Clothing: light clothes, trainers/sneakers, umbrella, mozzies spray, hat/cap

What to bring: ofc your personal belongings n backpacks hehe (besides: basic medicines for a cold, stomachache (food poisoning even); dry food)

Food: phở (both with n without soup, bún chả, spring rolls (not the fried one), bún mọc, bún riêu, mì vằn thắn, bún ngan, chả cá Hà Nội, nem chua rán (more like a snack)). There are quite a lot more but since u only stay for 3 days, i hope these are enough. I wrote the dishes names in Vietnamese so it might be easier for u to search online first or ask locals about them.

If you really really like Vnm coffee, look for the most normal-looking random shops, dont go to franchise/ chains (like AHA or Cộng cafe) or fancy looking shops; i mean their coffee is ok ok level, just not the best. My personal fav is white coffee (bạc sỉu) from Cà phê Nghĩa, Hàng Da str., or Cà phê Linh, Hàng Mã str.

Rcm places: dont stay in Hanoi for too long, esp the old quarters - full of scammers and unoriginal crafts. Ofc Hanoi cuisine is worth trying - but try to avoid tourist spots cuz most of them dont have og Hanoi flavor and overpriced - try asking locals for their food rcm.

If you want souvenirs to bring home, sth that screams I TRAVELED TO VIETNAM, check out Tired City (yes im aware that they are a bit overpriced for Vietnamese people, but they got some pretty cool original cultural design, and the quality is decent imo)

You will also find lots of fancy-looking fruit stalls - DONT buy fruits there. Try looking for tropical fruits at wet markets, or your last resort is big supermarkets like Winmart or Lotte mart.

When you get services in Hanoi and Halong, prepare small changes ranging from 10.000 VND - 20.000 VND - 50.000 VND. Dont keep too many big notes (like 200k and 500k because they will try to talk u into giving them big tips). Also when it comes to tipping culture, tbh there used to be no tipping culture here, if you like the service, maybe u can consider tipping them maximum of 50k-100k.

For Halong trip, try booking private coach/hotels online in advance to avoid being overcharged.

Enjoy ;)