When people ask me what I think of Vietnam, I always have to tell them I'm of two minds about travelling there. On the one hand, it is one of the most incredible countries I have visited; the vibrant chaos of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City blew me away, Halong Bay with its karst limestone islands is easily one of the most impressive sights in the region, and exploring a Vietnamese food market is arguably the ultimateSoutheast Asia cultural experience.
On the other hand, I should admit that backpacking Vietnam left a slightly bitter taste. The typical attitude of the Vietnamese towards visitors can be quite nasty, which has the potential to spoil your mood. Scams and tourist exploitation are more commonplace than elsewhere, which requires some awareness. (More on this further down the page.)
Fortunately, the many positives of the country do outweigh the few negatives...
Things to do in Vietnam
Enjoy the hustle and bustle of the big cities
No other place in South-East Asia gave me more of a sense of wonder thanHanoi. It's a strange, frenzied place. I hadn’t felt this way about a city since I saw the craziness of Tokyo... but while a city like Tokyo is like an anthill—in that beneath its madness is a precise and orderly system—Hanoi is just pure chaos and anarchy. There are so many scooters around that the city makes you feel more like you’re caught in a giant swarm of wasps. Much in Vietnam takes place on the street; people eat and drink there, get their haircut, read the newspaper and play games.
I arrived in Vietnam in the north, so for me Hanoi was the first major Vietnamese city I got introduced to. Those who start from the South will usually be more enthralled by Ho Chi Minh City instead, so it really depends on where you get your first exposure to the insanity of Vietnamese city life. Either way, I recommend getting lost and spending some time people-watching, because immersing yourself properly in the Vietnamese city life is really one of the best things to do.
Check out the local Vietnamese markets
While there are interesting local markets all over Southeast Asia, it's the markets in Vietnam that often struck me as the most vibrant and interesting. The smells and sights are something I will not easily forget. At one point I saw some salesmen walk in with a giant tub covered by a net... I was expecting it to be filled with chickens or ducks, but instead it was filled to the brim with live frogs. They keeled over the tub, and started processing the frogs... by picking them up, cutting their head off with a pair of sciccors, and then manually gutting it with their bare hands. That's not what I typically see at my organic local produce market at home!
In the mekong delta area you'll find lots of amazing floating markets where people come in on their small boats selling fruits and vegetables fresh from the countryside. People might even dock next to you and offer you things for sale.
Marvel at the temples around Hue
Many people make a stop at Hue mainly to see the Imperial Citadel, but keep in mind that nearly everything at this site was bombed in the war so it is unfortunately not the greatest sight around. Fortunately Hue is still very miuch a worthwhile city to go, and it's great to spend a day visiting some of the nearby Tombs of the Emperorswhich are all mostly still intact. They provide some interesting examples of Vietnamese Buddhist aesthetics and architecture, and are well wroth a visit.
Visit the fishing village of Mui Ne
While the town of Mui Ne itself did not impress so much and neither did its beach (razor-thin and even fortified with concrete in places due to erosion), the sights in and around Mui Ne are not to be missed. The old fishing village is extremely picturesque and is famed for its colourful fishing boats. There is also a great littleriver canyon walk nearby, as well as white sand dunes where you can watch the sunrise or try sliding down the dunes on a board.
Read This: Cool Things To Do In Mui Ne
Above: the picturesque Mui Ne fishing village
Rent a motorbike and explore the countryside
While the Vietnamese city life is one thing, many say that you haven't seen the real Vietnam until you go into the countryside, preferably by motorbike. It's very easy to rest a motorbike in Vietnam (license is optional...) and many travellers go either north-to-south or south-to-north by motorbike for part of their trip. Some rental companies will deliver your backpack at your next destination if you don't want to carry it by bike. It is a great way to see more of the Vietnamese landscapes than you would see if you only travel by bus or train.
Relax in the quiet town of Hoi An
Hoi An is mainly famous for being the one place where you can get custom-tailored clothes at rock bottom prices. Many a traveller leaves Hoi An with a tailor-made suit or dress in their backpack!
Beyond that, it's also a generally charming, quiet and pedestrianized town—which stands in strong contrast to the major cities I described above. While Hoi An is very touristy, it isn't too in-your-face about it, which I really like. There are a couple of interesting sights in the area and there is a decent beach nearby, so it makes for a good base for a couple of nights.
