We want to do Thailand and Vietnam on the same trip and can probably get three weeks. Is that enough to do both without living on planes, or would you give it all to one and save the other? Leaning to about ten days each plus travel - does that split work?
Yeah, three weeks can be fine for two countries. The main thing is how many places you actually want to see. If you want to explore everywhere in both countries, then it’ll be too rushed. But if you’re mainly interested in 2–3 specific areas in each, the split can work pretty well.
Some popular places to look at:
Thailand
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Bangkok
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Chiang Mai
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Phuket
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Krabi
Vietnam
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Hanoi
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Ha Long Bay
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Hoi An
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Ho Chi Minh City
Pick a few that interest you most instead of running everywhere in rushed without getting the feeling of the place.
I agree with @DriftingLouangphabang — I think three weeks can definitely work, but I’d be REALLY selective about where you go in each country. Ten days each sounds like a lot until you remember how spread out both countries are. Especially Vietnam, where going from Hanoi all the way down to Ho Chi Minh City can eat into your time pretty quickly if you’re also trying to fit in Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Da Nang, etc. Personally, I’d probably pick 2–3 places in each country and actually enjoy them rather than trying to do a full north-to-south trip in both.
@thomas , if u pick out the must-sees for you, I feel like that would make it much easier to figure out whether a 10/10 split makes sense or if one country deserves more of the three weeks