A thousand miles of coastline, and the most exciting food in Southeast Asia
Vietnam changes character every few hundred kilometres, and the trip works best travelled north to south rather than as a single base. We plan Vietnam for travellers who want street food eaten properly, textured cities, and a coastline that has not been overbuilt — with the timing, the routing and the rooms decided before you leave, and someone reachable while you are away.
A typical Third Door itinerary here leans on Hanoi's old quarter on foot at 6am, a private junk in Lan Ha Bay away from the Halong traffic, Hoi An's tailors and the Cham islands offshore. We book direct with the properties we know, hold the details that matter — the room with the view, the table that is hard to get, the driver who knows the road — and keep the plan flexible enough to change once you are in it.
October – April
Cool and dry in Hanoi and the north; December and January can be genuinely cold in the highlands.
February – August
Hoi An and Da Nang are driest and warmest; October and November bring typhoon risk.
December – April
Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong are dry and hot.
September – November
Variable by region — we route around the weather rather than avoid the season.
Old quarter street food, then Lan Ha Bay or Sapa's terraced hills.
Hoi An, Da Nang and Hue — the best beaches and the country's imperial history.
Energy, coffee culture and the delta's waterways a few hours south.
Hoi An
Beachfront villas between the old town and the Cham islands.
Hanoi
A theatrical, design-led hotel steps from the opera house.
Ninh Thuan
Cliffside pavilions above a national park bay; the country's most private address.
Land, unwind, and get your bearings with a private guide who sets the context rather than reading a script. Old quarter street food, then Lan Ha Bay or Sapa's terraced hills.
Hoi An, Da Nang and Hue — the best beaches and the country's imperial history. This is where most of the trip's character lives, so we give it the most room.
Energy, coffee culture and the delta's waterways a few hours south. A deliberate shift in rhythm before you travel home.
Private transfers, late checkout where we can arrange it, and a single point of contact from the day you land to the day you leave.
Hanoi
One dish, turmeric fish with dill, cooked at the table for eighty years.
Ho Chi Minh City
Michelin-starred Vietnamese in a market building; the banh mi is the signature.
Hoi An
The banh mi queen. Simple, and the best in the country.
February to April for the whole country is the window we recommend most often. Cool and dry in Hanoi and the north; December and January can be genuinely cold in the highlands. We will steer you by what you actually want from the trip rather than by peak season alone.
12–14 nights, north to south. Shorter is possible and we plan it regularly, but the pace changes: fewer bases, less driving, one region done properly instead of three done quickly.
Very good value, with a handful of genuinely world-class resorts at the top. Once we understand your dates, party and the standard of stay you have in mind, we come back with a costed proposal rather than a range.
E-visas are issued online for most nationalities. Internal flights cover the long distances; we avoid overnight trains unless they add something. We flag entry requirements early, arrange ground transport and private transfers, and keep the day-to-day logistics off your plate.
Pet travel here needs more lead time and, in some cases, a different destination. We will tell you honestly what is workable and what is not, and suggest alternatives if the regulations make it unfair on the animal.
Tell us your dates, party and the feeling you want. We will come back with a first proposal built around this destination.