Vietnam travel guide, one country at a time

Written the way the questions arrive: where to go, how long each place needs, what it costs, and the paperwork nobody explains well. Every figure is checked against a source rather than repeated from other travel writing.

Vietnam travel is five kinds of decision. Start with a place for where to go in Vietnam month by month, or with a Vietnam itinerary if you know only how many days you have.

Destinations

50 places

Every place on this site, grouped north to south. Vietnam runs 1,650 km end to end and its three regions keep different weather, so where you go decides when you should go. Each hub below covers what a place is actually like, what it costs, how long it needs and the months to avoid.

Hai Duong

Hai Duong sits between Hanoi and Hai Phong with a pine-covered pagoda, the temple of a Tran general, and the mung bean cake every Vietnamese knows.

Thai Nguyen

Thai Nguyen grows the tea Vietnam drinks, ninety minutes north of Hanoi. Where the hills are, what a kilo costs, and what else the province is for.

Lang Son

Lang Son is the Chinese border province northeast of Hanoi: wholesale markets, cave temples in the town, and a mountain that gets frost. What to see and when.

Soc Trang

Soc Trang is a Khmer delta province with a pagoda full of fruit bats, a clay temple, and the biggest boat races in Vietnam each November. What to see and when.

Ca Mau

Ca Mau is the southernmost province of Vietnam: mangrove forest, shrimp ponds and a cape where the land is still growing. What to see and whether to go.

Tra Vinh

Tra Vinh is the Khmer heart of the Mekong Delta: Theravada pagodas, ponds, and streets roofed by ancient trees. What to see and when the festivals fall.

Dong Van

Dong Van is the town at the top of the Ha Giang loop, on a UNESCO karst plateau, with a Sunday market that fills it. When to be there and where to sleep.

Rach Gia

Rach Gia is the ferry port for Phu Quoc and the Nam Du islands, built partly on reclaimed sea. What to do with a night there, which boat to take, what it costs.

All destinations

Guides

85 guides

The practical half of a Vietnam trip: the e-visa, money, transport, connectivity, safety and the calendar. These are the pages that answer a question with a number rather than an adjective, and every figure in them is checked against a source rather than repeated from other travel writing.

Hanoi to Hoi An: fly, ride the train, or take the bus

Hanoi to Hoi An is about 800 km and there is no airport or station in Hoi An. How each option works through Da Nang, what it costs, and which one to book.

Noi Bai, and the long road into Hanoi

Hanoi's airport is 35 km from the Old Quarter. Which terminal, what bus 86 and a Grab cost, how long the drive takes, and when to leave for a flight.

Vietnam or Thailand, for someone who can only pick one

Both are cheap and easy, and good at different things. How Vietnam and Thailand compare on cost, beaches, food, routes and weather, and which suits which trip.

Da Nang airport, and the fifteen minutes into town

Da Nang airport sits 3 km from the centre, the easiest arrival in Vietnam. Which terminal, what a car costs to the beach or Hoi An, and what to skip.

Hanoi to Ha Long Bay: which transfer is worth paying for

The bay is two to two and a half hours from Hanoi by expressway. What each transfer costs, what time to leave for a cruise, and why the train is not an option.

Plugs and power in Vietnam, when an adapter is not enough

Vietnam runs 220 volts on flat and round two-pin sockets. Which plugs fit, when a US device needs a converter, and what to do about the missing earth pin.

Vietnam public holidays, and the ones that fill the trains

Vietnam gives eleven public holidays a year and two of them empty the cities onto the coast. Which dates close what, and which ones to book around.

Vietnam travel insurance, and the clause that voids it

Vietnam requires no travel insurance from tourists. Whether you need it anyway, what claims are actually made here, and the motorbike clause that voids them.

All guides

Itineraries

23 routes

Routes built around real transfer times rather than a map. Vietnam punishes over-scheduling more than most countries, because the distances are long and the good parts are slow, so each route below says what it leaves out and why.

The central highlands, and the road nobody takes

Three highland towns on one road north of Da Lat, and almost no foreign traffic on it. What each stop is for, what the driving costs, and when to go.

Two days in Hue, and the ticket that decides the first one

Hue is a walled citadel and a river of royal tombs. Which combined ticket pays for itself, what order to take them in, and the evening most visitors skip.

Three days in Sapa, and why two of them belong in the valley

Sapa town is a hotel town with a view, and the valley below it is the reason to come. A three-day route with real transfer times and where to sleep.

Two days in Ninh Binh, and the boat that decides the first one

Ninh Binh is done as a day trip and half missed. Two days, one boat river each morning, the Mua steps at the right hour, and the bicycle between them.

Three days in Hoi An, and the day that belongs outside it

Hoi An is small enough to walk in an afternoon and rewards three days anyway. A route built around the hours the old town is worth being in.

Vietnam off the beaten track: two weeks for a second trip

A route through Cao Bang, Ba Be, Ly Son and Phan Rang for people who already did Hanoi and Hoi An. Longer roads, fewer beds, and what that costs.

Ten days in northern Vietnam, and the loop that fits

Ten days is the length at which Ha Giang stops being a sacrifice. The route, what it costs, and the two nights most people should give back.

One week in central Vietnam, and what the extra days buy

Five days covers the centre; seven lets you stop. Where the extra two days go, why the Hai Van pass beats the tunnel, and when the coast is wrong.

All itineraries

Things to do

112 things to do

What there is to do once the cities are seen: the beaches, the treks, the caves, the water, and what works with children. Most of these have a season attached, and several have a permit or a licensed operator, which is the part that catches trips out.

Christ of Vung Tau, the statue you climb inside

A 32 m Christ on a headland above Vung Tau, with a staircase inside it and two viewing platforms on the arms. The climb, the dress code and the lunch closure.

St Joseph's Cathedral, and the pagoda that stood there first

Hanoi's neo-Gothic cathedral went up in 1886 on the site of a Ly-dynasty pagoda. When you can go in, what happens at Christmas, and the tea corner outside.

Ho Thuy Tien, the abandoned water park outside Hue

A water park that opened unfinished and emptied out, with a dragon aquarium standing in a lake. What is left, how access keeps changing, and how to get there.

Linh Phuoc, the pagoda built from broken crockery

A Da Lat pagoda surfaced in smashed ceramic, with a dragon made of beer bottles and a bell people write on. What is there, and how the heritage train fits.

Tra Que, the herb village that supplies Hoi An's plates

A few hectares of herb beds between Hoi An and the sea, fertilised with lake weed. What grows there, what a visit involves and whether the class is worth it.

Lang Biang, the mountain Da Lat is measured from

A two-peak massif above Da Lat with a jeep road to a viewpoint and a longer walk behind it. What each version costs, what you see, and when the cloud wins.

The tomb of Khai Dinh, built in concrete and resented

The last great Nguyen tomb is blackened concrete over eleven years of raised taxes. What is inside the mosaic room, how many steps there are, what it costs.

Ban Gioc, the waterfall that is half in another country

Ban Gioc is the largest waterfall in Vietnam and the border runs through it. When the water is full, what the bamboo raft buys, and how long the road takes.

All things to do

Food

56 food guides

What to eat in Vietnam and where, from the dishes that belong to one city to the ones every menu carries. Vietnamese food is regional in a way that surprises visitors: the same dish changes name and flavour between Hanoi and Saigon, and breakfast is the meal that matters most.