2 years ago I started to write travel guides on Local Guides Connect forum of my travels over the past years, and they became pretty popular unexpectedly! I am not a blogger but I am writing these exclusively for you, fellow Local Guides. 
(read my other blogs here: **7 USA National Parks ■ Malta ■ A complete guide to Madeira ■ A complete guide to Istanbul**■ Travel guide to undiscovered Kyrgyzstan ■ Travel guide to Antwerp in Belgium ■ How to visit Thailand in 3 weeks on a budget? ■ Croatia in 5 Days: Fly & Drive )
Recently we took a trip to discover Vietnam, a country that was on my bucket list for a long time already. The country has always intrigued me with their rich history.
Lots of planning went ahead of this trip, mostly to decide the places we wanted to visit. We had the luxury of not being tied to a certain timeframe as we did not have return flights. Technically we had 30 days as that is how long the visa granted us access to Vietnam.
But as we created the list and the order of these which we wanted to visit this, we just decided on the spot how long we wanted to stay somewhere. This kind of travel style really suited me in the past years, as there is literally no pressure of time, ideal to fully relax and enjoy the travel! 
Below is the itinerary that we took for our Vietnam trip:
- 1 night - Hanoi
- 5 nights - Sa pa
- 3 nights - Ha Giang
- 3 nights - Ha Long Bay
- 1 night - Ninh Binh
- 3 nights - Hoi An
- 2 nights - Da Nang
- 1 night - Ho Chi Minh / Saigon
#1: Hanoi (1 Night)
It strongly depends on what you want to do in Vietnam how you should do your planning. If you love nature, spend more time at those locations, which is exactly what we did.
I feel that 1 day in Hanoi was enough to get an idea what the city is about. It is extremely cute and looks a bit like France, but with a million scooters at the streets instead. 
Our schedule was packed and we visited a couple of Hanoi’s highlights, of which the Tran Quoc Pagoda at the gorgeous lake and had the typical egg coffee at Cafe Giang. The last mentioned bar has more than 9000 reviews, insane for a bar/restaurant, and something I did not see before.
#2: Sa Pa (5 Nights)
5 Nights in Sapa definitely was overkill, though I will explain later why we stayed that long in this little picturesque mountain town with the amazing rice fields.
About 6 hours from Hanoi it takes to reach Sa Pa. You can do it by car, bus or train. (There are even night train options for budget travelers).
Cat Cat Village is one of the highlights of Sa Pa, and it was one of my highlights in Vietnam. This gorgeous cute village’s tourism is booming since the last couple of years and got a lot of attention from bloggers and travel companies. Though mostly Vietnamese tourists are visiting, the number of foreign visitors is rapidly increasing. At this village you can have a look around in their houses, how the produce local things to sell and see traditional local performances.
Fansipan mountain is the highest mountain in the Indochinese Peninsula, with its peak at 3.147 meters. You can take the cable car to this mountain to see fantastic views. We went on a really cloudy day at the bottom, and when we reached the top we were above the clouds and it was sunny! 
The third day was supposed to be our last day, but it became so extremely foggy that you could barely see the other side of the street anymore. As in the neighborhood we only had nature things in mind to do, we decided to stay a few more nights here until the fog was resolved. (Another benefit of not planning too much ahead, so that you can flexible in these kind of situations). The highlights of Sa Pa easily can be done in 2 nights though if the weather allows you to.
Golden tip for Sa Pa: rent a scooter, which is very cheap, and drive West. There are some amazing mountain passes with great ornaments to take pictures with, hikes to waterfalls etc. A few of the stops are Silver Waterfall, Love Waterfall, Glass Bridge and Chu Va Viewpoint.
#3: Ha Giang (3 Nights)
From Sa Pa to Ha Giang we took the bus and took us about 6 hours.
The Ha Giang Loop is most probably on every serious motorbiker’s bucket list. I am not really a motorbiker, but I do love road trips in the nature so I was happy to accept this challenge. Many stories can be read on the internet that the Ha Giang Loop is not recommended if you are not an advanced motorbike driver, but I found that not to be true. As long as you have motorbike experience and you know well how to handle the motorbike, you will be fine for sure.
You have 3 options to do the Ha Giang Loop:
- Group tour with easy rider (you sit on the back with a Vietnamese driver showing you around)
- Group tour with self driving
- DIY tour
Of course, we went for the latter to fully experience it and have the most flexibility. Afterwards this seemed like the best choice as the group tours are mostly very young people who are into partying. I am not old myself, but I do like to have it quiet. 
I will not go into details of the exact stops of the Ha Giang Loop, as it was more than 300 kilometers spreaded over 4 days. Instead, I will let the pictures show you how beautiful it was!
