Things to Do in Vietnam

Vietnam is best travelled top to bottom and its three regions have three climates, so the route is built around the month. This page groups the country by region and interest so you can see what a fortnight actually holds, then points you to the tours page.

Hanoi and the north

Hanoi is the old capital and the country’s restrained heart: the Old Quarter’s thirty-six streets each named for what it once sold, Hoan Kiem lake at dawn with the tai chi, the Temple of Literature, Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and stilt house, the French Quarter’s opera house and villas, a water-puppet show, and a street-food culture — pho at 6 am on a plastic stool, bun cha at lunch, egg coffee — that is the best in the country. Three nights, then the day trips and overnights: Halong Bay or its quieter twin Lan Ha Bay on an overnight junk (never the day boat), 2,000 limestone islands rising from the Gulf of Tonkin; Ninh Binh’s “Halong on land” at Tam Coc and Trang An by rowing boat between the karsts; Sapa’s rice terraces and Hmong and Dao villages by the overnight train or a five-hour road, for a trek and a homestay; and Ha Giang’s mountain loop for the party with a week.

Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An

The imperial centre and the beach. Hue was the Nguyen emperors’ capital: the walled citadel and the Forbidden Purple City, the royal tombs scattered along the Perfume River (Minh Mang, Tu Duc, Khai Dinh) by boat and bicycle, the Thien Mu pagoda, and the spicy imperial cuisine. Over the Hai Van Pass by car, Da Nang is the modern coast city with My Khe beach, the Marble Mountains and the Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills; and thirty minutes south, Hoi An is the fifteenth-century trading port preserved whole — the Japanese bridge, the Chinese assembly halls, the merchant houses, lanterns at night, tailors who make a suit in two days, cooking classes, basket boats in the coconut palms, and An Bang beach twenty minutes away. My Son’s Cham ruins are the day trip. The centre is dry from February to August and floods from October to December; Hoi An’s old town is a walk at 7 am and after 9 pm and a crush between.

Saigon and the Mekong

Ho Chi Minh City is the country’s engine, and Saigon to everyone who lives there: the War Remnants Museum, which is hard and necessary; the Reunification Palace; the Notre Dame cathedral and the central post office; Ben Thanh market and the Binh Tay market in Cholon, the Chinatown; the rooftop bars of District 1; the street food of Districts 3 and 4 by scooter tour at night; and the Cu Chi tunnels, an hour out, where the war was fought underground. The Mekong Delta is a day or, better, a night from the city: the floating markets of Cai Rang at dawn from Can Tho, the orchards and the canals of Ben Tre by sampan, the homestays. Phu Quoc, off the Cambodian coast, is the beach island with the airport; Con Dao, off the south, the remote one with the turtles and the prison history. The south is dry from December to April.

The beaches

Vietnam has 3,000 km of coast and Australians treat it as the beach at the end of a culture trip, which is right. Da Nang’s My Khe for the long resort beach by the city; An Bang for Hoi An; Nha Trang for the bay city and the islands; Quy Nhon for quiet; Mui Ne for the dunes and the kitesurfing; Phu Quoc for the resort island; Con Dao for the remote archipelago. The centre is the season from February to August, the south from November to April; two or three beach nights after Hanoi–Hue–Hoi An–Saigon is the standard.

The mountains and the minorities

Sapa and its terraces; Ha Giang’s karst loop by car with a driver, the most spectacular road in the country; Mai Chau’s valley of stilt houses a day from Hanoi; Bac Ha’s Sunday market of the Flower Hmong; the central highlands at Dalat, the French hill station with the pine forests and the coffee. The north’s mountains are best in October–November and March–April; the terraces are green in June and gold in September.

By interest