Last Updated on October 6, 2019 by Tina
Two months ago, I was asked to help prepare a Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand seven days travel itinerary. Long term travelers might say seven days is too short for three countries. They would tell you to concentrate on one country and see more of that country. And I agree. With this type of itinerary, you’ll be spending a lot of time on the road, going from one country to the next. Also, you need to start your sightseeing early in the morning. There is a high chance that you will end up tired after the trip.
But not everyone can afford to go on long vacations because of work. So for all of you who are in this kind of situation, I hope you find this tri-country seven days solo travel itinerary useful.
Since I am based in the Philippines and most of my blog readers are from the Philippines, the flight schedules for this itinerary were based on the flights coming from Manila, Philippines. You can still follow this itinerary if you are coming from a different country. You just might need to tweak the schedule for your first and last day. Also, the assumption here is that you are traveling on a backpacker budget.
Option 1: Fly to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with Cebu Pacific at 10:20 PM and spend a night in Phnom Penh
For this itinerary, you leave Manila the night before your first day. You will arrive at Ho Chi Minh (HCM) at 12:25 AM. Take a rest and start the tour in the morning. Only Cebu Pacific flies direct from Manila to HCM in the evening. Flight time is 3 hours 5 minutes and leaves Manila at 10:20 PM.
When you get to Cambodia, you will spend a night in Phnom Penh. You will have a day to check out the capital city the next day and will travel to Siem Reap in the evening.
Day 0
22:20 Fly from Manila to Ho Chi Minh 00:25 Land in Ho Chi Minh 01:00 Hostel check-in
Recommended hostels: Vietnam Backpacker Hostels, City Poshtel Hostel
Day 1
08:00 Saigon Central Post Office 08:30 Notre Dame Cathedral 08:45 Reunification Palace/Independence Palace 10:00 War Remnants Museum 11:30 Lunch 12:30 Cu Chi Tunnels Tour 19:00 Arrival back at downtown Ho Chi Minh and have dinner
Related post: Backpacking Southeast Asia First Stop: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Day 2
08:00 Mekong Delta Tour: Vinh Trang Pagoda Ben Tre Island Coconut candy factory Boat tour Honey and fruit tasting at Unicorn Island 17:00 Ben Thanh Market 18:00 Walk to Ho Chi Minh Square (check out Cafe Apartment, Ho Chi Minh Monument and People's Committee Building) 20:00 Dinner
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1G2MMlB5m_/
Day 3
08:30 Travel by bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia 16:30 Arrive in Phnom Penh 17:00 Check-in at the hostel 19:00 Visit the night market and have dinner
Recommended hostel: Onederz Hostel Phnom Penh
Day 4
08:00 City Tour: Visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Royal Palace Silver Pagoda Wat Phnom 18:00 Watch sunset at the Riverside 19:00 Walk to the Independence Monument 20:00 Have dinner 22:00 Go to bus station 23:00 Travel by bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Day 5
05:00 Arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia 05:30 Early check-in at the hostel; freshen up 08:00 Angkor Wat Tour
17:00 End of the tour; rest at the hostel 19:00 Visit the night market and have dinner
Recommend hostel: Onederz Siem Reap
Day 6
08:00 Travel by bus to Bangkok, Thailand 16:30 Arrive in Bangkok, Thailand 17:30 Check-in at the hostel 18:30 Visit Chinatown and have dinner
Recommended hostels: Warm Window Silom; Nappark Hostel @Khao San
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzBDQ8lB7mq/
Day 7
08:00 City Tour: Grand Palace Wat Phra Kaew/Temple of Emerald Buddha Wat Pho/Temple of Reclining Buddha Wat Arun/Temple of Dawn 16:00 End of the tour; go back to the hostel to get bags 17:00 Leave for airport 21:20 Flight from Bangkok to Manila with AirAsia
Option 2: Fly to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with Cebu Pacific at 10:20 PM and head straight to Siem Reap when you get to Cambodia
This itinerary is similar to option 1. The only difference is that when you get to Cambodia, you only spend a few hours at Phnom Penh. You will travel to Siem Reap in the evening.
