Vietnam Trip from Chennai: A 7-Day Itinerary That Actually Works (With Real Costs)

Planning a Vietnam trip from Chennai? Seven days is enough if you stick to the north and centre: two nights in Hanoi, one night on a Halong Bay cruise, three nights around Da Nang and Hoi An, and you’re home. Don’t try to cover the whole country in a week. We’ve seen people try, and they spend half the trip in airports.

This is the plan we give most families and couples who walk into our Chennai office asking about Vietnam. It’s also roughly what our group tours follow, so if you’d rather not plan anything yourself, skip to the end.

Vietnam trip from Chennai: quick facts

Flights from Chennai	No non-stop flight right now. Most people connect via Singapore, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, or fly VietJet from Bengaluru or Hyderabad.
Total travel time	About 8 to 12 hours with one stop, depending on the layover
Visa	E-visa on evisa.gov.vn. US$25 single entry, about ₹2,100
Visa processing	Usually 3 to 5 working days. Apply two weeks before you fly.
Currency	Vietnamese dong. Carry some US dollars to exchange there.
Best months for this route	February to April. Hanoi is cool, and central Vietnam is dry.
Our 7-day group tour	From ₹58,100 per person, EMI from ₹4,842 a month

Flights for a Vietnam trip from Chennai

Here’s the honest bit nobody tells you: there’s no direct flight from Chennai to Vietnam at the moment.

You’ve got two sensible options:

• One stop from Chennai. Fly Scoot or Singapore Airlines via Singapore, Thai or AirAsia via Bangkok, or Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia via Kuala Lumpur. Pick a layover under three hours. A 9-hour wait in Changi sounds fun until you’re doing it with two kids.
• Train or fly to Bengaluru or Hyderabad first. VietJet flies to Vietnam from both. It’s sometimes cheaper, but add the cost and hassle of getting there.

Fly into Hanoi and out of Da Nang (or the reverse). Booking an open-jaw ticket saves you a full day of backtracking. Most travellers miss this.

Return fares from Chennai usually land somewhere between ₹25,000 and ₹40,000 per person in economy, depending on the month and how early you book.

The 7-day plan

Day 1: Land in Hanoi, walk the Old Quarter

You’ll probably land tired, so keep it light. Check in somewhere in or near the Old Quarter. In the evening, walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and get lost in the lanes. Every street used to sell one thing: silk, shoes, tin boxes. Some still do.

On Friday to Sunday evenings, the streets around the lake are closed to traffic. If your dates line up, go then.

Day 2: Hanoi properly

Do the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area in the morning (it closes early and is shut on some days), then the Temple of Literature. After lunch, see a water puppet show. Yes, it’s touristy. It’s also 45 minutes long and kids love it.

Try egg coffee at least once. It sounds strange. It tastes like dessert.

Day 3: Drive to Halong Bay, sleep on the boat

It’s roughly a 2.5 to 3 hour drive. Board your cruise around noon, then spend the afternoon on kayaks, caves and the top deck at sunset.

Do the overnight cruise, not the day trip. We say this to almost everyone. A day trip means six hours on the road for four hours on the water. The overnight cruise lets you wake up in the bay before the day boats arrive, and that morning is the reason you came.

But cruises vary a lot. Some boats are lovely. Some are crowded with loud karaoke. This is where using people who know the boats matters.

Day 4: Back to Hanoi, fly to Da Nang

You’ll have a slow morning on the bay, brunch on board, then the drive back. Take an evening flight to Da Nang, which is just over an hour. Stay in Da Nang near My Khe beach or go straight to Hoi An. We usually prefer Hoi An for couples and Da Nang for families who want a pool and a beach.

Not in the mood to plan all this? Send us your dates on WhatsApp at +91 94296 91021 and we’ll send back a full plan with prices, usually the same day. No booking fee, and you can pay in EMI.

Day 5: Ba Na Hills and the Golden Bridge

You’ve seen the photo: the bridge held up by two giant stone hands. Take the cable car up to Ba Na Hills early, before 9 AM, or you’ll be queueing behind every tour bus in Da Nang. Parts of Ba Na feel like a theme park, and some people find that odd. Kids won’t care.

Day 6: Hoi An, the best evening of the trip

In the morning, see Marble Mountains. Then spend the afternoon and evening in Hoi An Ancient Town. Walk the Japanese Covered Bridge and get something stitched (tailors can turn a shirt around in a day). After dark, the lanterns come on and you take a small boat down the river.

