🇻🇳Vietnam

Discover Vietnam

In-depth guides to help you travel Vietnam like a local — cities, culture, food, and practical tips.

Travel Guides

Is travel insurance mandatory for Vietnam? Entry rules and what border officers check in 2027

Vietnam welcomed over 17 million international arrivals in 2025, and the number keeps climbing. With that volume comes a flood of questions about entry requirements. One of the most persistent: do you actually need travel insurance to get in?

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Vietnam visa for US citizens: e-visa, 5-year visa, delays and fake sites

American passport holders can enter Vietnam on a 90-day e-visa for US$25 to US$50, but the process fails for predictable reasons: mismatched passport data, amendment requests that never arrive by email, and paid ads that imitate the official portal. This guide walks through the official application,

Vietnam for students and gap year travelers: budgets and visas

Vietnam remains one of the best value destinations in Southeast Asia for students and gap year travelers. A bowl of pho costs less than a bus ticket in most Western cities. Hostel beds go for the price of a coffee back home. And the country stretches 1,650 kilometers from north to south, giving you

Vietnam visa exemptions: which nationalities can enter visa-free

Vietnam's visa policy changed more in the last three years than in the previous decade. The country now offers visa-free entry to citizens of 36 countries, expanded the e-visa program to cover most nationalities, and extended stay durations across the board. For many travelers, the question is no lo

Long Beach, Phu Quoc: the complete guide to Bai Truong

Long Beach is the reason most people end up in Phu Quoc without quite planning it. The island's main runway of sand, known locally as Bai Truong, stretches about 20 km down the west coast, and almost every road, resort and seafood shack on this side of the island is pinned to it. It is not the prett

Vietnam package tour from Manila price: the 2027 complete guide

A Vietnam package tour from Manila can cost anywhere from $350 to over $1,500 per person for 5 days, depending on inclusions, hotel class, and season. This guide breaks down real prices, what you actually get for your money, and where tour packages quietly add costs that a self-planned trip avoids.

Do Indians need a visa for Vietnam transit?

Indian passport holders transiting through Vietnam face confusing rules that vary depending on whether they stay airside, clear immigration, or catch a domestic connection. This guide explains exactly when a visa is required, when it is not, and how to avoid being denied boarding.

Bai Tu Long Bay: the quieter side of Ha Long, and how to choose a cruise

Everyone planning a trip to northern Vietnam's limestone seascape runs into the same question: Ha Long, Bai Tu Long or Lan Ha? The three sit within the same geological formation, share the same water, and appear in the same brochures. They are not interchangeable.

Vietnam trip cost from India for couple: Complete 2027 budget guide

Planning a Vietnam trip as a couple from India means navigating a maze of conflicting price estimates. Package tours quote lump sums that hide real costs. Blog posts use outdated numbers from 2023. This guide breaks down every expense for two people in 2026, from visa fees to street food, so you can

Marble Mountains in Da Nang: caves, pagodas, the lift and the monkeys

Most guides tell you the Marble Mountains are worth a visit and leave you unprepared for the 40,000 VND ticket, the 15,000 VND lift, the slippery marble steps, and the fact that the monkeys everyone mentions are not actually here. This guide covers what you will really find across the five limestone

Temple of Literature in Hanoi: tickets, dress code and what to look at

The Temple of Literature is Vietnam's first university, founded in 1070, and the single best place in Hanoi to understand why this country treats exam success as a national virtue. This guide gives you the practical facts (tickets, hours, dress code, transport) and then decodes the five courtyards i

Visa Vietnam for Moroccans: Complete Guide 2027

You are Moroccan and dreaming of discovering Vietnam? Good news: the eVisa is now accessible. But be careful, the rules changed in 2023 and pitfalls are numerous. This guide gives you all the factual information to obtain your visa without any nasty surprises.

