Choosing the ideal itinerary before traveling to Vietnam in 15 days on your own is extremely complicated. And it is that, there are many jewels to discover on a trip to Vietnam: Our main advice is that you do not try to cover everything on your trip to Vietnam, it will be impossible. It is better to enjoy fewer sites, but do it in depth. We already assure you that Vietnam is a country that will leave you wanting more: What to see and do then in 15 days in Vietnam?…

Vietnam is a country to be savored little by little, with all its essence. In Vietnam you have to travel without haste, enjoying the experience at all times, leaving time and space for improvisation, for what is not scheduled… to enjoy the surprises that a trip to Vietnam will bring us, which will be many.

We hope that the advice on travel routes and itineraries to Vietnam that we propose, with the most interesting places to visit in Vietnam in 15 days, will be useful for you to plan your trip to Vietnam on your own.

1HOW MANY DAYS TO TRAVEL TO VIETNAM? 

In our travel itinerary to Vietnam, subject to 15 days, we focused our energies on the route known as:  « The Path of the Mandarins» , a route of a historical nature that crossed the country from north to south for 1,730 km. In 15 days of travel in Vietnam you will have plenty of time to comfortably visit the main places of interest in Vietnam without having to pay for a visa (in the case of Spanish national travelers).

The Mandarin Route runs through the main points of Vietnam from North to South, starting in Hanoi and ending in Ho Chi Minh City and is truly impressive.

This 15-day itinerary to travel through Vietnam refers to the route followed by students aspiring to become Mandarins, since they were studying at the Temple of Literature in Vietnam.Hanoi , going through the different training temples in the main cities of Vietnam, until they arrived in Saigon to take the exam and obtain their imperial title, an activity that could take them years and years; even half life.

IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU WILL NEED A VISA TO TRAVEL TO VIETNAM FOR MORE THAN 15 DAYS 

  • If you decide to travel to Vietnam for more than 15 days (if you have Spanish nationality) you must obtain a visa online before your trip. For other nationalities, check the Immigration Portal of the Government of Vietnam .
  • An easy and simple way to obtain it is with this on-line agency iVisa : Click on the previous link to know all the details. In addition, they provide you with all the necessary documentation to travel to Vietnam with the new entry requirements to the country as a result of the pandemic. Simply select your nationality and the country you want to visit and you will have access to all the necessary information.

2 WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO TRAVEL TO VIETNAM?: WHEN TO GO TO VIETNAM

Vietnam is located on the Indochina peninsula, with a tropical and subtropical climate, which varies greatly depending on which part of the country we visit.

In general, the dry season runs from November to April and the rainy season from May to October. That said, we traveled during the monsoon (June/July) and it barely rained, except for a short and sporadic storm and already in the evening. When traveling to Vietnam in August, you will encounter similar weather.

The benefit of traveling to Vietnam in the low season is that you will hardly find tourists and the prices of hotels and excursions plummet.

  • December, January and February are cold in the north of Vietnam, with temperatures that can drop as low as 10 degrees.
  • In March, April and May, temperatures are mild in the north and Sapa and its rice terraces are spectacular.

However, the Central Vietnam area benefits from fabulous temperatures during July and August and is the best area if you want to combine a few days at the beach during your trip to Vietnam in August and July: The days are sunny and generally dry and the beaches are perfect for bathing: crystal clear and very clean waters, throughout the central area of ​​the country.

In the south of Vietnam, we will find sporadic rains in July and August, but they do not last long and the temperature is very warm. We recommend always carrying a thin raincoat at hand. You can enjoy the dry season in this area in the months of January to April and November and December.

When is the best time to travel to Vietnam then?

As you can see, any time is good to visit Vietnam, everything will depend on the areas you want to visit. Our recommendation is that you travel at the time that you get your cheapest flights, and that you do not get shy even if it is the rainy season. You will find many advantages to traveling to Vietnam in the off-season as well.

3 WHERE TO TRAVEL IN VIETNAM? THE BEST ITINERARY FOR 15 DAYS IN VIETNAM  [+ MAP]

This is the 15-day route through Vietnam that we recommend for a vacation trip to Vietnam. If you click on the names of the places, you will access each of the practical guides of the cities we visit in Vietnam: The essentials in Vietnam on a two-week trip.

