Things to Do In Vietnam for a Wonderful Vacation

Known For : Overnight Cruise in Halong Bay Sung Sot Cave Day Cruise in Halong Bay

Nearly 2,000 limestone islands rise out of Halong Bay, and almost every Vietnam package includes a night on the water. Overnight junks sail from Tuan Chau harbour, about 2.5 hours by road from Hanoi, and the standard one-night route takes in Sung Sot Cave, Ti Top Island and a kayak session in a quiet lagoon. Two nights buys you the emptier Bai Tu Long and Lan Ha routes. Cruises run year round, but April to June and September to November give the clearest skies.

Best Time: March to May, October to November

53 Halong Bay Attractions

Ba Na Hills is a French-built hill station at around 1,500 m, 42 km west of Da Nang, and it appears on almost every Vietnam package sold in India. The Sun World cable car up holds a Guinness record for the longest non-stop single-track line at 5,801 m and takes about 20 minutes. At the top sit the Golden Bridge, a mock French village, the indoor rides of Fantasy Park and the Linh Ung pagoda. Go early: cloud usually closes in after midday and queues build from 10 AM.

The Golden Bridge opened in 2018 on Ba Na Hills, a 150 metre walkway held up by two weathered stone hands. It is reached only by the Ba Na cable car, so the ticket is the same one you buy for the hill station itself. Come before 10 AM or after 4 PM if you want a photo without a queue behind you, and expect cloud most afternoons.

Hoi An's old town is a 15th to 19th century trading port left almost intact and listed by UNESCO. One ticket covers entry to five of the 22 heritage buildings, among them the Japanese Covered Bridge, the Tan Ky old house and the Fujian Assembly Hall. The core is closed to cars for much of the day, so it is walked or cycled. Come back after dark when the lanterns go on.

Vietnamese food leans on fresh herbs rather than heat: coriander, mint, Thai basil and betel leaf, with the baguette and the coffee left over from French rule. Work through pho and bun cha in Hanoi, cao lau and white rose dumplings in Hoi An, and banh mi and banh xeo in the south. Street stall bowls run around VND 20,000 to 35,000. Guided food walks operate in all three cities.

The Viet Cong dug roughly 250 km of tunnels at Cu Chi, 40 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, and used them through the war for shelter, supply and command. Guides walk you past booby traps and open a widened crawl section you can go down into. There is a firing range and a tapioca snack at the end. Half day trips run from Saigon; entry is VND 90,000 on top of the tour.

The Mekong splits into nine channels here, which is why Vietnamese call it the River of Nine Dragons. Day trips from Ho Chi Minh City run to My Tho and Ben Tre for sampan rides, coconut candy workshops and bee farms. Two-day trips reach Can Tho and the Cai Rang floating market, which is busiest between 5 and 7 AM. The dry season, December to April, is easiest.

Best Time: November to May

Known For : Fansipan Cable Car Fansipan Mountain Cat Cat Village

Sapa sits at 1,500 m in the Hoang Lien Son range and is the main trekking base in Vietnam. Day walks drop into the Muong Hoa Valley through Hmong, Dao and Tay villages, and two-day routes add a village homestay. Fansipan, at 3,147 m, is the highest peak in Indochina. March to May and September to November are the reliable months; winter is cold and foggy.

Best Time: March to May, September to November

31 Sapa Attractions

Vietnam is the world's second largest coffee exporter, and the robusta grown around Buon Ma Thuot is what fills the phin filter on your table. Order ca phe sua da for iced coffee with condensed milk, egg coffee in Hanoi where it was invented, or coconut coffee further south. Cafes open at dawn and are the standard place to wait out the midday heat.

The Old Quarter is Hanoi's 36 streets district, where each lane was named for the guild that once worked it: Hang Bac for silver, Hang Gai for silk, Hang Ma for paper. Most Hanoi hotels, bia hoi corners and street food stalls sit inside it, all within walking distance of Hoan Kiem Lake. The streets around the lake close to traffic on weekend evenings.

The thung chai is a round bamboo basket boat, and the ride through the water coconut palms at Cam Thanh, about 5 km from Hoi An, lasts under an hour. Boatmen spin the basket on the spot, cast a throw net and show how locals trap crabs. It is short, cheap and works well with children, so most people bolt it on to a Hoi An half day.

The Hai Van Pass is a 21 km climb on the old Route 1 between Hue and Da Nang, topping out at 496 m with the sea on one side and the Truong Son range on the other. Most traffic now uses the tunnel underneath, which leaves the road quiet. Riders take it on a rented motorbike with a bag transfer, usually as the Hue to Hoi An leg, and it runs two to three hours with photo stops. A car and driver works just as well.

