Vietnam Highlights
Visit Hanoi and stay in the Old Quarter where you can explore Shoe Street, Steel Street and even Button Street. See a water puppet performance, tour the city in a cyclo or watch the world motor by from a sidewalk cafe.
Just hours from Hanoi you’ll find Halong Bay where you can spend the night on a luxurious Junk boat and get up-close-and-personal with the famous limestone islands and caves that have made this a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Take day trips to Perfume Pagoda and Tam Coc and let paddlers take you out to the temples.
For a more sobering day take a DMZ tour and see such sights at Hamburger Hill, Khe Sanh and the Vinh Moc Tunnels, where an entire village lived and worked underground. Hear the Vietnamese perspective on what they call the “American War.”
Stay a while in Hoi An, a beach city with a village feel. Try the local food and get an entire wardrobe made-to-order.
Visit the Mekong Delta and be amazed at all that can happen on water.
Visit the countless museums in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, an interesting mix of history and propaganda.
Best Time to Visit
Weather varies from region to region, making it possible to visit some part of Vietnam at any time of the year. The best time in Vietnam depends on where you want to go.
One reason to decide to stay home or go is the Tet New Year around the end of January/beginning of February. Though a fascinating festival, it does mean that the country’s transportation and infrastructure comes to a partying halt.