Ho Chi Minh mausoleum: opening hours, free entry and the dress code

The mausoleum opens only five mornings a week, closes for roughly two months every year, and turns away visitors daily for wearing shorts. Entry is free, but the rules are strict and rarely explained clearly. This guide covers the exact hours, the dress code, security screening and the rest of the B

Independence Palace in Ho Chi Minh City: tickets, opening hours and what to see

The Independence Palace is where the Vietnam War ended on 30 April 1975, and it remains one of the most intact presidential buildings in Southeast Asia. This guide answers the practical questions that decide whether a visit works: which ticket to buy, how the opening hours actually function, what to

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi: tickets, opening hours and what not to miss

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is widely called the best museum in Hanoi, yet most travellers arrive unprepared. They turn up on a Monday when it is shut, budget one hour for a site that needs three, or skip the outdoor garden that is the real reason to come. This guide covers the tickets, the timi

Tam Dao National Park: the complete guide to Hanoi's mountain escape

Tam Dao is the closest thing Hanoi has to a mountain retreat. On a clear morning you can stand on a stone church terrace at 900 metres, look down through cloud, and understand why the French built a hill station here in 1902. It is not Sapa. It is not Ha Giang. It is a small, strange, often foggy to

Long Bien bridge in Hanoi: the complete guide to the city's steel survivor

Long Bien Bridge is not a monument you visit and tick off. It is a working piece of infrastructure that happens to be one of the most photographed, most walked, and most emotionally loaded structures in Vietnam. Trains still cross it. Motorbikes still stream over it. Farmers still sell vegetables on

Tran Quoc pagoda in Hanoi: opening hours, dress code and what to see

Most guides tell you Tran Quoc Pagoda is free and open all day. Both claims are wrong or incomplete. The pagoda closes at midday, the dress code is enforced at the gate, and the stupa everyone photographs is only about 25 years old, not 1,500. Here is what you actually need to know before you go.

Which website is legit for a Vietnam visa? The complete 2027 guide to official portals, scams, and safe alternatives

Every day, travelers overpay by $50 to $200 on third-party visa websites. These sites simply resubmit your information to the free government portal and pocket the difference. Some go further. They enter your passport details incorrectly, lose your registration code, or disappear when your applicati

Train Street Hanoi: the complete guide to Phung Hung and the railway alley

The first thing to understand about Train Street is that it is not a tourist attraction. It is a working railway line that runs through a residential neighbourhood in Hanoi's Old Quarter, and the people who live along it are not performers. They are families who have hung laundry, parked motorbikes

Vietnam visa for Indian citizens: Complete 2027 guide

Indian travelers planning a trip to Vietnam in 2026 face a maze of visa options, conflicting information online, and changing regulations. This guide cuts through the confusion with current, verified information on every visa pathway available to Indian passport holders, including the little-known v

Vietnam e visa processing time urgent

You have booked the flight. The hotels are confirmed. Now you are staring at the Vietnam e-visa application wondering: will it arrive in time?

Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi: the complete guide to the Old Quarter's landmark bazaar

Dong Xuan Market is the largest covered market in Hanoi and the anchor of the Old Quarter's northern edge. It has burned down, been rebuilt, survived war and now sells everything from wholesale fabric to plastic souvenirs. This guide covers what you actually see inside, how to get there, what to pay

How long does it take to get a Vietnam visa from the USA?

You have a flight to Vietnam in two weeks. Can you get a visa in time? The answer depends on which visa you choose, how carefully you fill out the application, and whether you account for Vietnamese public holidays. This article breaks down every option with exact processing times, real costs, and t

Vietnam E-Visa 2027: Step-by-Step Guide, Rejections & Traps

How to apply for Vietnam's e-visa in 2026 on the official portal, why applications get rejected, and the third-party scams quietly tripling the $25 fee.

