How Many Days Do You Need in Vietnam?

Vietnam looks compact on a map, but it is long and thin, and moving between regions takes real time. The most common planning mistake is trying to see everything in ten days and spending half of it in airports.

A better approach is to decide how many regions you want to see, then give each one enough time to settle in. As a rough rule, allow at least three nights per region and count every internal flight as half a day. Once you add the drive to the airport, check-in and the transfer at the other end, a one-hour flight rarely takes less than four or five hours door to door.

One week: pick a region

Seven days is enough to do one region properly, or two if you are happy to move quickly. In the north, that could be Hanoi, a night in Ninh Binh and an overnight cruise on Ha Long Bay. In the centre, Hue, Hoi An and a day or two on the beach near Da Nang. In the south, Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta and a few days on Phu Quoc.

Pick the region by season as much as by interest. The central coast is at its best from February to August, while the south is driest from December to April.

Ten days: two regions

Ten days opens up the classic pairing of north and centre: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh, then a short flight to Da Nang for Hoi An and Hue. It works well at a steady pace, with one flight in the middle. Adding the south as well is possible, but it turns the trip into a run of one-night stops.

If beaches matter more than history, the centre and south pair just as well: Hoi An and Hue, then a flight to Ho Chi Minh City and on to Phu Quoc.

Two weeks: north to south

Fourteen days is the sweet spot for a first visit that covers the whole country. A typical shape is four or five nights in the north, four in the centre and four or five in the south, linked by two domestic flights. You'll see the capital, the karst landscapes, the old towns of the central coast, Saigon and the Mekong, with time to eat well and rest.

Two weeks still involves choices. Most people cannot fit the northern mountains, Phong Nha's caves and a long beach stay into the same fortnight, so choose the one that matters most to you.

Three weeks or more

With three weeks you can slow down or go further: the mountains around Sapa or Ha Giang, the caves of Phong Nha, a longer stay in the Delta, or proper beach time at the end. This is also when overnight trains and the drive over the Hai Van Pass start to feel like part of the trip rather than lost time.

Longer trips also leave room for weather. A spare day or two means a storm on Ha Long Bay or a rainy spell in Hoi An becomes a change of plan rather than a missed highlight.

Realistic travel times

These are approximate and vary with traffic, weather and the time of day.

• Hanoi to Ha Long Bay: about 2.5–3 hours by road
• Hanoi to Ninh Binh: about 2 hours by road
• Hanoi to Da Nang: about 1 hour 20 minutes by air
• Da Nang to Hoi An: about 45 minutes by road
• Hue to Hoi An: about 3 hours by road, longer over the Hai Van Pass
• Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City: a little over 2 hours by air
• Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta: 2–4 hours by road, depending on how deep you go
• Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc: about 1 hour by air

Where the time goes

A few patterns eat into short trips more than people expect.

• One-night stops: you arrive in the afternoon and leave the next morning, which leaves little time to see anything
• Ha Long Bay as a day trip: five or six hours on the road for a few hours on the water
• Early flights: they often mean a very early start and a lost morning
• Tet: closures and full transport in late January or February can slow everything down