Vietnam trip – need ideas for last leg … chill out destination wanted

[tygerbright]

Guys and gals – hoping for some inspiration from you!

Our current itinerary for our family trip (2 adults 2 older teens) in mid December looks as follows:

– Travel day – evening flight London to Hanoi, arrive Hanoi mid-afternoon
– Hanoi (4 nights) – acclimatise, sightseeing / city life, Ha Long bay day cruise, drive to Ninh Binh
– Ninh Binh (2 nights) – boat tour, cycling, Hang Mua peak climb
– Travel overnight – train to Da Nang, drive to Hoi An, arrive Hoi An mid-afternoon
– Hoi An (4 nights), sightseeing, possible day trip to My Son, might get some outfits made
– Travel day – morning flight to DMK, midday flight to Phuket, drive to Khao Lak arriving late afternoon
– Khao Lak (4 nights) – chilling, day trip to Khao Sok National Park or Similan islands
– Travel – evening flight to Bangkok and then overnight to London

I’m wondering about the effort of getting to Khao Lok vs alternate options … we are looking for somewhere we can chill out a bit after the Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Hoi An leg. Ideally somewhere warm! Any thoughts on where?

Saigon could be an option as warm but it’s another busy city so not sure it ticks the chill box. Is Hua Hin, Thailand worth considering? Or do I stick with Khao Lak despite chewing up a lot of time in travelling there. Perhaps there are other options I’ve not thought about.

Appreciate any ideas, thoughts!

p.s. we ruled out Phu Quoc due to unfavourable reviews.

[HampshireHog]

Yes we enjoyed Phu Quoc 10+ years ago, sounds quite dreadful now. What about Con Dao islands? I’ve heard good reports

[memesweeper]

Very low on luxuries but check out the area south of Quy Nhon — Bai Xep. Life’s a Beach, Resort Bai Xep, Mira Bai Xep, etc. These are very basic but might suit your needs.

More typical HfP accommodation on the same beach is the Anantara Quy Nhon, and priced accordingly. There are other choices. It’s very much a get away from it location, very quiet. No shopping. Few bars. A pool table may become free one evening.

Quy Nhon proper and the beach immediately to the north also has lots of options.

The train station (with connections to Hoi An/Da Nang/HCMC) and the fabulously named Phu Cat airport are a taxi ride away. Phu Cat won’t get you directly to Bangkok, taxi/train to Nha Trang or flight via Saigon would be required. But the experience in Quy Nhon would beat Hua Hin hands down IMHO (I’ve done both).

[tygerbright]

Thanks for the reply memesweeper!

I did some research and although Quy Nhon looks like a nice place – perhaps a bit too quiet not sure … but the issue is that its still gonna be a 5 to 6 hour schlep to get there from Da Nang … and I’d have to do the reverse also to get back for an international flight to London.

[BBbetter]

“Ideally somewhere warm! Any thoughts on where?“
You’ll probably have to travel very far from Da Nang to go somewhere cold.

Why not the usual favorites such as Phuket and krabi? Or Langkawi. Or the perennial favourite Bali.
Koh Samui and other east coast destinations have more rain in Dec.
Boracay is great to chill out, but it’ll take more time than Khao Lak.

[memesweeper]

tygerbright wrote:

… and I’d have to do the reverse also to get back for an international flight to London.

don’t go back to Da Nang — via Phu Cat, Nha Trang or HCMC would be quicker (we did BKK – HCMC – Phu Cat)

[aseftel]

The Intercontinental in Da Nang is very ‘off the grid’ due to its location. Saves you a lot of travel. Haven’t been personally but it gets good reviews.

[degsy]

My bro who lived in Vietnam for 10 years also recommended Nha Trang, which has “stunning” beaches and should be warm at that time of year.

[tygerbright]

“You’ll probably have to travel very far from Da Nang to go somewhere cold.”

Is this true in December though? I’m expecting overcast, possible rainy days for Hoi An/Da Nang in December. i.e. not beach weather

I guess Quy Nhon is further south so should be better (?) and of course Nha Trang is further south still

[memesweeper]

tygerbright wrote:

I guess Quy Nhon is further south so should be better (?) and of course Nha Trang is further south still

Both will be a bit drier than Da Nang. It’s warm enough for the beach, but often overcast. Rain is frequently heavy but mercifully short lived, won’t ruin a day. It’s not the relentless English drizzle.

[LD27]

We were in Da Nang last year mid November and it was very wet and windy. The top floor (bar and infinity pool) of Voco Ma Belle was closed for our entire stay because of the weather. In the end we cut our stay short as it certainly was not beach weather. We were told it had been one of the wettest and windiest weeks on record.

[tygerbright]

aargh – so torn on this 🙁

Really would love to visit Quy Nhon – it looks perfect and seems to have a great mix of nice unspoiled beaches, culture, some sights and chill vibe … But we do need a destination where we can bank on some t-shirts and shorts weather.

Currently, edging back to plan A and hopping over to Krabi or Khao Lak before the long haul back to London.

[honkingtonkman]

We’ve just arrived back from 2 weeks in Vietnam, but flew in and out of HKG as we had upgrade vouchers to use.

Looking at your itinerary, based on doing a lot of the same i thought i would throw my hat in the ring.

Travel day – evening flight London to Hanoi, arrive Hanoi mid-afternoon
– Hanoi (4 nights) – acclimatise, sightseeing / city life, Ha Long bay day cruise, drive to Ninh Binh

Hanoi is meh! And its probably the most poluted place ive ever been for air quality, most of the sites can be done in two days, if you want to visit Uncle Ho he is only in residence at certain times.

– Ninh Binh (2 nights) – boat tour, cycling, Hang Mua peak climb

You may well be better off staying somewhere like tam coc rather than ninh binh, ninh binh itself is pretty unimpressive and although tam coc is very back packer heavy its where things like the mua caves are, you will need to get a driver, hire a moped, if you want to visit the trang an area for their boat tour, we got a car for the day and visited the bear sanctuary, bich dong pagoda and then trang an for a boat ride.

– Travel overnight – train to Da Nang, drive to Hoi An, arrive Hoi An mid-afternoon
– Hoi An (4 nights), sightseeing, possible day trip to My Son, might get some outfits made

My son is not an all day affair, from hoi an its an hour each way and you would maybe spend 2 hours there, we were lucky that we went an 90mins before closing time so it was quite deserted.

Hoi an is lovely but it does get bonkers busy in the evening and if you were looking forward to seeing the Japanese covered bridge its currently in pieces, alas.

Enjoy vietnam its an amazing place

[tygerbright]

Hey @honkingtonkman – thanks for the reply!

Quite a timely response regarding Hanoi as I’ve been debating if I have too much time there and I was considering dropping a night.

Shame to read about pollution – I was preparing for it but sounds like it’s a major factor to consider. Also, cheers for advising that My Son is not a full day – makes me more comfortable knowing that and the 4 nights in Hoi An seems about right.

So if I dropped Hanoi to 3 nights, then I am undecided on where to add my extra night to … one more in Thailand perhaps to bring that to 5 nights in Khao Lak? or maybe I could jump off the train a stop earlier and go to Hue for a night when heading to Central Vietnam.

Would be good to know where else you went and recommendations on where to add the extra night!