Vietnam Itinerary: 6 Days in Hanoi, Hoi An & Da Nang
Six days pairing Vietnam’s two most rewarding stops: Hanoi, a thousand-year-old capital of lakes, street food, and unkillable energy — with the limestone seascape of Ha Long Bay a day trip away — and Hoi An, the lantern-lit trading port time agreed to skip.
Vietnam ranked #21 worldwide with 17.5 million international arrivals (2024, Vietnam National Authority of Tourism — up 39.5% on 2023). Last reviewed 2026-07-29.
Vietnam · 6 days Hanoi → Hoi An & Da Nang
Best time: Vietnam runs on two climates: October to April suits Hanoi (cool, dry); February to July suits the central coast around Hoi An and Da Nang.
Hanoi: Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son TempleDay 1
🏛️9:00 AMHoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
The city’s heart — a lake with a legend of a returned sword, a scarlet bridge to a small island temple, and the whole town circling it at 6 AM for exercise. Weekend nights the ring road goes car-free.
🚗 ~12 min · 3.5 mi
🖼️1:30 PMVietnam Museum of Ethnology
The country’s 54 ethnic groups done properly — full-size stilt houses and communal halls rebuilt in the garden by the communities themselves. Worth the short taxi ride west.
🚗 ~12 min · 3.3 mi
🌆6:00 PMThe Old Quarter
Thirty-six streets each named for the guild that traded there — silk, silver, bamboo — now a canyon of shophouses, beer corners, and pho at dawn. Bia hoi hour on the corner stools is the city’s cheapest institution.
Hanoi: Temple of LiteratureDay 2
🏛️9:00 AMTemple of Literature
Vietnam’s first university, founded 1070 — five Confucian courtyards where doctoral graduates’ names have been carved on stone stelae since 1484. Students still come before exams for luck.
🚗 ~7 min · 2.1 mi
🥾1:30 PMWest Lake
Hanoi’s biggest lake — a 17-km shore of temples, lotus ponds, and sunset cafés, with the 1,400-year-old Tran Quoc Pagoda on its causeway island.
🚗 ~9 min · 2.5 mi
🎟️6:00 PMOld Quarter street-food walk
An evening eating crawl — bun cha, banh cuon, egg coffee — with someone who knows which alley kitchen has made one dish for three generations. Do this on night one and eat braver all trip.
Hanoi: Ha Long Bay day cruiseDay 3
🏛️9:00 AMHa Long Bay day cruise
Nearly 2,000 limestone karsts rising from jade water — a UNESCO seascape and Vietnam’s signature view. From Hanoi it is a long, worthwhile full day — about 2.5 hours each way on the expressway plus four or five on the water — with day cruises timed to have you back in the city by evening.
🚗 day trip · 86 mi
🌆6:00 PMThe French Quarter
Wide colonial boulevards south of the lake: the Opera House, villas behind flame trees, and café terraces built for lingering.
Arrive in Hoi An & Da NangDay 4
✈️8:30 AMFlight to Hoi An & Da Nang
Hanoi to Da Nang in about 1h20 — one of Vietnam’s busiest domestic routes, with departures all day — then roughly 45 minutes by car to Hoi An. The scenic alternative is the 16-hour Reunification Express sleeper.
✈️ ~1h20 · 377 mi
🚲 Bicycle hop
🏛️2:00 PMHoi An Ancient Town and the Japanese Covered Bridge
Mustard-yellow merchant houses, Chinese assembly halls, and the 400-year-old covered bridge — carefully restored 2022–24 and reopened in 2024. The old-town ticket funds the preservation; evenings the whole town runs on lanterns.
🚶 ~4 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.1 mi
🌆6:00 PMAn Hoi islet
Across the footbridge from the Ancient Town: the night market’s lantern stalls, riverside restaurants, and the view back at old Hoi An glowing on the water.
Hoi An & Da Nang: My Son SanctuaryDay 5
🏛️9:00 AMMy Son Sanctuary
The Cham civilization’s holy valley — brick Hindu tower-temples built from the 4th to 13th centuries, jungle-wrapped and UNESCO-listed, an hour inland. Go early before the heat and coaches.
🚗 ~75 min · 22 mi
🖼️1:30 PMMuseum of Cham Sculpture, Da Nang
The world’s finest collection of Cham stone carving, gathered since 1919 — see it before or after My Son and the ruined towers snap into focus.
🚗 ~51 min · 14 mi
🎟️6:00 PMLantern-lit river boat ride
Twenty minutes on the Thu Bon River after dark among the floating candles — unashamedly romantic and the town’s definitive evening.
Hoi An & Da Nang: Marble MountainsDay 6
🏛️9:00 AMMarble Mountains
Five limestone outcrops between Hoi An and Da Nang riddled with cave pagodas and carved shrines — climb Thuy Son for sanctuaries lit by sinkhole light and a coastline view.
🚗 ~28 min · 8.1 mi
🥾1:30 PMAn Bang beach
Hoi An’s stretch of sand — casual, swimmable most of the dry season, and a 15-minute cycle from the Ancient Town through the paddies.
