How to spend 3 weeks in Vietnam (full itinerary!)

Last updated on March 30th, 2026

Are you spending 3 weeks in Vietnam? We’re sharing a fun filled 3 week Vietnam itinerary that visits some of the country’s top sights!

With bustling cities, dramatic mountains, endless street food, kind locals, and epic activities, Vietnam is an insanely fun, well-rounded destination in Southeast Asia. 

And if you’re hoping to spend 3 weeks in Vietnam, but unsure of what to do, we’ve gotcha covered! We’re sharing the ultimate 3 week Vietnam itinerary, which is crafted specifically for first-timers to the country. 

Although we were able to spend 6 weeks in Vietnam, quite a few of our days were spent hunkered down working. So this 3 week Vietnam itinerary is almost identical to our actual trip! It includes some of the popular destinations, as well as some less visited spots. All within 21 days!

Table of Contents

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• About this 3 week Vietnam itinerary 
• Days 1-3: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
• Day 4: Travel to Hoi An
• Days 5-6: Hoi An
• Day 7: Travel to Phong Nha
• Where to Stay in Phong Nha
• Days 8-11: Cave tour in Phong Nha
• Day 12: Travel to Hanoi
• Days 13-14: Hanoi
• Days 15-16: Ninh Binh
• Day 17: Travel to Ha Giang
• Days 18-21: Ha Giang Loop
• Have a month in Vietnam?

About this 3 week Vietnam itinerary 

With 3 weeks in Vietnam you can not only experience some of the country’s top cities and natural spots, but also have a couple super fun, longer adventures. You won’t be able to visit it all, but it’s always good to have a reason to come back, right?

Although we were able to spend 6 weeks in Vietnam, quite a few of our days were spent hunkered down working. So this 3 week itinerary is almost identical to our actual trip! 

Even though you will have a good amount of time in Vietnam, there is still a lot to see. So this itinerary is pretty fast paced. For each destination we’re sharing suggestions of things to do, places to eat, and where to stay. As well as built in time to travel between each destination. 

We’ve also included some additional ideas and stops you could make if you have more time. 

Lastly, this 3 week Vietnam itinerary travels from south to north. While you can travel Vietnam in reverse, we personally suggest traveling from south to north, as the scenery only gets better and better that way. And who doesn’t want to end their trip with the BEST scenery? 

Have only 2 weeks in Vietnam? We also have a 2 week Vietnam itinerary, which is a more condensed version of this itinerary. And if you’re looking for even more Vietnam tips, check out our Ultimate Guide to Visiting Vietnam eBook!

Days 1-3: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

With a mix of French colonial and modern buildings, street food, fine dining, parks, museums, markets, and so much more, Ho Chi Minh City is the perfect first stop for your 3 weeks in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is the largest city in the country. Which means it also has the largest airport, making it a great place to fly into and start your trip. There is a lot to see and do here, including some day trip options, which you can easily fit into three full days in the city.

Day 1: Explore District 1

Kick off your time in Ho Chi Minh City with a Cà Phê Sữa Đá (iced coffee with condensed milk) at the oldest cafe in the city, Cheo Leo Cafe! 

For breakfast, have a banh mi at Bánh Mì Hồng Hoa. We loved the mixed meat, bbq pork, and egg banh mis! You can enjoy these at one of their tiny tables and seats, or take it to go.

Go for a stroll through Tao Dan Park. Admire the tall trees, flowers, sculptures and Buddhist temple in this peaceful escape in the city. One of Adam’s favorite things he saw here were locals playing đá cầu, or foot badminton, the national sport of Vietnam! 

At the end of the park you’ll find the Reunification Palace, also known as Independence Palace. This former South Vietnamese government building is now open to the public and has tons of rooms you can explore, including a kind of creepy basement. It feels like stepping back into the 1970s!

For lunch, try more street food at Bún thịt nướng – Nguyễn Trung Trực. Here you can enjoy bun thit nuong, one of our favorite Vietnamese dishes. It includes vermicelli, grilled pork, fresh herbs like basil and mint, veggies, and fried spring rolls. Make sure to get the lemon tea too!

Spend the afternoon exploring District 1! This area is home to many beautiful French inspired buildings. We suggest checking out the Notre Dame Cathedral, Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, Saigon Central Post Office (make sure to mail a postcard!), People’s Committee Building, and the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House.

