Days to departure
—
Bris/Melb/Syd → Hanoi → Ha Long Bay → Hoi An/Da Nang → Ho Chi Minh City → home
Next actions
Who's travelling
Chris
56
Marina
53
Robyn
80 · flies via Melbourne
Caspian
18
Rose
18 · Caspian's partner
Archer
13
Weather by leg (Jan)
The shape of the trip
14 nights. Two big travel days (Hanoi→Hoi An via cruise disembark, and Hoi An→HCMC), one overnight cruise, three hotel bases. Pacing is deliberately gentler around Robyn and Archer — big activity days are followed by lighter ones.
Reference codes
Vietnam Airlines PNR
GFUJMTE2DU56
Virgin Australia (BNE↔SYD) PNR
KIQWTF
Qantas (MEL↔SYD, Robyn) PNR
DNWYLE
Viator — Hanoi airport transfer
1443430463
Flights
Transfers
Stays
Cruise
Dragon Legend · Bai Tu Long Bay
Indochina Junk · booked & paid
Hotel pickup Hanoi Old Quarter ~8:00am · board ~12:00–12:30pm Thu 14 Jan ·
disembark ~11:30am–12:00pm Fri 15 Jan · back in Hanoi ~4:00–4:30pm.
Keep a small overnight bag separate — main luggage stays with the Hanoi hotel.
Key contacts
Still to confirm
Visa & arrival
Required for all six
- Australian passport holders need a single-entry e-visa — USD 25 (≈ AUD 38 · ≈ 650,000 VND) at evisa.gov.vn, allow 3–5 working days, print each approval
- Every traveller including Archer needs their own separate application and photo
- Free Digital Arrival Card also required within 72h of arrival for HAN, DAD and SGN — prearrival.immigration.gov.vn
- No routine health or "e-medical" visa. Decree 165/2026 (from 1 July 2026) allows a health declaration to be switched on only during a declared outbreak — re-check closer to travel, but nothing to apply for now
- Passports valid 6+ months past arrival, with at least 2 blank pages
Money & payments
The three-tool approach
- Credit card (Latitude 28°) for big prepaid bookings and card purchases — never for ATM cash
- Fee-free debit (ING/Macquarie/ubank) or Wise/Revolut to withdraw VND from VPBank/TPBank fee-free ATMs
- VND cash for markets, street food, tips and small vendors
- Always decline DCC — choose to be charged in VND, never AUD
- Rough conversion: 100,000 VND ≈ AUD 5.54 · AUD 1 ≈ 18,050 VND (mid-market, 5 Oct 2026 — recheck in January)
Connectivity
- Individual Vietnam eSIMs per person — Airalo "Xin Chao" or Saily
- Keep one Australian SIM on roaming as backup for bank OTPs
- Download offline Google Maps for Hanoi, Hoi An/Da Nang and HCMC before you fly out
- Grab, WhatsApp, iMessage and FaceTime cover transport and messaging
Sydney return — 25 Jan
Tight connection
- VN0773 lands 9:50am at T1. Both onward flights leave at 1:00pm — about 3 hrs 10 min, against the 3.5–4 hrs recommended for a self-transfer on separate tickets
- Robyn → Melbourne on QF445 from T3; the other five → Brisbane on VA943 from T2. Qantas bag drop closes 12:30pm
- Separate tickets means no misconnect protection — worth moving one or both to a later flight
- T2 and T3 are a ~5 min walk apart via the P1 car park, so the group can stay together until then
- Declare everything on arrival: any food, dried fruit, nuts, honey and wooden/organic souvenirs
Packing notes
- Light jacket for Hanoi evenings, the cruise deck, and Ba Na Hills (~8–10°C cooler at altitude)
- Breathable, light clothing for Hoi An/Da Nang and especially HCMC — hot and humid, and indoor AC can be aggressive
- Modest dress for temples and pagodas (shoulders/knees covered)
- Printed e-visa approvals for all six — a phone screen isn't always accepted at check-in
- Keep leftover dong under the 15,000,000 VND (≈ AUD 831) export threshold before flying home