Discover Vietnam

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

September is the month when Vietnam splits into very different climates: wet and humid in Hanoi, cool and misty in Sapa, storm-exposed on the central coast, showery in the south. A single "hot and humid, pack linen" list fails in at least three of those zones. This guide gives zone-by-zone clothing,

Bun Cha Huong Lien in Hanoi: the Obama bun cha restaurant, menu, prices and opening hours

A decade after Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain sat on plastic stools here over bun cha and Hanoi beer, Bun Cha Huong Lien is still the most visited bun cha restaurant in Hanoi. This guide covers the practical side of a visit: how to find 24 Le Van Huu, when to avoid the queue, what the Combo Obama

Lam Vien Square and Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat: the complete guide

Lam Vien Square and Xuan Huong Lake are the first things most visitors see in Da Lat, yet most guides reduce them to a photo stop beside a shopping centre. This guide treats them as one visit, in the order a visitor walks it. It covers where the lake came from, what the two glass domes are, what eac

Bún thịt nướng: the complete guide to Vietnam's grilled pork noodle bowl

Bún thịt nướng appears on nearly every Vietnamese menu worldwide, yet almost every page ranking for it is a recipe. This guide explains what is actually in the bowl, how locals mix and eat it, how it differs from Hanoi's bún chả, where to find a good one in Vietnam, and what it should cost. It also

Where to exchange money in Hanoi: the best rates around the Old Quarter

You have landed in Hanoi with dollars or euros and need dong for pho, Grab rides and Old Quarter street stalls. Should you use the gold shops of Ha Trung street, a Vietcombank counter, the airport booth or an ATM? This guide compares every option at address level and explains which notes to bring, h

South Vietnam travel guide: regions, best places, seasons and costs for 2026

"South Vietnam" means two different things: a country that disappeared in 1975 and a travel region that now draws millions of visitors. This guide separates the two, then maps the real south, from Saigon and the Mekong Delta to the southern highlands and the offshore islands, with seasons, transport

Tomb of Minh Mang in Hue: history, what to see, tickets and how to get there

The Tomb of Minh Mang (Hiếu Lăng, "Tomb of Filial Piety") is the most formal and symmetrical of the Nguyen imperial tombs, and the least forgiving of a rushed visit. It sits 12 km from central Hue, laid out along a 700 m axis of gates, courtyards, water and pavilions. Published guides disagree on th

Tam Cốc-Bích Động: entrance fees, boat ride, best season and where to stay (2026 guide)

Tam Cốc-Bích Động draws more visitors than almost any site in northern Vietnam, yet the practical details shift depending on who you ask. Fees are quoted per boat by some sources and per person by others. Opening hours are vague. The rowers' tipping culture rarely gets an honest paragraph. This guid

Thành hoàng and the đình: Vietnam's village guardian spirits and communal houses

Vietnamese villages have long had a tutelary spirit (thành hoàng) and a large wooden hall (đình) where the village honours it, held festivals and once ran its affairs. Visitors often walk past these halls, or mistake them for pagodas, without understanding what they are looking at. This guide explai

Saigon in 3 days: a first-timer's city itinerary

Three days is enough to see the essentials of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), but only if the days are sequenced around opening hours, heat, rain and traffic. Most itineraries list the same ten landmarks without saying how long the transfers take, when sites close or what to do when a storm hits at 3 pm.

Saigon to Nha Trang in 7 days: Mui Ne, Da Lat and the south-central coast

Saigon, Mui Ne, Da Lat and Nha Trang look easy on a map. In practice the route puts about 13 hours on the road, crosses three very different climates and demands two mountain transfers. Seven days is enough to see all four stops, but only if the plan is honest about what a one-night stop costs you i

Ốc: snail street food in Saigon and Hanoi, what to order and how to eat it

Ốc menus can list 20 to 30 shellfish, most with no English and no photos. The right order depends on three choices: the shellfish, the cooking method and the sauce. This guide decodes all three for Saigon and Hanoi, explains how to eat each shell without embarrassment, gives realistic prices and say

