Coming from Thailand and Cambodia. Have about 5 days in Vietnam. Hanoi or Saigon? and maybe one other place-beach? charming? interesting
Hanoi or Saigon?
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Chose just one or the other and explore the surrounding area, but don't try to add in another destination.
If you choose Hanoi (my choice) you could certainly spend the whole time in Hanoi (we spent a week there) or you could an an overnight on a junk in Halong Bay.
If you choose HCMC, you can do a full day trip or an overnight to the Mekong Delta.
My vote is Hanoi. Lots of charm and plenty to see.
You can visit Hanoi first in 5 days with hanoi city and halong bay. Very nice
Another vote for Hanoi. Plenty to see and do and easy to fill up 5 days.
Hands down - Hanoi
A note of caution. If you arrive via a land border, you'll need a full blown Vietnamese visa which you have to obtain from the Embassy. If you arrive by air at one of the main airports i.e. Hanoi, HCMC or Danang, you can make do with a visa on arrival. But you still need to obtain a 'letter of approval' from a Vietnamese travel agent which you then present to immigration at the airport.
I'm looking at Vietnam as a destination myself next June and to my way of thinking, HCMC is a better option for me since I also want to go to Hoi An and Da lat. Da lat especially appeals to me because of the French influence there. They even built a mini Eiffel Tower in the city centre to make themselves feel at home! There's a picture of it in this Wikitravel article: http://wikitravel.org/en/Da_Lat
Hoi An is a listed world heritage site and I like those kind of places: http://wikitravel.org/en/Hoi_An
Both of these places can be reached in a little of 40 mins by air from HCMC, or by air from Hoi An to Da Lat.