Comparing Two Vietnam Routes With a Worksheet

To compare two Vietnam routes fairly, score each one on three things: time spent travelling, nights in each base and free time left over. The route that moves you less and leaves more room to rest is usually the better use of short leave. A worksheet makes that visible before you pay for anything.

What does the worksheet measure?

It measures how your leave is spent, not how impressive the list of places looks.

• Travel time: every flight, train or long road leg between bases.
• Nights per base: how long you sleep in each place before moving on.
• Free time: afternoons and mornings with nothing booked.

A long list of sights feels good while planning. A worksheet shows what it costs in days.

How do you fill it in?

Work through these steps for each route, one at a time.

1. Write the bases in order, for example Hanoi, then Ninh Binh, then Ha Long Bay.
2. Write the nights at each base.
3. Mark each move between bases as a flight, train or road leg.
4. Count one lost half day for every move. Add another half for a long leg or an early start.
5. Count the afternoons with nothing booked. Add the arrival and departure days as half days.
6. Note the rain risk for your travel month, using the weather by month guide.

Use the travel-day checker if you want it to do the counting.

What does a filled worksheet look like?

Here is an example with plain words instead of numbers. Replace the cells with your own.

Line	Route A: Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay	Route B: Da Nang and Hoi An only
Bases	Three	Two, a short drive apart
Moves between bases	Two road legs	One short road leg
Lost half days	Highest	Lowest
Free afternoons	Few	More, with a beach day
Weather risk in a year-end trip	Cool but dry-ish	Rain and storm risk
Fits	Culture, scenery, cool air	Rest, families, short leave

Route A offers more variety. Route B offers more holiday per day. Neither is wrong; the worksheet only shows what you trade.

How do you read the result?

Look at the free-time line first. If one route leaves you with no free afternoon, it is a tour, not a holiday.

Then check the moves. Two routes with the same sights can differ by a full day of transfers. Drop the stop that costs a day and adds little.

Last, check the weather line. A route that looks light in dry months can become heavy in a wet one. Read North vs Central Vietnam for a first trip if the two routes sit in different regions.

What should you do next?

Price the one or two routes that survive. The trip budget builder lets you plug in today’s quotes in ringgit. If you are comparing a package against your own route, the package comparison worksheet uses the same lines. For more methods like this, see Planning tools and methods, or try the route chooser if you are still deciding on a region.