Saigon, Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc in 7 days: a southern Vietnam itinerary

Seven days can cover a megacity, a river delta and a tropical island, but only if the transfers are planned honestly. Plenty of published routes hide the awkward leg between the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc, or fold Da Lat and Mui Ne into a "south Vietnam" label that turns a week into a blur of bus sea

Do they speak English in Vietnam? Where it works, where it doesn't and how to get by

Yes, in hotels, tour desks and big-city cafés. Often no, at a market stall, in a rural clinic or with a motorbike driver in the hills. Published sources disagree wildly on how many Vietnamese people speak English, so this guide sets the statistics aside. It shows what actually happens in each city a

Is Vietnam still communist? What the political system means for travelers

Visitors see red flags, Ho Chi Minh portraits and busy private shops side by side, and many wonder how those fit together. This guide answers the question in plain terms, explains how the system is organised, and covers what it means on the ground: what is on display, which holidays shape a trip, an

Mekong Delta Without a Tour: An Independent Travel Guide

Skip the disappointing day tours: a 2025 step-by-step guide to visiting the Mekong Delta independently — exact buses, prices, bases, and timing.

Ninh Binh Cycling Routes: Real Itineraries Through Rice Paddies & Karst

Four tested cycling routes through Ninh Binh's rice paddies and karst, with real rental prices, exact backroads, and honest seasonal advice for 2025.

Xôi: Vietnamese sticky rice, types and where to eat it for breakfast

Xôi is sold from baskets and steaming pots on almost every Vietnamese street corner before 8 a.m., yet most visitors cannot tell xôi xéo from xôi mặn, or work out what to say at the stall. This guide covers what each type is, where it comes from, what it costs and how to order it, including for vege

Bánh chưng: Tet's square sticky rice cake, how it's made and eaten

Banh chung sits on every Tet table in northern Vietnam, yet most English-language guides stop at the Lang Lieu legend and a recipe. What is actually inside the leaf, why a cake needs eight to twelve hours of boiling, how it is cut and served, where to buy one in Hanoi, and whether you can legally ca

Van Hanh Zen Monastery in Da Lat: history, architecture and how to visit

Search for a Zen monastery in Da Lat and most of what comes back describes Truc Lam: the vast lakeside complex on Tuyen Lam Lake, the cable car, the long stone stairway. Van Hanh is a different place entirely. It is smaller, closer to the city, and built around a hilltop statue that you can spot fro

Hoi An ancient town ticket: price, where to buy it, what it includes and whether it is checked

Every guide to Hoi An mentions "the ticket", but published sources disagree on what it costs, how long it lasts, which sites it opens and whether it is needed just to walk the streets. This guide sets out the official ticket system in one place: the price for foreigners and Vietnamese visitors, the

Thanh Hoa Bridge (Hàm Rồng): history, how to visit and what to see

The Hàm Rồng Bridge over the Mã River is one of the most documented bridges of the 20th century, yet almost no page tells a traveller how to reach it, where to stand, what remains on the hills around it, or whether it is worth a stop between Hanoi and central Vietnam. This guide pairs the history, t

Hu tieu My Tho: what it is, how to order it and where to eat it in Vietnam

Hu tieu My Tho is the best-known noodle soup of the Mekong Delta, and one of the most misunderstood dishes in Vietnamese food writing. Search for it and you will mostly find restaurant listings in Texas or Georgia, or home recipes that skip the context entirely. This guide covers what makes the My T

Bánh chuối: a traveller's guide to Vietnamese banana cake

"Bánh chuối" is not one dish. Depending on the stall, the name can mean a glossy steamed cake with coconut sauce, a dense caramelised baked loaf, or a crisp fried fritter. This guide sorts out the types, explains how each is eaten, shows where in Vietnam each is strongest, and gives realistic prices

Lang Biang Mountain near Da Lat: the legend, hike or jeep, fees and how to visit

Lang Biang is sold as "the roof of Da Lat", yet many visitors cannot tell whether they will end up on the 2,167 m summit or on a jeep-accessible radar viewpoint. Published sources also disagree on the height, the fees and where the legend's statues stand. This guide separates legend from history, hi

