Planning a trip to Vietnam is a little more complicated than say, a trip to a US National Park or a vacation to a European city. With multiple climates, need for a visa (for many travelers), and an unfamiliar language, it can be overwhelming to plan a vacation to Vietnam.
I’ve recently returned from an 18-day trip to Vietnam with my family (two of my kids and my parents). We used an amazing company to plan the itinerary (Trails of Indochina), but there was still plenty of work to do to ensure it was a smooth, stress-free, and enjoyable trip for every member of our group.
If you love lists and want someone to ‘hold your hand’ as you organize your Vietnam holiday – keep reading!
Below I’ll walk you through my Vietnam trip planning checklist, which I’ve categorized into the following sections:
- Plan your itinerary (you can also hire someone to help you with this part)
- Make reservations (flights, hotels, etc)
- Get your documents in order (passport, visa, etc)
- Things to take care of before you leave for Vietnam (travel apps to download, planning transport to/from the airport, checking to see if you need a power adapter, etc)
I’ve also included a printable version of our Vietnam pre-trip checklist at the end. I hope it helps you get organized for your trip!
Plan Your Vietnam Itinerary
- Check the climate for areas of Vietnam you want to visit. It’s a long country and has different climate zones. You’ll want to pay attention to rainy seasons and temperatures (if you want to avoid extreme heat). If you have set dates you can travel, look for the best area of Vietnam to visit during those dates. Otherwise, decide on where you want to go, and see which dates work best for your destinations. For example, we were able to travel at the end of April, which worked well for travel throughout the country (we didn’t need to avoid any areas due to rain or extreme temperatures).
- Decide on the number of days you’ll be traveling and the time of year (based on your climate research above)
- Choose activities. For example:
- Cycling
- Kayaking
- Cruising
- Guided museum visits
- Cooking classes
- Vespa tours
- Hiking
- Beach time
- Spa time
- Shopping
- Research accommodations.
Helpful Tip: If it feels overwhelming, think about hiring someone to help you plan your trip. This could be a travel agent or a travel agency that specializes in Vietnam. We used Trails of Indochina, a Vietnam-based agency, and were absolutely thrilled with our trip (and the company’s organization, communication, and the quality of its product).
Reserve Flights, Hotels, And Activities for Vietnam
- Purchase flights to/from Vietnam
- Purchase internal flights (or plan internal transport)
- Reserve hotels
- Reserve guides
- Reserve activities
- Buy travel medical insurance and trip cancellation insurance. Important: Many insurance companies require you purchase insurance within a couple of days of purchasing flights or a travel package.
Make Sure Your Documents Are in Order
Important: If you’re planning a last-minute trip, check these before you buy tickets and make concrete plans.
- E-Visa – You may or may not need one (check on the official site), and you can also apply for non-electronic visas. Note that you need your travel dates and entry/departure cities for the E-Visa.
- Passport – Make sure the expiration date is at least 6 months after your arrival in Vietnam. You must have at least 2 blank pages available. Your passport cannot be damaged in any way. If any of these are problems for you, you’ll need to get a new passport before you go to Vietnam (and the passport number needs to match your E-Visa).
Things to Do After You’ve Planned Your Trip, But Before You Fly To Vietnam
Electronics for Your Vietnam Trip
- Charge all electronics (and make sure you have the correct cords).
- Purchase travel adapters (and a converter if needed). Check out Vietnam Plug Adapter – Do You Need One?
- Buy and install ESIM for phone. We used Airalo.
- Download travel apps. We used Google Maps, Google Translate, and Grab (like Uber/Lyft) the most. The photo/camera option in Google Translate was very helpful for translating signs, menus, and info panels in museums.
- Download movies to tablets.
Finances & Security for Vietnam
- Take out small USD bills to use for gratuities.
- Let your bank (and credit card company) know you’ll be in Vietnam and ask if there are any bank ATMs you can’t use.
- Determine where you’ll keep passport and money. I used a waist pack. Other options are neck wallets, money belts, in a purse, or in a backpack.
- Remove valuable jewelry.
Medical To-Dos
- Gather prescription medications and bring copies of the prescriptions with you.
- Make sure routine vaccines are up to date. Check your country’s recommendations. For example, here’s the CDC’s page for Vietnam.
Other Documents for Vietnam
- Make copies of important documents (or upload to the cloud).
- Have a paper copy of your itinerary, hotels, guides, etc. – and all of their phone numbers. Electronics can fail, so it’s good to have a paper copy. I referenced our paper itinerary many times during our trip.
- Have a piece of paper with optional things to see and do in each place you’ll visit. I had the piece of paper you see below folded up in my waist pack. Pre-trip, I researched things to see and do during free time in each place we were visiting. For example, I found spas, places to get clothing tailored, restaurants to try, museums to check out. Yes, you can put similar things on Google Maps or using other digital methods (and I did), but it’s often easier to just pull out a piece of paper. I used this paper multiple times a day, compared to only looking at my digital copies a handful of times. Use the method that works best for you!
Learning About Vietnam
- Read about Vietnamese culture and history. I love the Culture Smart series.
- Learn some basic Vietnamese phrases.
Packing for Vietnam
- Pack for the trip! You can use my Family Packing List for Vietnam as a guide.
- Buy snacks for the plane.
- Get some ideas for souvenirs from Vietnam. Research what you can and can’t bring back as a souvenir to your country (for example, can you bring dried spices into your country?). Decide if you need to pack a spare bag (or buy one there).
Miscellaneous Things to Do
- Get homework assignments for kids.
- Make a Google Map for your trip. You can include hotels, places to eat, sites and activities you’ve already reserved as well as those of interest.
- Plan transport to the airport (and for when you fly back home).
Printable Vietnam Pre-Trip Checklist
Click on the photo of the checklist to open up a new tab with a high-quality PDF that you can print.
Heading to Vietnam with your family? Check out
Family Packing List for Vietnam
Vietnam Pre-Trip Checklist
Vietnam Plug Adapter – Do You Need One?
