Vietnam
An overnight junk on Halong Bay, lantern-lit Hoi An, the Golden Bridge above Da Nang and the Mekong's floating markets — long, varied and still the best value in South-East Asia.
Packages from ₹82,000 per person, indicative · full cost breakdown ↓
Vietnam tour packages
3 ready-made plans, every one customisable. Each has an indicative price, the highlights and a full day-by-day page.
Hanoi, Halong & Hoi An
The shortest trip that still gets you the two things Vietnam is famous for: a night on a Halong Bay junk and an evening in lantern-lit Hoi An. Skips the south entirely, which keeps the flying down to one internal hop.
Vietnam Signature — Saigon, Da Nang & Hanoi
The classic three-city trip, south to north, with the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong at one end and the Old Quarter at the other. Two short internal flights and enough leisure time built in that it does not feel like a route march.
Vietnam North to South
The whole country end to end, with the Halong cruise and the imperial city of Hue both included. For families with a fortnight who would rather see Vietnam properly once than come back for the half they missed.
Vietnam has quietly become the trip Gujarati families book when they have already done Thailand and Bali and want something with more in it. It is a long, narrow country, so a week gives you three genuinely different holidays stitched together: the old streets and street food of Hanoi in the north, the beaches, tailors and lanterns of Hoi An and Da Nang in the middle, and the noise, history and river life of Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Internal flights between them take under two hours and cost very little, which is what makes the distance workable.
It also remains cheaper than almost anywhere comparable. A four-star hotel in Da Nang, a private car with an English-speaking guide, and an overnight cabin on a Halong Bay cruise together still cost less than a mid-range Bali trip. The one thing to plan carefully is food: Vietnamese cooking uses fish sauce almost universally, so pure-veg and Jain travellers need restaurants booked in advance rather than found on the day. We do that as a matter of course.
What to see in Vietnam
Halong Bay overnight cruise
Nearly two thousand limestone karsts rising out of green water. Sleeping on the boat rather than doing it as a day trip is what makes it — you get the bay at sunset and at dawn without the crowds, plus kayaking and a cave stop.
Hoi An Ancient Town
A 15th-century trading port kept almost intact: Japanese covered bridge, merchant houses, assembly halls, and hundreds of silk lanterns lit after dark. Also the best place in Vietnam to have clothes tailored in 24 hours.
Ba Na Hills & the Golden Bridge
A long cable car up to a hill station above Da Nang, where the pedestrian bridge held up by two giant stone hands sits in the clouds. Touristy and worth it; go early to beat the queues.
Hanoi Old Quarter & Train Street
Thirty-six trading streets, each once dedicated to a single craft, and the famous narrow alley where a working train passes inches from the café tables. Hoan Kiem Lake and the water puppet theatre are a short walk away.
Cu Chi Tunnels
Two hundred and fifty kilometres of hand-dug wartime tunnels outside Ho Chi Minh City, with the living quarters, kitchens and field hospitals still in place. Sobering, and the part of the trip teenagers remember.
The Mekong Delta
A boat through the floating markets and out to Unicorn Island — coconut candy workshops, a rowing boat down a palm canal, seasonal fruit and traditional music. An easy day trip from Ho Chi Minh City.
Hue's Imperial Citadel
The walled capital of the Nguyen emperors on the Perfume River, with the Forbidden Purple City inside it and the royal tombs scattered in the hills around. Best added between Hanoi and Da Nang.
Da Nang's beaches and Dragon Bridge
My Khe beach runs for kilometres with none of Bali's crowds, and the Dragon Bridge breathes fire and water on weekend nights. A good place to put the two slow days every family trip needs.
Getting there from Ahmedabad
There is no non-stop flight from Ahmedabad. The usual routings are via Delhi or Mumbai on VietJet, Vietnam Airlines or IndiGo into Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, or one stop through Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Total journey time runs 9–13 hours depending on the connection.
Fly into one end of the country and out of the other — into Hanoi and home from Ho Chi Minh City, or the reverse. It costs much the same as a return into one city and saves you a wasted day backtracking.
Internal flights between Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City take 70–100 minutes and are inexpensive. We book them as part of the package so the timings line up with your sightseeing rather than against it.
Getting around. A private air-conditioned car with an English-speaking guide in each city — a sedan for 2–3 travellers, an SUV or minivan for 4–7. Cities are close together within each region but far apart north to south, which is why the internal flights matter. Grab (the local ride app) works well for short independent hops in the evenings.
When to go
| Season | Months | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Cool and dry in the north | October – April | Hanoi and Halong at 15–25°C, occasionally down to 10°C in January. The best window for the north, though the bay can be misty in February and March. |
| Central dry season | February – August | Da Nang and Hoi An hot and bright, 25–35°C, with the beach at its best from April. The central coast floods in October and November, so avoid those months there. |
| Southern dry season | December – April | Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong at 26–34°C with very little rain. The most reliable months for the south. |
| Southern wet season | May – November | Short heavy afternoon downpours in the south rather than all-day rain, and everything greener. Prices drop and it is perfectly travellable if you plan mornings for sightseeing. |
Permits, rules and packing
Indian passport holders need a Vietnam e-visa, applied for online before travel. It is valid for up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, and normally comes back in three to five working days — we apply on your behalf. Your passport must have at least six months' validity and two blank pages. There is no visa on arrival for tourists arriving by air without a pre-approval letter, so do not plan on sorting it at the airport.
