Vietnam help planning please

lynzpower

Vienam sounds wicked! thanks to all posters, its going on my list of places to go - in the future- no hols for us for a while

Pee

Lynzpower - worth pricing up, although I think you have children and one of my friends went recently with children and was complaining about the cost. I was surprised, as I thought it was really cheap, but 5 x quite cheap takes a bit more finding. Her children are 9 ish 11 ish and 14 and they loved it.

lynzpower

No no kids yet

But malaysia surprisingly cost us a fortune ( we spend somewhere in the region of 2.5k ) We had 400 quid flights and you shuold have seen some of the rat holes we stayed in :eek:

Not sure why but I think its cos we spent a lot shopping

Pee

Vietnam is a lot cheaper. And not so many shopping opportunities!

bestyman

gemma_8_1 wrote: »

Hi, I was just wondering where you found the hotels? Im looking at doing something similar in November.

I always start by looking on trip advisor at the number one hotel in the area I want, then work my way down till I find something in my price range. Having done that I try booking direct / other hotel sites and also use quidco to shave a few more % off.

Watch out for bogus reviews though, easy enough to spot.

bestyman

Thanks for all the help.

We paid £100 for the air asia flights to KL so thats why we are starting/ending there. Flights on air asia are really cheap to other places..makes easy jet look expensive.

Apart from Air asia, firely and Thai airways does anyone know of any other lo cost airlines? Some of the air asia flight times dont fit in.

We re not sure if to go to Bangkok for a few days, we have been there twice before and love it but Vietnam sounds so good. We were also considering visiting somewhere else in SE asia as well but maybee its better to concentrate on Vietnam with a few days in KL?

DaMaNiAc82

To be honest the standard of cheap hotels in Vietnam is a lot better than the other countries in SE Asia. I never paid more than $7 ($2-£1 when I was there and split between 2 people!) for a twin room with en-suite, minibar and satellite tv. That was in 2005 so it may have gone up a few $$$ since then.

bestyman

DaMaNiAc82 wrote: »

The weather is going to be very temperamental at that time of year in Vietnam. It's getting towards the end of monsoon season so you could see a couple of days wiped out by torrential rain.

Air Asia fly to Hanoi and Saigon. Out of the 2, and considering the time of year, I'd go for Hanoi and take in trips to Halong Bay and maybe Sapa. With only a week getting to the central region (Hue, Hoi an) might be too far as it would take 12 hours+ by bus/train.

You can't get cheaper than drinking Bia Hoi (draught beer) on the streets of Vietnam. Costs about 6p a cup and you sit on the side of the street on primary school style tiny plastic chairs

Does it matter that much if we fly into Hanoi or Saigon, some of the flight times are much better. Which is nerest to Hoi an? We may now spend 10-14 days in Vietnam ( now we know its 6 pence a drink;o0) so traveling is not so much of a problem. Would it make sense to fly into one airport and out of the other staying say at 3 different places along the way? If so any recommendations?

Last year we stayed at 4 different parts of Thailand in 2 weeks and the travelling didnt bother us , in fact we enjoyed it . Also in Thailand we stayed in a tent in the jungle ( well jungle- ish ) , any similar things in Vietnam? Can you stay on the boats?

Thanks again

DaMaNiAc82

It can be done. I blitzed it from Hanoi to Saigon in 10 days visiting Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An and Nha Trang on the way. It only allowed a couple of days in each place though. There are some long overnight bus/train rides as well. Hanoi to Saigon is about 1400 miles!!!

Hoi An is roughly in the middle between Hanoi and Saigon.

bestyman

Thanks, we might consider doing that.

Anyone caught the sleeper train, sounds a good option?