Prefer to explore District 1 with a guide? This motorbike tour will take you to the spots we listed below, plus some extras! Make sure to use our code APLUSK10 for 10% off your tour!

Visit the Ben Thanh Market, which is the oldest surviving market in the city! You’ll find pretty much anything you want in this market, including food stalls, coffee, nuts, trinkets, and so much more. Before you head in, brush up on your bargaining skills. 

Catch the sunset from the Saigon Skydeck. From this vantage point you really get a feel for just how sprawling this city really is. And it’s fun to look down on the city and spot some of the sites you just visited!

For dinner, you can either try more Vietnamese food at Quan Bui or take a break and have something different (there’s plenty more local food to come!) at either Pizza 4P’s or Bandido.

End your first day in Ho Chi Minh City by walking around the Nguyen Hue Walking Street. If you can visit on a weekend night it should be even more of a treat!

Day 2: Spend time in District 3 (and beyond!)

Day 3: Day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels

It’s time to leave the city and go on a day trip! There are a couple popular day trip options from Ho Chi Mihn City, but our top suggestion is a half day tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We suggest choosing a morning tour because they get you to the tunnels before the large tour bus crowds. Plus the weather will be cooler!

Optional Add-On: Mekong River Delta. If you want to visit the Mekong River Delta, you can book a full day tour that includes the Cu Chi Tunnels. It’s a busy day, but you’ll get to experience both! If you’d rather just go to the Mekong River instead of the Cu Chi Tunnels, this looks like a great full day Mekong River tour. 

To end your time in Ho Chi Minh City, enjoy a sunset picnic (and fly kites!) at Landmark 81. This is the tallest building in Vietnam and has a very cool, modern look. During our visit, we picked up sandwiches from Kashew to enjoy as the sun went down!

Where to stay in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is split up into 24 districts. We suggest staying in either District 1 or District 3, which are closest to all of the sites listed on this itinerary. 

Hotels: Little Saigon Boutique Hotel, LOTTE Hotel Saigon, Auc Lac Charner Hotel, Intercontinental Saigon

Vacation rentals: Rooftop Hidden Gem (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom), Penthouse Suite with Rooftop Pool (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms), Saigon Skyline Suite (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms)

Hostel: Vy Khahn Guesthouse, Saigon Rooftops Hostel, Mobylette Saigon Hotel

Check out our 3 day Ho Chi Minh City itinerary for even more things to do. You can also watch us experience Ho Chi Minh City, plus Vietnam, for the first time in this video!

Day 4: Travel to Hoi An

Today you will travel to Hoi An! Located in the central part of Vietnam, this is a bit of a trek from Ho Chi Minh City. We took the overnight train from Ho Chi Minh City to Hoi An, which you could do on day 3, but the quickest option is to fly to Da Nang, which is a 1.5 hour flight.

We suggest taking an early flight (or arriving as early as you can on the overnight train), so you have some time to explore. Once arriving in Da Nang, you will have to take a Grab or a taxi to Hoi An, which should be less than $20. 

For the rest of the day, go on a basket boat tour! You’ll be paddled through beautiful canals of a coconut forest, have the chance to fish for crabs, and watch the boat skippers dance on spinning boats. It’s touristy, but very fun!

For dinner, head to Madam Khanh – The Banh Mi Queen. As the name implies, she truly is a QUEEN! Her banh mi was the best we had in Vietnam! A couple other spots to check out are Bun Cha Ta or Nhan’s Kitchen. And if you want a break from Vietnamese food, check out Babas Kitchen for Indian food.

Where to stay in Hoi An

Hotels and Homestays: Paddy Boutique House (where we stayed!), THE VIEW Homestay, La An Central, Boutique Villa,  Square Villa Hoi An, Hoi An Central Hotel

Vacation rentals: Rosie Villa 4 (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom), Rural Escape Private Villa (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom), Villa Nipa Tree Private Villa (1 bedroom, 1 bathroom)

Hostels: Bed Station Hostel, The Seaside Bungalow, SacLo Villa

Days 5-6: Hoi An

For the next two days, you’ll properly explore Hoi An! We LOVED this city! It was once one of the most prosperous trading ports in Southeast Asia. And its Ancient town has been very well preserved, giving it the designation of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here you’ll find yellow buildings, old roofs, tree lined streets, and tons of lanterns. It’s so charming!

