hi Fiona, they are good fares aren't they? when you ask for suggestions at that time of year do you mean for the relaxing part of the holiday?

I believe Nha Trang in Vietnam has good weather patterns in summer months.

Shirley
we looked at Hanoi for this summer but couldn't get a reasonable airfare. We had thought of combining it with KS, as we haven't been for a couple of years and it gives an excuse for a couple of overnights in BKK It would be easier if we can find somewhere with less airtravel involved though.

Nha Trang might be worth a go. KS is a "known" in that we would go to Bophut and just relax. I'm just not so sure if Nha Trang would be as relaxing!

know what you mean Fiona KS is easy and relaxing isn't it? especially Bophut, but I wouldn't go to Samui again, purely because I think it's loosing it's charm and I have been 4 times anyway, but it is a struggle to find far east destinations with great weather in July, apart from Bali, maybe I should try there next time, or my OH says just do 3 cities and forget beach , so I suppose that would be an option.

Ooooh Hanoi in July!!! We were there last year on an overland tour which started in Bangkok, went through Cambodia and then up through Vietnam, finally finishing in Hanoi.

Humid is an understatement. I have probably never been that hot in my life, well apart from when we went out to Halong Bay from Hanoi.

Still what a great little city. I wasn't overly impressed with Vietnam to be honest, I liked Saigon but I like most big cities but the smaller places such as Hoi An and Hue were pretty forgettable to be honest.

Still Hanoi was a great way to finish, lots to do, great restaurants and of course you are only 2hrs (I think) from Halong Bay which was out of this world!!! I just found walking around Hanoi was the best way of seeing the place, sure have some ideas of what you want to do in your head but just set off after breakfast and go with the flow.

If you are in Hanoi, make sure you do the KOTO breakfast. After what seemed a lifetime of rice and noodles for breakfast, it was great that they offered baked beans to us.....small things eh!!!
I probably wouldn't rush back to Vietnam but both Saigon & Hanoi are good cities with a lot to offer the first time visitor.

thanks for that I loved Saigon so hoping I would like Hanoi too!
Any pariticular "must sees" there?

I would say Hanoi is very different to Saigon. Saigon just seemed huge in comparison and cosmopolitan, whereas Hanoi was more like I expected Vietnam to look like.

Don't miss out on Halong Bay whatever you do. Essential. We were travelling for 8 months in total and that was in the top 5 of places we visited....just a short 2hour hop, breathtaking boat trip and visit to caves etc.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is an obvious tourist attraction if you want to go and have a look. Very busy.

The lake in the in middle of the city is very nice and there is a nice island you can pay to go on. I think it was called Hoan Kiem or something like that....very nice views around the whole area from here.

Also close to the lake is the Thang Lang puppet theatre. Our guide bought us tickets for this and it is well done although we failed to really appreciate why this is such an essential visit for most visitors to the city. Still it was cheap....and there were bars waiting just outside the entrance.

As I said previously it is a great walking city, the Old Quarter is nice. We never come across any of the scams that we were warned about and the locals were friendly, although not as friendly as in Saigon. It's obviously a North/South thing.

Well worth a visit, but after 20 gruelling days of travel through Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam we were glad to be getting on the flight to Hong Kong. The next day we visited Disneyland HK, how 2 days can differ eh?

When you went to Saigon did you go up the Sheraton hotel for the views across the city? Amazing.

thanks Will def check back on this when we book 8 months of travelling- lucky you!
No- we didn't go up the Sheraton.