What to pack
- Passport with six months' validity, the e-visa printout and your insurance certificate
- Light cottons for the south and centre, plus a proper jacket for Hanoi and Halong between November and February — the north genuinely gets cold
- A folding umbrella or light rain shell whatever the month; showers are short and frequent
- Comfortable walking shoes — Hoi An, the Hanoi Old Quarter and the Cu Chi site are all done on foot
- Mosquito repellent for the Mekong and the Halong evenings
- Some US dollars to change on arrival; Vietnamese Dong is cash-heavy outside hotels and larger restaurants
Veg and Jain food in Vietnam
- Fish sauce (nuoc mam) is in most Vietnamese dishes including many that look vegetarian, so we book pure-veg and Jain meals ahead rather than leaving it to chance on the day.
- Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City all have proper Indian restaurants, several of them pure vegetarian, and our set-menu arrangements are made before you travel.
- Buddhist vegetarian food, com chay, is widely available and completely free of fish sauce and onion-garlic in its strict form — useful for Jain travellers, and we will point you to the right places.
- Hotel breakfasts are large and always include fruit, bread and eggs; for Jain travellers we arrange a separate plate rather than relying on the buffet.
What a Vietnam trip costs from Ahmedabad
Indicative per-person costs on twin sharing for a 7-night trip including return flights from Ahmedabad and the internal sectors. Actual quotes depend on your dates, hotel category and how many of you are travelling; a group of 6 or more brings the per-person vehicle cost down noticeably. Diwali, Christmas and Tet run well above these bands.
3★ hotels, shared-cabin Halong cruise, economy flights booked 8+ weeks ahead
4★ hotels, beachfront in Da Nang, private-balcony cabin on the cruise, flexible flight timings
5★ resorts and city hotels, a luxury Halong junk, business-class option on the long sector
Where the money goes
- Flights are usually 35–45% of the trip. Ahmedabad to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City with one stop runs ₹32,000–45,000 return booked early, and well past ₹60,000 in the Diwali and Christmas weeks.
- The Halong Bay cruise is the single biggest land item — a shared cabin and a luxury junk with a private balcony can differ by ₹12,000 per person for the same one night.
- Internal flights add ₹4,000–7,000 per person per sector, which is what makes a three-city trip so much cheaper here than the equivalent distance elsewhere.
- Ground costs in Vietnam are low and fall fast with group size: the car and guide cost the same for two people or six, so a family of six pays meaningfully less each than a couple.
Prices are indicative for 2026 and change with dates, group size and hotel choice. We confirm every price in writing before you pay anything.
Travelling with parents and children
- Vietnam suits teenagers unusually well — the Cu Chi tunnels, the cable car and the Halong kayaking all land better with that age group than a temple circuit does.
- With elderly parents, do the 7-night three-city trip rather than the 9-night north-to-south. The internal flights are short but they are still airports, and four of them in nine days is a lot.
- Halong cabins are compact. For a family of four, two cabins works far better than trying to fit an extra bed into one, and the difference in cost is smaller than people expect.
- Hoi An's tailors need 24 hours minimum for anything fitted. If you want clothes made, we schedule Hoi An early in the trip so the collection happens before you fly out.
- Pavements in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are crowded and the traffic is relentless. Crossing roads is a skill — the guide handles it, and we keep walking stretches short for anyone unsteady.
Questions families ask us about Vietnam
Do Indians need a visa for Vietnam?
Yes, an e-visa applied for online before you travel. It allows up to 90 days, single or multiple entry, and normally comes back in three to five working days. We apply on your behalf as part of the package. Do not plan on getting one at the airport — there is no visa on arrival for tourists without a pre-approval letter.
Is Vietnam suitable if we eat only vegetarian or Jain food?
Yes, but only if it is planned. Fish sauce is in most Vietnamese dishes, including several that look vegetarian, so it is not a place to improvise at lunchtime. Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City all have Indian restaurants, several pure vegetarian, and Buddhist com chay is available everywhere. We book the meals before you travel and brief the guide.
How does Vietnam compare with Thailand or Bali on cost?
For the same hotel standard Vietnam usually comes out below Bali and close to Thailand, with more variety packed into the same week. The reason is cheap internal flights and low ground costs — a private car with a guide costs a fraction of what it does in Bali. Where Vietnam costs more is the Halong cruise, which has no equivalent in either.
Is one week enough for Vietnam?
Seven nights covers the classic three cities — Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang with Hoi An, and Hanoi — with two internal flights. Five nights means dropping one end of the country, usually the south. Nine or ten nights lets you add Hue and the Mekong without rushing. We would not try the whole country in under seven.
When should we not go?
Avoid the central coast, meaning Da Nang and Hoi An, in October and November when it floods. Avoid the whole country during Tet, the Lunar New Year in late January or February, when businesses close for several days, domestic transport is full and prices spike. Hanoi in December and January is cold and often grey, which surprises people expecting South-East Asia.
Is it safe and easy for a first international trip?
It is one of the easier long-haul destinations for a first-timer. Crime against tourists is low, the e-visa is straightforward, hotels are used to Indian guests and English is widely spoken in the tourist trade. The two things to be careful about are traffic when crossing roads and taxi overcharging, which is why we use a private car with a guide rather than leaving you to flag things down.
Ready to plan Vietnam?
Send us your dates and who is travelling. We reply with a day-by-day plan, hotel names and a price — usually within 24 hours.