Ha Long Bay, terraced rice fields, the food and an intense history make Vietnam a destination people fall in love with.
Vietnam is a long, narrow country stretching more than 1,600 km from north to south, and that shape explains much of its appeal: in a single trip you go from mountains of terraced rice fields and bays full of limestone islets, to chaotic, vibrant cities, to a tropical delta of rivers and floating markets. It is cheaper still than Thailand, with spectacular food, an intense history — the war is still very present — and an energy on the street, above all the sea of motorbikes, that is like nowhere else.
The classic route runs end to end. In the north sits Hanoi, the capital with its labyrinthine old quarter, the famous Ha Long Bay and the mountains of Sapa and Ha Giang. The centre holds what many consider the loveliest part: the imperial city of Hue, the lantern town of Hoi An and the beaches of Da Nang. In the south is Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), frenetic and modern, plus the Mekong Delta and islands like Phu Quoc. Most people do it north to south, or the reverse, in two or three weeks, combining domestic flights, trains and sleeping buses.
The best of it is how far your money goes and the variety of landscapes and climates within one country; what surprises you at first is the traffic — crossing the street among thousands of motorbikes is an art you learn, walking slowly and steadily — and the fact that the climate varies so much between north and south that it is almost never 'the good season' everywhere at once.
The local currency is the Vietnamese dong (VND), a currency with a great many zeros: prices easily run into hundreds of thousands or millions, which is confusing at first. Carry a fair amount of cash, because many small shops, markets and transport operators do not take cards; there are ATMs in the cities but they usually charge a fee, so withdraw larger amounts at once. In very touristy areas US dollars are sometimes accepted, though you are almost always better off paying in dong. Check the day's rate and watch the notes: several have similar colours and it is easy to confuse a 20,000 with a 500,000.
Full converter for VND →Most international flights arrive at Hanoi (Noi Bai airport, HAN) in the north or Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon (Tan Son Nhat, SGN) in the south; Da Nang (DAD) is a good third gateway for the centre. There are direct routes from London, Paris, Frankfurt and other European hubs, while from North America you connect through Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Doha or Dubai. Inside the country, the fastest way to cover long distances is the very cheap domestic flights with VietJet Air, Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways. For more scenery there is the historic Reunification Express, which links Hanoi and Saigon along the whole coast with sleeper berths for the overnight legs, and the sleeping buses, cheap and widely used between cities. A classic in its own right is a one or two-night cruise on Ha Long Bay. Over short distances you move by taxi, on the Grab or Xanh SM apps, or by renting a motorbike.
Vietnam is so long that there is almost never one ideal date for the whole country at once, and that is the key to planning it. Broadly, March-April and October-November are the most balanced months for travelling the length of it, because they avoid the worst extremes in all three regions. The north (Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long) has a cool winter from December to February, genuinely cold in the mountains, and a hot, wet summer; its best moments are spring and autumn.
The centre (Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang) has its dry season from February to August, ideal for the beach, and a season of heavy rain from September to December that sometimes floods Hoi An. The south (Saigon, the Mekong, Phu Quoc) is warm year-round, with a dry season from November to April and rain, in short downpours, from May to October. If you are going to one region only, choose on that basis; if you are crossing the whole country, aim for spring or autumn. Watch out for Tet, the lunar New Year between late January and February: it is beautiful but many businesses close and transport is overwhelmed.
Vietnamese food is fresh, light and among the best — and cheapest — in the world. The flagship dish is pho, a rice noodle soup with an aromatic broth and meat, eaten at any hour and above all at breakfast. Other essentials: banh mi (a baguette sandwich, a French inheritance, filled with meats, pâté and pickled vegetables), fresh spring rolls (goi cuon), Hanoi's bun cha (noodles with grilled pork), Hoi An's cao lau and white rose dumplings, and the very strong Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk (ca phe sua da) or Hanoi's famous egg coffee.
You eat on the street, sitting on plastic stools, and that is where the best and cheapest food is: a bowl of pho or a banh mi costs USD 1.50 to 3, verified July 2026, and a full meal at a local stall rarely passes USD 4 to 5. Look for the stalls with the most local traffic. The local beer — Bia Saigon, Bia Hanoi, or the very cheap draught bia hoi — goes down well. Tipping is not customary at street stalls; in tourist restaurants rounding up is appreciated.
