Hanoi vs Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

[ponyo]

Which is the better tourist city? Or is there somewhere better to visit in Vietnam?

 

[BoomerD]

nm

 

[luv2liv]

it depends on what you want to do....
those 2 cities are highly populated. for relaxing, i just want to get away from it all and my spot would be Nha Trang. simple small beach cities. the water is crystal clear. hop on one of the local tour boats for scuba diving and go from 1 island to the next. seafood is served fresh daily.

 

[Thebobo]

Dad was in Saigon 63 to 68, use to send us little 3" reel to reels audio tape with bombs going off in the background. We had lived in bangkok from 64 to 68. Place has changed so much.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Hanoi is has more nature and natural sights nearby. More old school city and more "Vietnamese". Saigon is very modern in comparison and much more of what you expect from a city. Kinda hard to compare because they're both pretty different culturally too.

 

[ponyo]

it depends on what you want to do....
those 2 cities are highly populated. for relaxing, i just want to get away from it all and my spot would be Nha Trang. simple small beach cities. the water is crystal clear. hop on one of the local tour boats for scuba diving and go from 1 island to the next. seafood is served fresh daily.

I didn't know about Nha Trang. I googled it and the images look beautiful. I'm going to add to my list. I'm planning my winter and spring vacation and I want to do Asia trip and want to include Thailand and/or Vietnam. I am considering Bangkok, Phuket, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City but will probably only have time to visit one or two cities due to my limited schedule.

Hanoi is has more nature and natural sights nearby. More old school city and more "Vietnamese". Saigon is very modern in comparison and much more of what you expect from a city. Kinda hard to compare because they're both pretty different culturally too.

I'm leaning more towards Hanoi at the moment. I want to see more old school and nature. I want to hurry and visit Vietnam before it gets too modernized. I really believe Vietnam will be the next new economic success story of Asia. They have so much going for them and its people are smart and beautiful. I love Vietnamese cuisine.

 

[ponyo]

Dad was in Saigon 63 to 68, use to send us little 3" reel to reels audio tape with bombs going off in the background. We had lived in bangkok from 64 to 68. Place has changed so much.

I love Bangkok and want to visit again. Luckily, airfare to Bangkok is pretty cheap compared to other destinations in Asia. Bangkok today is worlds different than 1968. One of my regrets is not visiting China back in the late 1990s when I had the chance. I missed my chance to see old China and now I don't want to visit modern China.

 

[KMFJD]

Hanoi is closer to Halong Bay which looks amazing