Jacqueline’s Vietnam Itinerary for Couples: Ha Long, Hoi An & Saigon in Ten Days

Jacqueline’s Vietnam itinerary for couples was one of those bookings that arrives already half-decided: ten days, two people, and a clear wish to see the north and the south without spending the whole trip in transit. I’m Ivy, and I looked after Jacqueline Sagurit and her travel companion for their ten days here in June — from the welcome at their Hanoi hotel to the last morning in Saigon.

What I like about this trip is how ordinary it is, in the best way. No unusual requests, no rare corner of the country. Just the classic Hanoi–Ha Long–Hoi An–Saigon run, planned so that two people who had flown a long way could actually enjoy it.

Meeting them in Hanoi

Their flight landed at Noi Bai just before nine in the morning on the first day, which is the kind of arrival I plan around carefully. Hotel check-in is not until two in the afternoon, so a morning arrival can easily turn into five hours of sitting in a lobby feeling wrecked. We met them at the airport, brought them straight into the Old Quarter, and then deliberately left the rest of that first day completely empty.

The welcome gifts are a small thing, but I have never once regretted the fuss. It is the moment a booking stops being an email thread and becomes people you are now responsible for. Everything after that — the pick-up times, the guide’s phone number, the “message me if anything at all goes sideways” — lands differently once you have sat down together for ten minutes.

A night on Ha Long and Lan Ha Bay

Day two was the bay. The shuttle collected them from the Old Quarter before half past eight, and by lunchtime they were boarding the Amanda Premier Cruise at Tuan Chau — cold towel, welcome drink, and then the limestone islands starting to close in around the boat.

The afternoon on that cruise is well judged. Kayaking or a bamboo boat through Luon Cave first, then a tender across to Titop Island, where you can either climb to the lookout or swim while everyone else climbs. Later there is a sunset session on the sundeck and a cooking class making phở cuốn, which is exactly the right level of activity for people who have been in the country barely 48 hours.

The next morning starts with tai chi on the deck at quarter past six. Not everybody takes that up. But almost everybody comes out for Sung Sot Cave afterwards — it is one of the biggest caves in the bay, up a flight of stone steps through the forest, and it is worth the early start.

Hoi An — and the day I always leave empty

They came back to Hanoi for a second night, did the city properly on day four, and flew south to Hoi An that evening. Three nights there, at a boutique resort a short ride from the Ancient Town.

Day five was My Son Sanctuary, the old Cham temple complex about an hour inland — red brick towers, jungle, and a history most visitors know nothing about before they arrive. Day six I left completely open. That is a deliberate choice, not a gap in the plan. In a ten-day trip with two internal moves, one unscheduled day in Hoi An is the difference between arriving home rested and arriving home needing a holiday. Some couples spend it at the beach, some spend it getting clothes made, some spend it doing very little at a café by the river.

Saigon, the tunnels and the delta

The last stretch was three nights in Ho Chi Minh City. Day eight paired the city sights with the Cu Chi Tunnels — a combination that always works better in that order, because the city gives you the context before the tunnels give you the reality of it.

Day nine was the Mekong Delta: a full day out among the waterways, orchards and river life south of the city. Then a last morning in Saigon before the flight home. Ten days, four bases, and only two internal flights — which is about as efficient as a north-to-south Vietnam trip gets without cutting something worth keeping.

Why this Vietnam itinerary for couples works

Three decisions shaped this itinerary, and I would make all three again for a couple travelling this route.

North first, south last. Hanoi and the bay ask more of you — earlier starts, more moving about. Doing them while you are freshest, and finishing in Saigon where the pace is yours to set, means the trip gets easier rather than harder as it goes.

Three nights in Hoi An, two in Hanoi. Hanoi is a wonderful city and a tiring one. Hoi An is where a trip like this recovers. Splitting them evenly would have looked neater on paper and felt worse in practice.

Everything included, so the days are actually free. Their flights within the tour, entrance fees, the guide and the visa were all handled in advance. It sounds like a small administrative thing. It is really the difference between a holiday and a project.

And on June: it is the beginning of the wet season, which puts some travellers off. In practice, southern rain in June tends to arrive as one hard hour in the afternoon and then clear. The countryside is green, the bay is warm, and there are noticeably fewer people at My Son and on Titop Island than there would be in March.

Thinking about a trip like Jacqueline’s?

If this route looks like the trip you have been circling, our Best of Vietnam Tours – 10 Days covers almost exactly the same ground — Hanoi, an overnight on Ha Long Bay, Hoi An and My Son, then Saigon with the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Mekong Delta day. It is the itinerary Jacqueline’s trip was built from, and it bends easily around how you like to travel.

Planning around the seasons instead? Our guides to Ha Long Bay, Ha Noi and the Mekong Delta go through the best months for each stop.

And I would genuinely like to hear from you. If you have done a ten-day Vietnam run like this one, what would you have given an extra night to — Hanoi, Hoi An or Saigon? Tell me in the comments below, and if you are still putting yours together, send me a message and we will work it out together.