Vietnam is a safe country for travellers: violent crime against tourists is rare and you can move around comfortably. What you do need to guard against is petty theft and minor scams, above all in Saigon, where phones and bags snatched from a moving motorbike are the most common problem: do not walk along looking at your phone, and do not leave it on the table of a café that opens onto the street. Other typical traps: taxis with rigged meters — use the Grab or Xanh SM apps — wrong change given through the confusion of notes with many zeros, and tourist mark-ups at markets, where you haggle. The biggest real risk, as across the region, is motorbike accidents.
There are no compulsory vaccinations, but hepatitis A and typhoid are recommended, and guard against dengue with repellent: there are mosquitoes, especially in the south and in the rainy season. Tap water is not drinkable: always drink bottled. Public healthcare is limited; the big cities have good international clinics but they are expensive, so travel insurance with solid medical cover is essential. The emergency numbers are 113 for police, 115 for ambulance and 114 for fire; they do not always answer in English, so having your accommodation's contact details to hand helps, verified July 2026.
Vietnam is even cheaper than Thailand and among the destinations in the world where money goes furthest. On a backpacker profile you travel comfortably on USD 25 to 35 a day; a mid-range profile runs USD 50 to 70 a day; and from USD 100 a day you travel with real room to spare, with good hotels and the odd cruise or excursion, verified July 2026. These figures exclude the international flight, the most expensive part of the trip.
Concrete references, July 2026: a hostel dorm bed costs USD 6 to 12 and a decent private double USD 15 to 30. A banh mi or a bowl of pho on the street runs USD 1.50 to 3 and a meal at a tourist restaurant USD 5 to 10. A short Grab ride, by bike or car, costs USD 1 to 3; an overnight sleeping bus between cities USD 10 to 20; a domestic VietJet flight USD 25 to 50 booked ahead. A one-night Ha Long Bay cruise runs USD 80 to 150 per person with meals included. Renting a scooter for a day is USD 5 to 8, and a local beer under USD 1.
The language is Vietnamese, tonal and hard to pronounce, but written in the Latin alphabet with a great many accents, so you can at least read names and signs. English is basic and more common among younger people and in tourist areas; download Google Translate offline. There is etiquette worth respecting: take your shoes off entering homes and temples, cover shoulders and knees at religious sites, never touch anyone's head or point with your foot, and use both hands to give or receive something as a mark of respect. Vietnamese people are reserved at first but very warm; a smile opens doors.
The plug is type A/C, taking flat or round pins, and the voltage is 220 V, so European devices work directly while North American ones may need a converter as well as an adapter; a universal adapter helps either way. Connectivity is excellent and extremely cheap: buy a tourist SIM or eSIM from Viettel, Mobifone or Vinaphone on arrival, around USD 5 to 10 for plenty of data, or pick one up at the airport. Two pieces of advice from having been there: learn to cross the street walking slowly and without stopping so the bikes flow around you; and always carry cash in dong and small notes, because the confusion over all those zeros is the most common way to be short-changed.
Vietnam is an S-shaped strip of land stretching more than 1,600 kilometres along the South China Sea, with two large, fertile deltas at either end (the Red River delta in the north and the Mekong delta in the south) joined by a mountain range and an endless coastline. That geography explains almost everything: two rice baskets separated by mountains, a giant neighbour to the north that tried to annex it for a thousand years, and a position on the sea routes that drew merchants, missionaries and colonial powers. The history of Vietnam is the story of a people who became a nation by resisting, first China, then France, then the United States, while never stopping their push southward.
Here you'll find the bronze drums of the Dong Son culture, more than two thousand years old; the Hindu kingdom of Champa, with its red-brick towers looking out to sea; a Confucian imperial court in Hue; the French-style brick of Hanoi and Saigon; and the scars of the most filmed war of the 20th century. This is that long history, told with dates, names and figures, including the hardest stretch, the wars of independence and reunification, handled soberly and with sources.
Read the full history of Vietnam →Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
