Most two-week Vietnam itineraries try to squeeze in eight or nine stops. On paper it looks great. In real life it means a new bed every other night, early alarms, and a lot of your holiday spent in vans and airports. This route does the opposite: five bases, two short flights, real rest days, and time to play. It still takes you from Hanoi to Saigon, and you'll come home feeling like you saw Vietnam rather than chased it.
The short version
The route: Hanoi (3 nights) → Ha Long Bay (1 night on the water) → Ninh Binh (2 nights) → Hoi An (4 nights) → Saigon (3 nights). Thirteen nights, fourteen days.
Getting around: private car in the north, then two short flights: Hanoi to Da Nang, and Da Nang to Saigon.
What we left out: Sapa, Hue, Phong Nha, Nha Trang and Da Lat. They're all lovely. They're also how two weeks turns into a blur.
Pickleball: morning games in Hanoi, Da Nang and Saigon, with the afternoons free.
Best months: February to April for the whole route. In October and November, give the centre fewer nights.
Why fewer stops makes a better trip
Every move in Vietnam costs you about half a day: check out, transfer, wait, check in, find your feet. Nine stops in fourteen days means four or five of those days quietly disappear. Five bases gives you most of them back.
It also changes how the trip feels. You get to know a street café, the lady at the fruit stall, the club where you played on the first morning. You unpack properly. For travellers over 50 in particular, that's the difference between a trip you enjoy and one you recover from. We plan every private trip this way, and our Top to Bottom route is built on the same idea.
Days 1 to 3: Hanoi
Land, sleep, and don't plan anything for the first afternoon. Jet lag will wake you early anyway, which is perfect: Hanoi is at its best at 6am, when the lake is full of people doing tai chi, badminton and dancing.
- Day 1: arrive, walk the Old Quarter in the evening, eat bun cha.
- Day 2: a morning game with local players, then the Temple of Literature and a long lunch. Afternoon off.
- Day 3: a street food walk or a cooking class, egg coffee, and the Old Quarter at night.
Our Hanoi Old Quarter guide covers where to stay and what to eat, and where to play pickleball in Hanoi lists the clubs. One 2026 update: petrol motorbikes are now banned from 11 Old Quarter streets on Friday evenings and weekends, which makes the old streets much nicer to walk.
Day 4: Ha Long Bay, one night on the water
The drive from Hanoi takes about two and a half hours on the expressway. Most cruises board around midday, so you get an afternoon of kayaking or a cave visit, dinner on deck, a quiet night on the water, and sunrise among the limestone islands before heading back.
One night is the right amount on a two-week trip. If you want quieter water, ask about Lan Ha Bay, next door. We compared them in Ha Long Bay or Cat Ba.
Days 5 and 6: Ninh Binh
From the bay, drive straight to Ninh Binh (about three hours) instead of going back to Hanoi. It's the countryside half of the north: rowing boats through caves at Trang An, the view from Hang Mua, and cycling between rice fields. Stay two nights so you have one full, unhurried day. This is also a good place for your first proper rest afternoon: a homestay with a pool and nothing on the schedule.
If you'd like more of the north, our northern Vietnam itinerary shows how to spend a full week here.
Days 7 to 10: Hoi An and Da Nang
Drive from Ninh Binh to Hanoi's airport (about two hours) and fly to Da Nang, which takes a little over an hour. From there, Hoi An is 45 minutes by car.
Four nights is generous on purpose. It's the middle of your trip and the right place to slow down:
- Day 7: fly in, check in, walk the old town when the lanterns come on.
- Day 8: a cooking class with a market visit, then a free afternoon.
- Day 9: an early game in Da Nang, a swim at My Khe beach, and the Marble Mountains on the way back.
- Day 10: a full rest day. Bicycle, tailor, beach, spa. Your choice.
See the best things to do in Hoi An and where to play pickleball in Da Nang. If you'd rather stay by the sea, our week in Da Nang works as a base instead.
Days 11 to 13: Saigon
Fly Da Nang to Saigon (about an hour and a half). After Hoi An, Saigon is a jolt, in a good way: rooftop bars, huge markets, and some of the best street food in the country.
- Day 11: arrive, walk District 1 in the evening.
- Day 12: a morning game, then the War Remnants Museum and Ben Thanh market.
- Day 13: a half-day to the Cu Chi tunnels or a day in the Mekong Delta.
Our Saigon pickleball guide lists the clubs. Many are covered, which helps in the heat.
Day 14: flying home
Saigon's airport is close to the centre, so on a late flight you still have most of the day. Leave room in your bag: the markets here are the best place in the country to shop.
Want this route planned for you?
Every trip we plan is private: just you, your partner or a few friends, on your own dates. We book the hotels, transfers and flights, and sort the courts for your morning games.
See the Top to Bottom tripWhat we left out, and when to swap it in
Leaving places out is the hardest part of planning. Here's the honest trade-off:
- Sapa or Ha Giang: spectacular mountains, but they need at least two or three nights to be worth the travel. Swap them for Ninh Binh if you love hiking.
- Hue: the old imperial capital. Easy to add by taking one night from Hoi An and driving the Hai Van Pass between the two.
- Phong Nha: incredible caves, but out of the way. Better on a three-week trip.
- Nha Trang, Da Lat or Phu Quoc: great for a beach or cool-mountain add-on if you have a few extra days at the end.
Two weeks in Vietnam: cost and budget
Two things make the biggest difference to what two weeks in Vietnam costs: the level of your hotels and whether you use private transfers. Street food and coffee are cheap everywhere; hotel prices vary a lot by city and season.
As a guide, our sample private trips start from US$890 per person for five days in Hanoi and Ha Long, US$1,090 for six days in Da Nang and Hoi An, and US$1,890 for ten days from top to bottom, per person, twin share, land only. A full two weeks is quoted on your dates and hotel level. Our money guide covers cash, cards and tipping.
When to go, and how to adjust the route
- February to April: the best time for this whole route. Good weather in all three regions.
- May to August: hot everywhere, but the centre is at its best. Play early.
- September to November: lovely in the north, but the centre is in its rainy season, with a real flood risk in October and November. Take a night from Hoi An and add it to Hanoi or Saigon.
- December and January: great in the south, cool and sometimes grey in Hanoi, and still rainy in the centre until about mid-January.
Watch out for Tet, the Lunar New Year, which falls on 6 February in 2027: transport fills up and many places close for a few days. See our Tet 2027 guide and the best time to visit Vietnam.
A few practical things
- Fly in to Hanoi and out of Saigon (or the other way round). An open-jaw ticket saves you a full day of backtracking.
- Get your e-visa sorted before you book anything that can't be changed. Our e-visa guide explains it.
- Pack light. Laundry is cheap everywhere and domestic flights have tighter bag allowances.
- Travelling at a gentle pace? Vietnam for seniors covers comfort, health and how to slow things down even further.
The bottom line
Two weeks in Vietnam is enough to see the country from top to bottom, as long as you don't try to see all of it. Pick five bases, give the middle of the trip the most nights, and leave at least two afternoons empty. You'll see Hanoi, Ha Long, Ninh Binh, Hoi An and Saigon properly, play a few mornings with the locals, and still have something left for next time. Tell us your dates and we'll shape it around you.