🚗 ~40 min · 12 mi
🌆6:00 PMMy Khe beach strip, Da Nang
The long white city beach with a seafood-shack economy and the Marble Mountains bookending the bay — modern coastal Vietnam at ease.
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Best time to goVietnam runs on two climates: October to April suits Hanoi (cool, dry); February to July suits the central coast around Hoi An and Da Nang. March and April thread both. September to November can bring typhoons to the center.
Recommended splitHanoi 3d · Hoi An & Da Nang 3d
Local tip: Crossing a Hanoi street is a skill: walk slowly, steadily, and predictably — the motorbikes flow around you, but only if you never stop or dart. Agree taxi fares by app, carry small dong notes, and eat where the plastic stools are fullest.
Hanoi — 3 days
Hanoi has been Vietnam’s capital for over a thousand years and wears every layer at once — Confucian temples, French boulevards, revolutionary monuments, and a street-food culture that may be the world’s best value. It is dense, loud, and completely alive.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inThe Old Quarter. Thirty-six streets each named for the guild that traded there — silk, silver, bamboo — now a canyon of shophouses, beer corners, and pho at dawn. Bia hoi hour on the corner stools is the city’s cheapest institution.The French Quarter. Wide colonial boulevards south of the lake: the Opera House, villas behind flame trees, and café terraces built for lingering.
LandmarksHoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple. The city’s heart — a lake with a legend of a returned sword, a scarlet bridge to a small island temple, and the whole town circling it at 6 AM for exercise. Weekend nights the ring road goes car-free.Temple of Literature. Vietnam’s first university, founded 1070 — five Confucian courtyards where doctoral graduates’ names have been carved on stone stelae since 1484. Students still come before exams for luck.Ha Long Bay day cruise. Nearly 2,000 limestone karsts rising from jade water — a UNESCO seascape and Vietnam’s signature view. From Hanoi it is a long, worthwhile full day — about 2.5 hours each way on the expressway plus four or five on the water — with day cruises timed to have you back in the city by evening.Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex. The granite mausoleum, the stilt house where Ho actually lived, and the One Pillar Pagoda. Mornings only, dress covered; it closes some autumn weeks for annual maintenance.
Nature and outdoorsWest Lake. Hanoi’s biggest lake — a 17-km shore of temples, lotus ponds, and sunset cafés, with the 1,400-year-old Tran Quoc Pagoda on its causeway island.
MuseumsVietnam Museum of Ethnology. The country’s 54 ethnic groups done properly — full-size stilt houses and communal halls rebuilt in the garden by the communities themselves. Worth the short taxi ride west.
Worth a guided tourOld Quarter street-food walk. An evening eating crawl — bun cha, banh cuon, egg coffee — with someone who knows which alley kitchen has made one dish for three generations. Do this on night one and eat braver all trip.Water puppet performance. An art form invented in the Red River Delta’s flooded paddies a thousand years ago: lacquered puppets, live musicians, and dragons on water. Touristy, short, and genuinely charming.
Getting around HanoiThe Old Quarter and lake are walking territory. Grab (car or motorbike-back) is the default for everything else and costs little; the metro’s first lines help on a few axes but the app is your friend.
Hoi An & Da Nang — 3 days
Getting here: Flight — Hanoi to Da Nang in about 1h20 — one of Vietnam’s busiest domestic routes, with departures all day — then roughly 45 minutes by car to Hoi An. The scenic alternative is the 16-hour Reunification Express sleeper.
Hoi An was Southeast Asia’s great trading port in the 16th–17th centuries — Japanese, Chinese, and European merchants built it, then the river silted and froze it in amber. UNESCO-listed, lantern-lit, and paired with Da Nang’s beaches and the Cham ruins inland, it is central Vietnam’s perfect trio.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inAn Hoi islet. Across the footbridge from the Ancient Town: the night market’s lantern stalls, riverside restaurants, and the view back at old Hoi An glowing on the water.My Khe beach strip, Da Nang. The long white city beach with a seafood-shack economy and the Marble Mountains bookending the bay — modern coastal Vietnam at ease.Tra Que vegetable village. A real working herb-garden village between Hoi An and the beach — cycle out at golden hour among the basil beds and water buffalo.
LandmarksHoi An Ancient Town and the Japanese Covered Bridge. Mustard-yellow merchant houses, Chinese assembly halls, and the 400-year-old covered bridge — carefully restored 2022–24 and reopened in 2024. The old-town ticket funds the preservation; evenings the whole town runs on lanterns.My Son Sanctuary. The Cham civilization’s holy valley — brick Hindu tower-temples built from the 4th to 13th centuries, jungle-wrapped and UNESCO-listed, an hour inland. Go early before the heat and coaches.Marble Mountains. Five limestone outcrops between Hoi An and Da Nang riddled with cave pagodas and carved shrines — climb Thuy Son for sanctuaries lit by sinkhole light and a coastline view.
