Vietnam itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

Vietnam is long and thin, so the itinerary question is really a transport question. Every overnight bus or train you take costs a day of sightseeing, and the country rewards two bases done properly over five done badly. The table below gives the route, the nights per stop and the one thing that would change it.

Nights are minimums. Add a spare night per week: storms in the centre, flight changes and the odd closed cave or flooded street are normal.

The 7-day version works because it uses one domestic flight and keeps the rest of the moving short. Two nights in Hanoi covers the Old Quarter on foot, one lake and one museum. Ninh Bình is a 2-hour drive or train south, and one night is enough for the rowing boats and a bike ride through the rice fields. The Hạ Long or Lan Hạ overnight cruise is the one night you should book ahead, because the good boats sell out in the dry season.

Then fly Hanoi or Hải Phòng to Đà Nẵng and finish with three nights in Hội An: the old town, a tailor, a cooking class and a bicycle to the beach. Fly home from Đà Nẵng, or take the short hop back to Hanoi if your ticket is return.

If you would rather not move four times in a week, cut Hội An and spend the week in the north: Hanoi 3, Ninh Bình 2, Hạ Long 1, with a day spare.

Ten days lets you touch all three regions without sprinting. Keep Hanoi at three nights, add the Ninh Bình night and the cruise night, then fly to Đà Nẵng for three nights in Hội An. The second domestic flight, Đà Nẵng to Ho Chi Minh City, takes about 1 h 20 m and lands you with two nights for the war museums, a market and a rooftop.

Treat the Mekong as a day trip from Saigon rather than an overnight: Cần Thơ's floating market at dawn is better with a night there, but a day tour to Mỹ Tho fits the schedule. Two domestic flights plus one cruise is the whole booking load; everything else is a taxi or a train.

Two weeks is the length most first-timers should aim for. The line runs Hanoi (3 nights) → Hạ Long cruise (1) → fly to Huế (2) → road over the Hải Vân Pass to Hội An (3) → fly to Đà Lạt (2) → bus or flight to Ho Chi Minh City (3). That is 14 nights with no wasted days, and it covers the imperial capital, the old trading port, the highlands and the southern city.

The Huế-to-Hội An leg is the one place a train or private car beats a flight: the coastal road through Lăng Cô and over the pass is the scenery, and it takes half a day. Đà Lạt is the optional stop; if you ride, swap it for the Hà Giang loop and fly straight from Hanoi to Saigon instead.

In October and November the centre floods and storms close Hội An's streets; in those weeks run the route in reverse or skip Huế and Hội An for the north and the Mekong.

Three weeks buys the two things a two-week trip cannot: the northern mountains and a proper Mekong night. Start with Hanoi (3), then Sa Pa (2) or the Hà Giang loop (3–4) by bus or with a local driver, back through Hanoi for the Hạ Long cruise (1). Ride the loop as a passenger rather than renting a motorbike unless you hold the right licence and have mountain experience.

Then work south: Huế (2), Hội An (3), Đà Lạt (2) or Quy Nhơn for the coast, Ho Chi Minh City (3), and finish with Cần Thơ (1–2) for the Cái Răng floating market at dawn. If you want a resort ending, trade the delta for Phú Quốc, which has its own 30-day island visa exemption.

At this length, slow down rather than add stops. Two nights in one place beats four one-night stands, and the extra days are what make a rainy week survivable.

Season decides the route more than taste does. The north is best October to April, the centre February to August, the south December to April. In a bad year the centre's flood season (October–November) closes Hội An's lanes and cancels trains, so build the trip so the centre falls in its dry window and the north or south absorbs the wet days.

Money and paperwork are the other two variables. Domestic flights, cruises and Tết-period trains are the bookings that sell out; everything else can be arranged a day or two ahead. Carry some cash for markets and small guesthouses, and check the visa rules before you book flights, because the e-visa window and any island exemption affect how long you can stay.

Finally, leave the plan loose at the edges. One spare night per week is the single best investment in a Vietnam itinerary: it turns a missed connection or a storm into a rest day instead of a lost stop.