Vietnam is a very diverse country that is a lot bigger than most first time visitors think. It certainly took me by surprise on my first visit. From how cold it was in Hanoi, to the unexpected crowds in seemingly remote areas, there were plenty of things that I thought would have been good to know before I actually went. So, I’ve put together this list of Vietnam Travel Tips to help you, and other first time visitors when they head to Vietnam.
This list is not exhaustive. I haven’t been everywhere in Vietnam, and will keep updating this article as I find new tips in new locations. (I have my next trip booked in a few weeks…)
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Table of Contents
- The Climate is not all the same
- Halong Bay is not good on a day trip
- Stay away from certain times of the year
- Never catch the bus in Vietnam
- Hoi An over Da Nang
- Golden Hands Bridge is not the same as Instagram
- Sapa is very touristy
- Don’t eat at the tourist traps
- Don’t do a day trip to Ninh Binh
- Summary
The Climate is not all the same
Let’s start my list of Vietnam Travel Tips with one that may seem simple, but actually really surprised me.
Vietnam is a large country, but not in the same way that most other countries are. If you look at it on a map, it’s sort of long and thin. To catch a train from north to south, or vice versa, it takes around 36 hours, which shows how long it actually is!
So, naturally, there may be a bit of climate change, and I packed expecting it. Except it turned out to be a LOT more than I thought.
Now, I have to take into account that I was there in winter, but still, check out these differences.
In Hanoi it averaged around 17°C. In Sapa, which is to the north west of Hanoi and in the mountainous region around the border with China, the average was more like 10°C. (It gets cold enough in Sapa that they see a bit of snow in winter)
In Ho Chi Minh City, in the South, at exactly the same time, it was averaging around 35°C and topping out at 37°C most days.
That’s a BIG difference.
So pack accordingly and have your itinerary in your head before you go. I would suggest that if you are there in winter and have more than a few days in the north, be safe and pack a couple of warm changes of clothing at least.
As for us, we sort of got stuck in the north for most of the time due to issues with transportation, so my one pair of jeans and jacket got really hammered over the 4 weeks we were there!
Halong Bay is not good on a day trip
Halong Bay is one of the bucket list destinations for people all over the world. It’s probably the most well known place in the entire country of Vietnam, and for good reason.
When we were there, we knew it was a place that we wanted to visit. From Hanoi it’s actually rather easy, as you can take a day trip down to Halong Bay, see the main sights and be back in time for dinner. It seemed like a really great option, and took away a lot of the stress of how to get there and experience one of the world’s most unique places.
The trouble is, as it turned out, it’s entirely TOO easy.
So easy, in fact, that thousands of other people are doing the exact same thing every day. The amount of buses that were heading from Hanoi to Halong Bay was simply phenomenal. At the very first stop, I stood and looked at the massive carpark overflowing with huge buses, and began to wonder what we had signed up for.
As it turned out, we had signed up to contribute to mass tourism on an incredible scale.
Now, Halong Bay is worth visiting, just NOT on one of these day trips. I can’t say it any other way, and certainly refuse to polish it up and make it look good. Other than to say that if you are short of time and have no other option, then certainly do it, because you don’t want to entirely miss out.
What you can expect though, is crowds. From the cruise boat itself where everyone is fighting tooth and nail in the buffet line, and pushing and shoving to get the best views at the front of the boat. To the stops that you make, at the exact same time as 35 other huge tour boats! The natural attractions at Halong Bay are incredible, but totally spoilt when you’re there with 763 other tourists.
The alternative is to take a 2, 3 or 5 day cruise. It costs more, but your visits are better timed. You can see the attractions without the massive crowds, and even see other areas of the bay that not many cruises visit.
Stay away from certain times of the year
There are certain times of the year that you really want to stay away from Vietnam. This can be said for any country in the world, and it usually comes down to the fact that the country can be very overcrowded in those times.
Of course, if you actually want to be there to join in or witness that particular time of year, then it’s a different story.
But for the average traveler that is on a once in a lifetime trip to explore the country, try and stay away from times such as Chinese New Year.
I speak from experience here. Even though the celebrations can be wonderful, and seeing everyone dressing up and enjoying themselves is fun to be a part of, as a traveler it just makes things hard.
The reason? Everyone else is traveling at the same time! Domestically everyone in the cities is heading home to their towns and villages to spend it with family. Internationally, Koreans and Chinese are flocking to the country to enjoy the incredible beaches. For you and me though, it makes a normally easy trip to Vietnam a possible nightmare.
