Travel to Vietnam

Vietnam follows the coast of the South China Sea from the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay to the canals of the Mekong Delta, and the railway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alone runs 1,726 km. Most first trips follow that line, with stops in Hue and Hoi An, and the 90-day e-visa gives you time to do it slowly.

Our Vietnam travel tips are sorted by region and by topic: Hanoi and Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City and Southern Vietnam, Things to Do and See, Food and Drinks, Culture and General Travel Tips.

Visa and Entry Requirements for Vietnam

Since 15 August 2023, travelers of every nationality can apply online for Vietnam’s e-visa. It allows stays of up to 90 days and costs US$25 for a single entry or US$50 for multiple entries, and the fee is not refunded if the application is refused. Apply only on the official portal evisa.gov.vn, because lookalike agency sites charge extra for the same visa. Processing usually takes three to five working days. You can only enter and leave through the border gates you name in the application, so choose them before you apply.

Some nationalities need no visa for a short stay. Citizens of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland get 45 days, and since 15 August 2025 so do travelers from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic and several other European countries. Most ASEAN citizens get up to 30 days. Travelers from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand need the e-visa. A visa-free stay can’t be extended, and immigration won’t correct the date stamped in your passport once you leave the counter, so check it on the spot. Our Vietnam tourist visa guide has the full list.

Your passport needs at least six months of validity from the day you arrive and two blank pages. Since April 2026, travelers landing at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City are encouraged to fill in a digital arrival card online before the flight. It is not mandatory yet. Declare cash worth more than 15 million dong or US$5,000 at customs.

Important Cultural Information

Vietnam was under Chinese rule for about a thousand years until the 10th century, and Confucian ideas about family, age and hierarchy still shape daily life. Most homes have an altar where the family honors its ancestors with incense, fruit and photos. The Kinh majority lives mainly in the lowlands, while the mountains of the north and the Central Highlands are where many of the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups live, such as the Thai ethnic group in Vietnam.

Saving face matters. People avoid a direct no and rarely argue in public, and raising your voice gets you nowhere at a hotel desk or a market stall. Greet older people first, take off your shoes when you enter a home, and cover your shoulders and knees at pagodas and temples. People in rural areas may stare at foreigners or ask how old you are and if you are married. They are curious, and a smile and a simple answer are enough. Our guide to etiquette in Vietnam covers the details.

Vietnamese people call the conflict that ended in 1975 the American War, and most people alive today were born after it. Many are happy to talk about it, but let them bring it up. The war museums tell the story from the Vietnamese side.

Family events are the best window into everyday culture. Read about Vietnamese New Year and a Vietnamese engagement ceremony.

Money in Vietnam

The currency is the dong (VND). Notes from 10,000 to 500,000 dong are made of polymer, smaller notes are paper or cotton, and coins are no longer in use. With so many zeros, count your change and check each note before you hand it over.

Cash still runs daily life. Street food stalls, markets, small shops, motorbike taxis and many family-run guesthouses only take dong, while hotels, malls, chain cafes and city restaurants accept cards. ATMs are easy to find in the cities and towns, but foreign cards usually pay a fee for each withdrawal, so take out larger amounts less often. Change money only at banks or official exchange counters with a clear sign, as changing money anywhere else is illegal. Haggling is normal at markets, less so in shops with price tags.

Banks, ATMs and Cards

The large state-owned banks are Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank and Agribank. Private banks such as Techcombank, VPBank, ACB and Sacombank have branches in every city, and foreign banks such as HSBC and Shinhan are in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Most ATMs accept Visa and Mastercard. Each bank sets its own fee and its own maximum per withdrawal, the screen shows the fee before you confirm, and the maximum is often low, so compare a couple of machines. Use ATMs inside bank branches or malls, and many machines give you the cash before the card, so wait for your card before you walk away.

Visa and Mastercard work in hotels, malls, supermarkets and most city restaurants, and some add a surcharge for card payments. Locals pay small vendors by scanning a QR code with their banking app, which usually doesn’t work with a foreign card, so carry cash for markets and street food. US dollars are a useful backup to change at a bank, but pay for things in dong.

Health, Insurance and Emergencies

Call 113 for the police, 114 for the fire service and 115 for an ambulance.

Dengue, Japanese encephalitis and malaria occur in Vietnam, and the risk is higher in rural areas. Visit a travel clinic at least eight weeks before you go to ask which vaccines you need, and use mosquito repellent day and night. Drink bottled or filtered water instead of tap water. Air quality in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City can be poor on some days, and the summer heat and humidity are hard on the body, so drink often and plan outdoor sightseeing for the morning.

