Epic Vietnam Family Trip Itinerary: Our 4 Week Vietnam Road Trip

Planning a family trip to Vietnam sounds easy until you open a map. Hanoi, Sapa, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc all look amazing, but Vietnam stretches about 1,650 km from north to south. How do you fit it all into one trip without spending half your holiday traveling?

We’ve traveled from Hanoi to Phu Quoc with our kids, using night trains, buses and boats to explore the country. And while we loved the freedom of traveling this way, we learned that choosing the right route and planning your transfers makes all the difference when you’re traveling with children.

That’s why I’ve put together this 4-week Vietnam family trip itinerary, based on the route we actually traveled. You’ll get our day-by-day schedule, tips from our own experience and advice on getting around Vietnam with kids.

Don’t have 4-weeks? I’ve also included shorter 2- and 3-week routes, so you can pick the itinerary that works best for your family.

Vietnam Itinerary Map

This map of Vietnam shows all the places on this 4-week route.

This itinerary starts in Hanoi and ends in Phu Quoc, before flying home via Ho Chi Minh City. It’s the best itinerary for families who are looking to combine city trips, soaking up history, hiking in nature and chilling at the beach.

You can find it all in this 4-week Vietnam itinerary with kids. We already talked about shorter routes, but if you want to follow this entire Vietnam road trip itinerary at a slower pace, opt for a 5 week stay.

This is our day by day schedule:

Northern Vietnam

Northern Vietnam is one of the busiest parts of this itinerary. You’ll explore Hanoi, head into the mountains around Sapa, cruise through Halong Bay and visit Ninh Binh before traveling south to Hue.

There’s a lot of variety, but also quite a few transfers. We used overnight trains to make the most of our time, which worked well for our family. I’ll explain how we planned those journeys and what to consider if you’re traveling with younger kids.

Day 1: Hanoi

Hanoi, sometimes spelled Ha Noi, translates into “between 2 rivers” and is Vietnam’s capital city. There’s loads to do in Hanoi with kids, like checking out one of the water puppet shows, eating street food and watching the giant plastinated turtle at Hoan Kiem Lake. 

Expect bustling streets filled with motorbikes, street food on every corner, temples and the 2,000 year old Old Quarter. Enough activities for every family member to pick a favorite from.

But on day 1, the plan is to do as little as possible. Check in, spend the afternoon at the pool to beat the jet lag, and if everyone’s still awake, head out for dinner. The Old Quarter can wait until tomorrow.

Here are all your accommodation options in Vietnam

Day 3: Sapa

Good morning from the mountains! Sapa, sometimes written as Sa Pa, is famous for its impressive rice fields, lush green mountains and local ethnic minority communities.

Sapa is ideal for hiking. From kid friendly short walks through rice fields to multi-day hikes for experienced hikers, anything goes. In short, there are hikes for families with kids of all ages.

Spend your first full day here hiking and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Best Transfers to and from Sapa

Day 4: Sapa – Hanoi

A favorite in Sapa is a cable car ride up to Fansipan Mountain. Your children will love it. Just know that Sapa can get pretty cloudy and foggy, so book last minute to make sure you can actually see something up there.

Or take a taxi to Love Waterfall. Before you reach it, you have to walk for about 30 minutes. There’s one river crossing you should be aware of. It can be quite slippery there, so smaller children walking solo might need a hand or a carry. 

On the way back, you can ask the driver to stop at the Silver Waterfall.

We enjoyed Silver Waterfall, but the steps were pretty steep for my 10-year-old. If your kids are younger or aren’t used to climbing lots of stairs, I’d prioritize Love Waterfall instead. It’s still a walk, but you can take your time and help smaller children across the slippery river crossing.

In the evening, head back down to Lao Cai and hop on the night train to Hanoi. You’ll arrive early in the morning, ready for one more day in the capital.

Day 5: Hanoi

You’ll arrive in Hanoi early in the morning. We made sure to arrange an early check-in at our hotel. This way we could drop off our bags, take a shower and have breakfast, before we started our last full day of exploring the city.

