If you are looking for a budget destination, how about heading to Hanoi, and adding in Sapa, Fansipan for an extra spice to your tour?
The husband and I were there for a 8D7N trip (disclaimer - not my honeymoon. I haven't plan one yet hehe)
Most people exclaimed - so long!? What's there to do?
It is indeed long if we were to stay in just Hanoi alone. After all, Hanoi was pretty boring as we could cover Old and French Quarter in a day. Our days in Hanoi were spent on food, facial and massages 😛If you are planning to tour Hanoi only, a 4D3N tour would suffice.
But we inserted a 3D2N trip to Sapa and Fansipan which was notably the highlight of the trip!
And, I'm proud to share that our expenses were around $1,400 for two which includes a full fledge flight via Vietnam Airlines instead of a budget flight 😊 and our anyhow spend also can expenses at ~$250 (we ate whatever we like, and also had pampering facial and massage sessions!)
Here's a rough guide of our itinerary:
Day 1
Flight via Vietnam Airlines
Airport transfer to hotel via klook (get $5 discount when you sign up here or key in 3Q55U. Don't forget to use shopback for cashback. Get $5 for shopback when you sign up here.)
Day 2
Halong bay day tour - very tiring journey given that it was a 4 hours to and another 4 hours fro journey. TBH, I felt that Halong Bay was nothing much and the scenery in Krabi and Phuket were better. But people say you haven't been to Hanoi if you didn't go Halong Bay, so I guess, it is a must go? I was kinda glad I didn't take up the overnight cruise - there's probably nothing to see at night.
Day 3
Rest and relax in Hanoi
Eat eat eat plus facial and massage
Day 4 - 6
Sapa and Fansipan tour - Most people take up only the Sapa tour and skip Fansipan. However, I feel that the real deal comes from Fansipan which is the highest mountain in the Indochinese Peninsula. You are literally in the clouds here.
The bulk of my trip costs lie here given that the tickets up to Fansipan is really expensive - more so for the locals. I think it cost $40 SGD for a cable car ticket? But it is worth it. The weather was around 2-8 degrees while Sapa was around 16-18 degrees.
We took a leap of faith to book this Klook tour as there weren't much reviews. Not bad a trip I would say. Much easier to go with tour than to fret on transport up to Sapa and Fansipan!
Just take note that the trip to Sapa is a headache because of the extremely windy routes up the hills! It was an approx 6 hours journey to and fro Hanoi. So, prepare yourself for motion sickness 🤢
Day 7 - 8
By the time we reached Hanoi on Day 6, it was 9pm.
Day 7 was spent walking along French Quarter and the weekend night market where roads are blocked for pedestrians to roam around! Managed to squeeze in another facial and massage again.
Headed home on Day 8 morning via Vietnam Airlines
The total costs is summarised as below:
Honestly, the per day cost was slightly more expensive than my Taiwan trip last year. The main bulk of the cost comes from the Sapa/Fansipan tour which is already $200 per pax, but no regrets heading up because.......lao niang won't wanna trek up any more again! This is a once in a lifetime experience. Go once, don't need to go liao!
Now it's time to plan a honeymoon trip. Any budget suggestions? 😊
There are easy and rather cheap buses from Hanoi to Sapa direct. There are also the overnight trains between Hanoi and Lao Cai. This saves you on an overnight accommodation and I find the train an interesting experience. Fansipan was the highlight for me because I enjoy hiking. It is usually a 2D1N hike to the summit and back. Strong hikers can do it in a day. There are easy hikes around Sapa too - to the villages and rice fields. Homestay tours can be easily arranged. Remember to visit the morning markets to see minority tribes. For Halong Bay, I always advise friends to go for the 2D1N cruise for a better experience. Day trip is too tiring and you don't see much. Don't take my word for it, just do a google search. :) There are other interesting experiences in Hanoi - Snake Village, Egg Coffee, Water Puppets etc.
ReplyDeleteFansipan was my highlight too!
Deletenot bad... sapa was my next destination. just cirious how did you spend only <140+ on hotels the whole trip? did you stay at one hotel only?
ReplyDeletei did 10D danang/hoi an. 25-30% of total cost was actually hotels.
nope, the $140 was for 3 different hotels - hanoi's hotels are really cheap, but don't expect too much cause it's either cramp or the air is a little musky!
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