Travel to Vietnam

Tips, recommendations and Sightseeing Information !

Our travel to Vietnam was mainly in the northern and central regions of Vietnam, so I will give you all the information you need to enjoy a Vietnam vacation in these regions.

I look forward to others who have spent time in the south, sharing their experiences of travel to Vietnam. If you would like to tell us about your recommendations and travels in Vietnam, please do send it in. We would all love to hear about it.

Beautiful Hanoi

The city spans the Red River, and is set around several lakes. With a population of 5 million, this bustling city is divided into the Old Quarter, where most tourists base themselves, and the French Quarter .This is where government offices are located and expatriates and local workers live.

With fascinating streets alive with activity as the locals go about their daily lives, walking is the best way to get a real feel for this beautiful city.

Shopping is a colourful experience, and the walking routes take you through streets where one type of commodity is sold......in every shop. Thus you can visit everything from shoe street, to the pots and pans street.When you travel to Vietnam, you no doubt have a shopping list! While you can have clothes tailored in Hanoi, Hoi An is a better option for quality.

Museums There are many beautifully presented museums, including the

• Temple of Literature, which is wonderful. The gardens and design were totally unexpected. Don’t miss it!
• Memorial House was another that really appealed to me.
• Ngoc Son Templereached by the bright red Huc Bridge
• The Water Puppet theatre
• Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum
• Bonsai collection
are all uniquely Vietnamese in their presentation.

Note : Museums in Vietnam are closed on Mondays and usually for a two hour lunch break.

Once you have explored Hanoi city, there are many day trips well worth taking. This region has been blessed with beautiful mountains, karst cliffs, lakes, rivers and forests.Travel to Vietnam will always involve viewing beautiful pagodas and shrines, mausoleums, museums, and temples, which all add to an enriching experience.

Perfume Pagoda I can highly recommend the Perfume Pagoda day tour.It was one of the highlights of our travel to Vietnam. Perfume Pagoda is actually an area – with about 38 pagoda’s. It is a full day tour, with a real variety of experiences. With a picturesque bus ride through the countryside, a boat down the river, visiting two very beautiful and interesting Pagoda’s, and a gondola ride giving magnificent views, topped off by an excellent meal, this is a fantastic full day.

Halong Bay is probably the most popular tour from Hanoi. Travel to Vietnam would not be complete without at least one night on a Chinese junk. This is tourism at it’s peak. You will not be on your own! But it is a very scenic area of Vietnam, and a special experience.

You can take an overnight train, or as my family did, ride their motorbikes one way and take the train back. You would need to allow a good week for this option. Close to the Chinese border, the spectacular scenery and still traditional ethnic H’mong and Dzao people, who can still be seen in their traditional dress.

Fanispan – Vietnam’s highest peak( 3143m) takes 2, normally three days for those wanting to test themselves. You will need to take full camping gear, and need to hire a guide and/ or porter to carry your gear.

Central Vietnam - Hoi An , Hue and beyond

Vietnam Day Tours

There are two restaurants you must visit in Hue. Japanese Restaurant set up by a Japanese man, Michio Koyama, to train, house and educate street children. The other is Lac Thein Restaurant run by a deaf mute man. His brother has a restaurant next door Lac Than. See Vietnam Food for other good restaurants.

Lang Co Beach

For many, travel to Vietnam is not complete without a day or two at a lovely white, sandy beach.With time to spare we stopped for a couple of hours at Lang Co Beach. It was a dull day, but we enjoyed drinks on the terrace of the hotel, overlooking the stretch of clean, white sand. In better weather, a day or three would be very relaxing. Best time to visit is between April and July.

Danang This large relatively new city is somewhat devoid of the character of the other cities. Its main attractions are the beaches including China Beach south of the city, which appeals to those wanting to enjoy some surf.

The Lonely Planet assures us it has “considerable charm”. While we did not do a major exploration the charm was well hidden! You my like to see for yourself.

Vietnam Currency

Credit Cards You can use credit cards in hotels, with usually a 2% charge.

