I started my Journey in Ho Chi Minh City in the South and worked my way towards Hanoi in the North, stopping at places of interest along the way.

List of the main places I stopped off at usually for a few days (typically 2-5 days) at each stop. ( HMC, Phan Thiet, Mui Ne, Dalat, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon, Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue, Phong Nha, Vinh, Ninh Binh, Hanoi, Sa Pa, Cat Ba Island and back to Hanoi before Going into Laos Via a 22 hour Sleeper Bus (never again).

As I was travelling solo, in the main I stayed in Hostels or Homestays. I spent around 7 weeks going from HMC to Hanoi in total and even that time felt tight for me as there was so much in Vietnam that I was intrigued to see. Travelling between towns and cities is fairly easy but very slow and time consuming, travelling 100 miles can take around 5-6 hours (on a good day) and watch out for public holidays too when planning your trip as there is NO public and minimum private transport available through these periods.

I loved absolutely everything about Vietnam, it is a country that has managed to develop where it needs to but held onto traditional ways if that works for them. Of all the travellers I speak with in other countries, they will always speak very highly of Vietnam and the fun they had, they too loved the place, the people and the lifestyle. 

I could list lots of things / places of interest in each location but it’s always best to do your own research into the attractions at your leisure as we all have personal taste but I can almost guarantee that every place will have something for you, busy cities to rural / remote villages and all are surrounded by beautiful, wild and exciting countryside.

Vietnam is a very cheap place to travel by all accounts, you can find hostel stay for £3.50 per night including breakfast and a main meal will cost you around £2.50 (usually includes a beer in that price. Food I (personally) found that i struggled at first and lived on Pork belly or Beef Pho (Noodles) then as time went on I discovered that the diet is quite varied really and the food is usually of a good standard.

A lot of travellers will purchase a Motorbike / Scooter to travel the length of Vietnam and then sell when they reach the other end. Personally, I found it best to use the many and frequent night buses to travel by, you can get a sleeper bus and they are quite comfortable, also you save on accomodation costs that you would have paid to sleep anyway. I used to love waking up in a different city. Once at the new location I would just hire the Scooter there for the days I was staying, this worked well for me and Scooter hire would cost about £3.00 to £4.00 per day. Once out of town, the roads are fairly quiet but to be fair, I usually headed into the countryside for my adventures.

In my opinion, Vietnam is NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!