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As I am writing this today, we’re a a few ways away from our Vietnam trip. I must say, though, this was one of the most fun and annoying (at times) trips that I had to plan. The reason was simple: the first leg of the trip is going to be a big reunion of my family. And to plan a trip with your Vietnamese folks is, let me tell you, very taxing.

Vietnamese people, at their core, don’t plan trips. I think believe they are spontaneous travelers, or at least my family is. It isn’t hard to understand the reason: my parents never went on trips, or trips that required some planning ahead. My folks are entrepreneurs, like a lot of people in Vietnam are (which is a very interesting fact that I may write more about it in the future), and so they were just too busy to travel. I have 3 other siblings, so I could imagine the amount of work that was to take care of us, and being business owners. Anyway, all that to say, if we were to travel somewhere, it would have been the same destinations, mostly in Vietnam (Vung Tau beach, Da Lat, Mui Ne) with our uncle’s or aunt’s families (easier to go with a big group for some reasons). Japan would be the other oversea place we went repeatedly, because my mom’s family lives there, and so minimum planning is really needed.

Sept 2024 is when my Dad will turn 60 years old, a big milestone. Originally, we were not planning to go back to Vietnam this year (family reasons over in America, too long to tell, plus we were just back there in 2022). However, my Mom, being a Vietnamese mom, told me that we must go back for Dad’s 60th, because, in her words, that this is the age that people usually would just go downhill right after turning (meaning getting ill). I know, my mother… And successful she was making me feel guilty, so there we were, booking our plan tickets to Vietnam.

Now, due to our schedules and work related stuff, the only time we could make this work, is July. Which, let me tell you, when I said we were going to Vietnam in July to my Vietnamese friends, they all said “good luck with the weather” to me. Ha. Oh I know, being born and raised there, summer in Vietnam was not cute, as the kids would say.

Going back to this whole trip-planning with my family, because it is going to be for my Dad’s 60th year of age celebration, we have decided that we should all go to Hanoi this time with the fam. Everyone, except for my Dad, my older sister and her husband, has never been to the Capital of Vietnam. This added an excitement to the planning for me, since it was all brand new for me to start geeking out on the hotels, restaurants, food stalls, food streets, attractions to see/do, and cool cocktail bars. But first or foremost, before we get into Hanoi things, I needed to plan out the entire 2-weeks itinerary for me and my husband so we could get flights done.

Picking the destinations within the destination

We know that Hanoi would be our first destination, and after looking up things to do there (all of the attractions can be done in one day, leaving another day for exploring the Old Quarter, market, easy walking around, and another day to do a day-trip somewhere nearby), 3 nights/days is a good length for us to do this Northern part of the country, Ninh Binh. It’ll be very hot, and humid, and maybe some sudden rain here and there, I didn’t think we’d need more than 3 days. Then, my husband and I have always wanted to go to Amanoi in Vinh Hy, Ninh Thuan province which is about an hour flight south from Hue (the mid-point of Vietnam). If you know the Aman hotel group, you know what and why we want to be there. Amanoi would also be the leg of the trip where it will just be the two of us, complete unwind and relaxation, so it is going to be a nice break from a busy and probably chaotic 3 days in Hanoi with everyone. Amanoi has a Full-Day or Half-Day spa programs that look amazing to try, then the private beach, and a bunch of other private dinners that can be chosen from. Coming from Seattle, I know I need to spend as many days in the sunshine and on the beach as possible, especially Vinh Hy has the driest and hottest weather in Vietnam, making July the most desirable beach weather for the resort. With that being said, a 5-nights-4-days stay at the Amanoi sounds beyond delicious. The rest of the 2-weeks trip will be spent in Saigon, where my heart and soul is always at, my hometown. There isn’t much else we need to see in Saigon in terms of attractions (we did them back in 2022), so this will be just hanging out at coffee shops, eating street food, going back to my childhood house, and spending time with the family. Because we are a creature of habit and if it’s good, why breaks it mentality, we’ll be staying at the Park Hyatt Saigon.

Flights

Getting flights booked was the easiest task for us, frankly. Although I did browse a few different airlines and routes as a homework, we eventually, again as a creature of habit (or maybe we are loyal customers), booked Japan Airlines (JAL) for our long-haul flights. Not gonna lie, EVA Air business seats and service reviews were very tempting. I did spend a significant amount of time, this time, looking up business class seats for EVA, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Korean Air (the most popular routes from Seattle to Saigon) and EVA seems to stand out the most. The ANA “the room” and JAL’s new business suite class also look great, but no flights available for SEA-SGN route yet. There were many factors for us not to book EVA this time (and the biggest reason might have to do with booking the flights through CHASE/ third-party agency), but I also want to go through a Japan airports on the way (for their amazing Tokyo Banana at duty-free, obviously). JAL was reliable, their service was great, business class food was amazing on our previous trips to Vietnam (2022) and Japan (2023), so we’re the happy returning customers this time.