Day 5: Visit Hoi An’s Ancient Town

Start the day with breakfast! One great spot to get a healthy breakfast is Ellie’s Cafe. After enjoying a solid meal, grab some tea at Mót. It’s so delicious and refreshing!

Spend the rest of the morning exploring Hoi An’s Ancient town! There are many things to see and do here, including museums, temples, and just walking around. We suggest visiting the Japanese Bridge, Old House of Tan Ky, and the Fujian Assembly Hall. Regardless of what you choose, you will need to purchase a Hoi An Old Town Entrance Ticket to walk around. The tickets can be purchased at the small yellow huts scattered around town (we got ours here). The tickets cost 120,000 VND and also gives you access to 5 Old Town attractions. 

For lunch, head to Nostalife to try Cao Lau, the most iconic food in Hoi An! This dish has thinly sliced bbq pork, bean sprouts, lettuce, crispy fried cao lau noodles, crispy pork skin, and fresh thick rice noodles. We also suggest getting the Mi Quang and white rose dumplings too, which are also Hoi An specialities.

Spend the rest of the afternoon learning how to make your own lantern at Hoi An Handicraft Tours. They guide you through the whole process, which is a lot of fun, and you’ll get to take it home as a souvenir!

End your day at the Hoi An Night Market. The night market happens every night and has a bunch of food stalls, plus items you can buy.

Day 6: Explore Hoi An by bike

For your final day in Hoi An, you’re going to explore by bike! Some accommodations have bike rentals or you can rent a bike from Bee Bike or Hoi An Cycling. If you don’t feel comfortable riding on your own, check out a cycling tour.

Ride through the rice fields over to Sound of Silence Coffee Shop. This super cute, beachfront cafe is the perfect spot to grab a coffee and breakfast. They have a beautiful indoor seating area, plus a huge outdoor patio with garden vibes.

Leave your bike at Sound of Silence and walk down the steps to An Bang beach. We were really surprised by this beach! The water was nice and blue and the beach itself was very clean. Spend a few hours hanging out here and if you get hungry again, there are other restaurants along the beach.

After lounging at the beach, hop back on your bike and ride through the Tra Que Vegetable Village. This is an area with 150 farmers growing over 41 different types of produce. And the best part? They don’t use chemicals or harsh fertilizers. Instead, they use algae from a nearby lagoon.

While in the vegetable village, head to Baby Mustard for dinner. This place serves up some super fresh food, right from the garden! We loved their bánh xèo, lemongrass chicken, and mackerel on lemongrass, plus their special secret drink.

Check out our guide to Hoi An for even more things to do. You can also watch us experience Hoi An in this video!

Day 7: Travel to Phong Nha

Phong Nha is a tiny town in Central Vietnam, located right along the Côn River, with karst mountains all around. And it is an adventure lover’s paradise! 

This region is known for its caves, including the world’s largest natural cave by volume, Hang Sơn Đoòng, at 38.5 million cubic meters. Here you can go on a wide variety of cave tours, both as day trips or overnight adventures.

While this destination may not be on every visitor’s radar, our time in Phong Nha was easily one of the highlights of our trip to Vietnam.

However, getting here does take quite a bit of time. From Hoi An you’ll need to take a taxi or Grab to the Da Nang train station. You’ll then hop on a 7.5 hour train to Dong Hoi. To see all of the train options, check out 12Go!

Once in Dong Hoi, you’ll take a taxi to Phong Nha. There were lots of taxis waiting outside of the train station, so you can grab one when you arrive if you don’t have one prearranged.

If you need dinner once you get to Phong Nha we loved Bamboo Chopsticks. Their beef stew was phenomenal! 

Where to Stay in Phong Nha

Phong Nha doesn’t have any large hotels, but you will find tons of local homestays! During our visit, we stayed at Areca Bungalow. The owners were very kind and the property is right on the water, with amazing views! We ate a bunch of meals here too and everything was good.

Some other options include Phong Nha Farmstay, Carambola Bungalow, and Victory Roads Villas.

Days 8-11: Cave tour in Phong Nha

If you can only do one thing in Phong Nha, we highly recommend going on a cave tour with Oxalis Adventure. They have a wide variety of tours for all timeframes, skill sets, and budgets. You can do a quick one day tour or go on a multi-day overnight tour. They are also the only tour provider that can visit Hang Sơn Đoòng (warning: it is NOT cheap!). 