The War Remnants Museum in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, sets out the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese side across themed floors, including the Requiem photography collection and the Agent Orange rooms. Captured US helicopters, tanks and aircraft sit in the courtyard. Allow about two hours. It is confronting in places and not suited to young children.

Gia Long, founder of the Nguyen dynasty, began the Hue Citadel in 1804, and it stayed Vietnam's imperial capital until 1945. Of roughly 160 buildings inside the walls, only about ten survived the Vietnam War. What is left, including the Purple Forbidden City where the emperor lived and worked, takes two to three hours to walk. Hue sits between Da Nang and Phong Nha on the north-south route.

Tam Coc means three caves, and the rowing boats on the Ngo Dong River pass through all three under limestone cliffs in about two hours. The rowers work the oars with their feet. The paddy on either side turns gold in late May and early June. Trang An nearby is the longer route and Bich Dong Pagoda is a short cycle away. Ninh Binh is about 100 km south of Hanoi.

Fansipan is the highest peak in Indochina at 3,147 m, and the cable car from Sun World in Sapa reaches the top station in about 20 minutes instead of a three-day trek. It holds two Guinness records, including a 6.3 km span. From the upper station it is 600 steps or a short funicular to the summit marker. Cloud is common, so go on a clear morning.

Water puppetry started in the flooded rice fields of the Red River Delta and is now staged on a waist-deep pool with the puppeteers hidden behind a bamboo screen. Thang Long Theatre in Hanoi runs several shows a day and the Golden Dragon Theatre in Ho Chi Minh City is the southern equivalent. Shows last about 50 minutes with live traditional music.

Sapa's terraces are cut into the Muong Hoa Valley and are greenest from June, turning gold in September and early October just before harvest. A day of easy cycling links Y Linh Ho, Lao Chai and Ta Van, all Hmong and Dzay villages. Riders with more time take the Sapa Loop by motorbike over two to three days. The gradients are steep, so hire a guide if you are new to it.

Known For : Sao Beach VinWonders Phu Quoc Grand World Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc is Vietnam's largest island, off the Cambodian coast, and now the country's main resort destination for Indian travellers. Long Beach and Sao Beach cover the sand; the Hon Thom cable car, VinWonders and Grand World cover the rest. Direct flights run from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. November to March is the dry window.

Best Time: December - March

40 Phu Quoc Attractions

Hoi An dims its street lights on the fourteenth day of each lunar month and the old town runs on silk lanterns and candles floated down the Hoai River. Expect folk singing, bai choi games and the Japanese Covered Bridge lit up. Because it is monthly rather than annual you can plan a trip around it; the Lunar New Year edition draws the biggest crowd.

Hoi An has several hundred tailor shops, and made to measure clothing is the souvenir most visitors leave with. Pick fabric on day one, take a fitting the next morning and collect before you fly out, so allow two full days in town. The Central Market and the silk and lantern stalls cover everything else.

Ben Thanh in District 1 has been Ho Chi Minh City's central market since 1914, with roughly 1,500 stalls under one roof selling coffee, cashews, dried fruit, silk, lacquerware and copies of everything else. Opening prices are quoted for tourists, so counter low. The food hall inside is a reliable first stop for banh xeo and bun thit nuong, and a night market takes over the surrounding streets after 7 PM.

Five limestone and marble hills south of Da Nang, each named for one of the elements. Thuy Son is the only one open to visitors, with a lift up and steps down through Huyen Khong Cave, a bomb-scarred chamber holding a Buddhist shrine. Allow about two hours and go early. It sits on the road between Da Nang and Hoi An, so it slots into a transfer day.

Known For : Ponagar Temple Watersports at Nha Trang Beach Long Son Pagoda

Nha Trang is Vietnam's main beach resort, a 6 km crescent of sand backed by promenades, resorts and a working city. It is also the country's diving base, with day boats out to Hon Mun island. Add the Cham towers at Po Nagar and the Vinpearl cable car across the bay. The sea is calmest from January to August.

Best Time: January to August

45 Nha Trang Attractions

Classes usually start at a wet market, where the cook walks you through herbs, rice paper and fish sauce grades, then move to a kitchen for three or four dishes: fresh spring rolls, pho, banh xeo or a clay pot. Hoi An versions add a basket boat transfer to a garden kitchen. Half day formats are the norm and most operators handle vegetarian requests.

Phong Nha Cave runs 7,729 metres into the karst and is reached by boat along the Son River, which flows out of its mouth. Only the first 1,500 metres are open, taking about an hour. The wider Phong Nha-Ke Bang park also holds Paradise Cave, Dark Cave and Son Doong, the largest cave passage in the world, which is permit-only and books out roughly a year ahead. The park sits between Hue and Hanoi.

