Vietnam tour planning and itinerary

 
Hello Friends, how are you doing? 

During my Vietnam travel, many of you wanted to know about my travel itinerary and information like how to apply for Visa, how to exchange the foreign currency, public transport in Vietnam, flight booking etc. so here I thought of consolidating all those points in one page which might help you in planning your trip easily😊. There are so many beautiful places to explore and indulge around in Vietnam but making our itinerary optimal I have mentioned all the must visited places one can enjoy and save the sweet memories.

Apply for eVisa:

Documents Required- 

1. Image copy of front page in your Passport
2. Image copy of your photograph (White background is recommended)
3. Debit/Credit card though which you wish to make payment 
4. Visa Fees are 25$ for Single Entry, 50$ for Multiple entry
5. You will be asked to fill basic details like Name, Address, Contact No. Passport No, National ID, Occupation and trip information etc. just keep it handy with you while filling the application
6. Tourist Visa should be grant for 30 Days only, so fill the travel dates accordingly

Link for eVisa application - Foreigner apply for e-visa - National portal on Immigration

Processing Time - Usually four working days

Note - Your Hotel bookings, Travel Insurance, flight Bookings details are not required for eVISA application purpose. You only have to state the intended port of Entry/Exit.

Currency Exchange-

1. Local currency in Vietnam is "Vietnamese Dong" (1 Rs = 300 VND).
2. You can buy USD cash from your nearby currency exchange agents in the city then exchange the local currency after reaching Vietnam from any local places, you can get good exchange rate (Currency exchange shops easily available in major cities like Hochi minh, Hanoi, Da Nang etc.)
3. Avoid buying currency from Airport. Currency rate will be too high.
4. Even if you could not carry a USD currency, you can withdraw same from any Vietnam's Airport (Some extra transaction fees you might need to pay)
5. WISE or Remitly card (for Western Travelers) withdrawal could be free (I used WISE on Airport and withdraw from DHFL ATM was free)

SIM Card:

1. Tourist SIM cards Mobifone, Viettel you can purchase on any Vietnam airport, both having good network in all tourist places even in Sapa. If possible buy it from City it could be cheaper than Airport (We bought in 450/- Rs, 150K VND)
2. Plans tariffs vary from 500/- Rs - 1500/- Rs. as per Data pack and validity period for 7 Days, 15 Days or 1 Month. Choose the plan which is best suitable for you

Flight Bookings:

1. While flight bookings, just be little flexible with your travel dates to hunt the better deals and find the date combinations from SKYSCANNER website - Skyscanner_website which are suitable to your budget. 
2. Then check the deals available on Vietjet airline for same dates - Vietjetair.com You should be able to find bookings with good deals.

Note - Usual fare ranges between 17k - 25k RS/- return flight if planned in advance. 

Local Taxi:

• "Grab" app is very reliable taxi app we experienced in entire Vietnam. It also provides sharing Bikes options in all major cities. You can pay Cash and also Card. 
• Just remember, if you choose to pay by Card, there will be some minimal traction fees/taxes will be applicable for international cards.

Intercity Transport:

• https://12go.asia/en - This website can be used to book the transfers like Bus/Train (We used this website to book bus from DaNang to Hanoi)
• Hanoi to Sapa we booked from Klook

Indian Restaurants:

You can try Vietnamese local food but be aware of the meat content. To avoid this I usually preferred to eat in Indian restaurants only. There many Indian restaurants you can find in Da Nang and Hanoi. Few recommendation I can suggest below-

• In Da Nang- Gujarat restaurant, Rasoi Indian restaurant
• In Hanoi - R K Spice Indian restaurant, Grills and Gravy
• SaPa - Ganesh restaurant (Not much options available in Sapa)

Day tour Packages Booking:

• https://www.klook.com/en - "Klook" app or website greatly helped us to book all our Day tour plan like Bana Hills, Hoi An/DaNang city sight seeing, Halong cruise, Ninh Binh etc. 
  
• Advantage of KLOOK is that after booking the tours, representative will contact us on WhatsApp on prior day of tour till we onboard the Transport.

Note - If new user registration to "Klook" app it also offers 10% discount on tour. We utilized such offers as well.

Travel Itinerary:

Vietnam country is spread vertically in "S" shape offering the wide diversity in tourism with Culture, Nature, Beaches, Forest and Mountains.

You can plan your travel from "Ho Chi Minh City - Hoi An/Da Nang - Hanoi - Sapa" OR "Hanoi - Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh City" as per your interest and number of days plan. All major cities are well connected via Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad. So you can decide entry port as per your travel itinerary.

Day1 / Day2: Ho Chi minh City

• Half Day City walks  or sight seeing bus you can book (Ho Chi Minh Sightseeing Bus)
• Mekong Delta river tour (Mekong tour Link)
• Cu-chi Tunnel (Cu-chi tour Link)

Day3/ Day4/ Day5: Da Nang or Hoi An

• Hoi An town visit
• Evening Boat ride in Hoi An river
• My Son Sanctury - Group of Hindu temples word heritage site build in 4th-5th century
• BaNa Hills/ Golden bridge (BaNa Tour Link)
• Danang Beach walk - If your stay in DaNang it's ease walk on few meters
• Marbal Mountain/Non Nuoc Stone/Pagoda/Tan Chon cave (Day tour)
• Lady Budha 

Day5/Day6/ Day7: Hanoi

• Half day city sight seeing
• Halong bay day Cruise/You can choose for overnight cruise as well (Starts from 45 $ for Day tour- Cruise Tour)
• Ninh Binh tour - Hoa Lu - Trang An - Mua Cave ( Starts from 35 $ - Tour Link )

Day8/ Day9: Sapa Tour

• Half day Cat Cat villege (Entry Fees- 150 VND pp)
• Half Day Fansipan cable car - ( Entry Fees- 30 $ pp, Ticket Link)
• Hiking to Lao Chai - Muong Hua valley- Ta Van (10 km easy hike route, book return taxi/Bike from Ta Van to your hotel from "Grab" app)

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