Vietnam tour for older woman traveling alone

https://journeywoman.com/?s=Vietnam&et_pb_searchform_submit=et_search_proccess&et_pb_include_posts=yes&et_pb_include_pages=yes

I’ve not taken any of these tours but I have followed the Journey Woman website since its inception. Even written an article about London for it.

Are you comfortable with some semi independent travel? I had a tour company for Cambodia and Vietnam in February. Service was very good, but the framework caught me by surprise....for 2 reasons.
First, as they run any day of the year, you may be on your own, or some days may have a number of people wirh you.
Second, literature was not clear that there were guides every location, but it wasn't fully escorted. This means that your travel between cities is included, but you do it independently. This seems to be a common framework in Asia, China, Morocco and elsewhere.
Once I got used to it, I liked it as I usually had a private tour with some days of other people. I am often a solo traveler, so it was almost the best of both worlds.
I used Legend Travel Group out of Hanoi, but found them on TourRadar dot com. It is like Expedia for tours, so covers a variety of companies. It includes a few international companies like G Adventures or Intrepid, but mostly local agents. No Gate 1, Rick Steve's or Globus. You can book through Tour Radar and it gives some extra protection, or book directly through the company as the name is listed.
I may suggest that if you use Legend Travel Group, you consider a hotel upgrade from the standard offering. Standard had AC, hot water and elevators, but they were pretty spartan and some still suffering from pandemic changes and less tourism. There are 3 levels, and mid level is very comfy.
Otherwise, if you want a Western style fully escorted option, look at Gate 1. Sign up for their weekly specials and join the Gate 1 Solo Traveler Facebook group. They have lots of advice and if desired, may find you a roomie.

Although I’ve not done Vietnam, I have done a number of Road Scholar tours in Europe and the US… 13 in fact. I’d have no problem using them for SE Asia. I prefer their programs that are small groups.

Here’s a link to the search page on the Road Scholar website.

https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure/

For my own planning I have been enjoying a podcast by Kerry Newsome called What About Vietnam. She seems to have a great approach to travel and a deep knowledge of the country. She also has a travel planning service. But I have not used it yet.

I took an excellent tour in Vietnam with Overseas Adventure Tours (OAT). I was 72 years old and traveling solo. Because OAT does not charge a single supplement, there are always a significant number of solo travelers in their groups. In this case, we had 15 people (16 is OAT’s max) in the group and I believe there were 7 solos, all but one were women. The age range was mid-40’s to mid-80’s.

Our tour guide was exceptional, the hotels were good and centrally located, the sights amazing, the activities fun, and I loved the food! There was free time built into the trip, so you could do some things on your own. But the guide also helped organize activities during free time for those interested.

I also recommend OAT. I have traveled with them as a single man. On the OAT tours I have been on over half the participants were traveling solo.

Thank you to everyone for great suggestions!!

I know some people who took the Odysseys Unlimited tour of Vietnam and loved it.

I've traveled to other areas of the world with them and they are an excellent company.

Their tours are usually a mixture of singles and couples.

It is easy to do it yourself in Vietnam (Do some research on the places in Vietnam that appeal to you and then make your own itinerary).
How long is your trip?

I don’t have a specific length of time in line. I

I am a solo female traveler and will be in Vietnam next year for about 11 days on my own. I understand the urge for a tour group. However I generally don’t like a tour because I want to go my speed and my direction.

So I am no help except to say there are ways to do this if you don’t find what you are looking for. My way will be different than other people’s.

I have read trip reports here and am using ideas and information. I have narrowed my focus to 3 stops, plus a Halong Bay cruise. I am staying at nicer hotels than I normally do (they are less expensive than normal), using a driver for several transfers, and taking some day tours (or half day tours). These reports helped me a lot.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/thailand-vietnam-cambodia-and-taiwan
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-taipei-vietnam-and-cambodia
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/vietnam-17-days-just-starting-the-planning

What month of year are you planning to visit Vietnam?

It's pretty easy to go on your own. That's what I did, also an older woman. I spent 12 nights on the ground divided between Hanoi and Saigon as part of a much longer trip that started in Hong Kong (wouldn't go back there these days!) and ending in Thailand. If you don't have time limits and this is your only destination, you could easily fill 2-1/2 to 3 weeks. I managed everywhere in English. Since I was alone, I looked for other tourists to chat with and got a lot of tips and information.

The first decision is when to go. Vietnam is long and narrow and weather varies a lot from the north to the south. I was there in late January, when the north was a little cool for hiking in the mountains (which I wasn't especially interested in, though it looks very scenic). Saigon was never unpleasantly hot. I think mid-January to the end of February, maybe into March is the best. After that the south gets hot and steamy and the rains begin.

I made no ground plans before I landed. I booked flights and hotels well in advance. The best way to get from north to center to south is with the cheap, frequent flights. Roads are pretty bad, often only 2-lanes, so overland is slow for long distances.

In Hanoi I booked a 2-night small group English tour to Ha Long Bay that was very cheap (a whole lot less than if booking from abroad) and very good. In the cities, I used Grab (similar to Uber) when it was too far to walk. I took a cooking class in a Hanoi restaurant. You'll see signs in the restaurants that offer them. In Saigon I booked a small group all-day boat tour to the mangrove reserve. You could also do a boat tour on the Mekong River (highly recommend it - I did it a few years back).

I skipped the Danang/Hoi An area, which I'd been to before. But it's certainly worth 2-3 days as well.