Destinations
Vietnam runs 1,650 km from the northern mountains to the Mekong Delta. Each region keeps its own weather, food and pace — here is how they differ.
The country at a glance
34 provinces & cities · grouped into five regions · Hover a province · click to open its page
Explore by scenery
Three thousand kilometres of coast — limestone bays, island sand and dunes that meet the sea.
Hạ Long BayTwo thousand islands rising from jade water.Open the province guide →
Phú QuốcWhite-sand island beaches in the Gulf of Thailand.Open the province guide →
Mũi Né dunesRed and white dunes rolling straight into fishing coast.Open the province guide →
Vô Cực beachThe 'infinity' tidal flats where sea and sky blur at dawn.Open the province guide →
Mountains, terraced rice & island bays
Most journeys begin in Hà Nội and radiate outward — a night train toward the mountains, a slow boat among the karst, a motorbike loop that climbs above the clouds. The distances are short; the changes are enormous.
It is also the country's oldest heart: Hà Nội's tile-roofed old quarter, the flooded karst of Tràng An, and a thousand years of dynasties written into the land.
Imperial heritage & the central coast
The centre is best taken slowly, town by town: one railway line and one coastal highway string everything together within a few hours of Đà Nẵng, with the Hải Vân Pass in between. Mornings in a citadel, afternoons on a beach — nowhere in Việt Nam packs more into less distance.
Behind the beaches lie the world's largest caves at Phong Nha, where rivers run underground for kilometres beneath the jungle.
Volcanic plateaus, coffee & cool air
A short flight or an overnight bus lifts you a kilometre above the coast, into air that asks for a jacket. The plateaus grow most of the country's coffee, and towns like Buôn Ma Thuột and Pleiku still feel like working farm country rather than resorts.
Crater lakes, waterfalls and gong culture give the highlands a rhythm all their own — cooler and slower than the plains below.
Restless cities & emerald islands
Hồ Chí Minh City is best learned from a plastic stool on the pavement, iced coffee in hand, while a river of motorbikes pours past. When the evening heat breaks, the Sài Gòn River turns to copper beneath the towers.
Offshore, Phú Quốc keeps emerald bays and fishing piers that have outlasted every season of change.
River gardens & floating markets
In the delta the roads are really rivers: boats outnumber cars, houses face the canal instead of the street, and the day's trading is done from a hull before breakfast. Cần Thơ makes the natural base for a first visit.
This is where the river finally meets the sea, leaving behind the richest soil — and the gentlest pace — in the country.