The international private hospitals in the big cities are good but expensive, and a medical evacuation costs far more. Take travel insurance that covers medical costs and evacuation, and check whether it covers riding a motorbike. Many policies don’t pay out if you rode without a valid license.

If you’re looking for travel insurance, we are an affiliate of SafetyWing, a travel medical insurance provider.

Wi-Fi and Internet in Vietnam

The main mobile networks are Viettel, Vinaphone, MobiFone and Vietnamobile. Coverage is good in the cities and along the main travel routes and patchier in the mountains. Prepaid SIM cards are sold at the arrival halls of the big airports and in phone shops, and you need your passport to register one. An eSIM bought before the trip saves you the queue.

Free Wi-Fi is standard in hotels, guesthouses, cafes and many restaurants. Internet access in Vietnam is restricted and can be monitored, and social media platforms are sometimes blocked for a while. Use a VPN on public networks, like ExpressVPN.

Arrival in Vietnam

Most international flights land at Noi Bai (HAN) in Hanoi, Tan Son Nhat (SGN) in Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang (DAD) in the center. Vietnam Airlines and many foreign airlines fly in, and long-haul trips often connect through Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Doha or Dubai. Search for flights to Vietnam on Expedia.

Long Thanh International Airport, about 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City, received its first technical flights in December 2025. Commercial flights are planned from 1 December 2026, starting with a few new routes, and long-haul flights are scheduled to move there from the summer 2027 timetable. Until then Tan Son Nhat stays the main airport for Ho Chi Minh City, so check which airport your ticket shows.

Overland, the main crossing from Cambodia is Moc Bai and Bavet, with direct buses between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City. Boats also run along the Mekong between Phnom Penh and Chau Doc. From China you can cross at Lao Cai, Mong Cai or the Friendship Pass at Huu Nghi, and several crossings link Vietnam with Laos. Thailand has no land border with Vietnam, but flights from Bangkok are frequent. If you travel on an e-visa, the crossing you use must be one of the gates named on it.

Areas of Vietnam

Vietnam splits into three regions with different climates, dialects and food. On 1 July 2025 the country merged its 63 provinces into 34 and abolished the district level. Most travelers and locals still use the old names, and so do we, but you’ll see the new province names on official sites and some bookings.

Hanoi and Northern Vietnam

Hanoi, the capital, is the place to start in the north. Walk the Old Quarter around Hoan Kiem Lake early in the morning, when people exercise by the water and the pho stalls are busiest. Our complete Hanoi travel guide and our list of things to do in Hanoi help you plan the days.

East of Hanoi, Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province has almost 2,000 limestone islands and islets and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. Most visitors see it on an overnight boat. Read our guide to Ha Long Bay and how to choose the right Ha Long Bay cruise.

The far north is mountain country with rice terraces around Sapa and the passes of the Ha Giang Loop. Ha Giang province became part of Tuyen Quang in July 2025, and since April 2026 loop tours have to run through licensed travel companies that provide helmets and a safety briefing.

Central Vietnam

Hue was the imperial capital of the Nguyen dynasty, and the Citadel and the royal tombs along the Perfume River are the reason to stop. South of the Hai Van Pass, Da Nang has long city beaches and the Marble Mountains. See our Da Nang attractions. Hoi An, a former trading port with yellow merchant houses and lantern-lit streets, lies south of Da Nang and has been part of Da Nang city since the 2025 merger.

North of Hue, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, now in Quang Tri province, protects a karst landscape full of caves, including Son Doong, the largest known cave passage in the world. Inland, the Central Highlands around Dalat and Buon Ma Thuot are cooler, greener and the heart of Vietnam’s coffee country. Here is how to ride them on a motorbike tour of the Central Highlands. The coast here gets most of its rain from October to December.

Ho Chi Minh City and Southern Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by many locals, is the country’s largest city and its business center. Since July 2025 it also includes the former provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Spend your days between the colonial buildings and markets of the old District 1 and the street food of the outer neighborhoods. Start with our things to do in Ho Chi Minh City and our foodie guide to the city’s neighborhoods.

South and west of the city, the Mekong Delta is a maze of rivers, canals, orchards and rice fields. Take an early boat from Can Tho to the Cai Rang floating market, where wholesalers sell fruit and vegetables from their boats. Off the southwest coast, Phu Quoc island has beaches, night markets and its own visa rule for travelers who fly in directly from abroad.

Transportation in Vietnam

Domestic flights are the fastest way to cover long distances. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet connect Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in about two hours and also fly to Da Nang, Hue, Nha Trang, Dalat, Phu Quoc and other cities.