Kiss Bridge and Sunset Town in Phu Quoc: history, tickets and how to visit

Kiss Bridge is one of Vietnam's most photographed new structures, but published sources disagree on its ticket price, show times and even what is free. This guide explains what the 800 m walkway and the Mediterranean-style resort district behind it really are. It also covers when to stand where, how

Moc Chau travel guide: when to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to see

Moc Chau is a highland plateau of tea hills, plum orchards and dairy farms in Son La province, about 180 to 200 km from Hanoi. Photos make it look like a compact, year-round flower garden. The reality is a spread-out agricultural plateau where the blooms are short and unpredictable, and where weeken

Meo Vac night stop and Sunday market: a complete guide to the Ha Giang plateau's biggest weekly market

Meo Vac is the last big stop on the Dong Van plateau route and the site of the area's largest weekly market. Most visitors arrive on the wrong day, leave too early, or sleep in Dong Van and miss the best hour entirely. This guide explains why Meo Vac matters, what the market looks like stall by stal

Viet Hai village, Cat Ba: history, how to get there, what to see and whether it is worth the detour

Viet Hai is a small farming and fishing community inside Cat Ba National Park, reached by a boat-and-road combination or a long forest trek. Published sources disagree on the distance, the household count and even the best way in. This guide explains where the village came from, what a visit looks a

Con Market in Da Nang: what to see, eat and know before you go

Con Market is where Da Nang shops and eats. It is also where published sources start to disagree: on the address, on the hours, and even on how old the place is. This guide settles what can be settled, walks through the market in visiting order, and says plainly who should make the detour and who sh

Bui Vien Street, Ho Chi Minh City: hours, prices, safety and whether it is worth visiting

Bui Vien is free to enter, loud until the small hours and very different by day and by night. This guide covers when the street is pedestrian-only, what a night out costs in VND, how to arrive and leave safely, which rules apply to visitors, and who should skip it and head to Nguyen Hue or a quieter

What is Vietnam famous for? An honest guide to its food, landscapes, history and culture

Pho, Ha Long Bay, conical hats, motorbikes and the war. Most travelers arrive with these images already loaded, but few know which icons still deliver, which have quietly become tourist traps, and when each one is at its best. This guide covers what Vietnam is genuinely famous for and how to experie

Vietnam or Thailand: an honest comparison for first-time travellers

Three weeks of leave, one set of flights to book, and two countries that look interchangeable on a map but deliver completely different holidays. This guide compares them on the things that actually decide a first trip: money, weather timing, beach quality, food, ease of travel and visa paperwork. N

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 for LGBTQ+ travelers: safety, laws and welcoming destinations

Vietnam is not Thailand. That is the first thing to understand. The country does not have a sprawling, commercialized LGBTQ+ tourism industry, nor does it market itself as a queer paradise. What it offers instead is something quieter: a society where same-sex relationships are legal, generally toler

Vietnam and Laos in three weeks: border crossings, routes and timing

Three weeks is enough to see the best of both Vietnam and Laos without rushing. But only if you choose the right border crossing and route. Many travelers waste days backtracking. Others end up stuck at the wrong checkpoint with no visa facility. This guide breaks down every land border option, the

Balut (hột vịt lộn) in Vietnam: what it is, how to eat it and whether to try it

Hột vịt lộn, the fertilised duck egg boiled with the embryo inside, sits on almost every street corner in Vietnam. Most travellers know it only from challenge videos and a vague sense of dread. This guide explains what is actually inside the shell, how Vietnamese people eat it every day, what to say

Travel insurance for stays over 3 months in Vietnam (French only)

Dong Khoi Street: the complete guide to Saigon's most storied boulevard

Dong Khoi is the street every visitor to Ho Chi Minh City walks at least once, usually without quite knowing why it feels different from the rest of District 1. It is short, barely a kilometre from the river to the cathedral, and it holds more of the city's history per metre than any other road in V