Vietnam and Thailand. Rough itinerary. Suggestions appreciated

I can only comment on Thailand. By the way, the traveler might wish to avoid (or include depending on the person) Songkran, the Thai New Year festival in April. Lots of water throwing - I was advised by a Bangkok native to avoid, but that is me.

2 nights will give you only one full day in Bangkok. Depending on interests, that may be too short for temples, Khao San Road exploring, river, museums, etc. Bangkok's public transport is good and taxis available readily so DIY touring is quite simple.

Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai - curious how you will get around? I hired a driver as many locations are distant from each other. We easily spent 5 nights in Chiang Mai with driver taking us to hiking areas, out of town temples, tea plantation, etc. No interest in elephant sanctuaries - but I think they often provide transport. Number of days looks OK for a starter if you have specifically defined what you are interested in seeing/doing.

Not a beach person - I don't know Krabi.

I'd add a night to Hanoi, which would give you 2 days there. I liked Train Street, the Temple of Literature, and the Hoan Kiem Temple/Lake, but there is so much more to see. The food and coffee are great, too. Are you planning to include Halong Bay? I know there are similar karst formations in the sea off Thailand, but I haven't been, so I don't know if one of your destinations includes that.

What are your plans for Danang? We passed through there on our way to/from Hoi An, which is nearby. You can visit both Hoi An and Hue from there, although Hue is farther. We loved both, but, again, 2 nights in Danang would give you only one day---not enough time for those. In Hoi An, just walking around the old town is great, and the Japanese Covered Bridge is supposed to be lovely. (It was under restoration when we were there.) There is a place that serves what Anthony Bourdain said was the best bahn mi (Bahn Mi Phuong). In Hue, we visited the old palace/citadel, and, just outside of Hue, the City of Ghosts. On the drive between Danang and Hue is the Hai Van Pass, which is supposed to have breathtaking views. (It was misty up there when we went through, but it was still a nice drive.) In Danang, of course, is the dragon bridge. We saw it in passing, but not at night when it's at its best.

We also decided not to visit Sapa at that time of year, since that is not the best time to see it, and it's a real outlier in terms of time and distance, so I think that's a good choice.

A friend of mine was just in Thailand during their Songkran festivities. She is an older woman and was travelling with another older woman, and they both really enjoyed the water hijinks.

However, do consider whether the things you want to see would be open during Songkran. The same is true of Vietnam (and probably Thailand) during Tet.

Here are lists of public holidays in 2026, in case you want to work around those: https://public-holidays.iamrohit.in/holidays/th/2026
https://publicholidays.vn/2026-dates/

Also, here is my trip report that includes Vietnam, in case you might find it helpful: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-taipei-vietnam-and-cambodia

Happy planning!

April is the absolute hottest time of the year in Thailand (I haven't been to Vietnam, but assume it's similarly hot then). I hope you are prepared for the extreme heat, because it can be pretty intense. As pointed out above, Songkran, the Thai New Year, is in April (April 13-15 in 2026, but celebrated and touristically impacted for that whole week with some spillover past both weekends)...it's a very popular time for Thais to travel. While you do get the benefit of the water play, it's also the busiest time of the year for domestic tourism - things will be crowded and expensive, so if you do go then, start booking ASAP since many of the best choices get sold out well in advance. Maybe your "mid-April" departure will dodge that bullet, if not, pay particular attention to bookings near the end of your trip that will be impacted.

As for your proposed schedule, it seems to me that many (most?) of your plans are a bit short in major cities: remember, 2 "nights" anywhere gives you just one day there - on a trip this ambitious, you only have one day in Hanoi, one day in Bangkok...there are a lot of things to see and do in those big cities and you are going to only get a very small bite of each. Also consider that the April heat may make you reluctant to rush around and try to squeeze in a lot on long (hot) days. Maybe you have been to the region before? Be sure you are being realistic about the amount of time you will be spending on simply getting from Point A to Point B each time you move, because you will be moving around a lot.

Hope some of the above helps.

^^^ This!! My visit to Bangkok was in April. Everything David mentions is correct! I burned the soles of my feet on the pavement after taking off my shoes to enter a temple. Temps were around 100 F. Do consider this if important to the traveler.

Despite the temps, we managed a fine week long visit to Bangkok. I was not unaccustomed to extreme temps and weather, so was prepared. However, best to be forewarned!

You should pick one between Mai Chau and Ninh Binh (Mai Chau is less touristy).

