I'd do mostly this, get into Hanoi, and treat it as a base for the first part of your hols, get out to Sapa, Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh (Inland HL bay), obviously do the old quarter, and the other stuff in Hanoi, even get over to west lake for a stroll.Hanoi is manic but worth the experience - arrived at night so hated it at first but it's a hell of a place
Go up to the hills in Sapa and trot around the paddy fields, can get an overnight train from Hanoi. Also from Hanoi you can't miss out on Halong Bay - can organise day trips I think but would recommend an overnighter
Go to Hue - scene of a massive battle during the war, fascinating city - and then do a bike tour from there to Hoi An. The road is incredible. Hoi An is great, very chilled, can buy cheap (but good quality) suits and there's a cool river display thing they do often
If you fancy a beach bit do Mui Ne, think Nha Trang is more touristy (or was when wewent) but it's a bit shit and Mui Ne way better. 30p bottles of beer and massive sand dunes you can go bombing about on a quad bike on
HCMC is great but very westernised compared to rest of the country. Didn't really do much in Danang other than pass through but got the same vibe
It's a fascinating country and I'd recommend doing as much of it as you can - but you'll have a great time in any of the above tbh
Then I'd be down to Da Nang, and hop over to Hoi An, maybe base there for the beach and quaint town nightlife, but get a day trip or over nighter to Hue, there is Ba Na Hills with the new bridge in hands thing. If i was in backpacker mode, I would have bused it down and stopped in Dong Hoi for the git fooking massive cave on the way Da Nang, but if flying, a bit of a trek back up that way.
Next would Nha Trang or Phan Tiet (Mui Ne), not been in a while, but we had to go by car to Mui Ne from HCMC, which is half a day wasted. Mui Ne is the less touristy place (Shit I was there when it was just a few bars in shacks).
Then HCMC city itself, i called it a mini BKK back in the day, I haven't been in years, but mates say it's lost its charm, just a big developing city, still good to go to say you've been, but I'd use as a base again. Get down to Vung Tau maybe for a night, also maybe go down Can Tho in the Mekong Delta, then perhaps Phu Quoc, i was there in 2006 last and it was a dump, but I'm told its come on leaps and bounds now.
Best way to enjoy Nam is just chill, don't get wound up of things you take for granted in the west, like time keeping and customer is always right etc etc, the Vietnamese have their own way of doing things, you aint going to change that.
Edit: Not sure if you have time, Dalat, nice inland town in the hills, quite relaxed place, a pleasant sort of surprise in Vietnam.
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