Start with a visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It’s only open in the morning, so this is the best time of day to marvel at the sight of the huge mausoleum complex. Just make sure everyone’s shoulders and knees are covered.

From there, it’s only a short taxi ride to the Temple of Literature. Take your time to explore it, because after the busy Old Quarter, its quiet courtyards are a welcome break. We walked around for over an hour, soaking it all in. 

Day 6: Hanoi – Halong Bay – Board the Cruise Ship

It’s time to enjoy one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam: Halong Bay. This is the place where you hop aboard a cruise boat to enjoy sailing through 1,000s of limestone karsts and pass about 1,980 islands.

The water has a beautiful turquoise color that really pops against the limestone color of the karsts.

We highly recommend the Halong Bay cruise, even if you normally wouldn’t go for a cruise or a multi-day tour.

We’re usually more into exploring places independently than joining multi-day tours, but Halong Bay was one of the exceptions we’d happily make again.

Being able to kayak between the limestone islands, visit a floating village and wake up surrounded by the karsts made the cruise feel like much more than simply spending a couple of nights on a boat.

In this itinerary you’ll spend 2 nights on the ship. On your first day you’ll start with enjoying the views, sunbathing on deck, a nice dinner (and maybe even cook it yourself!) and you can opt to go squid fishing at night.

Day 8: Halong Bay – Hanoi – Ninh Binh

After your last morning on the water, you head back to Hanoi to catch a train to your next destination.

You’re finally heading south to Ninh Binh. The train ride only takes a little over 2 hours.

It’s been a long travel day, so check in and have a meal. You’ll explore Ninh Binh tomorrow.

Day 9-10: Ninh Binh

It’s really fun to visit Ninh Binh right after a visit to Halong Bay. In Halong Bay, you enjoy 1,000s of limestone karsts in the water. In Ninh Binh, you get to enjoy 1,000s of limestone karsts in a flat landscape, in between endless rice paddies.

Ninh Binh is the province, and Tam Coc is the best place to visit and check out the beauty of this area. Tam Coc translates into “3 caves.” This name refers to Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba. You guessed it right.

In and around Tam Coc, you can explore valleys, mountains, limestone cliffs, rice paddies and ancient temples.

The Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex is a gorgeous UNESCO site. And we highly recommend a boat tour in Trang An to explore some of the caves. 

And if your kids are old enough to hop on a bike, explore the area on a bike. This is a safe area with little traffic. You might run into hidden gems. This was the case for us when we bumped into Hoa Lu Ancient Capital. 

Enjoy the temples and beautiful gates that are surrounded by limestone peaks and beautiful greenery.

Ninh Binh is one of the top places to visit in Vietnam, and a stop you shouldn’t skip.

At the end of day 10 you’ll hop onto the night train to Hue.

Planning This Part of Your Route

This part of the route mixes city life, mountains, sea and countryside. 

Sapa has hikes for kids of all ages, from short walks through the rice fields to multi-day treks. The walk to Love Waterfall works for younger kids too.

The steps at Silver Waterfall are a lot steeper, so keep those for kids with some hiking experience. And Halong Bay? That’s a trip kids of all ages will enjoy.

The most demanding part isn’t a hike, but the travel. You sleep on the night train twice in 3 days, and day 8 takes you from your cruise back to Hanoi and on to Ninh Binh in 1 go. 

We sleep like roses on trains and ships, so for us it was not a problem and it saved us nights in hotels. 

One thing we learned from traveling by night train is that arriving early doesn’t mean your family is ready for a full day of sightseeing. 

We arranged an early check-in when we returned to Hanoi, so we could shower, have breakfast and start exploring without dragging our bags around.

I’d recommend doing the same whenever your train arrives early, especially if your kids don’t sleep as well on trains as ours did.

Book your Halong Bay cruise and your night train tickets ahead of time. As a family, you can book a whole sleeper cabin, so you don’t have to share it with strangers. 

Short on time? Then go for a 2 day, 1 night cruise instead of 3 days, 2 nights in Halong Bay.