During our trip we went on their 4 day Wild Tu Lan Cave tour and it was not only one of the best things we did in Vietnam, but in all of our travels. 

Over the course of the tour we got to climb up into the mountains, cross rivers, visit tons of caves, crawl in small spaces, swim in a handful of caves (the BEST part!), camp in the jungle and by a waterfall, eat delicious, fresh meals, and enjoy campfires. We then ended the trip by getting to stay in a very nice lodge (included in the price!) and have dinner at a local’s home.

It was so fun, adventurous, and memorable! You can watch our full adventure to get a better idea of what to expect.

If you want a shorter cave tour, there are plenty of other options! You could also spend your time doing day activities in the area, like a Phong Nha & Paradise Cave tour and visiting The Duck Stop and Monkey Bridge Farm.

Day 12: Travel to Hanoi

It’s time to head to Hanoi! Similar to day 7, this will be a bit of a journey. First, you’ll need to take a taxi from Phong Nha to the Dong Hoi airport. Your accommodation can arrange this for you!

You’ll then hop on a flight to Hanoi, which is just over an hour. The Dong Hoi airport is very small and only has a handful of flights a day. We suggest taking the earliest flight to Hanoi, which will get you to Hanoi by lunchtime.

After you land in Hanoi, it’s a 40 minute ride to the Old Quarter, so you’ll have a bit of a journey from the airport to town. But once you arrive into town, we suggest spending the evening on a street food tour! 

This is a great way to get introduced to the city and try its delicious foods. Make sure you plan this for the evening, to give you enough time for any travel delays. 

During our visit, we did a food tour with Hanoi Soul on Airbnb Experiences. But a couple other food tour options are: Private Hanoi Street Food Walking Tour With Real Foodie and Small Group Hanoi Street Food Tour with a Real Foodie. 

Days 13-14: Hanoi

Located in Northern Vietnam, Hanoi is the capital of the country and has a rich history, dating back over 1,000 years. Here you’ll find the charming and chaotic Old Quarter, tons of street food, and endless historic sites. It’s also a great jumping off point for other adventures in Vietnam, like Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay, Sapa, and Ha Giang.

Day 13: Explore Hanoi’s Old Quarter

Enjoy coffee and breakfast at Hidden Gem Coffee. This cafe is very unique. It’s not only tucked down into an alley, but it is also decorated using recycled materials. The vibe is colorful and fun!

For the rest of the morning, explore the Old Quarter and French Quarter. Similar to Ho Chi Minh City, much of Hanoi was heavily influenced by the French. Make sure to stop by the St. Joseph Cathedral, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple, and the Hanoi Opera House.

One of our favorite restaurants in Hanoi was Nem Nướng Nha Trang Quế Hoa. This is the perfect lunch spot! Here you can build your own spring rolls, which are delicious, especially the sauce. We ate here 4+ times!

For the rest of the afternoon, learn more about the history of Hanoi at the Hoa Lo Prison Relic. This prison was built by the French in 1896 and was used to house Vietnamese citizens who rebelled against French control. It was later used as a POW camp for US pilots during the Vietnam War. While not everything in the museum is 100% factual (especially how they treated the US soldiers), we still think it’s important to visit. 

Enjoy dinner at Cha Ca Thang Long to try a Hanoi speciality, cha ca! This is catfish marinated in turmeric, galangal, fermented rice paste, and then topped with dill and other herbs. The fish is grilled right in front of you and is super tender and flavorful! 

Spend the evening watching the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater. Water puppetry originated in the rice paddies of the Red River Delta over 1,000 years ago. We were nervous this would be a tourist gimmick, but we were thoroughly impressed with the artistry of the puppet movements and the live music and singing. 

And to end the night, get ice cream at Kem Tràng Tiền. They have several flavors of ice cream on a cone, as well as popsicles. We really enjoyed the taro and rice flake flavors! 

Day 14: Visit historic sites + see train street

Kick off your last day in Hanoi with coffee at Tranquil Books & Coffee. This cafe is filled with bookshelves and has a nice outdoor seating area. And their drinks are amazing!

If you want a more Western style breakfast, head to Muối Tiêu – Salt n’ Pepper Kitchen. We got their platter which came with eggs, meat, potatoes, avocado, fruits, bread, tomato soup, and more. It was huge!

