Vietnam off the beaten track: two weeks for a second trip
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Vietnam off the beaten track means something literal here: a second trip that assumes you have already done Hanoi, Ha Long, Hoi An and the Mekong, and that deliberately visits none of them.
What replaces them is four provinces that appear on almost no itinerary, joined by one internal flight and a good deal of road.
What does the route look like?
North-east first, then a flight south. Two weeks, four places that appear on almost no standard itinerary, and one internal flight in the middle.
| Days | Where | Nights | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hanoi | 1 | Land, sleep |
| 2-4 | Ba Be | 3 | 6 hours by road |
| 5-7 | Cao Bang | 3 | 4 hours east |
| 8 | Hanoi, fly south | 0 | Overnight bus, then air |
| 9-11 | Ly Son | 3 | Via Quang Ngai and Sa Ky |
| 12-14 | Phan Rang | 3 | Train down the coast |
The train south from Quang Ngai passes through Phu Yen, and the basalt columns at Ganh Da Dia are worth breaking the journey for if you have a fifteenth day.
Why these four?
Because each is a complete place rather than a detour, and none of them is on the coach circuit.
Ba Be is the largest natural lake in the country, with Tay stilt-house homestays on the shore and a river cave you reach by boat. Cao Bang holds Ban Gioc, the largest waterfall in Vietnam, and a mountain loop carrying a fraction of Ha Giang's traffic.
Ly Son is a volcanic island off Quang Ngai that grows garlic in black sand over white coral. Phan Rang is the driest province in Vietnam, with working Cham temples and salt flats along an empty coast.
What is different about travelling this way?
Slower, cheaper and less cushioned. English is rarer, rooms are guesthouses and homestays rather than hotels, and the roads between places are mountain roads rather than highways.
Nothing here needs a permit — the route deliberately avoids Ha Giang, which does. The comparison with Sapa covers that decision for anyone tempted to add it.
What does each place actually give you?
Ba Be gives water and quiet: three linked basins, a river cave with bats overhead, and a night on a stilt-house floor with a family who cook dinner. Cao Bang gives the waterfall and the emptiest good road in the north.
Ly Son gives geology and strangeness, with garlic grown on black volcanic soil spread under white coral sand. Phan Rang gives Cham towers still in worship, salt flats worked by hand, and a coast road with almost nothing built along it.
None of the four has an English-language visitor economy in any real sense, which is both the appeal and the constraint.
What could go wrong?
Boats and weather, in that order. Ly Son's crossing from Sa Ky takes 35 to 45 minutes and is cancelled outright in rough seas, which is the single largest risk on the itinerary. Build a spare day around it rather than booking a tight connection out of Quang Ngai.
Mountain roads in the north close after heavy rain. Ba Be and Cao Bang are both six-hour journeys that become eight in bad weather, and there is no rail alternative to either.
When does this route work?
March to May. March to May is the only window when the northern mountains, the central coast and the southern dry belt all work at once. That matters more on a route this spread out than on a standard trip.
September to November is excellent for the north and wrong for Ly Son, which sits in the typhoon season then. The month-by-month guide sets out why Vietnam never has one season at a time.
What do the two weeks cost?
Roughly 700 to 1,300 US dollars per person on the ground for the two weeks, excluding the flight in. The places themselves are cheaper than the standard route — a homestay at Ba Be runs 150,000 to 350,000 dong — and the transport is dearer because the distances are longer.
One internal flight, Hanoi to Quang Ngai or Da Nang, is the single largest line, at roughly 40 to 90 US dollars booked ahead. Sleeper buses north from Hanoi run 250,000 to 400,000 dong each way. The cost guide has the daily figures, and three weeks is the shape to use if you want this and the famous places in one trip.
What if you have only ten days?
Drop the south. Ba Be and Cao Bang together make a genuinely off-track five days from Hanoi. The ten-day northern route shows what to add if you would rather include Ha Giang than fly south.
FAQ
What is the best off the beaten track route in Vietnam?
North-east then centre-south: Ba Be and Cao Bang for five days, then a flight south to Quy Nhon for Ly Son, and on through Phu Yen to Phan Rang. Two weeks covers it, and none of those places appears on a standard first-trip itinerary.
Is off the beaten track travel in Vietnam difficult?
Not difficult, but slower and less cushioned. English is rarer, accommodation is guesthouses and homestays rather than hotels, and journeys that look short on a map take longer on mountain roads. Nothing on this route requires a guide or a permit except Ha Giang, which it avoids.
How much does this trip cost?
Roughly 700 to 1,300 US dollars per person on the ground for two weeks, excluding international flights. It is cheaper per day than the standard route because the places are cheaper, and more expensive in transport because the distances are longer.
When should you travel the off the beaten track route?
March to May, which is the only window when the northern mountains, the central coast and the southern dry belt are all workable at once. September to November works for the north but puts Ly Son in the typhoon season, when boats are cancelled.
Do you need your own transport?
A motorbike or a car with a driver for the northern half, and buses or the train for the rest. Ba Be and Cao Bang are spread across provinces with little public transport between the sights, while Phan Rang sits directly on the Reunification railway.
Is this a first trip to Vietnam?
No, and it is not pretending to be. It skips Hanoi's old quarter, Ha Long, Hoi An and the Mekong entirely. Anyone who has not seen those should do them first — this route is what to do when you have.