After arriving at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, it takes you about 40 minutes to get to the city center by airport shuttle bus, taxi, private transfer or express bus.

The night train to Sapa actually stops in Lao Cai, about 1 hour by road from Sapa. If you’d rather skip the train, you can also book a tour from Hanoi to Sapa aimed at kids. 

Most Halong Bay cruises offer a shuttle from Hanoi to the harbor and back. And the train from Hanoi to Ninh Binh takes a little over 2 hours, with departures in the evening too.

Central Vietnam

For the next 12 days, you travel through central Vietnam. You start in Hue, make a day trip to the former DMZ, and then follow the coast south to Da Nang, Hoi An and Nha Trang.

Expect palaces and pagodas, streets full of lanterns, beach days and island hopping. Then you leave the coast behind and end this part of the route in the central highlands, in Da Lat: home to delicious coffee, forests and flowers.

Day 11: Hue

Today, you arrive in central Vietnam in the morning. The beautiful city of Hue is a great family destination, and it was one of our favorite cities in Vietnam.

Hue was one of our favorite cities in Vietnam, and we actually stayed here for 4 days. If you love history, I’d give Hue as much time as you can. Between the Imperial City, the royal tombs and  a day trip to the DMZ, there’s much more to explore here than you can comfortably fit into one day. Hue is simply a highlight.

Vietnam has a unique culture, and Hue is one of those cities where you can really soak it up. Many people consider it one of the most beautiful cities in Asia, and we agree.

Some even call it the spiritual heart of Vietnam, but since we’ve only spent 4-weeks in this country, we wouldn’t dare to go that far ourselves.

Beautiful gardens, lots of dragons and funny looking statues will make this place interesting for toddlers.

The impressive temples and palaces will definitely get the attention of the older kids. They can all run around in the gardens. Just make sure they don’t climb onto ancient monuments.

Since the Forbidden Purple City (nickname for the Imperial City) is huge you need an entire day to see it all. But the highlights can be done in half a day.

Day 12: Hue – Day Trip to the DMZ

Today, you leave Hue behind for a full day trip to the former DMZ. Like Korea, Vietnam used to be divided into North and South. From 1954 until 1976, the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ for short, separated the 2.

This border was about 75 km long. It ran from east to west, near the middle of present day Vietnam, in what’s now Quảng Trị province.

The DMZ used to be one of the most guarded border posts in the world, like the DMZ in Korea still is. Lots of bunkers, tanks and tunnels.

Visiting the DMZ isn’t suitable for kids of all ages. Visitor centers and museums about the Vietnam War, which lasted from the 1960s into the early 1970s, show the damage the war did to this area. To the land, but mostly to the people. We’ve all seen the pictures, and every parent can decide for themselves whether or not their kids are old enough to visit this area.

When you visit the former DMZ, make sure to visit the Vinh Moc Tunnels. You can see how the Vietnamese people used to live underground, and you can learn more about their history in the exhibition room on site.

Other interesting places to visit with kids in the DMZ area of Vietnam are:

• Khe Sanh Combat Base, a graveyard for tanks and helicopters
• Hien Luong Bridge, literally divided in 2, marked in blue and yellow
• Truong Son National Cemetery, where you can pay your respects to fallen citizens and soldiers

Top Vietnam DMZ Tours

If you book one of the tours below, you’ll hit most if not all the sights in the DMZ I write about here.

Day 13: Hue – Da Nang

You’ve got one more day in Hue before your train leaves, so make the most of it. Start your morning on the Perfume River and enjoy the views from a dragon boat. It takes you to Thien Mu Pagoda, with its 7 story tower right on the riverbank.

Want to see more? Then continue to the Royal Tomb of Minh Mang, surrounded by gardens and lotus ponds. But make sure you keep track of time. Depending on how late your train departs, this might not be an option today.

When in Hue we recommend ordering a bowl of bun bo Hue, the spicy beef noodle soup this city is famous for. If you want a less spicy or non spicy soup, just ask, they often serve those as well.

