Travel and accomodation in Vietnam?

Travel Info
Does anyone have any good websites about accomodation and/or places to go in Vietnam?

Personal experience is welcome!

Travel Tips

It's easier to tell you of places not to go in Vietnam than the places that you should go. Vietnam is an incredibly beautiful country with incredibly friendly people. It's also very cheap to travel through Vietnam.

If you have never been to Vietnam before, I would suggest going to Saigon first. The Ben Thanh District (District 1) accommodates foreigners and first time travelers to Vietnam better than any place else in Vietnam. You can easily make a whole vacation by just staying in Saigon, but don't stop there.

Vung Tau Beach is a two hour bus ride from Saigon, and is one of the most beautiful beaches you may ever see. The new high speed train from Saigon to Nha Tran can get you to another incredible beach resort town in a couple hours. Ong Jon, a regular answerer of Vietnamese questions here, can fill you in on everything about Nha Tran. If you get as far as Nha Tran, then keep going a little further.

Da Nang is yet another incredible beach resort town. Not far away is Hoi An, which is a historic trade port touched by many cultures as seen in the town's architecture. To the North of Da Nang is Hue, which was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty. You can visit the Nguyen Emperor tombs and the Purple city, which is a smaller version of China's Forbidden City.

A half day train ride from Hue to the North is Hanoi, which is the capital of Vietnam and the historic cultural birthplace of the Vietnamese. There are dozens of great museums and hundreds of pagodas throughout Hanoi to see. The Hoan Kiem District, and especially the Old Quarter, is like a giant Wal-Mart. Most every street has a specialty item (i.e. shoes are at the shoe street, shirts are at the shirt street).

An overnight train ride from Hanoi will get you to Sapa, which is a beautiful village near the highest point of Vietnam. The Hmong people live in and around Sapa, and are incredibly friendly.

A three-hour bus ride from Hanoi will get you to Haiphong, where you can get on a tour boat and ride through Ha Long Bay. Words cannot describe how beautiful this bay is. Stay overnight at Cat Ba Island and enjoy some excellent seafood there.

You will want to visit one of the smaller villages in Vietnam to see the rich culture of the country's true heart.

You can have accommodations at any level you desire, and it will probably be cheaper than you expect. Staying at the Rex or Caravelle could set you back $300/night, and you will be treated like you owned the world (because you better at those prices). Decent hotel accommodations can be found as low as $10-$20/night depending on where you're at.

I would strongly suggest getting a local guide to travel with you. There are many English schools where you can find a student who will travel with you usually for the price of their travel. They will do this primarily for the experience of speaking English in a real world situation. They can help you get in and out of places that most tourists may never go.

If you're serious about visiting Vietnam, then let me know and I will hook you up with a good friend of mine who is a travel agent in Saigon. She can set you up with tours and guides to make your stay there an incredible experience. Source(s): Regular traveler to Vietnam.
Other Travel Tips

Go to www.awitravel.com Click on Book Travel Now to research- I found several
For accomodation, try www.hostelworld.com.

It lists hotels and guesthouses all over the world, with a pretty good selection of places in Vietnam. For $15 a night, you're going to get pretty much a 3.5-4 star room in some parts of the country.

One note of advice though, I would only book your first couple of nights accomodation beforehand. Aside from Xmas time and Tet, accomodation is really easy to find in Vietnam, and at least you get a chance to inspect the place before taking it, if you dont book online.
Been there.
Check out my site at http://www.vietnaminfocus.info for articles, info and resources about Vietnam.

Enjoy!
http://www.vietnaminfocus.info