Just got back last week and wanted to share while it's still fresh. 16 days, two of us, flew in and out of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
First time in Southeast Asia for both of us. Sapa was the first stop after Hanoi and honestly a great way to ease in. We had one rainy afternoon up there which was fine, just grabbed a coffee and waited it out. The rest was clear. The terraced hills are as good as the photos suggest. Hanoi we loved. Chaotic but in a way that grows on you fast. Two days wasn't enough.
Halong Bay, we went, it's beautiful, but the bay is dirtier than we expected. Plastic and debris floating around in places. Still worth going but just be aware it's not pristine. Hoi An was the highlight of the trip. We could have stayed another three days easily. The old town at night, the food, the pace of it, excellent. Da Nang surprised us.
The beach was genuinely nice and nowhere near as crowded as we'd feared for March. Good base if you're doing both Hoi An and the beach. Ho Chi Minh City was a great way to finish. Busy, loud, incredible food. We ate well the entire trip but Ho Chi Minh was the best of it. Weather in March, genuinely perfect the whole time. Not cold, not hot, no real rain except that one Sapa afternoon. We got lucky or March is just a good month, not sure which. Safety, felt completely safe the whole trip, no issues at all. Street food — we tried a few things and it was fine. Nothing bad happened.
There's also western food everywhere if that's your preference, especially in the main cities and Hoi An. Practical note on booking, a colleague had used a local Vietnam tour company (Chi from https://www.vietnameseprivatetours.com )the year before and passed on the contact. We ended up booking through them and the total came in noticeably cheaper than the quotes we were getting from operators back in Melbourne. Worth asking around before you book anything from home.
Happy to answer questions if anyone's planning a similar trip.
Thanks,