From our team in Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam Journal.

The country, briefed by people who live in it.

What things cost, which district suits you, what to eat and how to move around. Checked, dated and kept short, so you arrive already knowing.

New to Vietnam? Begin here

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Begin here

First time in Vietnam.

Six things settle the first week: how long to stay, the budget, the entry rules, paying, moving around and your first hours after landing.

Your days in Saigon Four taps, about 30 seconds: a day-by-day plan with real places and price ranges. Visa & entry The rules since 2025, the e-visa and a passport checker, each linked to its government source. Your first three hours Passport control, a SIM card, cash and the ride into Saigon. Money, SIM and safety Cash or card, the notes visitors confuse, and the one risk worth knowing. Getting around Ride-hailing, buses and taxis, and what each really costs. What a day costs From a tight budget to comfortable, item by item, with the model behind the figures.

Entry rules apply nationwide. Money, transport and costs are covered in the Ho Chi Minh City guide, our first finished city guide.

By region

North, centre and south.

Three regions make three different trips. The weather, the food and the pace all change, and the north has a real winter. Start with the one that fits your holiday.

Golden rice terraces stepping down a hillside under morning mist.

North

The old capital, the mountain passes, and the only part of the country with a real winter.

A young man in a blue ao dai standing between old carved wooden doors.

Central

Imperial Vietnam, the long beaches, and the old town everybody photographs.

Friends sharing street food at night on a busy, brightly lit street.

South

Saigon's energy, the island people extend their trip for, and the delta where the country turns into water.

How the Journal is written.

Sourced and dated Anything that can change shows its source and the month we checked it.
Gaps are marked If we could not confirm something, we say so instead of guessing.
No paid places No business pays to appear. No rankings, no invented prices.
From the city itself Written by our team, who live where they write about.

Finished guides

Ready to read.

Written, sourced and checked. Other places have shorter notes for now, kept apart at the foot of this page.

Our most complete guide

Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

The city that starts at 6am and negotiates with midnight.

Costs
Districts
Food
Transport
Visa
Hour by hour

Read the guide

The Saigon Briefing

The essentials in five minutes, ready for the flight.

Visa & entry

National rules, the 2025 changes and a checker for your passport.

Where to stay

Choose the district before the hotel. Twelve areas, described plainly.

Before you go

Arrange your trip.

What to sort out, in the order it usually comes up.

Saigon Day Builder Four taps and your days take shape: real places, sensible pacing and price ranges. No account needed. Begin

Visa & entry Costs Getting around Where to stay Food Good to know

Questions, answered

One question per page.

What travellers ask before they come, each answered on its own page with the sources and the month we checked, sorted by how soon you travel.

Do I need a visa for Vietnam? Booking · 1–3 months out · 4 min read

New questions appear here once they are checked. Every question, by trip stage.

Your next trip

Where else to go.

More places worth the journey, each with our plain read: who it suits, who it does not, and what visitors often misjudge. Tap one to open it.

Hanoi The old capital, and the better coffee argument. Capital city

The capital, and a much older city than Saigon. Narrow streets in the Old Quarter, lakes you walk around in the evening, and a food culture that treats a plastic stool on a pavement as a perfectly legitimate restaurant.

Allow three or four days. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want the history and the architecture, not only the energy.
You like a city that has seasons, the north actually has a winter, which the south does not.
You want northern food: pho the way Hanoi argues it should be made, bun cha, egg coffee.

Less so if

You are judging it against Saigon on nightlife. Hanoi closes earlier and is more reserved about the whole business.
You packed only for the tropics. The northern winter catches people out badly.

What visitors misjudge

Hanoi and Saigon are not two versions of the same city. Different weather, different accent, different food, different pace. Visiting one and assuming you have understood Vietnam is the most common mistake on this whole list.

Pairs well with Ha Giang and Sapa.

Notes on Hanoi

Da Nang Beach, mountains and a river of bridges. Coastal city

A big coastal city with a long beach attached, wide roads, and none of the density of the other two. It is the easiest large Vietnamese city to be a beginner in.

Allow two or three days, or a base for a week. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want a beach and a city without having to choose.
Vietnamese traffic worries you, this is the gentlest place to get used to it.
You want a base with Hoi An and the mountains close by.

Less so if

You came looking for old Vietnam. Da Nang is modern and rebuilt, and that is rather the point of it.

What visitors misjudge

Most people treat Da Nang as the airport for Hoi An and give it one night. It deserves more than that, but if your time in the centre is short, Hoi An is the one that leaves a mark.

Pairs well with Hoi An and Hue.

Notes on Da Nang

Hoi An Lanterns, tailors and a river town that kept its face. Old town

A small riverside town that kept its old trading-port face, shophouses, lanterns after dark, and a tailoring trade that will make you something and have you back for a second fitting.

