefer not to be part of a herded tour group.  What did you see/experience that I shouldn't miss?  

[viet fan]

In Hanoi wander around Hoan Kiem Lake and the French Qtr, always something interesting to look at there. Halong bay cruise worth it but once you've done it dont hang around too long , theres not much else there. Good eateries in Hanoi, Moca Cafe, Indochine, Le Tonkin. Despite the queue, visiting "uncle Ho" in state was an experience(dont go on a Sat, the whole of Hanoi will be there)Didnt go myself but Hoi An and Sapa are worth going to so I'm told. War Museums are alright but if you seen one..... Just enjoy the architecture, food , wine and people, and be prepared for unrelenting traffic chaos.

[SS Oz]

I did a 10 day tour of Vietnam 3 years ago, as part of a herded tour group (no choice, due to late booking, and desperate to get out for chinese new year). Hanoi - very nice, Halong Bay - lovely, but takes a long time to get there and back from Hanoi, Hue - excellent old capital, Hoi An - a highlight, Danang - not bad, "must see" China Beach, Saigon - traffic, bag snatching, beggars, but good shopping, suggest take a trip down to Chu Chi (can't remember if that is the right name, it's the site of the underground tunnels used by Viet Cong - try imagining spending all your time in those....) and Mekong Delta if you decide to go south. Loved Vietnam - beautiful smiling people, great food (hardly any stomach sickness), great buys, and beautiful scenery. Oh, and managed to fit that in in 10 days because we flew from north to middle to south.

[sh]

Lived there for a few years and travelled extensively. If you only have 10 days, spend a few in HCMC with side trips to Cu Chi and the Mekong. (it's rainy season in the south, so Mekong will be very high or I would suggest boat trip from Can Tho to Chau Doc, near the Cambodian border. Get out early in the morning for sightseeing, the rain usually comes later in the day)
Fly up to Danang and stay over in  Hoi An - very charming. Drive (or rather be driven by local driver) over Hai Van pass if you must, but if you don't have time, fly on to Hanoi. Lovely city. Side trip possible to Sapa by train, Fri-Mon or Mon - Fri. Best to do on the weekend as train travel is overnight. Fantastic mountain scenery, rice terraces, ethnic minority people and their crafts. See if you can find the Victoria Hotels website. They have very comfortable sleeping carriages on the regular Sapa train and an extensive network of good quality hotels in Vietnam. I would recommend the Sapa trip over Ha Long Bay.

I made most of my travel arrangements myself, but when I needed something more complicated arranged, I used Exotissimo Travel in HCMC or Hanoi (they have a website). Not the cheapest, but good quality and they will make up an individual itinerary for you - I'm not a good herd traveller either. (most vietnamese much prefer to travel in groups, so most local tour companies will not understand what you want). If you're on more of a backpacker budget, Sinh Cafe, Kim Cafe and similar in HCMC arrange bus and minibus tours which friends have tried and enjoyed. There are the same types of tour cafes in Hanoi.
Other nice spots are Dalat, Nha Trang and Phan Thiet, but doubt you could do them all on one trip. One of the nice things to do in VN is wander around, visit the markets,drink coffee at a cafe and watch the local life go by, so you don't want to have every minute timetabled. Have a great trip.

[abc]

Did this couple of months ago. There's a standard 10-14 day "track" sold on a Vietnam Air  ticket - Saigon - HoiAn/Hue  -  Hanoi/Halong Bay or the other way around.  The ticket is cheap. If you call Vietnam ailines, they'll give you their "prefered" agents.  I also prefered one of them, because they are very knowledgable, get you cheaper visas (the cheapest is via in-Vietnam travel agent), very friendly and have broshures with 10-12 day itenerary, which is OK to follow on your own.  I got partial advise from them on hotels. You get very good quality for 30U$, unles it's big, or "guidebook" hotel. Just travel agents know only big hotels and Lonely Planet quote pushes prices up as usual. Car:  20-30 US/day. Big boat 10 US/day. Locals bargain hard lowering the price to more acceptable (sometimes still high) levels only when you leave. Sometimes the selers are more than reasonable.
I got my first lifetime experience in amazinng 8 US/night 40m.sq. clean new TV aircon hot-water high-ceiling room with shampoo/ toothbrush/ slippers .
If you don't want to do the "track", you can go to one of the three "points", explore the locality, go mountain trekking, river/beach fun, taste good street  food, talk to nice local people... It won't be boring either.

[evehow]

Don't miss Dalat.  The trip up Dalat can be a nightmare though.

Hue is a nice quiet town.

Or you could concentrate solely on HCMC and Hanoi and make side trips... For HCMC there could be some trips to the delta.  For Hanoi I heard the Sapa tribe visit is not to be missed.