Vietnam's diverse natural
environment, geography, history, and culture have created a great potential
for the tourism industry. Vietnam’s environment includes long coastlines,
forests, and mountainous areas with beautiful caves. As well, Vietnam has a
history and culture of ancient architectures, religions and cults, and
traditional festivals.
Vietnam has a long coastline that
extends along the eastern boundary of the country and wraps around the southern
tip for 3,260 km, a distance geographically longer than the length of the
country. Traveling from north to south, tourists will find many beautiful
beaches where, all year round, they can stay and enjoy the excitement of the
seaside. There are more than 20 beautiful beaches along the coastline, such as
Tra Co, Halong, Do Son, and Sam Son in the north and Danang, Nha Trang, Vung
Tau, and Ha Tien in the south. Especially, tourists can visit Halong Bay, which
is a
Vietnam is a tropical country in the
northern hemisphere. With its geographical diversity, the country has inherited
many famous natural tourist sites such as Sapa, Tam Dao, Bach Ma, and Dalat.
These sites are usually located 1,000 meters above sea level; therefore, they
have climates that are similar to those of the temperate zones. Dalat is an
ideal tourist area, famous for pine forests, waterfalls and many kinds of
beautiful flowers. Coming to Dalat, tourists are diverted by the strong and
tender melodies of the T’rung and Gongs, two typical musical instruments of the
highlanders commonly played at evening parties.
Vietnam has many famous national
parks, which are great collections of precious plant and animal species of the
tropical zone. The most famous national parks include Cuc Phuong in Ninh Binh
Province, Cat Ba on Cat Ba Island, Con Dao on Con Dao Island, etc. There are
several regions in Vietnam that have been reserved as bird gardens and
sanctuaries. At Tam Nong Bird Sanctuary, there is a garden conservatory for
redhead cranes, established as an information center for cranes funded by the
International Fund for Bird Protection in Bergheim, Germany.
Vietnam has abundant mineral water
sources found throughout the country, such as Quang Hanh hot stream in Quang
Ninh Province, Hoi Van mineral spring in Binh Dinh Province, Vinh Hao mineral
spring in Binh Thuan Province, Duc My stream in Nha Trang, and Kim Boi mineral
spring in Hoa Binh Province. These areas have become resorts for health
rehabilitation and relaxation attracting numerous visitors every year.
Vietnam has a long 4,000-year history,
over which many valuable architectural heritage of rich oriental culture have
been built. Many of these vestiges maintain their ancient appearances, such as
the One Pillar Pagoda and Kim Lien Pagoda in Hanoi, Pho Minh Tower in Nam Dinh
Province, Binh Son Tower in Vinh Phuc Province, Tay Dang Temple, Chu Quyen
Temple and Tay Phuong Pagoda in Ha Tay Province, Keo Pagoda in Thai Binh
Province, and But Thap Pagoda and Dinh Bang Temple in Bac Ninh Province. In the
villages of the Central Coast of Vietnam, Cham Towers are the remarkable
vestiges of this lost civilization. In particular, the royal architectures of
Hue Ancient Citadel were recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Also, other world heritage, including Halong Bay, My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An
Ancient Town, Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, and the intangible heritage
such as Nha Nhac (Hue Royal Court Music) and Space of Tay Nguyen (the Central
Highlands) Gong Culture, are invaluable assets.