My Son is a cluster of Cham brick towers built between the 4th and 14th centuries, most of them dedicated to Shiva. Of more than 70 structures, around 20 survive, the rest lost to bombing in 1969. It is about 40 km southwest of Hoi An, and the first tours of the morning avoid both the heat and the coaches. Cham dance is performed on site.

Cat Ba is the largest island in the Halong Bay archipelago and the base for Lan Ha Bay, which is quieter than Halong itself. Cat Ba National Park covers about half the island, and the Ngu Lam viewpoint trek takes around two hours return. Kayaking, rock climbing and boat trips all run from the harbour. Ferries connect from Haiphong and Halong City.

Bia hoi is fresh draught beer brewed that morning with no preservatives, poured at the junction of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen in Hanoi's Old Quarter. Drinkers sit on plastic stools spilling onto the pavement and the street fills from about 6 PM. Food stalls around the corner handle dinner. It is a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake.

Known For : Quad Biking in Mui Ne Surfing in Mui Ne Kitesurfing in Mui Ne

Mui Ne is the one place in Vietnam where sand dunes meet the sea. The red dunes sit near town and the white dunes are around 25 km further out, usually done as a sunrise jeep trip with sand sledding. Steady cross-shore wind makes this the country's kitesurfing centre from November to April. It is roughly four hours from Ho Chi Minh City by train or bus.

Best Time: Throughout the year

14 Mui Ne Attractions

Known For : Crazy House Datanla Waterfalls Cathedral of Da Lat Diocese

Da Lat sits at 1,500 m in the southern highlands and stays cool all year, which is why canyoning works here. The standard Datanla route runs about five hours and takes in an abseil down a 25 m waterfall, cliff jumps and a natural water slide. Operators supply harness and wetsuit. Da Lat is roughly six hours from Ho Chi Minh City by road.

Best Time: December - March

29 Da Lat Attractions

The north-south line covers 1,726 km between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and the fastest SE services take about 34 hours end to end. Most travellers ride one leg rather than the whole thing: Hue to Da Nang is the best three hours of it, hugging the coast over the Hai Van Pass. Soft sleeper berths are worth the difference over hard seats.

Wholesale trade on the Mekong still happens boat to boat, with each trader hanging a sample of what they sell from a tall pole. Cai Rang near Can Tho is the largest and starts at about 5 AM, so you need to overnight in Can Tho to catch it working. Phong Dien is smaller and less touristed. Numbers have thinned as bridges and roads have improved.

Saigon Central Post Office was completed in 1891 and still works as a post office, with a barrel-vaulted hall, wrought iron arches and two painted colonial-era maps at the far end. Buy a card at the counters inside and post it there. It faces Notre Dame Cathedral and Book Street, so the three together take about an hour.

The Cham Islands are eight granite islands about 15 km off Hoi An, protected as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Speedboats take under an hour and day trips combine snorkelling over the reef, a fishing village walk and lunch on the beach. Boats do not run through the October to February monsoon. Overnight homestays are possible on Hon Lao, the main island.

Da Lat's Clay Tunnel is a trench sculpted out of red basalt clay, rebuilding the city's landmarks in miniature: the railway station, the Crazy House, the cathedral. A large dragon guards the entrance and Infinity Lake at the far end is the photo stop. It is about 10 km from the centre, takes an hour, and is usually paired with Tuyen Lam Lake.

The Ao Dai Show at the Culture House in Da Nang's Ngu Hanh Son district traces the ao dai from Nguyen dynasty court dress to the modern school uniform, across an hour of dance and live music. It is also billed as the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Show. A good indoor option for a wet evening, and tickets are usually available on the day.

Known For : Ba Be Lake Hua Ma Cave Puong Cave

Ba Be is built around the largest natural mountain lake in Vietnam, three connected basins ringed by limestone and home to 65 mammal species and the rare Vietnamese salamander. Boat trips take in Puong Cave and Dau Dang Waterfall, and Tay stilt house homestays at Pac Ngoi are the usual overnight. It is around six hours north of Hanoi, so give it two nights.

Best Time: November to April

5 Ba Be National Park Attractions

The Perfume Pagoda, or Chua Huong, is a Buddhist complex set in caves about 60 km southwest of Hanoi. Its festival opens on the sixth day of the first lunar month and runs through the third, drawing pilgrims by rowing boat along the Yen stream and then up to Huong Tich Cave on foot or by cable car. Go on a weekday; weekends are shoulder to shoulder.