#4: Ha Long Bay (3 Nights)
From Ha Giang we took the night bus to Ha Long Bay, which took about 10 hours.
Ha Long Bay is also an UNESCO heritage site and I was pretty curious about this part of the trip. Though I have to be completely honest that Ha Long Bay was a disappointment and I would probably skip it if I would knew before. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful. But it was not spectacular at all for me, especially if you have traveled in SEA already.
It is extremely touristic with a huge amount of cruises in the bay. What we did enjoy was the cruise itself, the food and the views from it. More than the bay itself actually.
#5: Ninh Binh (1 Night)
From Ha Long Bay it is just 3 hours to get to beautiful Ninh Binh.
Ninh Binh is also called the “Ha Long Bay of the land”, and in many ways this part was much more beautiful than Ha Long Bay.
A motorbike rental is highly recommended here to do everything in one day, which should be enough if you wake up early. Go to Hang Múa Ecolodge as the first stop, which is not far from Tam Coc, where most of the guesthouses are located at. There are caves here, and as well 2 gorgeous viewpoints overlooking the area. There are many many many stairs to be climbed, so be prepared by bringing some water bottles with you in the heat.
Next, if you have enough time left, head to Di sản Tràng An and take a boat tour there. A local boatman or woman will show you around for a few hours in this non-motorized boat. The boat capacity is 4 people, so you have to share with other people unless you pay for 4 people. At this boat tour you will quickly see why they call it “Ha Long Bay of the land”, it is absolutely gorgeous! She takes you with the boat in caves that are over 1 kilometer long and we had to duck many times as it is so low. Not recommended for claustrophobic people but it was an amazing experience. 
#6: Hoi An (3 Nights)
From Ninh Binh we took the night train to Da Nang, which is next to Hoi An. It took about 14 hours and was pretty comfortable actually. We booked a taxi which brought us to Hoi An after.
Hoi An is mentioned so many times in blogs and highly recommended to visit. I have to say that it definitely is true, you have to visit this incredibly cute town. Walk around and just feel the romantic atmosphere around you!
The most popular thing to do in Hoi An is to take a boat ride near the bridge at the evening. Many boats with lanterns fill the river and create such a gorgeous scenery, especially during sunset. We decided to skip the boat ride though, as we thought the view was better from above anyway. When walking in the evening, be prepared to have hundreds of local people asking you to do a boat ride though.
Coconut Village is probably one of the most insane things I have seen at many of my travels. The bamboo boat shaped like a half coconut will show you around the local waters, and brings you to performers. These performers you have to tip, and then they will literally spin the boat like crazy. A bit further down there are multiple stages where local Vietnamese singers and bands are performing. You can tell the captain of the boat which music you like and he will take you to that stage. Crazy experience!
#7: Da Nang (2 Nights)
Da Nang is not the most spectacular city to visit in Vietnam to be completely fair, though we enjoyed it. There are many expats living in this city as rent is pretty cheap, and there is a gorgeous beach in the city.
There is a lot of an international feeling in this city, way more than in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh. There are lots of restaurants that offers foreign food, at affordable rates.
The Marble Mountains was unexpectedly our favorite thing that we had done in this area. It is spectacular how many things you can do up in these mountains, there is basically a whole city of viewpoints, caves and Buddhas!
#8: Ho Chi Minh (1 Night)
There is a huge distance between Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh, and there was nothing really much that would interest me. Because of this, and to save time as well, I decided to fly to former Saigon.
Ho Chi Minh is a bustling capital that is incredibly busy and messy, because of the huge amount of motorbikes. Crossing the street is a big challenge if there are no traffic lights. See, walk, and pray.
1 night does not seem like a lot in Saigon, but if you choose your hotel wisely, wake up early and plan, you can see a lot in just one day!
The highlight for me was the War Remnants Museum, at which I have spent nearly 4 hours. It is big, and it basically tells you the whole story of this cruel history event in such a strong way, with incredible visualisations. It was horrible what happened there, and let’s hope things like this never happen again…
Vietnam has brought me amazing experiences, with Sa Pa and Ha Giang loop being my favorite. I did not talk much about food, as honestly the food was rather disappointing compared to Thailand for example. (personal preference) - But when in Vietnam, Pho, Banh Mi and Cao Lau are definitely dishes you should try!
If you have made it until here, congrats! If this post helps at least one person to either decide to go to Vietnam or help them in their itinerary, great. If not, I at least had pleasure in writing it. 
Peace out,
Stephen
I’m wondering - do you find Vietnam to be a safe place for tourists?