North, from Hanoi
Ha Long Bay
Close to two thousand limestone islands in a shallow gulf, inscribed by UNESCO in 1994. The bay is at its best early and late, which is the argument for sleeping on it rather than day-tripping.
Ha Long · Hanoi · Da Nang
Vietnam
Karst bays & old quarters
Ha Long Bay, the old quarters of Hanoi and Hoi An, and the coast at Da Nang — sequenced around a country long enough to have three separate climates.
The place
One country, three climates
Vietnam runs more than a thousand miles north to south, and that length is the whole planning problem: the north has four seasons and a genuine winter, the south has two and no winter at all, and the centre keeps its own calendar between them.
The classic route is north to centre — Hanoi, a night on the water in Ha Long, then the old town at Hoi An and the coast at Da Nang. It is popular because it works, and because the internal flights that make it possible are short.
Two of the stops are UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Ha Long Bay, inscribed in 1994, and Hoi An Ancient Town in 1999. Neither is a museum piece — the bay is a working waterway and Hoi An is a living town — which is most of their appeal.
Good to know
- Flying time from Dubai
- About 6h 45m non-stop to Hanoi (HAN)
- Time difference
- 3 hours ahead of the UAE (UTC+7)
- Currency
- Vietnamese dong (VND)
- Language
- Vietnamese; English in hotels and tourism
Entry requirements vary by passport and change without notice, so they are not published here — we confirm what applies to your travellers at the time of booking.
Where we take people
Places to visit in Vietnam
A starting point, not a fixed route — every itinerary is written around the party, the dates and how much moving about they want.
Ha Long
A night on the bay
Overnight boats anchor among the karsts, which buys you the hours the day boats miss — dusk, dawn, and a quiet mooring after the fleet has turned back.
Central coast
Hoi An
A former trading port whose old town survived largely intact, inscribed in 1999. The lanterns are the image people arrive with; the tailoring, the food and the river are what they remember.
Ba Na Hills, Da Nang
The Golden Bridge
A walkway held up by two enormous stone hands, in the hills above Da Nang and reached by cable car. It is a modern attraction and unapologetic about it — go early, or go in the mist.
Hanoi
Hanoi's Old Quarter
Thirty-six streets, each named for the trade that once worked it, and still the densest part of the city. Best covered on foot, early, with the traffic treated as weather rather than as something to beat.
Hanoi
Hoan Kiem Lake
The lake the city organises itself around, with the red Huc bridge running out to the temple on its island. The surrounding streets close to traffic at weekends.
When to go
Timing is most of it
There is no single best month for Vietnam, and any source that gives you one is describing a third of the country. Plan the season around the regions the itinerary actually visits.
Mar – May
Best
The broad sweet spot
The one window where all three regions are reasonable at once — the months to pick if the itinerary runs the length of the country.
Sep – Nov
Best
Autumn in the north
Hanoi and Ha Long at their best: warm, clear and past the summer rain. A close second overall.
Feb – May
Centre — Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An
Warm without being punishing, and before the central wet season arrives.
Dec – Feb
Northern winter
Genuinely cold in Hanoi and on the bay, and often grey. The south is in its dry season at the same time.
How we run it
Planned here, run there
Our own vehicles and guides are in the Emirates. Vietnam is run through operators we work with there — which is why the plan comes from us and the driver meeting your travellers is local.
01
Routed for the season
The same three-city route is a good trip in April and a grey one in January. We build the order and the dates around which regions are actually in season.
02
Boats and internal flights
A north-and-centre itinerary carries at least one overnight boat and one domestic flight. Both get booked and re-confirmed as part of the plan, not left as your problem on arrival.
03
Planned in Dubai, run in Vietnam
Our team writes the itinerary; operators we work with in-country deliver it. One brief and one point of contact from enquiry to return.
Next step
Tell us who is travelling
Dates, party size and whether this is a first visit or a return — that is enough for us to come back with a routed itinerary rather than a brochure.
