Vietnam

A 14-night, north-to-south Vietnam route done right after the country reopened to tourists post-pandemic — Halong Bay, Hoi An's lantern-lit nights, Da Lat's cool hills, and the Mekong Delta.

Duration

14 nights / 15 days, as above — this is a full, unrushed circuit, not a compressed one.

Best time

Vietnam's climate varies significantly north to south, so timing depends on which end you weight more heavily — broadly, February to April balances all three regions reasonably well, avoiding the north's cold winter and central Vietnam's typhoon season (roughly September to December).

Budget

We spent an average of ₹6,000/day (roughly $75/€75 at the time) — this covered flights, stay, food and drinks, local and intercity travel, and visas, for comfort-level travel (neither budget nor luxury). Vietnam genuinely supports both a lower and a higher budget than this. We ate mostly vegetarian, which pushed food costs higher than they'd otherwise be — if you eat non-vegetarian, expect food to cost less.

Getting around

We were a group of four, which made rental cars for day trips noticeably cheaper per person than they'd be solo or in a pair — worth keeping in mind when budgeting this route for your own group size.