I am thinking about going to Northern Vietnam for a week in a

A week ain't much time. Transport to Sa Pa and back is going to eat up two days of that time.

>>1172711

So should I pick one or the other?

Hanoi and Ha Long Bay are both amazing. A week to do both is pushing it imo, but would be worthwhile if you do some decent planning beforehand and don't waste time on the ground. I have not been to Sa Pa.

Hoi An and Saigon are also worth visiting if you can extend your trip.

Definitely go for one of the nicer vessels to cruise Ha Long if you can afford it. I splurged on a very nice 2 night cruise and it was well worth it.

>>1172721

Unfortunately, I only have the one week (that's all I get for Chinese New Year). I wasn't expecting to do anything all inclusive for the week, but anywhere fun would be great.

I was also thinking about going to the Thai islands with friends, but since I've already been to Thailand before, I wanted to go somewhere new first. Hong Kong would also be neat, but I prefer to go somewhere cheap.

>>1172702

Look up Ninh Binh, was pretty amazing.

Definitely focus on Ha Long Bay. If you flew around the world and saw nothing but Cat Ba Island, you'd be satisfied.
Talk to tour operators in Hanoi about what you can do in a short period of time. Even if you don't book a tour with them they can give you good ideas.
Sa Pa's main attraction is its minority tribes, but there are other options for that. Instead of Sa Pa I went to Mai Chau which is a Thai minority village preserved for tourism. It wasn't mind-blowing but it was interesting. Nonh Binh looks neat too.

File: IMG_3865.jpg (1MB, 2448x2448px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 2448x2448px

If you can add on a few extra days then I'd HIGHLY recommend it. A lot of your time will be spent travelling so your time management in the places you do end up visiting will be vital. Travel is cheap as chips from north to lower south as well if you can cope with an overnight bus.

Hanoi is great, but ain't exactly bustling with exciting things to do, allow yourself a couple of days there at most to check out the city and what it has to offer. Tourist attractions worth checking out are the Old Quarter which is a dense ass labyrinth of shops and eateries. Expect to leave with a throbbing headache as the place is packed with scooters and pedestrians, it's a great insight into the vietnamese culture though. Head along to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, its not far from the city centre and looks pretty impressive, has a chill garden on the grounds as well. Hoan Kiem lake is nice to stroll around too.

Don't miss out on Ha Long Bay, save up and book yourself a decent junk (boat) tour. They offer pretty standard tours involving some kayaking, boating, cave exploring, and a mini cooking class but they're the best way to see the place. If you're looking to book while you're there and your hostel tries to offer you some tour company they're linked up with and will earn commission off, always make sure you sleep on it and look up the company on Tripadvisor. Often they're fine but since the bulk of Hanoi tourism feeds off the endless trips to Halong Bay, some hostels / guesthouses will end up tricking you into a below average quality tour. I'd recommend an overnight stay as opposed to a day tour as well, parking up at night amongst all the other boats and the rocks is freakin lovely. Also don't be deterred by the weather unless it pours down with rain, we went went it was foggy and probably around 10-15 degrees celcius and it was still very much enjoyable.

+ If you can, try and make it down to Phong-Nha National Park which is around 7-8 hours by sleeper bus from Hanoi, pic related.