We visited Vietnam earlier this year and worked our way north to south. We had a month and we visited Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba Island, Ninh Binh, Phong Nha, Hue, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City. We enjoyed the mix of natural beauty, cultural sites, and food. 

Some highlights:  
\- day cruise in Lan Ha Bay  
\- Trang An boat tour (route 3)  
\- wandering about Bai Dinh in Ninh Binh (I know there are mixed opinions on this site, but I really liked the grounds there and it was empty)  
\- enjoying a coffee or beer in the Old Quarter in Hanoi and people/traffic watching  
\- the Phong Nha caves  
\- Ninh Binh and Phong Nha for biking  
\- the cultural sites in Hue  
\- wandering the streets of Old Town in Hoi An  
\- the food tours - we did them in Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, and a motorbike tour in HCMC  
\- trying all the new foods - some of my favorites were bun cha, cao lau, bun bo hue, white rose dumplings, banh beo, egg coffee, salt coffee, morning glory, beef wrapped in betel leaves, nem lui  
   
\- most intense experience - War Remnants Museum in HCMC  
\- funniest experience - a duck farm in Phong Nha  
\- most unusual - abandoned water park in Hue  
\- most - I-hope-he-doesn't-die-from-sepsis experience - my husband getting a sea urchin spine cut out of his foot at the clinic in Ninh Binh (stepped on a sea urchin in Thailand prior to Vietnam)  
\- most chaotic experience - Long Bien Market in Hanoi (good chaos - very interesting to see)

I'm still in the process of writing up trip notes, but our itinerary and all my pics are posted here: [https://pbase.com/pudgy\_groundhog/vietnam2026](https://pbase.com/pudgy_groundhog/vietnam2026)

First time to Vietnam and we had a great time!