Wander around the peaceful grounds of the Temple of Literature. This temple was built in 1070 as a place to worship the Chinese philosopher Confucius. It has 5 different courtyards to explore, with the most recognizable being the second, which is on the 100,000 Vietnamese banknote!

Spend the rest of the morning checking out other historic sites, like the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long or the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

For lunch, have one of our favorite Vietnamese dishes, bun cha! We recommend trying this at Bun Cha Dac Kim or Bún chả Hương Liên.

Head to Hanoi Train Street! Here you’ll get to enjoy a coffee or drink as a train rushes right past you. It is SO exhilarating! Check out our detailed post on Hanoi Train Street to learn where to go and what to expect. 

Enjoy dinner at Bún Bò Nam Bộ Bách Phương, which makes a delicious bowl of bun bo nam bo. This is a mix of rice noodles, meat, veggies, and peanuts, served with a fish sauce. It’s one of the best dishes in Vietnam!

For your last night in Hanoi, experience the city’s nightlife! Hanoi has a famous Beer Street where backpackers, tourists, and even locals sit in the tiny, colorful chairs, sipping super cheap Vietnamese beers. Not a beer drinker? Check out Kumquat Tree, Nê Boong-ke, or The Hanoi Social Club instead. 

If you’re visiting Hanoi on a weekend, you could instead hop around the Weekend Night Market. 

We have tons of Hanoi content to help you plan your trip! Our 3 days in Hanoi itinerary covers everything you need to know to visit Hanoi. Including the top sights, plus where to stay!

We also have a guide with how to visit Hanoi Train Street, the 13 best coffee shops in Hanoi, and the best food in Hanoi.

Days 15-16: Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh (pronounced “ning bing”) is a gorgeous province in Northern Vietnam known for its towering limestone peaks and gorgeous valleys. It has even been given the name “Ha Long Bay on land.” 

For those seeking a natural escape near Hanoi, Ninh Binh can’t be beat! Here you can explore by bicycle or motorbike zipping through rice fields, check out temples, go for a boat ride, climb to viewpoints, and so much more!

Day 15: Take a Trang An boat tour

Ninh Binh is easy to get to from Hanoi, with multiple train and van options. You can expect the journey to take between 1.5-2.5 hours. We suggest taking the earliest option, so you have plenty of time to explore the rest of the day.

Once arriving in Ninh Binh, head over towards Trang An. On your way, have a quick lunch and coffee at Cafe Thực Giang.

Spend the majority of your day on the Trang An boat tour. There are three different routes you can choose from for the boat tour, which are all around 2.5-3 hours long. Each route has a mix of temples and caves. Any of them will be a great choice, as the scenery along the way is jaw dropping! But we personally chose to do route #3, which had the least number of caves, but the longest of them all, at 1 km long. 

If you have any extra time after your ride, you could visit the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital and see the views at Tuyet Tinh Coc. Or you can just relax at your accommodation for the rest of the day, which was one of our favorite things to do in Ninh Binh!

For dinner, either eat at your lodging (we did this a lot!) or choose from one of these restaurants: Thao Béo Restaurant, Ngoc Linh Restaurant, or Aroma Indian Restaurant (for non Vietnamese food).  

Where to stay in Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is made up of multiple towns, including the actual town of Ninh Binh, plus Tam Coc and Trang An. Tam Coc and Trang An are the two most popular areas to stay in, as they are closer to attractions and have much more natural beauty.

Tam Coc

Tam Coc is the more convenient area to stay, but it is a lot busier than Trang An. You will be close to the action though! Tam Coc Holiday Hotel and Villa, Tam Coc Friendly Homestay, and Tam Coc Center Boutique Hotel are all good options in Tam Coc.

Trang An

Trang An Lamia is where we stayed and we absolutely LOVED it! We had a private bungalow with a comfortable bed (the comfiest in Vietnam!), a cool outdoor bathroom, and our own private dipping pool. The property feels like a giant garden! We ate most of our meals here and they were all very good!

A couple other options are HoangLong Riverside Homestay and An’s Eco Garden Resort

Day 16: Explore the Tam Coc area

You’ll want to get an early start today. And your first stop, Hang Mua! This is a beautiful overlook of the area that requires many steps to get to. Trust us, it’s worth it though! But since it’s very popular, we suggest arriving around sunrise to beat the crowds. If you bike here, beware of the parking scams along the way to the Ecolodge, where the official parking is. People will try to stop you and tell you that you need to park before this for a fee, but it is NOT true. They can be aggressive, so just keep pedaling. 

