Itinerary
Vietnam in Two to Three Weeks: The Open-Jaw Route
Vietnam's elongated, roughly 1,700-kilometre north-south shape creates a genuine planning advantage most visitors don't think to use: Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south are both major international gateways, so an open-jaw ticket — flying into one and out of the other — lets a route move steadily in one direction for its entire length rather than looping back to a single entry point. This route uses that shape directly, treating the trip as a one-way journey between two endpoints rather than a round trip from a single base.
Updated 2026-09-19
Days 1-4 · Hanoi and Ha Long Bay: starting in the north
Hanoi's thousand-year Old Quarter and its surrounding imperial and colonial layers reward two to three unhurried days before heading out to Ha Long Bay, typically visited on an overnight cruise among the bay's limestone karsts with a sunrise view built into the itinerary. Travelers with a taste for something more physically demanding can substitute or extend this opening stretch with the Ha Giang Loop, the country's signature motorbike route through its far-northern mountains, a detour with its own geology, construction history and self-drive-versus-guided-driver decision.
Days 5-8 · Hue and Hoi An: the historic centre
Hue's citadel and royal tombs carry the weight of over a century as Vietnam's imperial capital, a history that extends into the city's own distinctive small-plate cuisine, while Hoi An's UNESCO-listed old quarter of lantern-lit lanes and tailor shops is widely considered the country's most visually striking town — both connected by the Hai Van Pass, a shorter and less demanding taste of mountain riding than the Ha Giang Loop, doable as a single day's ride or as a private car transfer for travelers who'd rather skip riding altogether. Travelers with a specific interest in the region's more recent history can add a half-day to the former Demilitarized Zone near Hue, home to the Vinh Moc tunnels, an underground village built to shelter an entire community rather than a combat network — a genuinely different site from the Cu Chi Tunnels further south.
Days 9-10 · Da Nang and Nha Trang: the coast, if time allows
Da Nang's beaches and the coastal stretch toward Nha Trang give the route a genuine seaside interlude between the historic centre and the south, best treated as an optional addition on a three-week trip rather than a fixed stop — travelers tighter on time generally skip straight from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City rather than adding this leg, since the country's more essential stops sit further north and south of it.
Days 11-14 · Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta: finishing in the south
Ho Chi Minh City's French colonial core, its War Remnants Museum and Reunification Palace, and its considerably faster, more commercial energy than Hanoi's give the trip a genuinely different closing character than its opening days. A day trip into the Mekong Delta, whether a single day to Mỹ Tho or an overnight further to Cần Thơ for its floating markets, adds the country's fourth genuinely distinct region — river-delta life shaped entirely by water — before the trip ends. From here, the open-jaw ticket comes into its own: departing directly from Ho Chi Minh City's own international airport rather than routing back north closes the loop without ever doubling back over ground already covered.
Compressing to ten days: cut the Da Nang-Nha Trang coastal leg first, connecting Hoi An directly to Ho Chi Minh City — the historic centre and the two anchor cities carry the trip's essential ground even without it. Extending to a full month: add Phu Quoc island as a final beach stretch before flying out of Ho Chi Minh City, or the Mekong Delta's Cần Thơ overnight in place of the single-day Mỹ Tho version, both natural extensions of the same southward direction rather than a detour off it.