Vietnam runs more than a thousand miles north to south, and the country at either end barely feels like the same place. Ten days is enough to see both — limestone bays and street food in the north, tailor shops and river deltas in the south — as long as you don't try to stop everywhere in between. This route moves in one direction, uses two short internal flights, and never doubles back.

Day 1 — Arrive in Hanoi

Afternoon: Land at Noi Bai International Airport and get into the Old Quarter, about 45 minutes by car. Don't plan anything ambitious — the flight into Vietnam is long from almost anywhere.

Evening: Walk to Hoan Kiem Lake at dusk, when the whole neighborhood comes out to circle it. Eat bun cha for dinner — grilled pork in a bowl of broth, and the thing Hanoi does better than anywhere else.

Try Bun Cha Huong Lien or any packed sidewalk spot with plastic stools
Finish with egg coffee at Cafe Giang, where it was invented

Day 2 — Hanoi

Morning: Start at the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university and a quiet walled garden in the middle of a loud city. Then the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex — go early, the queue builds fast and it closes by late morning.

Afternoon: Get lost in the Old Quarter on purpose. The streets are still organized by trade, so you'll pass an entire block of nothing but tin goods, then an entire block of silk.

Evening: A water puppet show at the Thang Long Theatre — an hour long, genuinely strange, and unique to the Red River Delta.

Day 3 — Ha Long Bay or Lan Ha Bay

Morning: Transfer to the coast, roughly two and a half hours, and board an overnight cruise. Book Lan Ha Bay instead of the main Ha Long route if you'd rather share the water with a dozen boats than a hundred.

Afternoon: Kayak through the limestone karsts, swim off the back of the boat, visit a cave or a floating village depending on your route.

Evening: Dinner on deck as the karsts turn black against the sky. This is the night of the trip people remember.

“Kong: Skull Island” pagoda in Ninh Binh

Day 4 — Back to Hanoi, on to Ninh Binh

Morning: Sunrise on the water, breakfast, then disembark and drive back toward Hanoi.

Afternoon: Continue south to Ninh Binh, about two hours from the capital. It's the same limestone landscape as Ha Long Bay, except surrounded by rice paddies instead of sea — which is why people call it Ha Long Bay on land.

Evening: Stay in a homestay near Tam Coc. Rural, cheap, and startlingly quiet after four days of Hanoi traffic.

Day 5 — Ninh Binh

Morning: Climb the roughly 500 steps to Mua Cave viewpoint for the view down over the river winding through the karsts. Go at opening — it's exposed, and it gets hot.

Afternoon: Take a rowboat through Trang An, a two-to-three-hour route through flooded caves you have to duck through. The boats are rowed by foot, which you have to see to understand.

Evening: Night train or evening flight south. If you're flying, transfer back to Hanoi for the short hop to Da Nang.

Day 6 — Hoi An

Morning: Arrive in Da Nang (about 1 hour 15 minutes flying from Hanoi) and drive 45 minutes to Hoi An.

Afternoon: Get measured at a tailor on your first day so there's time for a fitting before you leave — this is what Hoi An is known for, and rushing it is the most common mistake here.

Evening: The Ancient Town after dark, lit entirely by silk lanterns. Eat cao lau, a noodle dish made only here, traditionally with water from one specific local well.

Day 7 — Hoi An

Morning: A countryside bike ride out to An Bang Beach, flat the whole way and about twenty minutes through rice fields.

Afternoon: A cooking class, or the ruins at My Son Sanctuary — a Hindu temple complex from the Champa kingdom, roughly an hour inland.

Evening: Tailor fitting, then dinner along the Thu Bon River.

Day 8 — Fly to Ho Chi Minh City

Morning: Fly Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City, about 1 hour 20 minutes. If you'd rather travel overland, the Hai Van Pass north to Hue is one of the great coastal drives in Asia — but it costs you the better part of a day.

Afternoon: The War Remnants Museum. It is confronting and not an easy hour, and it's also the single most important stop on this itinerary.

Evening: Rooftop drinks over District 1, then dinner. The city moves at a completely different speed than Hanoi and the contrast lands hardest on this first night.

Day 9 — Cu Chi Tunnels and Saigon

Morning: Half-day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, about 90 minutes northwest — a 155-mile network you can crawl a short widened section of.

Afternoon: Back in the city for Ben Thanh Market, the Central Post Office, and Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon (which has been under long-running restoration, so check before you build an afternoon around it).

Evening: Street food in District 4, where locals eat, rather than the backpacker strip on Bui Vien.

Day 10 — Mekong Delta and Departure

Morning: Day trip to the Mekong Delta — Ben Tre is about two hours out and far quieter than the heavily touristed My Tho route. Sampan through the coconut canals, stop at a fruit orchard, eat lunch on the river.

Afternoon: Return to the city.

Evening: Fly home from Tan Son Nhat International Airport. If your flight is late enough, one last bowl of pho first.

Pro Tips

Visa: Most nationalities need an e-visa. Apply through the official Vietnamese immigration portal, not a third-party site, and do it at least a week out.
Weather: There is no single good season for the whole country — the north and south run opposite. February through April is the safest bet for a north-to-south route like this one.
Cash: The dong runs into the millions and the notes look alike. Count carefully, and carry small bills for street food.
Getting around: Use Grab for cars and bikes in the cities. It's cheap, and it removes the haggling entirely.
Crossing the street: Walk slowly and steadily and do not stop. The traffic goes around you. Stopping is what causes accidents.
Temples: Cover shoulders and knees, and take your shoes off where you see others doing it.
Book internal flights early. Hanoi–Da Nang and Da Nang–Saigon are cheap months ahead and much less so the week of.

Planning More of Southeast Asia?

Vietnam pairs naturally with its neighbor — see our 7-day bucket list itinerary in Thailand if you're adding a second country, or our travel itinerary to Bali if you'd rather end the trip somewhere slow.

Have you been to Vietnam? Tell us in the comments which stop you'd have given an extra day to — everyone has one.

10 Day Vietnam Itinerary