Indulge in Vietnam's incredible food
Vietnamese food is simply amazing. And the best examples of Vietnamese cuisine you are not necessarily going to find in a restaurant. Be sure to try the street food. Order some Pho (rice noodles) from a street cart, preferably from some old lady who's no doubt been making this same dish on this same street corner for all her life and knows just how to make it perfectly.
Lots of local eateries where seating only consists of little plastic chairs offer some truly delicious stuff. Try the spring rolls, or the summer rolls (Gỏi cuốn) which are not fried but fresh and come in many varieties. These are of course just the most famous dishes; this article has a list of 20 Vietnamese dishes that are worth looking out for on your menu.
Get your "Pho" fix from a place like this...
Incidentally, try the coffee too. It's usually served as a small but strong cup with a bunch of syrupy sweetened condensed milk. While not to everyone's liking, it's definitely different from anywhere else. Avoid the fresh beer however: it's locally brewed super cheap beer offered in many restaurants (and often used to lure customers in), but it tastes like water from a ditch (to put it mildly :).
Party in Nha Trang
Nha Trang as a beach destination is really not that great: the waves are too rough, and the rampant city development too ugly. But truth be told, it's a pretty amazing place to party. Not only are drinks cheap, but you'll find a plethora of bars and clubs. Before you know it you find yourself on a spontanious bar crawl, perhaps eventually ending the night at the abtly named "Why Not?" bar. The beach, while far from a tropical paradise, is nevertheless a good place to wallow through your hangover the next day.
Gain a new perspective at the war museums
Of course, there is Vietnam's war history, and there are a good number of museums dedicated to them. The war remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh City is especially a must-visit, though expect it to be uncomfortable, heart-wrenching and sometimes shocking. After your visit you may in fact want to sit down for a while to process it all. While it is government-run and clearly one-sided, it does add a crucial perspective to the predominantly American-written history of the Vietnam war.
Visit the tunnels of Vinh Moc
Not too far north of Da Nang and Hue are the tunnels of Vinh Moc, an elaborate complex of shelters built by villagers during the war. The tunnels were a success and no villagers lost their lives, though they had to live in absolutely awful conditions. It's a very insightful place to see, and there are also the similar Cu Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City in the south of Vietnam.
Learn about the war from a veteran
There are a number of tour companies employing Vietnamese war veterans as guides, particularly around the former DMZ near Da Nang and Hoi An. This is an incredibly personal way of learning about the Vietnam war. The 'sights' around the DMZ are honestly difficult to appreciate without a guide, as they are barely visible ruins for the most part, but get a veteran to explain to you what happened there and these sites become so much more significant. Highly recommended if you are interested in the history.
Other things to see & do
- Of course, there is Ha Long Bay, the archipelago of karst islands that will make you feel like you've discovered a secret pirate cove. It is in many respects Vietnam's main attraction, though your experience will depend much on the time of year. I went in the off-season during winter and it was somewhat of a letdown as it was far too cold and misty, and nearby Cat Ba island was essentially a ghost town. Many others I've spoken to who went in summer or spring had a much better time.
- The Mekong Delta in the south is another major attraction, or at least it's advertised as such. I recommend against going on any of the cookie-cutter 1 or 2 day tours here however as you'll just be cynically herded from tourist trap to tourist trap. It's hugely standardized and offered as part of many pre-packaged holidays, and was honestly the least worthwhile thing I did in Vietnam. That's not to say the Mekong Delta is not worth exploring; try instead to visit some of the floating markets independently, or ride around the region by bike.
- While I haven't been (simply because bad weather made me head south), Sapa in the far north is famed for its rice terraces and makes for a great base for hiking.
- Vietnam is not really a "beach paradise" type of place as most beach destinations pale in comparison to those in neighboring countries. But one major exception seems to be Phu Quoc island in the very south, which travel friends described to me as being gorgeous with their pictures very much confirming this!
Vietnam itineraries
I usually don't like to give super detailed day-by-day itineraries as I think travel is largely about exploring things your own way. But it's still good to know some of the key destinations.
Take a glance at a map of Vietnam and you will immediately notice it's unusual elongated shape. This means that Vietnam itineraries roughly all follow the same route, either north-to-south or south-to-north. So choose whether you want to start in Hanoi or in Ho Chi Minh City and then work your way to the other end of the country.
In the north the main places to see are Hanoi, the UNESCO world heritage site of Ha Long Bay, and the town of Sa Pa (or Sapa) which is famed for its rice terraces. I've heard excellent things about Tam Coc (which I sadly had to miss), which has a karst landscape similar to Ha Long Bay except set among the rice fields and rivers.