We struggled around Chinese New Year to find train tickets, or even a half decent bus. Everything was sold out. On the trains in particular, where you would normally have a high chance of scoring your own private sleeper, you were sharing with a full family. On our trip from Hanoi to Da Nang, there was an elderly drunk man that didn’t rest the entire night, because HIS celebrations had to become OUR celebrations as well. Or so he thought.
To make matters worse, in Da Nang nothing was open during Chinese New Year. Restaurants were all closed and accommodation fully booked. It was sort of ok for us, as full time travelers we had a good idea where to find food when it was scarce, but for the average traveler it would have been impossible, and we spoke to a few that had exactly these problems.
Oh, and we couldn’t even find a train, bus or plane to keep heading south, as everything, once again, was totally booked solid!
So stay away from those busy periods in Vietnam!
To help you plan your holiday, check out THIS website that has an always up to date list of public holidays in Vietnam.
Never catch the bus in Vietnam
Why? Because there is a high chance that you might die.
Is that simple enough?
If you don’t believe me, then go onto the 12go Asia website and search for buses, any buses, between cities in Vietnam. Then read the reviews. I’ll wait…
Most of the “best” bus companies in Vietnam will rate around 3 out of 5 in the reviews. Good luck finding them though.
When you catch the bus in Vietnam you can expect drivers that are totally out of control, speeding and even drinking while driving. Especially at night. They’ll stop to pick up friends that will crowd into the bus and sleep on the floor right beside you. They’ll steal your belongings if you happen to doze off without holding onto them.
Oh. And don’t bother asking for them to stop to use the toilet. Then, if they do, you will be expected to stand beside the motorway and relieve yourself. For the women – well – you can work it out.
We avoided the buses in Vietnam whenever we could. The only decent one we found was the Sapa Express, and I actually liked it. But the trip is only 5 hours and we did it during daylight. The road is mostly motorway, so what could go wrong?
If you’re traveling long distance in Vietnam, use the train. Some of them are old and grubby, but it’s better to get there alive, in pretty much the same time the bus takes.
Only a week after we got back from Vietnam (so only a few weeks ago) a sleeper bus was totally destroyed in a head on crash with a truck in Vietnam. Another ran off a cliff near Da Nang resulting in several deaths. Don’t be one of them.
Hoi An over Da Nang
Da Nang and Hoi An are very close together. We decided to stay in Da Nang because of two basic reasons. First, we read that it was the place to be if you wanted to see great beaches, the golden hands bridge etc. The other reason was because we were catching the train, and the train station was in Da Nang. So it made sense.
But once you’ve been to Da Nang, and then you visit Hoi An, you will most probably be exactly the same as us.
“I wish we’d stayed in Hoi An instead.”
Da Nang is a bit like the Gold Coast in Australia, or Miami in Florida. Although on a lot smaller scale. The beach is beautiful, the buildings are high rise apartments, and the main beach road has a nice grassy, palm tree lined strip down the middle.
Sounds Idyllic, right?
Yeah. But is that really why you’re here in Vietnam? Leave that to the domestic tourists, or other tourists from South East Asia that might be looking for that. The beach restaurants are overpriced anyway.
Stay in Hoi An instead. Or if you don’t have a choice, do what we did and hire a scooter so you can just go there every day.
The beach is just as nice if not nicer. The bars are better, and the town itself is a lot more “Vietnamese”. You can enjoy local traditions, a bit of culture, and learn more about local life in Hoi An than in Da Nang. It can get crowded, especially at night time for the lantern boats, but in my opinion totally worth it.
And from Hoi An you can visit Da Nang on a day trip, which really is all that you need.
Golden Hands Bridge is not the same as Instagram
This is one of those Vietnam travel tips that will really fly in the face of most things you will read or see about the Golden Hands Bridge.
Instagram is always plastered with incredible photos and videos of this place. Although recently I’ve seen a few “reality” reels as well, which is good.
There are a couple of reasons that the Golden Hands Bridge is not the same as what you might expect. Actually, a few reasons.
First is the weather. You really have to get lucky when it comes to heading up into the Ba Na Hills. When we were in Da Nang, every morning I’d step out of our apartment and look up into the hills, and over the course of a week I only saw one day that the hills were free of cloud. It is very, very likely you will get to the bridge and have absolutely NO view whatsoever.
