Vietnam itinerary: 10 realistic days, North to South
Ten days is the most-searched Vietnam trip length, and the most-common mistake is planning it like fourteen. This day-by-day plan counts the days transport eats — one overnight train saves a hotel night and a day, and the last hop is a flight. Same engine, same verified data as our trip planner.
VerifiedRoute facts last verified
6 stops · ~19 h total transport · 1 of your 10 days are travel or half-travel days
The day-by-day plan
Hanoi — 2 days
Travel: Limousine van Hanoi → Ninh Binh (Ha Long Bay on land) · 2 h · US$6–12(estimate)route details
Ninh Binh (Ha Long Bay on land) — 1 day
Overnight: Train Ninh Binh (Ha Long Bay on land) → Hue · 10 h 40 min · US$18–38route details
Hue — 1 day
Travel: Limousine van Hue → Hoi An · 3 h 55 min · US$11–16route details
Hoi An — 2 days
Transfer: Shuttle / transfer Hoi An → Da Nang · 1 h · US$5–9route details
Da Nang — 1 day
Transfer: Flight Da Nang → Ho Chi Minh City · 1 h 25 min · US$25–75(estimate)route details
Ho Chi Minh City — 2 days
Why this shape works
The corridor Hanoi → Saigon is longer than most first-timers expect — the sleeper-bus fantasy of “doing it all by land” burns two full nights and arrives wrecked. This plan spends the land nights where there is a real railway (Hanoi → Hue), puts the long middle on a night departure so a hotel day is not lost, and accepts one short flight (Da Nang → Saigon, about 1 h 25 min) to finish with two full days in the south.
Phong Nha's caves are the first thing people ask about cutting. With only ten days, cutting them is correct: the detour costs a full day each way on legs with no railway. If you have twelve or fourteen days, add Phong Nha back first, then Ninh Binh becomes a two-night stop — the planner does this arithmetic for you in a few clicks.
Want the printable version?
A printable extended pack of this itinerary — alternates for every leg, booking checklists and the source dates for every number — is in preparation. The planner is free and needs no account:
Durations and prices are indicative bands — verified or estimate as marked on the route pages. Always confirm schedules when booking.