After visiting Hang Mua, head into Tam Coc. This is especially fun to do by bike! Once near town, grab coffee and cake at Brick Coffee Shop. We loved this coffee shop so much!

Next up, visit the Bich Dong Pagoda. This is a free temple complex with three pagodas. A couple of them are partially or fully in a cave! 

Have lunch at Thao Béo Restaurant. We specifically went here to try goat, which is a local delicacy. But they have plenty of other options too!

It’s time to travel back to Hanoi! We suggest either taking the train or a van. You can see all of your options here!

Check out our guide to the top things to do in Ninh Binh. This guide covers even more things to do, plus scams you should look out for. We also have detailed guides to visiting the Mua Caves Viewpoint and riding the Trang An boat tour.

Day 17: Travel to Ha Giang

For your final stop during your 3 weeks in Vietnam you’re headed to Ha Giang! The journey here takes about 7-8 hours from Hanoi and the only way to get there is by bus or a van. You can see all of your options on 12Go!

While some people take a sleeper bus to Ha Giang from Hanoi, we personally would suggest a daytime van. The roads are windy and the driving can sometimes be a bit crazy, so we personally preferred doing the drive in the daylight. Plus, you won’t be super tired from a rough night of sleeping on the sleeper bus!

Once you’re in Ha Giang, spend the rest of the day walking around town. We enjoyed dinner at Phương Hạnh DONER KEBAB Bánh mỳ and a coffee at Lofita 247 Nguyen Thai Hoc. 

Where to stay in Ha Giang

There are many hostels and homestays in town. We stayed at Be’s Home in a private room, but some other choices include Sun Ha Giang Hotel, ​​Tí Lầu Homestay, Ha Giang Historic House, Palm Ha Giang Ecolodge, Odyssey Hostel, and Lucky House Villa & Hostel. 

Days 18-21: Ha Giang Loop

End your 3 weeks in Vietnam with a BANG by conquering the Ha Giang Loop!

This is a roughly 350 km (217 mile) motorbike loop through some of Vietnam’s most epic scenery. Throughout the trip you’ll have endless views of towering limestone peaks, get to go on a boat ride through Southeast Asia’s deepest canyon, visit and stay in small villages, meet locals, swim in a waterfall, and so much more!

This loop can be done by yourself, although not all countries’ drivers licenses are legal in Vietnam. However, regardless of your license, we highly recommend going with a guide!

We did a private tour with Ha Giang Road Trip and it was the BEST! Since we couldn’t legally drive ourselves, we opted to have easy riders, which is when you sit on the back of the motorbike. While this may sound less fun than driving yourself, we personally loved it. Instead of stressing about how to safely navigate the insanely mountainous and windy roads, we could just focus on the scenery and enjoy the ride. Our guides were also so much fun and made the experience even better!

At the end of your fourth day you will be taken back to Hanoi by van. This may be an overnight journey, depending on what time you finish. If you have a flight the next day and want more time to get to Hanoi, you can also do the Ha Giang Loop in 3 days instead!

Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the Ha Giang Loop. This guide included frequently asked questions, our route suggestions, and so much more. You can also watch our nearly week long adventure on YouTube, check out Part 1 and Part 2.  

Have a month in Vietnam?

If you have more than 3 weeks in Vietnam, we suggest adding Cao Bang and Ba Be Lake to your Ha Giang Loop. We did this through a custom, private tour with Ha Giang Road Trip, which was a total of 8 days, including travel to Ha Giang and travel back to Hanoi.

Instead of turning south at Meo Vac to complete the loop, we instead headed east to the Cao Bang Province, where we visited Pac Bo, the famous Ban Gioc waterfall, Angel Eye Mountain, the city of Cao Bang, and Ba Be Lake. 

We are SO glad we did this, instead of just the Ha Giang Loop! This route allowed us to experience so much more of Northern Vietnam, including many areas that had ZERO tourists.

To see our full adventure and all of the stops we made, check out the two YouTube videos we filmed on the trip. Including a video on the Ha Giang Loop portion and a video in the Cao Bang Province.

Save this 3 weeks in Vietnam itinerary for future planning!