Basket boats in Hoi An: a complete guide to the Cam Thanh coconut forest

The round basket boat is one of the strangest and most photogenic objects in Vietnam. It has no keel, no bow and no stern. It looks like a giant woven bowl, and it spins on the water like a coin. At Cam Thanh, a water coconut forest on the eastern edge of Hoi An, hundreds of these boats carry visito

Central Post Office in Saigon: the complete guide to Ho Chi Minh City's colonial landmark

The Central Post Office in Saigon is one of the few working buildings in Vietnam where the architecture matters more than the mail. Every day thousands of people walk through its arched entrance on Cong xa Paris square, look up at the steel vaulting, take the same photograph, and walk out again. Tha

Linh Son Pagoda in Da Lat: the complete guide to the city's hilltop sanctuary

Linh Son Pagoda is the one major religious site in Da Lat that most visitors walk past without noticing. It sits on a low hill just off Nguyen Van Troi street, a few minutes from the lake, and it does not have the postcard drama of the Crazy House or the cable car. What it has instead is something r

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City: the complete guide to Saigon's red-brick landmark

Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon is the single most photographed building in Ho Chi Minh City, and it has earned that status honestly. Two brick towers, a rose window, and a facade built from material hauled 12,000 kilometres from France sit in the middle of a traffic roundabout in District 1

Hon Thom cable car in Phu Quoc: tickets, prices and what the ride is really like

Most visitors to Phu Quoc see the cable car before they understand what it is. From the beaches of the south coast, a line of towers marches out across the water toward a green island on the horizon. It looks like a fairground ride. It is actually the longest non-stop three-wire cable car in the wor

Cat Cat Village in Sapa: tickets, hours, how to get there and whether it is worth it (2027)

Cat Cat is the easiest Hmong village to reach from Sapa town, only 2 km away, and also the most commercialised. This guide gives the practical facts (ticket, hours, route, return options, timing) and an honest verdict on who should go, who should skip it and what to do instead.

Son Tra Peninsula travel guide: what to see, how to get there and what to avoid

Son Tra Peninsula is the green headland that frames Da Nang, and most guides stop at "rent a motorbike and go". This guide covers what travelers actually need: how likely langur sightings really are, what a foreign rider needs legally, which roads and trails are restricted, when the weather shuts th

Sung Sot Cave (Surprise Cave), Ha Long Bay: tickets, access and how to visit

Sung Sot Cave is the most visited cave in Ha Long Bay, yet it cannot be reached on its own. It sits on Bo Hon Island, and getting there takes a boat, a bay entrance ticket and a decent timing strategy to avoid the crowds. This guide covers what the visit is really like, what it costs in 2026, whethe

Nam Du Islands travel guide: ferry, permits, costs, best season and where to stay

Nam Du is a small archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand that few foreigners reach, and the information online is scattered and often out of date. Competitor pages disagree on whether foreigners need a permit, how long the ferry takes, and whether electricity even works. This guide gives a verified, st

100 things to know before traveling to Vietnam

Visas, seasons, money, scooters, health, etiquette and food: 100 things to know before traveling to Vietnam, fact-checked and updated for October 2026.

Temple etiquette in Vietnam: what to wear, do and avoid

Vietnam has over 14,000 pagodas and temples. You will encounter them everywhere. In Hanoi’s Old Quarter, a small temple hides behind every fourth shopfront. In Hue, the Imperial Citadel contains dozens of altars. In the Mekong Delta, floating pagodas sit on stilts above muddy water.

How to dress for Vietnam in April: a complete packing guide for every region

April in Vietnam is not one climate. Hanoi is warm and drizzly, Sapa has cool nights, Hue and Da Nang are dry and hot, and Ho Chi Minh City is at its hottest of the year just before the rains arrive. Dressing for a national average guarantees discomfort somewhere on the itinerary.

Vietnam Solo Travel 2026: A Safety Guide for First-Time Women

From bag-snatch hotspots to female-only sleeper buses — the real safety playbook for women landing alone in Vietnam in 2026.

Trang An boat tours: the complete guide to Ninh Binh's karst waterways

Trang An is not a single attraction. It is a 6,172-hectare landscape of limestone towers, flooded valleys, and river caves that Vietnam submitted to UNESCO in 2014 as a mixed cultural and natural World Heritage site. The boat tour through its waterways has become the signature experience of Ninh Bin

An Bang Beach, Hoi An: practical guide to access, costs, season and where to stay

An Bang is the easiest beach to reach from Hoi An, but most online guides mix outdated prices, conflicting distances and "sunset over the sea" claims that do not match reality. This guide explains what the beach is actually like, what it costs (free entry, but not free sunbeds), when swimming is saf