After lunch, hop into a cyclo, a bicycle taxi where you sit up front and the driver pedals behind you. Your kids will love it. Let it take you to Dong Ba Market for some last minute shopping.

In the late afternoon, grab your bags and hop on the train to Da Nang. Try to grab a window seat, because the tracks run right along the coast and that makes for some great views.

In the evening, have dinner in the city center with a view of the Dragon Bridge. It’s lit after dark and a great sight for kids to see.

Day 14: Da Nang

Da Nang, or Danang, is the first proper beach town on this route. This is an important port city for Vietnam, and it has the same commercial vibe as Ho Chi Minh City.

Today, you spend the whole day at Sun World Ba Na Hills, in the mountains just outside Da Nang. A cable car takes you all the way up to the Golden Bridge, the bridge held up by 2 giant stone hands.

Take the first cable car of the day. The bridge is a lot quieter in the morning, and you have a better chance of clear views before the mist comes in.

After the Golden Bridge, walk through the French Village and spend the afternoon at Fantasy Park, the indoor amusement park.

Most of the games and rides are included in your ticket, so the kids can go on as many as they like.

Day 15: Da Nang – Hoi An

Da Nang is on the coast of the South China Sea and a great place to unwind after a few days of traveling and exploring. Spend your morning on the beach, relax in the sand and swim in the sea.

When you get hungry, food is never far away. Local sellers offer delicious mango slices and coconuts all day long. Or take a break from the beach and cross the street for a seafood lunch. It doesn’t get fresher than this.

In the early afternoon, take a taxi to Hoi An and stop at Marble Mountains on the way. Hike around the mountains and explore the temples and pagodas built into the rock.

From Marble Mountains, it’s a short ride to Hoi An, and you arrive in the late afternoon. Head into the Old Town for a first look around and stay for dinner. Once it gets dark, the paper lanterns light up the streets.

Day 16-17: Hoi An

Hoi An is one of Vietnam’s most loved travel destinations. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its perfectly preserved history.

Think streets filled with traditional and colonial buildings, paper lanterns and parasols everywhere and dozens of tailors who can make every piece of clothing you can think of.

You won’t get tired wandering around the ancient streets in Hoi An’s Old Town. 

10 Things to Do in Hoi An with Kids

Planning a family trip to Hoi An? We actually fell in love with Hoi An. There were so many kid friendly activities to choose from, that we couldn’t even do it all. But from the things we did in Hoi An, these are in our opinion the best things to do in Hoi An with kids:

• stroll around the old town at night to see all the lanterns lit
• admire the Japanese Covered bridge
• watch fishermen and woman bring in their catch of the day at the river
• check out the Fujian Assembly Hall
• get fresh fruits at the Hoi An Central Market
• visit the Hoi An Night Market
• buy something tailor-made from one of the tailors (our son got his first suit here. He loved it and looked so grown-up)
• get a banh mi sandwich from one of the many street food stalls (we had banh mi all over Vietnam and loved the ones in Hoi An the most)
• join a family friendly cooking class
• visit Tan Ky Old House

You have today and tomorrow to check out and do it all.

Day 18: Hoi An – Nha Trang

You have until 2.00pm-3.00pm to explore Hoi An, so use your last day to do the things on the list you didn’t get to yesterday.

After that, you head back to Da Nang to take the night train to Nha Trang, where you arrive early the next morning.

Day 19: Nha Trang

Nha Trang is the most popular beach destination in Vietnam. With a 6 km (4 mi) stretch of beach, there are endless options to choose from when you want to swim, snorkel, dive and simply enjoy the beach.

In the morning you can visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers. The Cham built these Hindu temples between the 7th and 12th centuries, and 4 of the original 7 towers are still standing. The site is small, so you don’t need more than half an hour.

Spend the afternoon at the mud baths. Thap Ba is the oldest and most traditional one. The 100 Egg Mud Bath is more kitschy, with private tubs shaped like eggs.

Our teen found the smell quote “disgusting” so while I relaxed, my man and the teen went to the beach. So you might want to prepare the kids so they know what they’re in for 😉.

