Southeast Asia forum

You say you like cities - does that mean you are looking for shopping opportunities? Or temple/museum/galleries?

You could manage Vietnam if you wanted... fly into Hanoi, then fly to Hue and/or Danang (which gets you to Hoi An 20 mins away), then fly to HCMC. (Or in the reverse order, of course) You could easily spend 4-5 days in each, have time to explore, and do a couple of day trips out of the area.
- From Hanoi, spend 2-3 days in Halong Bay or Sapa
- From Hoi An, you can do day trips to the beach, back up to Danang/China Beach/Marble Mountain, etc
- From HCMC, you can do a day trip to the tunnels, or possibly spend 2-3 days around the Mekong Delta area.

Vietnam is surprisingly easy to get around (at least much easier than I expected) so don't let that put you off. If you've got the dollars to fly, then that will cut out some of the long bus rides.

Since you will be flying between destinations and you want to see only cities, you can fly between several countries to get a degustation of South-East Asia.

I'd recommend Bangkok.
I am ambivalent about Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (KL).

Another option is Cebu-it is very Latin from the Spanish influence so it is different from the rest of Asia.

So a possible mix would be Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Cebu. Than you can decide where to take a day trip depending on your interests.

Just to clarify, the Vietnam option I mentioned above wasn't a list of 'big city' options, but instead was just pointing out that you didn't need to rule out Vietnam if you're still interested.

As far as big cities go, then I agree with the posters above (although I'm really not a 'big city' girl though! Having said that, Bangkok would be my first choice definitely. Singapore is good for shopping (I've been told!), and there is a wide range of things to see/do. It's probably the most westernised in one sense, but you also get interesting areas like Chinatown, Little India and Bugis. It can also be a bit plastic-y in terms of it's attractions (Sentosa, The Night Safari, etc). The Quay area has good nightlight if you're into that.

KL I didn't have a particularly great time so don't tend to recommend it. But I might have just had an 'off' day.

Hanoi is not a big city - but it's fascinating and full of life. And very different to any other big city you have probably been in. I only briefly passed through HCMC so can't really comment.

Personally, if you have an interest in Vietnam, I would stick to my suggested plan above. You will get a mix of cities (although not necessarily the 'blinding neon lights' experience - but culturally fascinating), and you will get to see more of the smaller town side of life. Places like Hoi An aren't not thriving cities, but again are full of culture, smells, shops, people, etc. And there's enough busy-ness there to keep you entertained.

From what I recall Vietnam is much cheaper than Malaysia and/or Singapore. Someone else may have to help me on this - but I think Thailand is more expensive than Vietnam.

If you don't want to see only one country, then I'd say you could hit Vietnam and BKK in Thailand - though an international flight is going to cost a lot more than internal flights within Vietnam. I think Lizzy's suggestion is the best as you'll get a lot of cultural experience in both Hanoi and HCMC (and a variety between north and south) while still having the option to either check out central Vietnam, Hoi An, or look at one or two smaller cities in the Mekong Delta.

Most of the shops and markets you find in Hanoi you'll find in HCMC, Bangkok, KL, even smaller towns all seems to sell basically the same stuff. I've always found more genuinely local products in the smaller markets outside of major cities.

All that said, both Singapore and KL are very modern, and though there is a lot to see and do I think you'd have more of a cultural experience if you stuck to Vietnam.

I love me my Hanoi, Hue as well.

'sheeed

We decided to go to Vietnam! After reading more about the culture and the things to see and do, we are so happy with our decision! So thanks for all the suggestions!

We have started a list of things we want to do/see, but if anyone has any recommendations of "cannot miss" things -- feel free to share!!