Allow two or three days. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want somewhere you can walk or cycle across.
You want one properly beautiful place on the trip.
You want clothes made, and enough days to do it unhurried.

Less so if

You dislike crowds. The old town is small and everybody is in it at the same hour.
You want a city. Hoi An runs out of new streets quickly.

What visitors misjudge

The old town is at its best early in the morning and again once the day-trip buses have left. The middle of the day is the version everybody complains about online.

Pairs well with Da Nang and Hue.

Notes on Hoi An

Phu Quoc The island, and the reason people extend their trip. Island

Vietnam's largest island: resorts along the west coast, quieter beaches towards the south, and a good deal of construction in between.

Allow three to five days. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want the trip to finish lying down.
You want sunsets over open water, which the mainland's east coast cannot give you.

Less so if

You want undiscovered. Phu Quoc is being developed hard and fast, and it shows.
You are chasing food history and culture, that is the mainland's job, not the island's.

What visitors misjudge

Phu Quoc has its own visa arrangement, separate from the rest of the country, and it does not carry over to the mainland. If your trip is island plus mainland, sort the mainland permission first, the visa section of the Ho Chi Minh City guide covers exactly this.

Pairs well with Ho Chi Minh City.

Notes on Phu Quoc

Ha Giang The loop everybody photographs and few forget. Mountains

The far north: limestone mountains, a road that switchbacks along the Chinese border, and markets where the surrounding valleys come down to trade.

Allow four or five days for the loop. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want the scenery that made you consider Vietnam in the first place.
You are comfortable on a bike for several days running, or happy to ride behind somebody who is.

Less so if

You are not a confident rider and do not want to be a passenger. The road is the point of the place.
You need reliable comfort. This is the least polished thing on the list.

What visitors misjudge

People underestimate two things: how tiring several consecutive days of mountain riding is, and how cold it gets up there. Going as a passenger with a local rider is not a compromise, for most visitors it is simply the right way to do it.

Pairs well with Hanoi.

Notes on Ha Giang

Sapa Rice terraces, mountain weather, and a long train. Mountains

Rice terraces cut into mountainsides, walking routes between villages, and weather that does entirely as it pleases.

Allow two or three days. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want to walk somewhere genuinely beautiful.
You would rather stay in a valley homestay than in the town.

Less so if

You expect guaranteed views. Sapa spends a lot of the year inside a cloud.
You were hoping the town itself would be charming. It has been built up hard.

What visitors misjudge

The terraces look like three different places depending on when you come, flooded and mirrored, green, or gold just before harvest. Choosing which one you want matters more than choosing how many days to give it.

Pairs well with Hanoi and Ha Giang.

Notes on Sapa

Nha Trang The long beach and the seafood that comes with it. Beach city

A long city beach with the town built right up against it, islands a short boat ride offshore, and seafood as the main event rather than a side attraction. The most conventional beach holiday Vietnam offers.

Allow two or three days. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want a straightforward beach with a city behind it.
You like seafood and intend to eat a great deal of it.

Less so if

You want quiet or unspoilt. This is a resort city and has never pretended otherwise.

What visitors misjudge

Nha Trang is the most divisive place on this list. People who arrive wanting a beach holiday enjoy it; people who arrive wanting "real Vietnam" feel they were sold something. Work out which one you are before you book.

Pairs well with Da Nang.

Notes on Nha Trang

Hue Imperial Vietnam, and the food that outlived the court. Imperial city

The imperial capital: a walled citadel, royal tombs spread out along the river, and the cooking that outlasted the court which invented it.

Allow two days. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want history with some depth to it rather than a highlights reel.
You care about food with a story: Hue's is the most distinct regional cuisine in the country.

Less so if

You want beaches and nightlife. Hue is quieter, and it rains more than people expect.

What visitors misjudge

Hue usually gets one rushed day squeezed between Hoi An and somewhere else, which is exactly enough time to see the citadel and none of what makes the city interesting.

Pairs well with Hoi An and Da Nang.

Notes on Hue

Mekong Delta Where the country turns into water. River delta

The bottom of the country, where the roads give way to water, floating markets, orchards, and towns built along canals rather than streets.

Allow one night, not a day trip. Our suggestion, not a rule.

Suits you if

You want to see how much of Vietnam still runs on water.
You are happy with a slower and much less polished few days.

Less so if

You only have one day. The day trip out of Saigon is the version everybody regrets.

What visitors misjudge

The floating markets work early and are largely finished by the time a day trip reaches them. Staying a night in the delta is the entire difference between seeing one and seeing the place where one was.

Pairs well with Ho Chi Minh City.

Notes on Mekong Delta

These are orientation notes, not the finished guides. They carry our read on who each place suits and what people most often get wrong about it, no prices, no opening hours and no entry rules, because those are the things that go stale and we have not verified them for these places yet. Useful for deciding where to go. Not enough to book on.

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