If you only remember one evening from Vietnam, it’ll be this one.

Day 7: Fly home

Fly out of Da Nang. If your flight is late, squeeze in a morning on the beach.

What about Ho Chi Minh City?

If you have 8 days, add the south: Ho Chi Minh City, the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta. Our 8-day Vietnam North to South does exactly that. With 7 days, we’d leave it out. You’ll enjoy the trip more.

One exception: in October to December, central Vietnam gets heavy rain. If you’re going in those months, swap the Da Nang and Hoi An days for Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong. The south is drier then.

What does a 7-day Vietnam trip from Chennai cost?

These are rough per-person figures for a couple sharing a room in mid-range hotels:

Item	Approx. per person
Return flights from Chennai (one stop)	₹25,000 to ₹40,000
E-visa	₹2,100
Hotels, 5 nights	₹12,000 to ₹20,000
Halong Bay overnight cruise	₹8,000 to ₹15,000
Domestic flight Hanoi to Da Nang	₹3,000 to ₹6,000
Transfers, entry tickets, cable car	₹6,000 to ₹9,000
Food and local spending	₹8,000 to ₹12,000
Total	roughly ₹65,000 to ₹1,05,000

Vietnam is one of the few international trips where food and local travel are genuinely cheap. Most of the money goes on flights and the cruise.

Food: will we find veg or Indian food?

Yes, but plan for it. Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City all have Indian restaurants, and Vietnamese Buddhist vegetarian places (look for “chay” on the sign) are everywhere.

Tell the cruise in advance if you’re vegetarian. Most boats can manage it, but only if they know before you board.

If you have elderly parents travelling, pack a few ready-to-eat packets and some thepla or khakhra for the first day. It takes the stress out of the first meal.

Visa: the 10-minute version

Apply only on the official site, evisa.gov.vn. Plenty of look-alike sites charge three or four times the actual US$25 fee.

You’ll need:

• A passport valid for six months from your entry date
• A passport-style photo on a white background, without glasses
• A clear scan of your passport’s photo page
• Your entry airport (Hanoi) and exit airport (Da Nang) written correctly, because the e-visa is tied to them

Apply two weeks before you fly. When you book with us, we file it for you.

One warning. Phu Quoc island lets Indians in visa-free, but only the island. In April 2026 the Indian Embassy in Vietnam advised Indians to get a proper visa anyway, after some travellers got into trouble on the mainland. If Phu Quoc is part of a bigger trip, get the e-visa.

Do it yourself, or let us handle it?

You can absolutely plan a Vietnam trip from Chennai yourself. It’s a well-trodden route.

But the bits that go wrong are the bits you can’t see from Chennai: the wrong cruise, a hotel that’s “in Hoi An” but actually 20 minutes away, a transfer that doesn’t show up at 6 AM. Those are the things our Vietnam partners sort out on the ground.

Join a group: our 7-day Vietnam group tour with Halong Bay leaves Chennai on 18 Dec 2026 and 1 Feb 2027, and Bengaluru on 8 Jan 2027. It’s ₹58,100 per person, and the December batch has a handful of seats left.

Go private: tell us your dates and we’ll build it around you. See all our Vietnam trips.

Start planning your Vietnam trip from Chennai: WhatsApp us on +91 94296 91021 or fill in the free quote form below. We reply within a few hours, there’s no booking fee, and EMI is available on cards and cardless.

FAQ

Is there a direct flight from Chennai to Vietnam?

Not right now. You’ll connect via Singapore, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, or take VietJet from Bengaluru or Hyderabad.

Do Indians need a visa for Vietnam?

Yes, for the mainland. The e-visa costs US$25 for a single entry and usually comes through in 3 to 5 working days.

Is 7 days enough for Vietnam?

Yes, if you stick to the north and centre: Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hoi An. Add an eighth day if you want Ho Chi Minh City too.

What’s the best month to visit Vietnam from India?

February to April works for this whole route. December and January are fine for Hanoi and the south, but central Vietnam can be wet until about December.

How much does a Vietnam trip from Chennai cost?

Roughly ₹65,000 to ₹1,05,000 per person for 7 days with flights. Our group tour starts at ₹58,100 per person.

Is Vietnam good for vegetarians?

It’s better than people expect. There are Indian restaurants in all the main cities and plenty of Buddhist vegetarian (“chay”) places. Just tell your cruise in advance.