The next day it’s time to explore the water. Nha Trang has 19 islands, so don’t skip the chance to do some island hopping here. Hon Mun was Vietnam’s first marine park and the best known spot for snorkeling.

Just know that the coral there has suffered from boat traffic, and the sites further out are in better shape.

Many island tours also stop at an aquarium on Hon Mieu island, so pick a tour that skips it.

Day 21: Nha Trang – Da Lat

In the afternoon, you move away from the coast and into the central highlands of Vietnam. Your destination: Da Lat, also spelled Dalat. 

It’s famous for delicious coffee, forests, flowers and wine. But to be honest, the wine is pretty awful. Our guess is that it’s famous because there aren’t any other wine regions in Vietnam to fawn over.

But if you’re a wine lover (like me) be warned, it will surprise you, but not in the best of ways, to be honest.

Da Lat is a breath of fresh air after visiting busy places like Da Nang, Hoi An and Nha Trang.

It’s definitely a city in its own right, but for some reason lots of travelers skip Da Lat. Obviously, we think you shouldn’t skip it. 

What makes Da Lat worth including isn’t another famous landmark. It’s how different it feels from the rest of this route. After the heat and busy streets of the coast, the cooler highlands, pine forests and unusual attractions offer a completely different side of Vietnam.

The train from Hue to Da Nang takes about 2.5 to 3 hours. From Da Nang, it’s about 30 to 40 minutes by taxi to Hoi An, with a stop at Marble Mountains on the way.

Hoi An has no train station, so for the night train to Nha Trang, you take a taxi back to Da Nang. 

Buses and limousine vans from Nha Trang to Da Lat offer hotel pickup. Do note that the curvy road over the Khanh Le Pass can cause motion sickness, especially in the back seats.

Day 24: Ho Chi Minh City

The sleeper bus arrives in Ho Chi Minh City early in the morning. The city takes its name from former leader Ho Chi Minh, and it’s the largest city in Vietnam by population.

It’s impossible to find quiet spots here, and at first you can get quite overwhelmed by all the people, the scents and the sounds. Give yourself a few hours to get used to the hustle and bustle, and I assure you, you’ll love Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC in short).

Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as some still call it, is Vietnam’s most modern city, with loads of skyscrapers filled with international companies. Many people call it the city of millions of motorbikes. Some say there are about 10 million motorbikes and others 5 million.

When you check out the architecture here, you can still very much see that Vietnam used to be a French colony. Wandering around the French Quarter and District 1 is one of the best things to do in HCMC with kids.

So once you’ve checked in, roam around District 1, the city center, on foot. Start at the Notre Dame Cathedral for some French vibes, and drop off your postcards at the Central Post Office right across the street.

From there, walk to Ben Thanh Market to pick up some souvenirs.

Of course, there are many remains of the Vietnam War here as well, with multiple sites to visit and learn about this war.

In the afternoon, tour through the Reunification Palace. It’s a short walk from there to the War Remnants Museum, where you can educate yourselves about the Vietnam War.

Like at the DMZ, some of the photos here are hard to look at, so decide for yourself whether your kids are old enough. Our 15 year old was very impressed and learned a lot from what he learned at the DMZ and at this museum. Personally I would only bring kids 12 and over here, but of course, to each their own.

Another option is to venture outside of the city and check out the Cu Chi Tunnels, about 70 km (43 mi) outside of HCMC. 

Crawl through the tunnels to see how people lived and fought underground during the Vietnam War. The part that’s open to visitors is wider than the original tunnels, but it’s still tight and dark.

If you’ve already entered the Vinh Moc tunnels at the DMZ, this is an activity you can skip.

End the day at the skydeck of the Bitexco Financial Tower to get great views of the city.

Day 25: Ho Chi Minh City – Day Trip to the Mekong Delta

Today, you leave the city for a day trip to the Mekong Delta. You can book a tour at one of the many tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City. Your boat tour starts in a small harbor in My Tho.

This is really something you shouldn’t miss in Vietnam. While on a boat, you pass rice fields and small local villages where people live in wooden houses over the river, and you get to see how coconut candy is made.

