Travel Itinerary: Vietnam
Your trip to Vietnam awaits! Spend your first two nights in Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known by its previous name, Saigon). It is the largest and most populated city of Vietnam. Next stop, Phu Quoc! Phu Quoc is a Vietnamese island in the Gulf of Thailand, where you’ll spend the next five days relaxing on the beach. Head back to Saigon for a final night gallivanting in the city!
Day 1: Welcome to Vietnam
Welcome to Vietnam! If you’re coming from the United States (like we were) you’ve traveled almost an entire day to get to where you are…it is the most amazing feeling stepping off the plane and realizing that you are quite literally on the other side of the world (also, you’re probably dying to get onto land at this point!).
Logistics: We flew from Boston to Ho Chi Minh on Cathay Pacific, with a connection in Hong Kong. Arriving in Ho Chi Minh around 10:00 AM, we grabbed a cab from the airport to bring us to our hotel. If your flight is arriving early, make sure to contact the hotel ahead of time for early check in.
Accommodations: We stayed at a hotel in the heart of Central District, the Liberty Central Saigon Riverside. The hotel has well-designed rooms and suites, as well as a rooftop infinity swimming pool and bar which offers spectacular views of the Saigon River. Don’t feel like moving from the pool for food? You can order lunch poolside.
To-do: Make sure to take out cash in Vietnamese Dong at the airport, you may need it the cab or shopping tonight. Check in to the hotel, take a quick nap to get back on schedule or head straight up to the pool and RELAX after a long day of travel. After you’ve had some time to unwind, wander in the direction of Ben Thanh night market. There are many places to eat along the way and around the market (more on Ben Thanh in Day 2).
Day 2: Explore the city!
Explore the city of Ho Chi Minh! There are a few must-see sights, all within reasonable walking distance from the Liberty Central Saigon:
Ben Thanh Market: Ben Thanh is one of Saigon’s oldest landmarks and offers an unmatched atmosphere that is absolutely, authentically Vietnamese. The market is open from 6:00-24:00, and with hundreds of stalls you can find almost anything here - fruits, vegetables, spices, tea, coffee, clothing, jewelry, bags and the list goes on!
Independence Palace: Also known as Reunification Palace, this palace made its name in global history in 1975 when the tank belonging to the North Vietnamese Army crashed through its main gate, ending the Vietnam War. The Palace is open from 07:30-12:00 and 13:00-16:00. You can buy tickets at the main gate ($2 for adults, $1 for children), located on the east side of the palace gardens. You may want to consider a half day tour for this!
Bep Me In: We’re begging you to eat here when in Saigon! You’ll experience delicious authentic traditional Vietnamese cuisine in a unique dining experience. Finding the restaurant wasn’t the easiest task, it is in an alley near the Ben Thanh Market, but once you get there you won’t regret it!
The Cu Chi Tunnels is another historic place to visit during your time in Saigon. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as a hiding place during combat, and they also served as a means for communication and supply routes. You cannot walk there from the hotel. We highly recommend you book a tour for the full experience, rather than trying to navigate it yourself.
Day 3: Travel to Phu Quoc
Say goodbye to Saigon and fly down to the stunning island of Phu Quoc! You’ll spend 5 days relaxing on the beach, experiencing Vietnamese cuisine and making some day trips to local treasures.
Logistics: Take a morning flight via Vietnam airlines, the flight will take approximately 1 hour. Book airport transfer with the hotel, the booking is $10 total for a 7 seater private taxi.
Accommodations: Cassia Cottage Resort - Cassia Cottage is a quaint and sustainable resort, minimizing their impact on the environment, and preserving the essence of the old Phu Quoc. Most of the meals prepared at their Spice House are sourced directly from their garden or from local producers. Breakfast is included and the spread is amazing.
To-do: Settle into your room at Cassia Cottage. Grab dinner at The Spice House or get fancy for a special occasion and book a sunset dinner on the beach (we did this for our Anniversary, requires 24 hour notice).
Day 4: Beach day and Bun Cha!
The resort has so much to offer, you can be as active or idle as you would like! For our first full day, we enjoyed basking in the sun on the beautiful sandy beach, Bà Kèo. Cassia Cottage has a stretch of private beach with chairs and umbrellas set up for easy relaxation. There is also a beach bar, The Malabar, you can walk up from the beach and order drinks or a quick bite. Sit at the bar, overlooking the ocean, or head back to your beach chair and enjoy from there.
Later on in the afternoon, we walked into town to grab Bun Cha at a well known restaurant, Bun Cha Ha Noi. Bun Cha is a Vietnamese dish of grilled pork and noodle, which is thought to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam. We loved it so much that we went back a second time. Highly recommended!
Day 5: Visit the Bee farm, tea plantation and starfish beach
Head over to the reception desk, they can organize a tailor-made tour for you and your party. If you prefer to make your own way, they can assist in a car or motorbike rental and point you in the right direction. We chose a half day booking with a private driver and rode all along the island - we had a tour at the bee farm, stopped by a tea plantation and enjoyed delicious smoothies, walked through the jungle (a path to nowhere, but hey, it was an adventure!) visited an elaborate temple and swam at the heralded starfish beach.
During your visit to the Phu Quoc Bee Farm you will become educated on the importance and value of the honey bee and understand why we need to protect the health of pollinators. You’ll never take honey for granted again! Open daily from 9:00 - 17:00.
The Starfish beach is overrated, but still worth a visit. It is remote and quite difficult to navigate to, so we’re glad we had a driver. It is a sandy white beach with clear water, dotted with unique red and black studded starfish. In complete transparency, there was trash in several places, but the starfish were still worth the stop.
Day 6: Pool day!
For this day we opted to stay at the resort and enjoy the pools. Cassia Cottage has three separate swimming pools overlooking the ocean - there is an infinity pool by The Spice House, an adults only pool and a kid’s pool. A space for everyone!
Day 7: Cable Car & Night market
Venture out to enjoy the longest cable car ride in the world at Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park. We visited Phu Quoc in January 2018, and the park was relatively empty, but still it was still in the process of being built. We only bought tickets to ride the cable car, but now the water park is included in the price and it is around $20 per adult. The cable car ride was very smooth and the views along the way are fantastic!
Later on in the evening we headed over to Duong Dong Market, to meet up with our friends Crayons and Carry-ons! We chatted travel, ate good food and made some local friends.
Day 8: Fly back to Ho Chi Minh
Your final day in Vietnam has arrived…wake up, enjoy breakfast at Cassia Cottage then head to the airport for a quick flight back to Ho Chi Minh. We booked a different hotel for this night, Alagon D'antique Hotel and Spa. It was gorgeous and comfortable boutique hotel, but pricey at 3x the cost of our first Saigon hotel. Still, we think it is worth the value.
For dinner, we headed back to ol’ faithful, Bep Me In. Then for a little Saigon nightlife action we headed over to Bui Vien walking street. This is considered the backpackers area in Saigon and is PACKED with people at night. Lined with bars, restaurants and shops, you are bound to find something that interests you (or you’ll be completely overwhelmed after 5 minutes)!
For information on our MUST-HAVES when traveling with the girls, check out our travel gear page!
We hope you found this itinerary helpful with planning your unique experience abroad.
As always, live presently and travel often!