This is the standard grade version of our northern and central Vietnam route, built around eating well rather than around the hotel category. Hanoi Old Quarter and its street food, an overnight in Ha Long Bay, then a flight to Da Nang for Ba Na Hills. Six days, one internal flight. The guide below covers what actually needs deciding.

Pick your month carefully; the two halves disagree

This route crosses two of Vietnam''s three climate zones, and they run on opposite calendars.

North, Hanoi and Ha Long: good October to April, typhoon season July to September. Centre, Da Nang and Ba Na Hills: good February to August, rainy September to December and at its worst in October and November, which is also when typhoons and floods reach the central coast. In November 2025 nearby Hoi An flooded three times inside twenty days.

Put the two together and the honest answer is January to April, with February to April the sweet spot. The north can be misty in February; that is the trade for a dry centre. Any listing that recommends September to November for a Da Nang trip is recommending the flood season.

Tet, Vietnamese New Year, is 6 February 2027, with the holiday running roughly the 3rd to the 11th. It falls inside the good window. Many street food stalls, which are half the point of this particular tour, close for the core days, and domestic flights sell out for a week either side.

Street food, and how to not get ill

Hanoi''s Old Quarter is one of the great eating cities and the guided walk on day three is the heart of this itinerary. A few honest rules.

Busy stalls are safer than quiet ones, because the turnover is high and nothing sits around. Eat things served hot and freshly cooked. The real risk is not the food, it is the water: tap water is not drinkable anywhere in Vietnam and street ice is sometimes made from it. Sealed bottled drinks, and ice in established restaurants, are fine. Bun cha, pho, banh mi and egg coffee are the four to start with.

The Ha Long cruise, and the incident you will find

You will search it, so here it is plainly. The Wonder Sea capsized in Ha Long Bay on 19 July 2025 in a sudden squall, killing thirty nine people. Investigators pointed at the speed of the storm and at weather warnings not reaching boats in time. The authorities have since tightened weather triggered departure suspensions, vessel monitoring and safety equipment requirements.

The practical effect on your trip is that the maritime authority suspends sailings in high wind and decides on the morning. Not the operator, not us. If that happens we run a land itinerary and confirm in writing how the cruise component is handled. Nobody can guarantee a sailing, and a company that says it can is not worth trusting with the rest of your holiday.

Cruise licences are also zone specific: the core Ha Long zone, Bai Tu Long and Lan Ha Bay are three separate areas with different crowd levels. We will tell you which one your boat is licensed for.

Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

Two stone hands holding a curved walkway over the forest. It deserves its reputation and there are two things to know before you go.

Start early. The site opens around half past seven and the bridge queues badly from mid morning. That single decision changes the day.

The summit is often in cloud, because Ba Na sits high enough that fog is normal rather than unusual. On some days you cannot see the valley at all. It is atmospheric rather than ruined, but the view is not something anyone can promise.

The cable car holds several Guinness records and was, when it opened in 2013, the world''s longest non stop single track line. We phrase it that way deliberately; a flat claim to be the world''s longest cable car is contestable now.

Visa, and the site that is actually the government

Vietnam opened its e-visa to all nationalities in August 2023, so a Nepali passport holder applies online: up to ninety days, single or multiple entry, USD 25 or USD 50, officially around three working days, realistically five to seven. Passport valid six months, two blank pages.

Use only the Vietnam Immigration Department portal on the .gov.vn domain. The copycat sites charge two to four times the fee for the identical visa and collect your passport and card data. Tell: the real portal takes bank transfer, not card details. We can prepare and submit it for you.

No airline flies Kathmandu to Vietnam direct. Everything connects, most sensibly via Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Some cheap fares route through mainland China, and whether that needs a Chinese transit visa for a Nepali passport depends on the exact airport and routing. Ask us to check before you book on price alone.

Money

The dong sits at roughly twenty four to twenty five thousand to the US dollar, so count the zeros on every note.

Cards are fine at hotels and larger restaurants, often with a three to four percent surcharge. For this trip specifically, carry cash, because street food, markets and small stalls are where you will actually be spending. ATM fees are twenty two to fifty five thousand dong per withdrawal with caps around two to five million, so draw the maximum each time. US dollars are not generally accepted.

Getting around, and the motorbike answer

Use Grab, Xanh SM or Be, where the fare is fixed in the app before you get in. Rigged meters in street taxis are a genuine and common problem in Hanoi. Crossing the road takes nerve: the traffic does not stop, so walk slowly and predictably and let the riders flow around you. Never stop dead or run back.

Do not rent a motorbike. Vietnam recognises only the 1968 Vienna Convention international permit and Nepal is not a party to it, so a Nepali licence and IDP have no standing here. Beyond the legality, riding voids your travel and medical insurance in a crash whoever was at fault.

Two more things

Dengue is endemic year round in Vietnam, including in Hanoi and Da Nang, and the mosquito bites during the day. Repellent through daylight hours, not just at dusk.

Leave the drone at home. Flying legally needs Ministry of Defence approval applied for a fortnight in advance and unauthorised aerial filming carries fines in the millions of dong.

And do not count on train street. Group tours to Phung Hung were banned in March 2025, barriers and guards are in place, individual access through the licensed cafés is at their discretion, and train frequency on the section was cut in February 2026. We do not list it as an inclusion.

Who this trip suits

Travellers who care more about eating and walking than about hotel stars, and who want both Ha Long and the Golden Bridge inside a week. If you want the same route at an exclusive grade, our Vietnam Holiday Package covers it. If you would rather skip the internal flight and stay north, the five day Hanoi, Ninh Binh and Ha Long trip does that instead.