This last thing is especially fun for kids, since it’s not a long activity and it ends with tasting the candy. Some tours also include holding a snake or a horse cart ride, so pick a tour without them.

Most tours last about 5 to 6 hours, so you’re back in the city in the afternoon.

Use the rest of the day to check out the Jade Emperor Pagoda. And get some street food before you head back to your hotel.

Top Tours to the Mekong Delta

Day 26: Ho Chi Minh City – Phu Quoc

Head to the airport for an early morning flight to Phu Quoc. It’s time to end your trip with a bang: a few days at the beach.

We chose to finish our Vietnam trip on Phu Quoc because we wanted a few days to relax after traveling from north to south. And after weeks of trains, buses and sightseeing, ending the trip at the beach was exactly what we needed.

But there’s a trade-off: getting here means another flight, and you’ll need to return to Ho Chi Minh City for your flight home. If your family prefers fewer transfers, consider spending those last days somewhere along the mainland coast instead.

Backpackers also seem to really enjoy Phu Quoc, so make sure you book accommodation on the right parts of the island.

Stay at beaches like Ong Lang, Bai Dai, Khem Beach and Sao Beach at mid range to luxury hotels, and you avoid loud parties and drunk guests with buckets (yes, they have those here too). There are many beach resorts for families on this Vietnamese island.

Make sure you get an early check in and spend your first day on the beach and in the water. This will be a welcome rest after 25 days of exploring and traveling from place to place.

Day 27: Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc is like paradise with its pristine white sandy beaches, lush greenery and loads of water activities. You can really unwind on Vietnam’s largest island.

Spend your day at the beach, or take the cable car from An Thoi to Hon Thom, also called Pineapple Island. At 7.9 km (4.9 mi), it’s the longest cable car over the sea in the world.

We really enjoyed doing this, but didn’t do anything else exciting, because the beach and the sea were all we wanted to hit.

Your ticket includes the Aquatopia water park on the island, which has a separate zone for kids. We opted out, because we wanted to just chill, so I can’t tell you if I’d recommend it, but it sure looked fun for kids.

The cable car doesn’t run when there’s a storm warning, so check the weather before you go.

Day 28: Phu Quoc – Ho Chi Minh City (Departure)

Take it easy on your last morning. Have a slow breakfast, go for a last swim and enjoy the beach one more time before you fly back to Ho Chi Minh City for your flight home.

After unwinding on Phu Quoc for the last days of your trip, it’s time to head back home.

You’ll leave this country with a backpack filled with fond memories of the beauty of this country and, even more so, its people.

Planning This Part of Your Route

This part of the route combines city life and history with a few days at the beach. 

The War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels are a different story. Some of the photos in the museum are hard to look at, and the tunnels are tight and dark, so decide for yourself whether your kids are old enough.

On Hon Thom, some of the slides at Aquatopia have height requirements, but there’s a separate zone for younger kids.

Book your Mekong Delta tour, your Cu Chi tour and your flights ahead of time. You can also book the tours at one of the many tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City. 

There are daily flights to Phu Quoc from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang. To our surprise, you can even fly here from Thailand, Japan and Indonesia. So if you’re moving on to other Southeast Asian countries, check if you can reach them from Phu Quoc Directly.

Wherever you come from within Asia, there seems to be an option to get to Phu Quoc relatively easily. You can also reach Phu Quoc island by ferry from the Mekong Delta towns Ha Tien and Rach Gia.

At Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, domestic and international flights leave from different terminals, so make sure you have enough time in between flights to make sure you are in time for your flight back home.

How to Get Around Vietnam

Vietnam is a great destination for families with kids. It has great air and rail connections, and some great roads too. When you plan to travel the whole country, you have many different transportation options.

Vietnam has good infrastructure and great public transportation. That’s why backpacking with kids is easy here.

Flying

Vietnam Airlines and VietJet Air fly between all the big cities, and most domestic flights take only 1 to 2 hours.

