Vietnam has so much to offer, to all kind of travelers. If you want to travel the length of the country at some leisure, meet the people, see something of the highlands and the deltas, you should set aside a month. With only two weeks at your disposal, the choice is either to hopscotch up the coast calling at only the most mainstream destinations or, perhaps better, to concentrate on one region and enjoy it at your own pace. However, if you do want to see both north and south in a fortnight, internal flights can speed up an itinerary substantially, and aren’t too expensive. Our team at Sen Travel Group is happy to make suggestion and share our destination knowledge with you.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the Vietnam’s two main hubs for almost international travelers. If you start in the north, you will arrive to the city of Hanoi-Vietnam’s capital for over a thousand years. You will have time to explore the new culture, soak in to a place of pagodas and dynastic temples, tamarisk-edged lakes and elegant boulevards of French-era villas. From Hanoi, most would then include a stop in Halong Bay, staying on a traditional junk before traveling south for many highlights of their journey in Vietnam. Alternatively, you may wish to spend longer in the north-home to a patchwork of ethnic minorities and the country’s most dramatic mountain landscapes like in Sapa, Ha Giang or to the south of Hanoi in the Mai Chau Valley, Ninh Binh or the Cuc Phuong National Park

To the south of the imperial city of Hue, you will discover the former capital’s historic citadel, mausoleums and gardens before riding over the Hai Van pass to Da Nang and Hoi An. If you have more time, take one or two-day trip from Hue to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which cleaved the country in two from 1954 to 1975. 

Before traveling to Ho Chi Minh City and spending a day or more on the water and visiting a floating markets of the Mekong Delta, you should spend at least few days on one of idyllic beaches of Danang, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang in the center or the southern beaches of Phan Thiet & Mui Ne or the islands of Phu Quoc and Con Dao. Da Lat, the gateway to the central highlands is the ideal entry point to the region. There are also the less travelled in the central highlands to consider, such as Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku and Kontum, which are surrounded by ethnic minority tribes.

Things not to miss

• Explore the evocative of the Hanoi Old Quarter
• Browse the local markets
• Soak up the atmosphere at a street kitchen
• Cruise the sparkling waters of Halong Bay
• Take a cyclo ride for an up-close view of street life
• Trek in the northern mountains around Sapa
• Sit back and relax on the Reunification Express
• Admire the former capital’s historic citadel of Hue
• Express silk tailoring in Hoi An
• Take a snorkeling trip in the emerald waters of the outlying islands around Nha Trang
• Experience the most important festival in the Vietnamese calendar, TET
• Experience life under the ground of Cu Chi Tunnels
• Enjoy the genuine hospitality on a Mekong Delta farmstay
• Relax on unspoilt beaches of Phu Quoc Island
• Learn the secret of Vietnamese cuisine through a cooking class
• Chill out in Ho Chi Minh City