Day 0
22:20 Fly from Manila to Ho Chi Minh 00:25 Land in Ho Chi Minh 01:00 Hostel check-in
Recommended hostels: Vietnam Backpacker Hostels, City Poshtel Hostel
Day 1
08:00 Saigon Central Post Office 08:30 Notre Dame Cathedral 08:45 Reunification Palace/Independence Palace 10:00 War Remnants Museum 11:30 Lunch 12:30 Cu Chi Tunnels Tour 19:00 Arrival back at downtown Ho Chi Minh and have dinner
Related post: Backpacking Southeast Asia First Stop: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Day 2
08:00 Mekong Delta Tour: Vinh Trang Pagoda Ben Tre Island Coconut candy factory Boat tour Honey and fruit tasting at Unicorn Island 17:00 Ben Thanh Market 18:00 Walk to Ho Chi Minh Square (check out Cafe Apartment, Ho Chi Minh Monument and People's Committee Building) 20:00 Dinner
Day 3
08:30 Travel by bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia 16:30 Arrive in Phnom Penh; leave bags at the bus station 17:00 Check out riverside and Independence Monument 19:00 Visit the night market and have dinner 22:00 Go to bus station 23:00 Travel by bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Related Post: Backpacking Southeast Asia Second Stop: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Day 4
05:00 Arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia 05:30 Early check-in at the hostel; freshen up 08:00 Angkor Wat Tour 17:00 End of the tour; rest at the hostel 19:00 Visit the night market and have dinner
Recommend hostel: Onederz Siem Reap
Day 5
08:00 Travel by bus to Bangkok, Thailand 16:30 Arrive in Bangkok, Thailand 17:30 Check-in at the hostel 18:30 Visit Chinatown and have dinner
Recommended hostels: Warm Window Silom; Nappark Hostel @Khao San
Day 6
08:00 City Tour: Grand Palace Wat Phra Kaew/Temple of Emerald Buddha Wat Pho/Temple of Reclining Buddha Wat Arun/Temple of Dawn 17:00 Visit Terminal 21 Mall or Asiatique Mall
Day 7
08:00 Shopping at Pratunam Market 15:00 End of the shopping; go back to the hostel to get bags 17:00 Leave for airport 21:20 Flight from Bangkok to Manila with AirAsia
Option 3: Fly to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with PAL or Vietnam Airlines at 6:55 AM
For this itinerary, you leave Manila early in the morning and you will start your tour immediately after checking-in at the hostel. There are only two airlines with a direct flight from Manila to Ho Chi Minh in the morning, Philippine Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. Flight time is 2 hours 35 minutes and leaves Manila at 6:55 AM.
Then when you get to Cambodia, you spend a night at Phnom Penh and will have a day to check out the capital city before traveling to Siem Reap.
Day 1
06:55 Fly from Manila to Ho Chi Minh 08:30 Land in Ho Chi Minh 09:30 Hostel check-in 11:00 Saigon Central Post Office 11:45 Notre Dame Cathedral 12:00 Lunch 13:00 Reunification Palace/Independence Palace 14:30 War Remnants Museum 17:00 Go back to hostel to freshen up 18:30 Dinner
Recommended hostels: Vietnam Backpacker Hostels, City Poshtel Hostel
Related post: Backpacking Southeast Asia First Stop: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Day 2
08:00 Mekong Delta Tour: Vinh Trang Pagoda Ben Tre Island Coconut candy factory Boat tour Honey and fruit tasting at Unicorn Island 17:00 Ben Thanh Market 18:00 Walk to Ho Chi Minh Square (check out Cafe Apartment, Ho Chi Minh Monument and People's Committee Building) 20:00 Dinner
Day 3
08:30 Travel by bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia 16:30 Arrive in Phnom Penh 17:00 Check-in at the hostel 19:00 Visit the night market and have dinner
Recommended hostel: Onederz Hostel Phnom Penh
Day 4
08:00 City Tour: Visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Royal Palace Silver Pagoda Wat Phnom 18:00 Watch sunset at the Riverside 19:00 Walk to the Independence Monument 20:00 Have dinner 22:00 Go to bus station 23:00 Travel by bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Day 5
05:00 Arrive in Siem Reap, Cambodia 05:30 Early check-in at the hostel; freshen up 08:00 Angkor Wat Tour 17:00 End of the tour; rest at the hostel 19:00 Visit the night market and have dinner
Recommend hostel: Onederz Siem Reap
Day 6
08:00 Travel by bus to Bangkok, Thailand 16:30 Arrive in Bangkok, Thailand 17:30 Check-in at the hostel 18:30 Visit Chinatown and have dinner
Recommended hostels: Warm Window Silom; Nappark Hostel @Khao San
Day 7
08:00 City Tour: Grand Palace Wat Phra Kaew/Temple of Emerald Buddha Wat Pho/Temple of Reclining Buddha Wat Arun/Temple of Dawn 16:00 End of the tour; go back to the hostel to get bags 17:00 Leave for airport 21:20 Flight from Bangkok to Manila with AirAsia
Hope you find this useful. If you have questions regarding this post, feel free to leave a comment. Subscribe to my blog if you don’t want to miss any of my posts. And please follow my Facebook page @iwentanyways and like my Instagram accounts @iwentanyways and @tnadeperalta for updates. You can also check out my backpacking highlights in my IG @tnadeperalta.