Thank you, everyone for your reply's.
Yes, I agree I probably need to add another day to Hanoi and Bankbook.
My idea plan is to take this trip late Feb to late March, hopefully avoiding the Holidays and some of the heat.
Is the suggestion to pick either Mai Chau or Ninh Binh based on the areas being similar? What other village or area in Northern Vietnam should I consider?
Thanks again for taking the time to answer
Sharon

“ Is the suggestion to pick either Mai Chau or Ninh Binh based on the areas being similar?”
That is what I meant. Check out things to do in each place and pick one that suits you most.
Tet holiday (Lunar New Year) falls on Feb 17th 2026 so it should be no problem to your trip.
If you lean towards Ninh Binh, you can add Pu Luong.

Thank you, that's exactly the type of information I'm looking for.
Sharon

I’ll just comment on the Vietnam part of your trip.

You’ve budgeted 10 nights and you’re more interested in natural beauty and less excited about big cities? That sounds like me before I visited Vietnam and fell in love with the big cities. You might not like Hanoi, but I thought the area around Hoan Kiem Lake was really great.

I think you may be disappointed with Ninh Binh if your goal is to avoid over-touristed places. The various boat trips are beautiful, but the area is busy with lots of construction.

If you do decide to stay there, you don’t really need a night in Hanoi to catch a flight onward. There are outbound flights every hour and if you “splurge” on a private driver ($40-50) you can be on a plane 4-4.5 hours after leaving Ninh Binh.

I’m not sure why you’ve chosen Da Nang. Are you interested in Hue or Marble Mtn day trips? Beaches? I didn’t love Da Nang at all. It had all of the hustle-bustle and none of the charm of Saigon or Hanoi.

My advice tweaking this-
IMO, Hanoi deserves 3 nights; especially if you’re coming in jet lagged.

If Ninh Binh is next, you could take the train for the experience (worth it imo) or get a private car. If Mai Chau is next, I’d just have your Hanoi Hotel arrange a private car.
Ninh Binh (optional) just 1 night . If you want to do a boat ride then that’d be your choice of Tam Coc/Ninh Binh/Trang An. Just spend one night, get up early for your boat trip then private driver to…
Mai Chau 3 nights to chill and enjoy the scenery. Maybe add a 4th if you want to do a lot of hiking or day trips. It’s a long haul from Hanoi so I’d make it worthwhile.

I’m not sure what to tell you about the remaining days. Maybe DaLat? Hue? Hoi An is beautiful at night and has a lot of worthwhile charm but it’s VERY developed from a tourist standpoint. You could easily base there and visit Hue as a daytrip.

Hi Chris:
I will be adding another night to Hanoi. Thanks for the tip to drop the night in Hanoi and go directly to the airport (via private car) to fly to Da Nang. I didn't make it clear on my itinerary but we will be staying in Hoi An and Visiting Hue. I decided on Ninh Binh as an alternative to the overnight cruise in Halong Bay,(because of the reviews re overcrowding) however we might end up taking an overnight cruise on Lan Ha Bay so maybe dropping Ninh Binh would be a good idea. I am still investigating which cities/villages best meet our need so Its quite likely this itinerary will continue to evolve. I appreciate your response.
Thank you much
Sharon

If you decide to include Ninh Binh, opt for Trang An vs Tam Coc. It is supposedly slightly less busy, and the sampan rowers don't stop midway to try to sell you trinkets. (Note that I was going by other people's advice on this. I haven't experienced both.)

At Trang An, there are 4 routes. We chose Route 2, which has more caves and fewer temples (although it does have a couple of temples). Most people chose one of the shorter routes with more temples, and we often had the landscape all to ourselves on our route, which was wonderful.

Mua Caves was very, very busy, but we enjoyed the views a lot. We climbed both sides (pagoda and dragon), but if you have time for just one, choose the dragon route, The steps are wider, so you are less likely to get stuck behind a crowd, and it's higher. You can see people rowing through Tam Coc from there.

We did a private tour with https://ninhbinhtouristcenter.com/cat/ninh-binh-tours/ that was based mainly on their The Best of Ninh Binh tour. If you take the train, you might be able to get there earlier, though, and beat the crowds a bit more. (We requested a 6:30 am pick up, but it was still quite busy when we arrived.)

My opinion is that Ninh Binh is a different experience from Halong Bay. However, if I were to do it again, I would not choose an overnight in Halong Bay (we chose a Bai Tu Long Bay overnight, which is less crowded). On our overnight, we didn't go all that far, and we passed the same scenery returning as we did going out. We spent most of our time anchored and having meals and activities. I would choose a day tour.

Whatever you decide, I hope you love it and have a wonderful trip.