Vietnam in 7 days: Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long and Hoi An

A week is enough for Hanoi, the inland karsts at Ninh Binh, a night on the water in Ha Long and two days in Hoi An — but only if you skip Ho Chi Minh City. One internal flight, no overnight buses, and the bay that is worth paying more to avoid the crowds.

Southeast Asia
7 days
≈ AED 2,150 / person
The north done properly, plus one flight south for the lanterns

Researched & checked by Nitesh Parasher Last verified 30 October 2026

Before you go

Vietnam is 1,650km long and seven days does not hold it. The week that works is the north, plus one flight to Hoi An — and the thing you leave out is Ho Chi Minh City.

That is the right thing to leave out. The north has the better landscape, Hanoi is the more atmospheric city, and Hoi An is the most photographed place in the country for a reason. The ten-day route adds the south.

Hanoi is a thousand years old and laid out by guild — the Old Quarter streets are still named for what was made on them. Ninh Binh is Ha Long Bay’s inland twin, limestone towers rising out of rice paddies, and it is quieter and cheaper than the bay. Ha Long is the overnight cruise. Hoi An is lanterns, tailors and a river.

Figure VND 15,000,000 (≈ AED 2,151) per person. October to December is the best window for the north.

Before you go: the admin

Entry

Vietnam runs an e-visa for most nationalities, valid 90 days, applied for online about a week ahead. It costs US$25 for single entry.
Print it. Airlines have refused boarding over a phone copy that would not display at check-in.
Some nationalities are visa-exempt for short stays — check yours before paying for an e-visa you do not need.
Six months’ passport validity and a blank page.

Getting around

Hanoi to Hoi An is a flight — 75 minutes to Da Nang, then 40 minutes by road. Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet and Bamboo all run it.
The train takes 16 hours. It is a wonderful journey and it costs you a quarter of this trip.
Ninh Binh is a day trip from Hanoi — two hours each way by car, or the train to Ninh Binh town.
Ha Long is 2.5 hours from Hanoi on the expressway, and the cruise company collects you.
Grab works in Hanoi and Da Nang for cars and bikes and removes every fare negotiation.

Money

Vietnamese dong, and it has a lot of zeroes. 100,000 dong is about four dollars.
Check the note count every time. 10,000 and 100,000 look alike and that mistake is made daily by visitors.
Cards work in hotels and better restaurants. Everything else is cash.
ATMs cap withdrawals low — often 2–3 million dong — and charge per transaction.

The road, and crossing it

Walk slowly and predictably into the traffic and do not stop. The scooters flow around you. Hesitating or stepping back is what causes accidents, and this is genuinely the technique everyone uses.

Day by day

Day 1 — Hanoi, the Old Quarter

Land, drop bags, and walk — the Old Quarter is best met on foot and jet lag is best met by daylight.
15:00 — The Old Quarter. Thirty-six streets, each named for the guild that worked it — silk, tin, bamboo, votive paper — and several still do.
17:00 — Water puppetry at Thang Long, an eleventh-century art performed in a waist-deep pool, 45 minutes, and genuinely charming. Book the same day at the box office.
19:00 — Bun cha for dinner and egg coffee afterwards, which is a Hanoi invention and far better than it sounds.
Train Street is photogenic and has been repeatedly closed by the authorities on safety grounds. Check the current position and do not take liberties with a live railway.

Day 2 — The lake, the university, the mausoleum

06:00 — Hoan Kiem Lake, when several hundred people are doing tai chi, badminton and aerobics around it. The best free hour in the city, and it is over by half past seven.
08:00 — Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. He is in it, and he asked to be cremated. No bags, no photographs, strict dress, and it closes for maintenance for two months most autumns — check before you queue.
10:00 — The Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university, founded in 1070, with the doctors’ names carved on stone tortoises in the courtyard.
14:00 — The Hoa Lo Prison, French-built and later the “Hanoi Hilton”. An hour, and uncomfortable in both directions.
17:00 — A bia hoi corner in the Old Quarter — fresh beer, brewed that morning, drunk on a plastic stool for about 30 cents.

Day 3 — Ninh Binh

06:30 — Two hours south, and worth the early start.
09:00 — Trang An by sampan — three hours, rowed by a woman using her feet, through nine caves and past temples between limestone towers. This is the one to do. Tam Coc is the shorter, cheaper, busier version of the same thing.
13:00 — Mua Cave and its 500 steps to a dragon on the ridge, for the view down over the whole valley. Do it after the boat, not before — the steps are brutal in full sun.
15:30 — Bai Dinh, the largest pagoda complex in Vietnam, modern, vast, and worth an hour if you have it.
18:00 — Back in Hanoi. This is a long day trip and this week assumes you do it as one.

Day 4 — Ha Long Bay, overnight

08:00 — 2.5 hours from Hanoi on the expressway.
Take an overnight cruise, not a day trip. A day trip is four hours on a bus for four hours on the water.
12:00 — Board. Nearly 2,000 limestone karsts rising out of the Gulf of Tonkin, UNESCO-listed, with caves, floating villages and kayaking.
Consider Lan Ha Bay or Bai Tu Long instead. Same geology, a fraction of the boats, and most good operators now run there. Ask before booking — this is the single decision that most affects how the day feels.
15:00 — Sung Sot Cave is the big one and is busy; the kayaking and the swim off the back of the boat are what people remember.
18:30 — Sunset from the top deck, then dinner on board.