WHAT TO SEE IN VIETNAM IN 15 DAYS?: ESSENTIAL PLACES ON A ROUTE THROUGH VIETNAM

  • HANOI (2 days) The vibrant capital of Vietnam and a foodie paradise.
  • HALONG BAY (2 days) The natural jewel of northern Vietnam and an essential UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • SAPA (2 days) Routes between rice terraces and tribes.
  • NINH BINH (1 day): The terrestrial Halong Bay.
  • HUE, THE IMPERIAL CITY (1 day): Former imperial capital of Vietnam and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • THE CITY OF GHOSTS (en route):  One of the most colorful and beautiful cemeteries in the world, near Hue.
  • DA NANG (THE MARBLE MOUNTAINS) (1 day): Sanctuaries of Buddhist temples carved into the mountains.
  • HOI AN (1 day): The most beautiful medieval city in Vietnam, whose historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • VIETNAM FULL MOON FESTIVAL (1 night): A magical Buddhist show held in Hoi An on the weekend of every lunar month.
  • THE BEACHES OF CENTRAL VIETNAM (1 day): The beautiful beaches of Hoi An.
  • THE CHAM ISLANDS (1 day):  Snorkel among corals in some tropical islands.
  • HO CHI MINH CITY (1 day): The ancient city of Saigon.
  • CUCHI TUNNELS (1 day) : The famous war tunnels of Vietnam.
  • FREE MEKONG DELTA (1/2 days):  The villages and floating markets of the Mekong River.

4 TRAVEL TO VIETNAM ON YOUR OWN OR WITH AN ORGANIZED TRIP?

Our recommendation is that you travel to Vietnam on your own whenever you can. The country is very adapted to tourism and it is easy to move independently – the 15-day trip in Vietnam will be much cheaper and more flexible.

However, there are times when you prefer to save time on the journeys or simply, one prefers not to complicate and in this sense, the solution may be to hire a tour organized by Vietnam through tourist agencies .

There are frequent scams with tourist agencies in Vietnam: Find out well before traveling to Vietnam (and even already in the country when hiring excursions) of which are the most reliable to avoid typical tourist scams, even so, Vietnam is a very safe country to travel.

In our case, we recommend these two circuits with guides in Spanish and with the Spanish agency Civitatis , totally trustworthy professionals with whom we have personally traveled and booked excursions on several occasions:

Click on the links to find out all the details of these trips. They are circuits organized by Vietnam, especially recommended for travelers who have a few vacation days to travel to Vietnam and who are too lazy to organize a trip on their own.

Of course, you should know that they are very intense and complete trips, where you visit the main places and cities of interest in Vietnam in a few days, but with excellent ratings. 😉

RECOMMENDED CIRCUITS IN VIETNAM WITH AGENCY AND GUIDES IN SPANISH: 

  • Vietnam in full in 10 days
  • Organized trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in 11 days .

5RECOMMENDED EXCURSIONS AND TOURS ON A TRIP THROUGH VIETNAM IN 15 DAYS

Although we do recommend traveling to Vietnam on your own, there are a number of excursions and visits that are better to do on an organized tour, because they are cultural visits or excursions to places of interest in Vietnam that are easier or more comfortable to do with guided tours. , or can only be done this way.

In addition, most are with guides in Spanish. These are, for us, the 13 best excursions and guided tours to do in Vietnam for 15 days:

13 ACTIVITIES YOU CANNOT MISS ON A 15-DAY TRIP TO VIETNAM:
  1. Hanoi Food Tour
  2. Free tour of Hanoi in Spanish
  3. Halong Bay Day Trip
  4. 2-Day Halong Bay Cruise in Spanish
  5. 2-Day Tour of Sapa in Spanish
  6. Ninh Binh Tour in Spanish
  7. Complete tour of Hue in Spanish
  8. Marble Mountains Tour
  9. Snorkeling in the Cham Islands
  10. Tour por Hoi An
  11. Free tour of Ho Chi Minh in Spanish
  12. Excursion to Cu Chi Tunnels
  13. Excursion to the Mekong Delta in full

Another travel recommendation is to jump from this region of southern Vietnam to Cambodia. An air journey from Ho Chi Minh of just one hour will bring you closer to the amazing Temples of Angkor in Siem Reap: one of the best historical and religious complexes in all of Southeast Asia .

6 ACCOMMODATION IN VIETNAM: WHERE TO SLEEP IN VIETNAM IN 15 DAYS

In general, accommodation in Vietnam is very cheap and of quite good quality. You can spend very little per night and stay in hostels where you won’t spend more than €6-7 a day; also charming hotels, “boutique” type that are now proliferating throughout the country for around €20-40 a day; and in luxury accommodations in resorts, paying three or four times less than what they would cost you in Europe.