The North-South railway covers 1,726 km between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The fastest train takes about 33 hours, so most travelers ride it in sections, such as the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue or the stretch over the Hai Van Pass between Hue and Da Nang. Book a soft sleeper berth for night trains. Sleeper buses are cheaper and reach places the train doesn’t, but bus crashes are not uncommon, especially at night.

In the cities, the Grab and Xanh SM apps book cars and motorbike taxis at a fixed price. Check that the plate and the driver match the app. Metered taxis from the larger companies are also reliable. Ho Chi Minh City opened its first metro line on 22 December 2024. Line 1 runs 19.7 km from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien with 14 stations. Hanoi has two metro lines, 2A from Cat Linh to Ha Dong and Line 3 from Nhon to Cau Giay.

To ride a motorbike yourself, you need an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention that covers motorcycles (category A, or A1 for bikes up to 125cc), together with your home license, or a Vietnamese license. Permits issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention are not valid, and those are the permits the US, Canada and Australia issue. Helmets are mandatory, any alcohol in your blood is an offense, and third-party insurance is required. Police checks on foreign riders have become more common, and riding without a valid license can mean a fine and an impounded bike. Read our practical rules for motorbiking in Vietnam. Without the right license, hire an easy rider, a local driver who takes you along on the back of the bike.

Where to Stay in Vietnam

Vietnam is good value at every level. Backpacker hostels and family-run guesthouses fill the Old Quarter in Hanoi and the backpacker streets of Ho Chi Minh City. In the northern mountains and the Mekong Delta, homestays let you sleep in a family home and eat what they cook. Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc have beach resorts.

Some of Ho Chi Minh City’s hotels are landmarks themselves. The Rex Hotel and the Caravelle Saigon overlook the Opera House area, and the Hotel Nikko Saigon is a five-star option a short ride from the center.

Hotels and homestays ask for your passport at check-in to register you with the local authorities. Get it back the same day, and never leave it with a motorbike rental shop as a deposit. Around Tet, when much of the country travels home, rooms and transport book out weeks ahead.

What to Eat and Drink in Vietnam

Vietnamese food changes from north to south, and most of the best of it is cooked at street stalls and small family restaurants. Dishes to try:

• Pho – beef or chicken noodle soup with herbs, a breakfast dish in Hanoi.
• Bun cha – grilled pork patties and pork belly with rice noodles and dipping sauce, Hanoi’s lunch.
• Banh mi – a baguette filled with pate, grilled or cold meats, pickles and herbs, a legacy of French rule.
• Bun bo Hue – spicy beef noodle soup with lemongrass from Hue.
• Cao lau – thick noodles with pork and greens, the dish of Hoi An.
• Banh xeo – crispy rice flour pancakes with shrimp and pork, wrapped in lettuce and herbs.
• Com tam – broken rice with grilled pork chop, Ho Chi Minh City’s everyday meal.
• Banh canh cua – thick noodle soup with crab.

Pick stalls that are busy with locals and cook to order. Start with our list of Vietnamese dishes in Hanoi and where to eat them, the street food of Ho Chi Minh City and these breakfast dishes to try.

Coffee is a daily ritual. Order ca phe sua da, strong drip coffee over ice with condensed milk, or egg coffee in Hanoi. Here is where to get the best coffee in Ho Chi Minh City. In the evening, locals sit on plastic stools with a glass of fresh draft beer. Read why you should try bia hoi.

Things to Do and See in Vietnam

• Ha Long Bay – an overnight boat among the limestone islands, with stops at caves. Here is how to choose a cruise.
• Hanoi’s Old Quarter – street food, temples and Hoan Kiem Lake. See our things to do in Hanoi.
• Hue – the Citadel and the royal tombs of the Nguyen emperors.
• Hoi An – the old town of merchant houses, tailors and lanterns, best seen early in the morning or in the evening.
• Phong Nha-Ke Bang – river caves you can visit on a day trip. Son Doong itself is only open on expeditions run by Oxalis, with permits released from January to August, and is closed to tourists from September to December.
• The Ha Giang Loop – several days on mountain roads in the far north, best with a licensed tour or an easy rider.
• The Mekong Delta – floating markets, orchards and canals by boat.
• Hot springs and diving – the best hot springs in Vietnam and the best places to go scuba diving in Vietnam.

To link it all, follow our three-week Vietnam itinerary from north to south or the shorter 14 days in Vietnam itinerary, and for a couple’s trip see where to go on honeymoon in Vietnam.

Plan the route around the weather. The rainy season runs from June to September in the north and south, but from October to December on the central coast. Typhoons hit the east coast mostly between May and November.

