Vietnam is a beautiful country located in South East Asia and is a popular backpacking location for travellers!
No matter your travel itch, it will for sure be scratched here with bustling cities, rich history, and so much more to get your teeth into. Each location you visit is like a new country itself with it’s unique design and feel.
People seriously dream of visiting this place, but where in Vietnam shall you start?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but you sure want to make the most of your time here. If you are from the UK, you can spend 1 month here at most before moving on or doing a border run.
Through personal experiences, stories and research, we have come up with the best itinerary for travelling Vietnam, so look no further!!
Hanoi: Day 1 to Day 4
When visiting Vietnam, you are likely going to enter through one of the major cities. This will be either Ho Chi Minh in the south or Hanoi, the capital, in the north. Here, we opt for the north. Hanoi is a busy city that truly never sleeps.
This would be a great introduction to life in Vietnam and an opportunity to try a lot of the local foods, including Banh Mi. During your time here, you can visit local markets, hit up the local puppet show, or visit the history of Hoa Lo Prison and the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long.
You can easily find yourself lost in the busy streets of Hanoi but there is beauty wherever you turn and would be a great starting point for you Vietnamese journey!
Ha Giang Loop: Day 5 to Day 8
Now, this is one location people won’t think of and maybe only been made aware of due to other people’s experience but this is a MUST DO. For us, this was the best thing we did in South East Asia and something everyone would rave about when speaking about their top things in this part of the world.
It’s an experience that can very much cater to your itinerary and you can choose the length of time you want to experience this. Only a short 12-hour bus journey from Hanoi. Deep into the northern hills of Vietnam lies a tiny village called Ha Giang that boasts a pretty popular and beautiful sights many visit each year.
When visited in 2022, it was very popular, so it may be more so now it would still be highly recommended to see. The loop starts from a 1-night stay in the northern hills to a 3-night, 4-day stay. This stay will include travelling, from location to location, all through the northern mountains and staying in various villages and seeing sights along the way.
The sights include stop offs to meet locals, beautiful vantage points to enjoy the awe-inspiring views, homemade, local delicacies, and so much more. The itinerary will be laid out by the company you choose to do this through, and will give you a rough guide of your day-to-day activities.
All this travelling through the mountains will be done on a motorbike so get your license ready or get a joy rider to do it for you, either way, the experience will be a once in a lifetime trip you will not regret!
For more information on this, check out our blog on the Ha Giang full experience here. And make sure to try the veggie spring rolls!!
Da Nang/Hoi An: Day 9 to Day 11
Now, moving further south in Vietnam to a beachside location full of surprises. Da Nang is a powerful, coastal city surrounded by places to explore and local attractions.
Firstly, a day trip/night stay in Hoi An is required to experience the floating markets, beautiful handmade clothing and so much more. This place is likely venturing through a Disney film with it’s vibrant colours and feel. In the evening, the locals sometimes set off lanterns on the river providing a beautiful image as the sunsets.
Here is the home of leather wallets, tailored clothing, jewellery and so much more in Vietnam and a great place to explore when you have a little money spare from your trips.
After leaving Hoi An, you have options…
You can either venture to Ba Na Hills to see the hand bridge and venture up cable cars to the hidden cloud city in the mountains. Believe it or not there is a theme park up there and you can stay overnight for an amazing experience, something we weren’t aware of at the time. The hand bridge is the one you see on Instagram; however, be prepared for the views to be covered by the clouds because, yes, you really are super high into the clouds.
Or you can head to the Temples of My Son, which are deserted historic relics that you can find yourself exploring till your hearts content. This is a unique and unheard of UNESCO heritage site that not many travellers visit and have stood for centuries. To be specific, the relics here were built between the 4th and 13th century for Indian Kings and rulers and they really do still stand today.
Unfortunately, the Vietnam War saw to that some were destroyed, but large building still stand erect and strong even after all these years. It’s a great location to just wander for the day, see where the path takes you. Some people opt to visit there via bike to be able to visit the UNCESCO site and see all the beauty it has, and upon reflection, wish we did the same!
(both of these locations would lead you to head back to Hanoi and complete your 2 week trip! However, if you opt for neither of these, you have the opportunity to spend a couple days at one last location…
Ha Long Bay: Day 12 to Day 14
This is one of the natural wonders of the world and the views are not to be underestimated. Here, you can find yourself on the water, weaving between hundreds of tiny, uninhabited islands boasting all of its natural green beauty.
The water and bay are something to admire for sure, and worth the long trip to the City from the (likely) capital. However, don’t be fooled by the large, tall buildings in the city of Ha Long Bay as the city feels deserted and baron.
When exploring the streets, it was really difficult to find anywhere to find a place to eat or shops open. Maybe it was the time of year we visited (November) or something, but it wasn’t what was expected.
However, the Bay is really something to admire and a wonder that shouldn’t be slept on. You have the opportunity to explore caves, visit Ti Top island, and go kayaking to look for wild monkeys! The great thing about Ha Long Bay is that the locals to preserve the natural beauty and therefore make sure that it is kept well even with many tourists visiting it throughout the year.
If you don’t know already, Vietnam is really a beautiful country, and a trip here would be a huge highlight reel for you in many years to come. The country really does boast a beautiful mix of amazing foods, loving people, historic sights, natural wonders and so much more. And even in 2 short weeks you can find a way to experience all this and more!!
W would however recommend a whole month in the country to really explore and soak in the country has to offer. It truly is amazing and a location we could not recommend for new travellers, avid travellers, or generally anyone in this world.
If you have been to Vietnam before or any of these locations, we would love to know your thoughts and recommendations on any locations that are a MUST to include in this 2-week itinerary.
Find our Travel Essentials!
We have a full list of recommendations for any travels! Check out our:
- Travel Photography Essentials
- Essentials for Backpacking
- Beach Travel Essentials
- Women’s Travel Essentials
- Travel Gifts
- Travel Games
We also recommend using these when planning your next trip!
- Trip.com – Find amazing flight deals, with over 2 million flight routes, and being one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
- Airalo – With over one million people using Airalo, it is our go to eSIM provider for our worldwide trips! Having data packs from over 200 countries, find combined area packages and deals to suit your travel style and data needs!
- Booking.com – Offering over 28 million accommodations to book, we will always use booking.com! Having a rewards system built in, the more you book, the more perks you get!
- HostelWorld – You cannot budget travel without hostel world! Having over 17,000 hostels, boasting over 13 million reviews, hostel world is one our of top websites for budget travel! They are now offering more ways to meet people abroad, with meet ups, group chats and more available!
- Get Your Guide – Book unique (and common!) experiences and activities worldwide, including skip the line tickets to big attractions worldwide!
- Eat With – Experience authentic travel experiences with locals worldwide! Use eat with to book unique and intimate dining experiences, such as dinner parties in big restaurants, big feasts with a local family, cooking classes with a local and more!
- ETKA – Every age from 3 to 85 can buy ETKA’s travel insurance, offering multilingual 24/7 chat support, and your insurance policy within 2-3 minutes!
We post weekly Youtube Videos now! Please check out our Osijek Vlog here!
If you would like to support our own travel Journey, please check out all our other blogs, and subscribe to the newsletter where we are currently uploading daily blogs!
Check out our Social Media’s below!
Finally, share this post with your friends! Let’s build those travel plans and make memories!
We post daily content of our travel experiences and also must know travel tips so be sure not to miss out on this!
Thank you for reading this blog, and have a good day.
Our Two Step Start 
Leave a comment