That being said, on our trip to Vietnam we looked in great detail at the accommodations we were going to stay in, most of them booked in advance through offers and discounts. (Be sure to consult our travel guide with all the tricks to find the best cheap hotels ).

RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN HUE

In Hue we were able to enjoy the most luxurious hotel on our 15-day trip to Vietnam, for just over €70 a night (children free), in a villa located in a breath-taking landscape next to Lake Hue and the mountains of a nature reserve.

  • The hotel is called Vedana Lagoon Resort (click on the name to see photos and prices), and we were so delighted that we wrote a review that you can read in the following post:

The rest of our hotels in Vietnam were much more modest, located in practical and well-located areas, to make it easier for us to move around the tourist areas.

done

RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN HANOI

In Hanoi we stayed at the Hanoi Crystal Hotel (click on the name to see prices and photos), in a triple room for €22 with a very complete breakfast.

  • It is a simple hotel, a bit decadent, but very practical, located in the Old Quarter, and a few minutes walk from Hoan Kiem Lake.
  • We were able to walk to most of the tourist attractions in Hanoi and that’s why we recommend it: central and cheap.

 RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN HALONG BAY (LANG HA)

On the island of Cat Ba (Halong Bay) we stayed two nights in a simple and basic hotel-hostel, without luxuries, but with spectacular views of Cat Ba Bay and Lang Ha, very close to the beaches.

  • We hired a deluxe family room with a private bathroom for €20 with breakfast, but there are rooms from €6-8 in the hostel part.
  • Our room was correct (very old furniture), but the amazing views from the terrace made up for everything. The name is Le Pont Bungalow, and its restaurant, also overlooking the bay, is highly recommended. (Click on the name for more information)

RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN HOI AN

In Hoi An we decided to stay near the beautiful beach of An Bang Beach , located a short drive from Hoi An and a few steps from the beach.

  • The boutique-type family hotel cost us €45 for a double room with an extra bed for our son and a very abundant and à la carte breakfast, included. The hotel, with very few rooms, is extremely cozy and carefully decorated.
  • We can only have generous words for this magnificent family for their hospitality and affection, and especially for the elderly caretaker of the estate, who exuded sympathy with our son. A place to which we promise to return one day and by name: Vina Beach Pool Villas (click on the name to see prices and photos).

RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN THE CHAM ISLANDS

If you decide to spend the night in the rustic Cham Islands, we recommend Hammock Homestay, (click for photos and prices) close to beaches and lovely staff, too.

RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN HO CHI MINH

In Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) we stayed in the backpacker area of ​​district 1. The hotel was very well located near the main tourist attractions, and the lively area of ​​bars and restaurants, although far enough away not to hear any noise.

The rooftop has spectacular views of the Saigon Skyline, to have a beer or a drink at night. The family room cost us €40 with breakfast, and its name is Duc Vuong Hotel (click on the name to see more information and prices).

RECOMMENDED HOTEL IN THE MEKONG DELTA

To end our trip through southern Vietnam, we paid ourselves a little tribute and stayed at the Mekong Riverside Boutique Resort, in Cai Be, very close to the floating market: a charming rural resort located in an idyllic spot, on the same bank of the Mekong river.

  • The views from the terraces of the Mekong Delta are incredible, not to mention its spectacular restaurant, and its spa massages, of excellent price and quality.
  • Double rooms with extra bed for the child and generous breakfast for €70 per night. We would return, without a doubt.

7  RECOMMENDED TRAVEL GUIDES TO PLAN A 15-DAY TRIP TO VIETNAM

Get advice from good travel guides before traveling to Vietnam and during your trip through the country. Our recommendations are the following, with which we document our trip.

  • Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam m. (Click on the name for more information): The independent traveler’s bible: Itineraries, recommendations, transport, routes and everything you need to organize your trip to Vietnam in 15 days.
  • Vietnam Globetrotter’s Guide:  A very useful guide with lots of practical information. He helped us discover special places off the beaten track. Click on the name for more information.
  • And if you want to be inspired by beautiful photos of Vietnam , do not miss the previous link.

And these are all our recommendations on the 15-day route and itinerary for a first trip to Vietnam. We hope you find it useful for your trip and that you can tell us about your experience when you return.

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