Thinking of visiting next July
A few questions do you need a visa from UK?
Is there much to see and do?
Is it easy to get around?

I'd be flabbergasted if Mapletree or Wisbech haven't been

Pro USA & Israel

Yes, take a trip out to Ha Long Bay - pretty stunning. Visa-wise, it used to be that you could get an "invite" from a travel agent when you booked a hotel. There were also tourist services that you could pay, and they would arrange the visa for you at short order, with prices amping up the more desperate you were (as in "I'm flying in from Singapore, can you sort out a visa for me). I had about an 8 hour turnaround at the embassy when I entered from Cambodia. The visa side of things might have relaxed somewhat now.

I liked Hanoi, but I preferred the frenetic buzz of HCMC. Hanoi seemed to be quite chilled and laid back, slow walks around nice city lakes and old people playing badminton. A few sights in the city, and there's also the war tunnels, but best attraction is definitely Ha Long Bay. Food's amazing, of course, and cheap.

Transport was pretty good from memory - I was travelling a lot by train in the country, Hanoi itself, don't really remember.

Vietnam is on my bucket list my suggestion for research is this:

I am planning a trip to Costa Rica next year normally I use the travel company Explore who have an excellent reputation. This time I am doing it on my own for reasons I wont bore you with.

To do my research I have used borrowed Explore's holiday itinerary to make sure I get the key highlights.

That's my suggestion get a load of holiday brochures for Vietnam that should give you a good idea of the key tourist attractions

[Link]

One more point

I was in northern Vietnam for a month earlier in the year (part of a year long travel).

I'd agree with the above that overall I preferred HCMC out of the two but still really enjoyed Hanoi. Lots of interesting places to visit and drinking the cheap Bia Hoi along the hundreds of street bars is a nice was to watch the city go by.

As mentioned visits out to Ha Long bay are worth while depending on the time of year. I stayed a little further south on Car Ba island which has a great national park for hikes and you can also organise boat trips through the bay. So many companies offer tours so quality varies a lot and worth doing a bit of research before. I didn't hear great things about overnight trips unless you're willing to go with one of the genuine premium providers.

Another worthwhile trip from Hanoi is Tam Coc/ Nin Binh. Lots to explore in the area including the famous river trip. You can get a train from Hanoi pretty easily.

Depending how long you plan to go the very north of Vietnam is incredible with its mountainous border with China. Lots of places are popular to explore by motorbike. We did a 5day loop known as the Ha Giang loop. It was incredible and something I'll never forget with so many stories along the route.

Visa I think the cheapest option is to get the full visa at the embassy here before you go. There's an online version but you have to pay extra stamp duty on arrival and works out a bit more I believe.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. I spent 2 months overall in Vietnam and really enjoyed it.

According to this and many other websites i will not need a visa for stats of under 15 days?

So should cost me nothing?

[Link]

Edited by nickyf (13 Nov 2019 6.11pm)