Flying makes the most sense for the longest stretches, or when you’re short on time. We avoided it as much as possible, for environmental reasons, but with younger kids you might opt for more domestic flights.

Book your Vietnam flights here

Trains and Buses

We mostly road tripped through Vietnam by (sleeper) train, bus and boat, and it was a journey we’ll never forget. Vietnam quickly became one of our favorite Asian destinations. And part of that reason was that it was easy to get around by public transport.

The railway runs along the whole country, from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, and the night trains are the easiest way to cover long distances.

The sleeper cabins on the overnight train have 4 beds, so as a family, you can book a whole cabin and keep it to yourselves. Book your tickets ahead of time, because the cabins sell out.

Get your (sleeper) train & bus tickets for Vietnam here

Rental Car

You can also easily travel by car. We don’t have any experience with driving here, but like I said, the infrastructure is good. 

The only thing is that cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are extremely busy, and I personally wouldn’t dare drive there. Cars and motorbikes are everywhere!

Outside the city centers, and especially in the countryside or on highways, driving a car yourself is a good option.

But there’s a catch! Before you book, check your driving permit. Vietnam only accepts the 1968 version of the International Driving Permit. Many European countries issue this version.

Best Time for a Vietnam Road Trip

Because Vietnam is a very long country, the temperatures in the north differ considerably from those in the south.

That makes it a year-round destination, but each part of the country has its own best time. This flexibility is ideal when planning a Vietnam family tour.

The north has 4 seasons. Summer, from about May to September, is hot and humid, with lots of rain. Winter, from about December to February, is cool, and in Halong Bay, it’s often foggy, which can block the views of the karsts. In summer, storms sometimes cancel the cruises.

If you want to see luscious green rice fields, visit Sapa in summer. Just know that this is also the rainy season. In autumn, you see the rice fields in beautiful golden hues before the harvest. In winter, it can get really cold in the mountains. And in spring, you get to see blossoms.

On the central coast, from Hue to Nha Trang, the dry season runs from about February to August. From about September to December, it’s the rainy season, with storms and sometimes floods, especially in Hue and Hoi An. Da Lat is the exception: up in the highlands, it stays around 15 to 25°C (59 to 77°F) all year.

The south has 2 seasons. From about December to April, it’s dry and hot. From about May to November, it’s the rainy season, but the rain usually comes in short, heavy showers in the afternoon. This also goes for Phu Quoc, where the best beach weather is from about November to April.

In short: the best time to visit Vietnam depends on whether you visit the north or the south or the entire country. Take note of that when planning your family road trip.

For the full 4-week route, January to April gives you the best weather in most places.

We did this entire route from mid December to mid January and would definitely recommend this weather wise. Just pack warm clothes for Sapa, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay.

FAQ

Ready to Plan Your Own Family Trip to Vietnam?

Vietnam is an amazing country to explore with kids, and I hope our 4-week itinerary has given you plenty of ideas for your own family adventure.

Whether you follow our route from Hanoi to Phu Quoc or pick and choose the destinations that appeal to you most, there’s so much to discover. And while traveling through Vietnam independently is absolutely doable, figuring out the best route, transportation and activities for your family can take quite a bit of research.

Love planning your own adventures, but don’t have the time to figure out all the details?

That’s where I can help! Through my family travel planning services, I can help you create a Vietnam itinerary that fits your family’s interests, your kids’ ages and the time you have available.

Whether you need a few questions answered, want to talk through your route on a video call or would rather have a completely tailor-made itinerary, I offer different types of family travel services.

TRAVEL PLANNING SERVICES

Want more help planning your family trip? Do you know where you want to go, but don’t have the time or energy to create an itinerary, find things to do and places to stay? Or are you ready for the trip of a lifetime and you need help creating the best travel experience.

I can help you plan your family trip and create an itinerary that checks off your boxes and fits your travel style.

Visit my travel planning services page for more info about what a travel planner does and doesn’t do and find more info about all our packages.

If you just want to pick my brain about family travel or about a destination you can also opt for email consultation or a 1:1 family travel coaching call.

👉 Learn more about my family travel planning services

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