For the domestic flights in Vietnam: Saigon to Hanoi, Hanoi to Cam Ranh, Cam Ranh to Saigon, it was easy. Vietnam Airlines was our pick. Toby, my husband, was very impressed with the airlines business class service last time we’ve flown with them, and so why change now. What has surprised me though, is that their routes between Saigon and Hanoi offer a flatbed seat with business class, along with a full meal service (I think – will report back). Why is it surprising? Because it is only a bit over 2 hours long flight. The only time I got a flatbed seat for that short of a flight was Seattle to Punta Mita ( ~4 hours flight) on an older Virgin America aircraft. Anyway, I am not complaining, it’s just interesting. Will be good for me to doze off a bit before a long day ahead in Hanoi once we land, though.

Hotels

I am not going to get too much into the hotels we will stay, just because I talked a bit about Amanoi and Park Hyatt above. I will probably do a different post (or posts) about them after our trip, too. So we’ll see.

Now, I didn’t mention this earlier, Capella Hanoi is where we’ll be staying in Hanoi. When I looked up hotels in Hanoi in the luxury category, a few popped up consistently in Google researches. Now, my crossed references (because you need to always cross reference) are Instagram (sorry, but it’s true), Condé Nast Traveler, locals if I know someone there, and just deep pockets of google results. Capella Hanoi was mentioned in a few different “lists”, their IG posts looked great – colorful & vibrant lobby, restaurants, bars, rooms. They are on “The Best Hotels in Vietnam” on CN Travel along with Amanoi and some others that even though I may not visit yet, I would have to agree with the selection. The kicker was that even Reddit agreed Capella Hanoi might be the hottest hotel right now, in terms of luxury and extravagant. The night room rate was not cheap, though, especially when we were taking care of everyone’s lodging in this trip. This was the biggest headache for me, as I needed to book 5 non-cancellation, non-refundable rooms with the acceptable rate and room types while my family was still deciding who would actually go, not go, or come late. “Just make up your mind already, please?” was what I said to my Mom on every Facebook Messenger call we had a few months ago. More about the hotel later once we actually stay there, but for now, I’m excited.

Activities, Restaurants, and Bars

Hanoi is a brand new city for me, and my 2 siblings who share the same passion about good restaurants and bars and happen to also have never been. So, we have been sharing notes/ instagram posts or stories/ TikTok videos about places we found or were told about. Hanoi does have a few attractions that visitors should definitely go to, such as: the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Temple Of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi Opera, St. Joseph’s Cathedral, and Bat Trang ceramics village. Back in the old days, when traveling, I tended to forgo the scenic/ history/ sight-seeing activities and only focused on where to eat & shop. Now, as I grow older, I do appreciate the history of the land and their people’s cultures a lot more; so, we’ll be spending a full day doing most of those touristy attractions. Some won’t be open while we’re there (so check their business hours), and some we may skip depending on how hot that day will be. For convenience, I booked a car from Capella Hanoi to take us around. Yes, it is pricey, and yes I definitely could pay for much less if I rent a car somewhere else (they do have this service around town). But honestly, to pay for a piece of mind, knowing that the hotel will take care of us and not being scammed or ending up with a bad/smelly/older car, please take my money.

Food wise – there are a few dishes that you must have in Hanoi, according to countless of Instagram accounts, TikTok accounts, compilations of goole searches, tons of YouTube videos from Viet folks who live in Vietnam, as well as the local HTV Hanoi Channel. We won’t have time to go to all of them, but I have picked a few that we must try: Nom Kho Bo, Egg Coffee, Caramel Flan, Bun Cha Ha Noi, Pho Ga, Pho Bo, Xoi Xeo, and perhaps Cha Ca La Vong. I’ll share details on which ones we end up going and where!

Bars – one thing about us, we love a cool cocktail bar in the city we visit. Toby is a big cocktail lover, mostly because of how all of the ingredients taste together and not the booze or getting drunk aspect. We’ve been to a few cool ones in America (hello Goldie’s in the Austin Proper hotel), or other countries (Virtu in Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi – pictured below, Gold Bar in Tokyo Edition remains to be one of the best tasting cocktail I’ve had), so this time – I’ve booked a few places that I am very excited to try as well.

Like I mentioned above, Amanoi is supposed to be a very relaxing portion of the trip for us, so not much planning there. Although, I did look at their Welcome PDF packet many times over where it covers activities, restaurants, spa programs, etc. I’ve booked a few things for us, and will share more details when we get there.

Lastly, Saigon is my playground. Although the city has grown and evolved so much since I left to America in 2006, even with a few times coming back to visit, it seems to be different every time I’m home. I’ve been watching a lot of Dia Diem An Uong YouTube accounts and I have way too many places (old and new) jotted down on my little excel sheet (yes, I had an excel sheet for this). Broken rice, Pho, Durian Sticky Rice, Che (Vietnamese sweet soup), Coconut Flan, Coconut Jelly, Bun Bo Hue, Bun Rieu, Hu Tieu, Bun Moc, and of course Banh Mi. I can’t wait to show you all the yummy food.

That’s all for now – just the planing phase. We’ll be taking off soon-ish, and I’ll see how my crazy invested hours into planning this trip would pay off, or not.

Please leave a comment if you’re also planning a trip with your family, or leave feedback on my blog. Too long, too much context, too yappy? I’d love to get feedback. Thanks!