8 Destinations in Vietnam You Should Go

The Cu Chi Tunnel, Mekong Delta region, Phu Quoc, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne and Sapa are seen as favourite destination for foreign tourists coming to Vietnam, according to the world’s travel search engine.

Cu Chi Tunnels

Cu Chi tunnels built in 1948 were used by Vietnam soldiers during the reistance struggles against French colonists and American imperialists. They are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Cu Chi district of HCM City.

Mekong Delta region

Floating market is the highlight of the Mekong Delta region. Visitors can experience diverse activities like rowing through mango forests, trekking, visiting fish and snake farms, and riding along tracks.

Sapa

Sa Pa is a town in the Hoang Lien Son Mountains of northwest Vietnam. Popular with trekkers, it overlooks the terraced rice fields of the Muong Hoa Valley, and is near the 3,143m-tall Fan Si Pan peak, climbable via a steep, multiday guided walk. H’mong, Tay and Dao hill tribes make up much of the local population.

Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc is the biggest island in Vietnam, which is famous for beautiful beaches. This peaceful tropical paradise, floats in the warm turquoise waters in the Gulf of Thailand, 50kms from the Vietnamese mainland and a 50 minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City 

Hoi An ancient city

Hoi An is recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.

Mui Ne

With a long, palm-lined beach, Mui Ne has steady wind conditions (in the dry season) that make it a top destination for windsurfing, kitesurfing, sailing and other water sports. It’s also a popular weekend getaway from Saigon with a busy strip of hotels, restaurants and shops.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a coastal resort city in southern Vietnam known for its beaches, scuba diving and offshore islands. Its main beach is a long, curving stretch along Tran Phu Street backed by a promenade, hotels and seafood restaurants. Cable cars cross over to Hon Tre island and the Vinpearl Resort, with a golf course, water park and fairground.

Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a popular travel destination in Quang Ninh province. It features thousands of limestone karstsand isles in various sizes and shapes.

Vietnam the beautiful wonder of Asia

The countrymen call their motherland “The Land of Dragons.” Vietnam is a land of history filled with memory of many told and untold events. The great theme of modern Vietnamese history is the Vietnam’s war of Independence and reunification.

The Vietnam War was proved to be an extremely sobering experience which caused so much suffering for the Vietnamese people. The people of the country have a well-deserved reputation for being hard workers, but they enjoy their leisure as much as anyone else. Today the largely agrarian society of the country is shifting towards a more multi-sector economy. The country has a population of 91.5 million (estimates 2011) with a wealth of dialects spoken in different regions.

President Ho Chi Minh’s name comes to mind when we remember the recent history of Vietnam. He is the best-loved and famous political figure in the country. Ho Chi Minh the founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party and leader of the revolution carried the torch of Vietnam’s independence movement for over half a century. As a revolutionist he made great contribution to the victorious Viet Minh that unified the country. Mausoleum Ho Chi Minh a monumental marble edifice at Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi was built to show the deep gratitude of the countrymen to their great leader. His remains are displayed inside the chamber of the mausoleum.

Hanoi the capital city, known as “city of lakes” is one destination for which any number of praising words seems inadequate. It is a thriving metropolis with cloud-tickling skyscrapers, numerous specialty shops, boutiques and colorful markets that unhesitatingly leap into the future.

                                                     Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

A visit to the country would remain incomplete if one doesn’t drive a 3½-hour journey on road from Hanoi to Halong Bay port. The five hour cruise in a double deck wooden boat on the bluish green waters, one can enjoy the beauty of the bay. The UNESCO world Heritage site Halong (or "Descending Dragon) Bay is situated amidst a splendid panorama. The bay covers an area of 1500-square-kilometres dotted with a cluster of 1960 lime stone islands.

                                                                   Ha Long Bay 

Hue in the center of the country is studded with many archeological sites. There is no end to the breath-taking sites visitors can see in Hue. Among those sites, feudal capital city with fortresses, temples, mausoleums, pagodas, bridges attract thousands daily. The area also offers the tourist to enjoy the riverside beauty. The Perfume River is famed for breathtaking river cruise in a traditional wooden boat.

Traveling from North to South of Vietnam can be a fantastic experience for a tourist.

Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and is situated nearly 1,700 kilometers south of Hanoi. After the end of war in 1975 the Saigon city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of this great Leader. It is a city with a rapid development, where modern buildings are rising besides the 19th century buildings. An array of giant cranes show the development fever in the city.

Among its highest-esteemed attractions are the Notre Dame Cathedral, Municipal Theater, the Re-unification palace, the Mekong River cruise, the Cu Chi tunnels and the Vietnam War Memorial Museum. The Vietnam War memorial museum is one of the most recognizable places to visit in the city. It is a living testimony to the history of the Vietnam’s war of independence and re-unification of North and South Vietnam. It is a place preserving the memories and relics of the Vietnam war.

Vietnam culture possesses several distinctive characteristics that give its own unique style. Today, the mixture of influences is apparent in art, music, dance and literature. Moreover, the fast growing tourism sector is another major pillar in the overall economic field of the country Vietnam is emerging as a strong tourist destination with number of visitors to the country climbing to 6.0 million in 2011.

Traveling to the country can be done in different ways. However the experience that a visitor gains is unforgettable. The country is home to a wide range of domestic and international airports. Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport, Da Nang and Tan Son Nhat Airport of Ho Chi Minh City are the major stop over points for many international airlines. Vietnam has a great deal to offer and is worth visiting.

10 Things you should know before travelling to Viet Nam by yourself

1. The facilities are good, use them

Before I got to Vietnam I had visions of squat toilets all over the country, like that of many other South East Asian destinations and so steeled myself for having to ‘hover’ on a regular basis.

This turned out to be a misconception and the only squat toilet I encountered was at a service station at the side of the road. Apart from this, the plumbing tends to work in much a similar way to Greece: don’t block the pipes by flushing the toilet paper down; instead use the bin provided and everything will be fine.

As with anywhere in Asia, arm yourself with plenty of tissues and antibacterial gel in case you’re caught short with no supplies. You may also be charged to use toilets if they are situated at popular tourist sites. Don’t be cheap and think you can get away with paying the minimum price unless you are male and are used to using public urinals. I made this mistake and was shown to an exposed toilet bowl with no door that could be seen from the street!

2. It WILL rain – there’s no best time to visit Vietnam

If you are travelling from one end of the country to the other, it will rain at some point during your trip. The seasons vary throughout the country and I encountered rain in both Hoi An and Hue. Even though it was still warm, the rain was heavy at times, but don’t let it dampen your fun.

Ponchos can be bought for a minimal price when you are there (the thinner plastic ones are good just for walking around whereas you should invest in the thicker, longer ones if you’re planning on riding motorbikes and cycles a lot).

Also, don’t bother packing an umbrella – it just adds to your baggage weight and even the lowest class of hotels tend to offer them free in the rooms. Note –  Make sure you return the umbrellas before you leave as you will be charged for them otherwise.

3. The trains never run on time

Once you’ve spent a few days in Vietnam you’ll realise that the Vietnamese are a laid-back people, who are never in a rush to get anywhere. This translates to their public transport system also.

Having used a few sleeper trains during my stay, it became custom to never expect to arrive at your destination at the intended time, even if you had set off within an hour of your departure time. Just go with the flow and be ready and alert to leave the train at your station when you arrive because they don’t hang around for long and you never know where you might end up if you have to stay on the train until the next stop.

4. A Halong Bay cruise is a highlight – don’t miss it out

Although Halong Bay is often criticised as being quite touristy these days, it is still a beautiful place and needs to be experienced at least once. Invest in a good tour with a decent boat and you’ll be guaranteed a delicious lunch, too.

5. The traffic is crazy

There’s no getting away from it – you will have to brave the oncoming traffic in Vietnam at some point, but it really isn’t as bad as you would expect.

6. The Great Firewall of Vietnam

Despite being impressed by the availability and speed of the free WiFi in Vietnam, there was one problem that kept occurring – in many hotels and hostels Facebook is blocked by the internal servers, meaning that access is impossible.

When you’re travelling, Facebook is sometimes your only means of communication with other travellers you have met or are planning to meet, as well as keeping in touch with friends and family back home, and so this can be frustrating.