Day 5 — To Hoi An

07:00 — Tai chi on deck, which every boat offers and almost nobody attends, then breakfast as you cruise back.
12:00 — Back on land, and on to Hanoi — or fly out of Hai Phong, which is closer to the bay, if the schedule suits.
16:00 — Fly to Da Nang, 80 minutes, then 40 minutes by road to Hoi An.
19:30 — The lanterns. The old town is lit by them nightly, and on the full moon the electric lights go off and it is candles and paper on the river.

Day 6 — Hoi An, and the tailors

08:00 — Order anything you want made, first thing. Tailoring is the local industry — several hundred shops, a suit or dress takes about 24 hours with a fitting, and ordering on your last morning means collecting nothing.
09:30 — The Ancient Town, UNESCO-listed and closed to cars — a trading port that silted up and was therefore never modernised. The Japanese Covered Bridge dates from the 1590s.
12:00 — Cao lau for lunch, which is made with water from one particular well in town and exists nowhere else.
14:00 — An Bang beach, fifteen minutes by bicycle, and the bicycles are usually free from the hotel.
17:00 — A cooking class with the market shop first, which is the best one of these anywhere in the country.

Day 7 — My Son, a fitting, and out

06:30 — My Son, an hour inland — Cham temples in a jungle valley, Hindu rather than Buddhist, bombed in the war and atmospheric for it. Go at opening; by ten it is hot and full.
11:30 — Back for the fitting, and collect whatever you ordered yesterday.
14:00 — A last walk through the old town, which is quietest in the early afternoon.
Fly home from Da Nang, 40 minutes away, with directs to the Gulf hubs on several carriers.

Costs and practicalities

Best time to visit

The north and the centre do not share a season, which is the one real complication in this route.

October–December — the best compromise. Hanoi and Ha Long are dry and cool, Hoi An has finished its rainy season by late November.
March–April — warm and dry in the north, hot and fine in Hoi An. The second window.
May–August — hot and humid in Hanoi, 35°C and more, with afternoon storms. Hoi An is sunny and this is beach season on the central coast.
September–November is typhoon season on the central coast, which can close Hoi An and Da Nang for days at a time. October is the riskiest month for the Hoi An half specifically.
January–February — Hanoi gets genuinely cold and grey, 15°C with drizzle, and Ha Long can be hidden in mist for days.

Tet, the lunar new year, falls in late January or February. The country effectively closes for a week, transport sells out months ahead and prices rise. Check the date before booking anything.

Travel tips

Print your e-visa. Airlines have denied boarding over an unreadable phone copy.
Count the zeroes. 10,000 and 100,000 dong look alike and the mistake is made constantly.
Choose Lan Ha or Bai Tu Long over the main Ha Long channel if your operator offers it. Same scenery, far fewer boats.
Cross the road by walking slowly and not stopping.
Use Grab rather than negotiating with drivers who approach you.
Two nights in Hoi An if you want clothes made, and take a photograph of what you want rather than describing it.
Book the Hanoi–Da Nang flight early; the fare doubles inside a fortnight.
Repellent in daylight — dengue’s mosquito is a day biter.

What this trip actually costs

Two people, 6 nights, mid-range comfort, international flights excluded:

Item	Cost
Ha Long overnight cruise, two people	VND 8,500,000 (≈ AED 1,219)
Hotels, 5 nights on land	VND 6,875,000 (≈ AED 986)
Flight Hanoi to Da Nang, two seats with bags	VND 2,800,000 (≈ AED 401)
Food and drink, 7 days	VND 6,300,000 (≈ AED 903)
Trang An, My Son, entries and guides	VND 3,500,000 (≈ AED 502)
Local transport and transfers	VND 2,025,000 (≈ AED 290)
Total for two	VND 30,000,000 (≈ AED 4,302)

Roughly VND 15,000,000 (≈ AED 2,151) per person, and the cruise is the biggest single decision in that figure — a good boat on a quiet bay costs roughly double a cheap one on the busy channel, and it is the difference between the two versions of the day.
Hanoi and Hoi An are both very cheap to eat in. A bowl of bun cha is two dollars.
Hotel picks here are chosen on location, not on commission — always check prices and recent reviews before booking.

What to pack

A light rain layer in any month, and a warm one from December to February for Hanoi.
Shoes that cope with wet stone — caves, boats and old town lanes.
A dry bag for the kayak and the sampan.
Strong repellent, applied in daylight.
Small notes in dong, and a habit of counting them.
A photograph of any garment you want copied in Hoi An.
A Type A/C adapter.

FAQ

Can I fit Ho Chi Minh City into seven days? Not well. It is a two-hour flight from Hanoi and adding it means two internal flights and two half-days lost to airports. Ten days holds both halves of the country properly.

Is the Ha Long overnight cruise worth it over a day trip? Yes, decisively. A day trip is roughly five hours of bus for four hours of water. The overnight gives you the bay at dusk and dawn when the day boats have gone.

Lan Ha or Ha Long? Lan Ha, if offered. It is the same limestone and a fraction of the traffic. Bai Tu Long is the other quiet alternative.

Is Vietnam good for a first-time Asia trip? Very. English is widely spoken in tourism, domestic flights are cheap and frequent, and the food is among the easiest in the region for cautious eaters.

How much cash should I carry? Enough for a day or two at a time. ATMs cap withdrawals at two or three million dong and charge per transaction, so plan around that rather than making daily stops.

Prices and entry rules change, and what you need depends on your passport; last checked 30 October 2026, so confirm with the embassy or your airline before booking.