Vietnam Travel Tips

His excellent advice served me well for the next three weeks, and I amazed myself at how fearlessly I walked out into the mass of traffic, and crossed the streets unscathed.

Touts are Very Persistent! Be Polite but Firm

You become rather hardened to the touts selling books, postcards, hats, pictures and anything that is easily carried. The cyclo drivers were almost comical................anyone is a target. Even if you have just sat down to eat a meal! They are very persistent! The best trick was to politely say “No Thank You”. If they persisted I resorted to saying – “I have already bought some.”

Do not get angry – this is seen as very bad form by Vietnamese, as it is in most Asian countries.It is best to accept it is part of travel to Vietnam.

Taking Care of Your Hand Bag!

The Hotel receptionist warned us to take care of our handbags. Apparently, guys on motorbikes will sometimes try and snatch your bag and ride off.A bag where you can wear a strap diagonally across your body is the safest.

Vietnam Food is Delicious

When you feel like something a little more familiar, there is also a wealth of excellent ethnic restaurants. Italian, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Vegetarian and more.

You will rarely be disappointed. Go to Vietnam Food for my suggestions and recommendations for food and restaurants. We were fortunate our daughter knew all the good restaurants in Hanoi after 14 months of sampling. Most would be a 20 to 23 dong taxi ride from the Old Quarter.

Getting Around – Taxi, motorbike, bike, plane and Shanks Pony!

However there are several modes of transport that will save your feet if need be.

• Cyclos – these are like rickshaws pulled by bicycles and wide enough to seat two. The drivers are persistent and will try and bail you up, even if you are sitting eating a meal in a restaurant. The funniest sight were large tour groups in tandem, riding through the city. Many holding their video cameras, capturing the fascinating sights of city life in Vietnam.However............................. I think they will need to watch their videos to see Hanoi!
• Motorbike Taxi - You can take a xe om – ride on the back of a motor bike, for a novel taxi ride. One elderly Australian lady regaled us with the thrill she had, taking a ride on a motorbike taxi. They are hanging around many of the street corners , you can’t miss them.
• Motorbikes to Hire – You can hire motorbikes from several places. However, unless you have experienced riding in the masses, and the most unusual traffic rules, this is not for the faint hearted.

Although my daughter and her partner love their bikes, and take long trips out of the city on them. If they are doing a long trip, they hire bigger bikes and have ridden to Sapa – taking several days, returning on the train, and Lake Ba-be – a six hour trip each way.

There are many drivers from the airport who will try and charge well above the correct price.......the highest she had heard was an American charged $150US!

The most reputable taxis to the airport in Hanoi are Noi Taxis
City Taxis - Within the city Hanoi Taxi (tel: 04-8535353), and Mai Linh Taxi (tel: 04-8222666), are the most reputable. If the car has no taxi sign be wary.It will not be a registered taxi.

NOTE : Always try and get an idea of the cost of your trip before you set off, as several seemed to try and take a long..........or wrong route. Also have the correct money. If you do not have the correct amount they will drive off, without giving you change!

When to Visit - Vietnam Weather

But water is not something Vietnam is likely to ever be short of, and being a long country with a variable climate, finding a time when all parts of the country are enjoying fine weather is not really possible.

However, it WILL be warm, unless you plan on being north of Na Trang from November through to February, when it can get quite cold.

It was the wet season for central Vietnam, and we missed the worst flooding in Hanoi for over two decades by less than a week. Those large, colourful, all encompassing plastic poncho’s are readily available for anything from $1 - $5US depending on the quality........................... and you will almost certainly need one at some stage!

Vietnam Visa

Hotels in Vietnam

As I have mentioned, we were emailed with the offer of a car to meet us, which saved us a lot of concerns. I can highly recommend Hostelworld as a very straightforward, hassle free booking system when you travel to Vietnam.

Computers All the hotels we stayed in had computers for guests to use, and they were considerably faster than here in New Zealand! We were impressed.

Flights to Vietnam - Getting there and Internal

Cheap Flights - Check VERY carefully - you may find in the end you are spending very similar dollars and could have had a more enjoyable trip.