Shopping in Vietnam

Markets are where Vietnam does its daily shopping. Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi’s Old Quarter is the city’s largest covered market, and Ben Thanh Market is the landmark market of Ho Chi Minh City. The streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter are named after the goods once made and sold there, and some still keep to their trade, such as Hang Gai with its silk shops.

Good things to take home are Vietnamese coffee with a phin drip filter, lacquerware, silk, embroidery, conical hats and ceramics from Bat Trang, a pottery village outside Hanoi. Hoi An is known for its tailors, who make a suit or a dress in a day or two. Go for the first fitting early in your stay so there is time for changes, and compare fabric and price at two or three shops.

Bargaining is expected at markets and street stalls, less so in shops with price tags. Smile, start well below the first price and walk away if you can’t agree. Copies of brand-name clothes, bags and watches are sold openly, but customs in your home country can confiscate them.

Foreign visitors can claim back VAT on goods bought in stores that take part in the refund scheme. Invoices from the same store on the same day must add up to at least 2 million dong and be issued no more than 60 days before you leave. Show the goods and invoices to customs at the international airport before departure and collect the refund at the counter in the departure area. The bank that pays it keeps 15 percent of the VAT as its fee. Exporting antiques is restricted, and customs can ask for approval from the culture authorities, so ask the shop for paperwork when you buy anything old.

Nightlife in Vietnam

In Hanoi, evenings start on low plastic stools with a glass of bia hoi, the fresh draft beer, at corners of the Old Quarter. Ta Hien Street and the lanes around it are the backpacker bar strip, and on weekend evenings the streets around Hoan Kiem Lake close to traffic for street performers and families. West Lake (Tay Ho) has quieter bars and later venues popular with expats. Bars and clubs are supposed to close around midnight, but how strictly that is enforced varies.

Ho Chi Minh City stays up later. Bui Vien walking street in the old District 1 is loud, cheap and packed until the early hours, while rooftop bars on the hotel towers look out over the river. Hoi An is calmer. The old town lights its lanterns, small boats with candle lanterns drift on the Thu Bon River and the night market opens across the bridge. Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc have beach bars and clubs.

Selling alcohol to anyone under 18 is illegal. Order drinks at the bar rather than from street sellers, keep your glass in sight, and read the Safety Tips for Vietnam below before a night out.

Festivals in Vietnam

Tet. The Lunar New Year is the biggest event of the year. It falls between late January and around 20 February, and the celebrations last at least three days. In the days before, people clean their homes, buy peach blossom branches and kumquat trees and travel to their hometowns, so trains, buses and flights sell out early. Expect some family-run restaurants and shops to close over the first days. Read our tips for Vietnamese New Year and the meaning of the Tet flowers and trees.

Mid-Autumn Festival. Tet Trung Thu is the second most important festival. On the full moon of the eighth lunar month, usually in September or early October, children carry lanterns through the streets and families share mooncakes.

Safety Tips for Vietnam

Violent crime against travelers is rare, but petty theft is common and rises around Christmas and Tet. Thieves on motorbikes snatch bags and phones from people walking along the road, so carry your bag on the side away from the traffic and let go if someone grabs it.

Use Grab, Xanh SM or a metered taxi from a large company, and confirm the driver before you get in. Buy your own drinks and keep them in sight. Methanol-laced alcohol has killed travelers in Vietnam, so buy spirits only from reputable bars and shops. Drug laws are among the harshest in the world, with long prison sentences and the death penalty, and vapes are banned.

Cross the road at a slow, steady pace so that riders can steer around you, and use crossings with traffic lights where there are any. Unexploded ordnance from the war still lies in former battlefields, especially in central Vietnam and along the Laos border, so stay on marked paths there.

Take weather warnings seriously. In July 2025 a day-tour boat capsized in a sudden storm in Ha Long Bay and 39 people died, and Quang Ninh province has since added round-the-clock rescue patrols. If your boat trip is canceled because of the weather, accept it. Central Vietnam floods often in October and November.

Conclusion

Two weeks cover the classic route from north to south. Spend a few days in Hanoi with a night on Ha Long Bay, fly or take the night train to Hue, cross the Hai Van Pass to Da Nang and Hoi An, and fly on to Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. With three weeks, add the mountains around Sapa or Ha Giang, the caves of Phong Nha or a few beach days on Phu Quoc. With one week, pick one or two regions instead of the whole length of the country.

Before you book, check if you can enter visa-free or need the e-visa from evisa.gov.vn, and name the right entry and exit gates in your application. Take travel insurance that covers medical evacuation and any motorbike riding you plan, time your route around the rainy season of each region and around Tet, and carry some cash in dong. Our General Travel Tips for Vietnam help with the details.