Intro

This travel guide page is dedicated to all things travel in Vietnam! It is meant to give you an overview of what’s important when it comes to planning your trip to Vietnam and provide links to all our Vietnam posts, which is where you will find way more detailed information on various topics and specific destinations. Let’s get travel-planning!

Vietnam is a popular destination in South-East Asia, bordering China and Laos to the North and Cambodia in the South. The country has quite a narrow form with an impressive length of about 1650 km from North to South – at the same time its width is only 50 km on its narrowest part! This does make travelling the length of the country quite a troublesome endeavour sometimes – but more on that in our Vietnam Itineraries;).

Vietnam is famous for its stunning landscapes, awesome coffee and food, chaotic streets, rich culture as well as a long history, which all in all make it an awesome destination to delve into!

We spent a month travelling Vietnam from South to North by various means of transportation (i.e. sleeper trains, sleeper buses, normal buses and so on) – focusing more on the North though with its breathtaking landscapes and hidden gems!

🇻🇳 Vietnam at a glance:

📌 Where? Southeast Asia
💬 Language: Vietnamese
🌥️ Climate: Tropical Climate
💱 Currency: Vietnamese Dong (VND)
💰 Budget: low

Vietnam FAQ’s

Since Vietnam is such a lengthy and topologically diverse country, climate depends very much on what region you are looking at and therefore the best time to visit may vary quite drastically as well.

  • Northern Vietnam is best visited either during spring (March-April) or autumn (September- October) season. Summer can get really hot (30-40°C) while winter may get cold. Hanoi during winter can be quite pleasant (17-20°C), however if you intend to visit more mountainous areas such as e.g. Sa Pa (which we highly recommend) then temperatures are on average ~5°C during December-January.
  • Southern Vietnam experiences typical tropical climate with a dry season and a rainy season. Generally, dry season is the best time to visit as it is less humid and there is, well, no monsoon. Dry season in the south lasts from November to April while rainy season occurs between May and October (thereof the months June to August experience the highest rainfall). Temperatures are hot all year round (~32°C).
  • Contrary to Southern Vietnam, rainy season in Central Vietnam occurs from September to December. Additionally, during these months there is a heightened chance of typhoons hitting this area of Vietnam. Dry season occurs from January to August. However, in Central Vietnam temperatures do vary more. As such January to March are way more pleasant with on average ~26°C, while April to August are hotter with ~31-35°C.

As you may have grasped by now, it is hard (not impossible) to hit the best time to visit in every single region when travelling the length of Vietnam. However, you also don’t have to limit yourself to these months only. A good compromise usually does the trick.

Personally, we visited end of September to end of October. This is partially the reason why we decided to focus more on exploring Northern Vietnam vs. Southern Vietnam. However, we also hit some destinations in South and Central Vietnam despite the not so ideal travel time and overall it ended up being fine.

The currency used in Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong (VND).

There is a variety of power sockets used in Vietnam. As such, you may find Type A, C, F and sometimes even G. To be on the safe side, bring an adapter. Typically the voltage is 220 V.

Since most destinations in Vietnam are quite well-visited by tourists from all around the world, you can get by quite well with basic English, especially when communicating with hotel staff, booking transportation and ordering food. Outside of the tourist areas, English is naturally less present. However, we also never encountered a situation where we could not get by at all.

The location where we probably had the most issues was while travelling to Ban Gioc Waterfall. There was literally no English to be found here. However, again, we did get by and honestly, the waterfall was worth all the trouble.

View of the rice fields during a hike in Sapa

What to know before you go

Complete Vietnam Travel Checklist – eVisa, Best SIM Card, Why Negotiating Is a Must & more!
Complete Vietnam Travel Checklist – eVisa, Best SIM Card, Why Negotiating Is a Must & more!

Are you currently planning your trip to Vietnam and unsure whether you have sorted everything there is to sort before your upcoming trip? If yes, then you have come to the right place! In this complete Vietnam Travel Checklist, we walk you through the most important things (such as: ‘Do you…

How To Get Around Vietnam

There are several ways to get around Vietnam. What mode of transportation is best for you largely depends on how much time you have within the country and how much of that time you are willing to spend on getting places;). To give a quick overview:

  • ✈️ Domestic Flights. If you are short on time and wish to switch destinations between different parts of the country (e.g. North to Central Vietnam) quickly without having to sit on a train/bus for 10+ hours, then flying is going to be your best option.
  • 🚄 Train Travel. Among the slower ways to journey between destinations – nonetheless quite a fun way to get around that understandably makes it on many people’s bucket lists for Vietnam!
  • 🚌 Bus Travel. Where planes and trains can’t reach, bus travel is going to get the job done. We took numerous buses all over Vietnam, from overnight buses to standard buses to vans and mini-buses, I am pretty sure we encountered it all- some more luxurious than others. Bus travel is probably the one mode of transportation you cannot avoid when travelling around Vietnam.
  • 🛵 Scooter Rental. If you have some experience riding a scooter or motor bike, renting one can be a great way to explore in Vietnam. However, we would moreover recommend it as a way to explore locally (and in more rural areas), rather than renting one to drive the length of Vietnam!

Down below you can find our transportation guides, where we tackle more specific questions such as how to navigate a certain mode of transportation, where to buy tickets, what to watch out for etc.!

Note: If you are currently overwhelmed as to what mode of transportation may be best for you, fret not. In our Vietnam Itineraries and specific destination guides, we always tell you exactly what your options are to get from one destination to the next!

Vietnam Guides sorted by Region

In this section you will find all of our Vietnam Guides grouped by individual destination within the country!

HO CHI MINH CITY


THE MIGRATORY BIRDS

We are Florence and Andy, the faces behind The Migratory Birds!

On this blog we share our experiences, but also focus a lot on travel planning as well as destination guides. With our posts, we aim to give you inspiration for your own travels and provide the tools you need to plan your own trips.

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