Nature and outdoorsAn Bang beach. Hoi An’s stretch of sand — casual, swimmable most of the dry season, and a 15-minute cycle from the Ancient Town through the paddies.Son Tra peninsula. Da Nang’s green mountain cape — jungle roads, the giant Lady Buddha at Linh Ung Pagoda, and, with luck, endangered red-shanked douc langurs in the canopy.
MuseumsMuseum of Cham Sculpture, Da Nang. The world’s finest collection of Cham stone carving, gathered since 1919 — see it before or after My Son and the ruined towers snap into focus.
Worth a guided tourLantern-lit river boat ride. Twenty minutes on the Thu Bon River after dark among the floating candles — unashamedly romantic and the town’s definitive evening.Vietnamese cooking class. Market shopping, then rolling your own fresh spring rolls and cao lau — Hoi An is the country’s cooking-class capital, and the skills survive the flight home.
Getting around Hoi An & Da NangHoi An’s Ancient Town is pedestrianized; a bicycle covers town, beach, and paddies perfectly. Grab cars link Hoi An and Da Nang in about 45 minutes.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan, expandable day by day. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: Hanoi: Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
9:00 AMHoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
The city’s heart — a lake with a legend of a returned sword, a scarlet bridge to a small island temple, and the whole town circling it at 6 AM for exercise. Weekend nights the ring road goes car-free.
1:30 PMVietnam Museum of Ethnology
The country’s 54 ethnic groups done properly — full-size stilt houses and communal halls rebuilt in the garden by the communities themselves. Worth the short taxi ride west.
6:00 PMThe Old Quarter
Thirty-six streets each named for the guild that traded there — silk, silver, bamboo — now a canyon of shophouses, beer corners, and pho at dawn. Bia hoi hour on the corner stools is the city’s cheapest institution.
Day 2: Hanoi: Temple of Literature
9:00 AMTemple of Literature
Vietnam’s first university, founded 1070 — five Confucian courtyards where doctoral graduates’ names have been carved on stone stelae since 1484. Students still come before exams for luck.
1:30 PMWest Lake
Hanoi’s biggest lake — a 17-km shore of temples, lotus ponds, and sunset cafés, with the 1,400-year-old Tran Quoc Pagoda on its causeway island.
6:00 PMOld Quarter street-food walk
An evening eating crawl — bun cha, banh cuon, egg coffee — with someone who knows which alley kitchen has made one dish for three generations. Do this on night one and eat braver all trip.
Day 3: Hanoi: Ha Long Bay day cruise
9:00 AMHa Long Bay day cruise
Nearly 2,000 limestone karsts rising from jade water — a UNESCO seascape and Vietnam’s signature view. From Hanoi it is a long, worthwhile full day — about 2.5 hours each way on the expressway plus four or five on the water — with day cruises timed to have you back in the city by evening.
6:00 PMThe French Quarter
Wide colonial boulevards south of the lake: the Opera House, villas behind flame trees, and café terraces built for lingering.
Day 4: Arrive in Hoi An & Da Nang
8:30 AMFlight to Hoi An & Da Nang
Hanoi to Da Nang in about 1h20 — one of Vietnam’s busiest domestic routes, with departures all day — then roughly 45 minutes by car to Hoi An. The scenic alternative is the 16-hour Reunification Express sleeper.
2:00 PMHoi An Ancient Town and the Japanese Covered Bridge
Mustard-yellow merchant houses, Chinese assembly halls, and the 400-year-old covered bridge — carefully restored 2022–24 and reopened in 2024. The old-town ticket funds the preservation; evenings the whole town runs on lanterns.
6:00 PMAn Hoi islet
Across the footbridge from the Ancient Town: the night market’s lantern stalls, riverside restaurants, and the view back at old Hoi An glowing on the water.
Day 5: Hoi An & Da Nang: My Son Sanctuary
9:00 AMMy Son Sanctuary
The Cham civilization’s holy valley — brick Hindu tower-temples built from the 4th to 13th centuries, jungle-wrapped and UNESCO-listed, an hour inland. Go early before the heat and coaches.
1:30 PMMuseum of Cham Sculpture, Da Nang
The world’s finest collection of Cham stone carving, gathered since 1919 — see it before or after My Son and the ruined towers snap into focus.
6:00 PMLantern-lit river boat ride
Twenty minutes on the Thu Bon River after dark among the floating candles — unashamedly romantic and the town’s definitive evening.
Day 6: Hoi An & Da Nang: Marble Mountains
9:00 AMMarble Mountains
Five limestone outcrops between Hoi An and Da Nang riddled with cave pagodas and carved shrines — climb Thuy Son for sanctuaries lit by sinkhole light and a coastline view.
1:30 PMAn Bang beach
Hoi An’s stretch of sand — casual, swimmable most of the dry season, and a 15-minute cycle from the Ancient Town through the paddies.
6:00 PMMy Khe beach strip, Da Nang
The long white city beach with a seafood-shack economy and the Marble Mountains bookending the bay — modern coastal Vietnam at ease.
Make this Vietnam trip yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
Start your free tripFirst trip free. No account, no credit card.