I also found that I couldn’t even access the Facebook app on my phone in these places. Try typing the address for the beta version of Facebook into the browser and this often solves the problem, but do make sure to ask the front desk about this access issue as well, as sometimes they may not even be aware of the problem.

7. Don’t always follow the guidebook recommendations

One night in Saigon we followed our trusted guidebook to a recommended bar that sounded right up our street. After we had spent half an hour walking around and having to ask a couple of locals, we actually managed to find the place, only to discover that it was the Vietnamese version of Hooters and was full of expat males (being the only female at the bar was a bit strange, to say the least).

Even my male companions were freaked out by the ambience of this bar and we drank our beers and quickly left. Don’t always trust the guidebooks – sometimes they become out of date as soon as they are published and sometimes they’re just plain wrong.

8. ‘Karaoke Massage’ ISN’T a beauty parlour with microphones

This may sound like an obvious one, but the naïve travellers among us may still fall into the trap of believing that these establishments are harmless and non-brothel-like. The word karaoke is used to attract tourists’ attention and to get them in, and then once you’re in….who knows??

9. Pho is pronounced ‘fur’ or ‘fuh’

The most mispronounced word by travellers is the country’s national dish of noodle soup.

I have heard it called “fo”, “po” and countless other variations, yet I was advised by a local that you need to be careful what it is you are asking for exactly when you pronounce this word. The word sounded as “fo” in Vietnamese actually means “lady of the night”, so you could end up getting much more than beef noodle soup!

10. Try all of the local beers

Each town in Vietnam has its own brand of beer which is brewed locally and is often cheaper than the country’s other beers (and cheaper than the imports).

It was great fun to try each of them and see what the label designs were like and how the taste differed (although after a few who can tell?). And you must try Bia Hoi at a streetside café in Hanoi….I know sitting in a child’s chair at the side of the kerb seems insane, but hey, you’re in Vietnam! Just go with it!

10 Vietnam travel experience tourists must try

Here are 10 fun and exciting experiences that visitors should definitely try inVietnam.

1. Travel the southwestern region in the flooding season: The southwest has a sunny climate all year round so tourists can come here any time. However, it is the most special in the flooding season. 

2. See the dawn in Phu Yen Dai Lanh cape is a branch of the Truong Son Range to the sea, located in Phuoc Tan village, Hoa Tam commune, Dong Hoa district, Phu Yen province. This is the ideal venue to welcome the dawn in Vietnam, where visitors can enjoy the scenery and watch the sea in the early morning.

3. See the rice harvest season in the Northwest season Traveling to the northwest at the end of the year, visitors can admire the yellow terraces in the harvest season. The yellow color of ripe rice mixed with the green color of the mountains and forests can captivates anyone. The most beautiful places here are Nam Ty (Hoang Su Phi - Ha Giang), Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai), and terraced fields of Sapa.

4. Climbing Fansipan. Fansipan is Vietnam's highest mountain, known as the "roof of Indochina". With the height of 3,143 meters above sea level, this is a favorite destination of adventurous travelers.

5. Overnight on Ha Long Bay. Ha Long Bay is not only a popular tourist spot in the country but also to be honored in the world. As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, it is the favorite destination of many visitors.

6. Pass Cam Ranh Bay by motorcycle The road along Cam Ranh Bay in the city of Cam Ranh and Cam Lam district, Khanh Hoa province is one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world. Discovering it on a motorcycle is a wonderful experience for anyone.

7. Explore Son Doong cave Son Doong Cave in Son Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province is considered the largest natural cave in the world. It is part of the Phong Nha - Ke Bang cave complex. 

8. Dive in Panhu Quoc Phu Quoc Island (Jade Island) is the largest island of Vietnam. Phu Quoc has a wonderful natural landscape and coral reefs. The best time for visiting Phu Quoc is from December to March.

9. Enjoy the Hoi An lanterns Hoi An ancient town has an ancient, deeply enchanted beauty. Coming here, tourists should try lying on the small boat running along the banks of the Hoai River to admire the old town. 

10. Visit the grave of Ms. Vo Thi Sau in Con Dao at 0h Traveling to Con Dao Island, visitors not only get to visit and explore history through the prison system built by the French, but also pay gratitude to the souls of 20,000 revolutionaries in Hang Duong Cemetery.