whufc wrote:So sat down with the partner, did a bit of research and decided we want to get serious about making this happen.
What would people advice be regarding an itinerary:
We are planning on going for 8 days.....definitely want to fit in a few days at Hoi An. That probably means we then have to pick 1 of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh to base ourselves for the other 5 days.
Where do people think is better for a family, also would you fly in to one of those cities and then fly out from Hoi An (is that even possible) Any advice is welcome especially if it saves us some money.
Direct flights to Vietnam are few and far between but HCMC will have the most options. Jetstar, Bamboo and Vietnam airlines all do direct SYD/MEL to HCMC, currently only Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo goes direct to Hanoi from Australia. No airport at Hoi An but closest airport is Da Nang about 30-45min up the road. Da Nang is probably the best of the big cities in Vietnam IMO and is a great place to base yourself as it is a easy city to get around and has decent priced accommodation, good beaches, markets aswell as culture and history and is central in Vietnam which means plenty of sights close by. Hoi An from Da Nang can cost as little as $40 return and the driver will wait if you only do a day trip. The old capital of Hue is only 2hrs up the road and you have the Marble mountains and other sights in close proximity. HCMC is a hectic big city and whilst it has some good sights I’m not sure that I’d stay too long there if on a tight schedule. We usually go for 2 weeks minimum so spend 2-3 days at both HCMC and Hà Nội and that is plenty. HCMC is the closest to the Cu chi tunnels and has the War remnants museum which is excellent. Domestic flights are cheap in Vietnam but road/rail infrastructure is quite poor so to get to Da Nang your best bet is flying. You can either do that via Hanoi or HCMC or if Singapore Airlines has sales they fly direct to Da Nang from Singapore so you could do a open jaw of Adelaide-Singapore-Da Nang and then HCMC-Singapore-Adelaide otherwise you will need to do Adelaide-MEL/SYD-HCMC/Hanoi return