In the middle of the country you will find primarily Hue and the town of Hoi An famed for its tailors. The area north of here was also where the north and south vietnam clashed during the war, and around what was once the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) you can learn much about the war.
In the south the must-see place is Ho Chi Minh city, which was once the south's capital. A popular sightseeing destination nearby is also the Mekong Delta, though keep in mind the cookie-cutter tours here are not much to write home about.
Your Vietnam itinerary can cover many more places of course, but these are typically the places most people include. If you want to cover all of Vietnam and not rush too much, you probably need at least 2 to 3 weeks. Any less and you should definitely start to narrow things down. The south of Vietnam is the most visited part.
How to get around
You can go by bus and buy a multi-stop ticket in advance. Friends of mine did this though felt constantly restricted in which buses they could use with their combination ticket, so it may be better to book buses one by one (this is what I did, and I was happy I took this approach).
Another great option is to go by train—Vietnam actually has a great train network and taking night trains is especially convenient when covering longer distances. I did this between Hanoi and Hue and thought it was a fantastic way to travel. You can go all the way from north to south or vice versa using trains.
Finally, it's easy to rent motorbikes and this gives a chance to see the countryside and go off the beaten track.
Lowlights
Scams & Vietnamese attitude towards tourists
I should note first of all that impressions are always subjective, and there are always exceptions to every rule. However, based on my experiences as well as those of many people I spoke with, I should say that the Vietnamese attitude towards tourists can leave a sour taste. That shouldn't discourage you from going, but it's good to know what to expect.
As a visitor in Vietnam you are sometimes given the impression that they see you purely as a resource to be exploited, which means you will often be cheated, or treated like cattle on tours. Scams are also very prevalent in Vietnam, and you have to be more vigilant than in other neighboring countries. If you let the attitudes towards tourists get to you, it could spoil your mood.
To give you an idea, while in Vietnam for one month I was targeted by scammers falsely posing as representatives of the Red Cross, got in an aggressive confrontation with a cab driver who tried to charge me the equivalent of $80 USD for a 5 minute ride, got hit by a menu switching scam in a restaurant, and was unfairly overcharged numerous times. Also, at one point a wild monkey ran off with my beer, though I'll try not to blame that on Vietnam.
You might tell me that I should expect this, or that it happens everywhere, or that maybe I was unusually unlucky. But it really seems to be much more of a problem in Vietnam. For an additional perspective, check out this article by Nomadic Matt. While my conclusions are not as strong, I can definitely see where he is coming from. If you are going to Vietnam, I recommend reading up on common scams beforehand, and if you do get stung try not to let it affect your enjoyment of an otherwise amazing country.
Related Links
- Charlie On Travel has a great cost breakdown for travelling Vietnam on a budget
More info on Vietnam
On my destination pages I try to mix general information with a bit of personal flavor. Hope you find it useful!
There are a couple of resources I use myself when researching a destination. The first I want to mention is WikiVoyage, a free collaborative wikipedia-style travel guide. Since it's collaboratively written it lacks the personal touch (and the information on specific accommodation can often be outdated compared to other sources), but the site is absolutely perfect for high-level research. You can find the WikiVoyage page for Vietnam here.
Another little-known website that has a lot of useful information isTravelIndependent.info. It is specifically geared towards budget/backpacker style travel and has some great destination info.
I do also use *gasp* guidebooks! I have used Rough Guides occasionally (and I like them) but my favorite guidebook publisher is still Lonely Planet. People will sometimes refer to the Lonely Planet as "The Book" or "The Bible", and it's easy to joke about newbie travellers who clutch their Lonely Planet a bit too tightly. Nevertheless I find these guides to be indispensible sources of information; their maps and itineraries in particular are some of the best around. As long as you use them as aguide and not as a rule they can help you save a lot of time in figuring out a rough main thread for your journey from which you can improvise the rest. You can check out theVietnam Lonely Planet here. These days they're made available digitally as well (whole or by specific chapter).
Finally, for general travel advice that you can use in Vietnam or anywhere, check out my book Travel the World Without Worries. It deals with such topics as how to plan a trip, how to "wing it with a plan", how to budget your trip and reduce your expenses, dealing with language, safety or health related issues, how to pack the smart way, how to make your experience more unique and adventurous, and much much more. I've poured two years of continuous travel experience into trying to write a comprehensive guide, so be sure to have a look
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