Reply to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam Itinerary + Local Travel Agent Recommendations?

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[quote=Anonymous]The drive to Ha Long City from Hanoi is about 2-2.5 hours, so it will be a *very* long day trip.

I can’t speak to Cambodia/Thailand, but we did a 3.5-week trip to Vietnam last year and didn’t find that a travel agent was necessary. The government’s e-visa site looks like it was designed in 1996, but it was straightforward, and we had our visas within a week. And we used Vietnam Airlines for domestic flights - easy to book online.

For ground transportation, we used a combination of Grab (the Uber of SE Asia) and services arranged by our hotels. I agree with PP that hotel service was generally very good and they were able to arrange just about anything we needed (for example - while in Hoi An we wanted to visit an artisan’s workshop in a small village about 30 mins away - the hotel was happy to arrange a driver to take us there).

I agree with others that you might think about paring back a bit so you can have a slower pace. We tried to spend at least 3-4 nights in each city. Any less than that and I fear you will feel rushed and exhausted. Especially on your arrival in Hanoi. That was our arrival city, and the culture shock was real, esp staying in the Old Quarter. It is crowded, frenetic, horrible traffic (with the constant beepbeepbeep of motorbikes), overwhelming - it took a couple of days for the true charms of Hanoi to unfold. It’s a very elegant, historic city once you look under the surface. We had 5 days in Hanoi, and I wish we could have spent more time there. Same with Saigon - 5 days just wasn’t enough.

And PP is correct - there are so many other places in Vietnam that are worth a visit. I loved Hue so much, and our daughters really enjoyed the chill vibes and cafe culture in Da Lat. Hoi An is controversial. As a former New Orleanian, I think of it as like the French Quarter of Vietnam - beautiful, historic, charming but also a little tacky and crammed full of tourists. Some people love it and some people hate it. My husband really loved it.

Sorry, this is probably more than you want to read, but our Vietnam trip was really a great family experience.
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