Second, this isn’t some random bridge up in the beautiful treetops that Instagram makes it seem like. To get there, you have to take a fairly expensive (by Vietnam standards) Gondola, which drops you off in what could only be described as a theme park. If you don’t know about this before hand, you will actually be quite shocked. The Golden Hands Bridge is sort of attached to this theme park. It will NOT be a cheap day by any means.
Lastly, there will usually be a crowd. Forget the reels on Instagram, wandering across a remote bridge all alone in the treetops. Because that just isn’t reality. Have a look at THIS REEL on Instagram that gives a good idea of the two different problems that can present themselves.
After saying all of that, if Golden Hands Bridge is on your bucket list, then just go! Maybe you’ll get lucky.
Sapa is very touristy
Sapa is a place on the rise, both in terms of popularity, as well as a tourism drawcard. It was the main reason I headed there from Hanoi at the first opportunity.
Sapa is a wonderful place, set in the mountains with wonderful clean air and some of the best views you will find in Vietnam.
The problem is that it’s also very touristy. Now, when I say that, I mean it’s very touristy around the town and surrounding areas. If you go trekking on multi day hikes, or even the shorter hikes around the surrounding hills and mountain peaks, it’s beautiful and authentic.
But around town, Sapa is very touristy. You only have to walk down the street to realize that there isn’t really anything authentic about the town. It’s not like the villages that you will find in the mountains, and everything is pretty much either catered toward tourism, or to those that live in the town that ARE catering toward tourism.
This then draws the problems that you can get from touristy towns. In the case of Sapa, it’s the sellers that hang around in the main square area near the church. They can be terrible, chasing you down the street and getting rather pushy. They use the age old technique of trying to play on your emotions, utilizing props such as babies and young kids, especially if you look like you might have kids of your own.
Others will push the trekking and hiking packages. Following you halfway into town begging you to buy a package from them. Then, there are the young kids.
They can be even worse, and on one evening as we strolled home from a late dinner, one young girl followed us for several blocks, eventually abusing us in a torrid stream of invective when we apologized for the 10th time that we had no loose change on us.
Now, this is all probably a very unpopular opinion of Sapa, but forewarned is to be forearmed, and if you know about it in advance, you will probably enjoy this beautiful area of Vietnam a lot more when you visit.
Don’t eat at the tourist traps
I’ve added this to my list of Vietnam travel tips because I see it all the time. Instagram is largely to blame, as influencers will push you toward their favorite or “best banh mi in Hanoi”, or something similar. The problem with this is usually because they ONLY ate at that place and couple of others. If you’re lucky.
I fell for it when I was in Hanoi. Twice.
Firstly, I followed the hundred Instagram reels that told us to head to this one particular place for banh mi. It was constantly rated the best, and even though we did like it, we left knowing that we would never return. You see, there were several carts and small places near our Air BNB that served up a lot better for half the price!
The second was a Pho place that was “Michelin rated”. I’m not sure what the qualifications are for this rating, but I often think it involves a paper bag passed under the table.
This Pho place was packed full of people. They were churning out the Pho so fast that there was really no time to sit and enjoy it, and we had to sit at a table with complete strangers (which is actually common in Vietnam). But it certainly doesn’t add anything positive to the experience as they rush you through.
The Pho itself didn’t even rank in my top 10 in Vietnam. Maybe it got inside my top 5 in Hanoi, but only just.
So when you see something ranked really high on the lists of “best places to eat” take them with a grain of salt. I have my favorites, but am also the first to admit I haven’t tried them all. I mean, who has?
Don’t do a day trip to Ninh Binh
Ok, so you might read this one of my Vietnam travel tips and wonder what I’m on about. I mean, I LOVE Ninh Binh, so why am I recommending against doing a day trip?
Simply because Ninh Binh deserves more!
Sure, you can see a lot on a day trip, but will you really see what Ninh Binh is like?
I found the best thing about Ninh Binh was how quiet and unassuming the place was. The locals are beautiful and kind, and the place itself is just a sleepy little town that happens to be in one of the most spectacular settings on the planet. It’s just that most of them don’t even seem to realize it.
And this is what I loved about Ninh Binh. The river boat trips, geography and views were spectacular, but I really just enjoyed cycling around the area, stopping at little cafes or restaurants, and enjoying life.
If you are on limited time, then just like Halong Bay, do a day trip to Ninh Binh from Hanoi. But if you can afford the extra time, then visit and stay in the area around Trang An. You won’t regret it.
Summary
That’s it for my Vietnam Travel Tips. For now! Watch this space for more as I visit and see more of the country in the future.
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