Know before you go : Vietnam Edition

In this article, I’ll make an overview of everything useful to know before going to Vietnam, including some travel tips.

You’ll find : 

Vietnam is a long S shaped country located in Southeast Asia. It shares borders with 3 countries : China, Laos and Cambodia.

Hanoi is Vietnam’s capital and second largest city after Ho Chi Minh. The city is located in Northern Vietnam, and Ha Noi meaning “inside the river”, it is on the banks of both the Red River and the Black River.

The country covers 331690 km² and Vietnam’s population is around 99,4 million, making it the 8th most densely populated country in Asia.

The best time to visit Vietnam will depend on the places you want to see but basically :

• The rainy season in South Vietnam is from May to November
• The wet season in Central Vietnam is roughly from October to early December
• In North Vietnam, summer lasts from May to November, where it’s hot but with heavy rainfall, mostly from July to September. The winter is from November to April.
• In Far North Vietnam (Sapa, Ha Giang, Mu Cang Chai), the best time to come would be in the dry season from November to April, although from December to February it can be very cold.

With all that said, the best months to come to avoid the rain as much as possible would be in April, or March if you don’t plan to go far north. September has quite the rainfalls but it’s the best season to see the ricefields in Sapa and Mu Cang Chai.

We went in April and I would ABSOLUTELY recommend it because there wasn’t that much tourists, we had one rainy morning in Ha Giang, but otherwise the weather was perfect : we saw the sunset and sunrise on Ha Long Bay, It was sunny in Hoi An and Hue, and not cold in the north. I would maybe less recommend trying to come in February-March as my family did, because they had less sunny days and quite cold days in Hanoi, Sapa and Ha Giang.

The currency in Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong and 1€ equals 27 367 VND (you can get a smoothie for 30-40 000 VND). Almost all restaurants, bars and visitation sites accept only cash for paiement. The best ATMs in the country are TP bank (this is the bank where you can withdraw the more at once and there’s no fee), or VP Bank (no fee but a fairly small withdrawal limit).

The prices for restaurants vary depending if you go to touristy areas or more local places, but overall it’s very cheap : we tried different types of restaurant and cuisine and the most expensive was something around 3,5-4€ per person for many (excellent) dishes to share. But if you want to spend less you will definitely have a nice meal for 2€ or less.

Regarding the places to visit such as the various monuments or the different churches, the entrance fees were not expensive either : from 0,7€ for temples, to 7€ for a combo ticket for Hue citadel and 3 other sites.

Regarding accommodations, you can find most nice Airbnb / hotels in the city centers, for 10€ per night per person. More basic ones will be half that, and for a really nice place such as Tam Coc Windy Fields (which is absolutely recommend), it will be around 25€ per person.

I would suggest packing something light clothes because temperatures are around 30 degrees, but can climb up to 40 degrees in summer in the South and Center of Vietnam.

Of course, bring a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen because the sun in no joke here.

Bring some insect repellent, there are some mosquitoes in the most humid areas.

Pack a safety kit with disinfectant, bandaids, pills in case you do not tolerate the local food well, the basic survival tools !

If you plan on going to Ha Giang or far north, take a thermic shirt or a sweater, and a pair of trousers because temperatures can fall lower than 20 degrees.

Otherwise the power outlet are the same as in France or the majority of Europe, so no adapters needed.

There’s a lot to bring back from Vietnam !

First of all, tailor made clothes in Hoi An are truly an awesome gift for yourself. Silk is quite popular there, so any silk clothes is a nice souvenir.

You can also make your own lantern in Hoi An and bring it back, or buy incense sticks near Hue.

Food-wise, you can bring back Vietnamese coffee, tea, fish sauce or their little Vietnamese mung bean cakes.

Of course there’s also the famous Nón Lá conical hat or the chopsticks !

If you are feeling fancy, you can bring back jewellery or lacquerware.

Vietnamese is the official language in Vietnam.

Most people won’t speak english or any foreign language (except in nice hotels or restaurants), and will often use a translator to communicate. So here are a few words in Vietnamese that you can use :

Hello : Xin chào  [Sin cha-o]

Thank you : Cảm ơn [Gam on]

You’re welcome : Không có gì [Hon ko zi]

I (don’t) understand : Tôi (không) hiểu [Toy (khom) yiou]

Sorry : Xin lỗi [Sin loy]

My name is… : Tên tôi là… [ten toy la…]

Yes / No : Có [caw] / Không [khom]

As we came from France, our mobile plan did not include internet and calls in Vietnam, so we bought a Viettel SIM card at the airport for 300 000 VND / 12$ (11€). But each stall made their own prices so if you don’t buy at the first one, it’s cheaper (around 2-3€ less). This SIM card had everything unlimited for at least two weeks and you could share the internet with others, so we bought only one for two. Coverage was good everyone except in HA Giang, but that’s a mountainous region.

For visiting the country, you can use trains from a city to another, although sleeping bus are widely used and are a nice way to travel. You get a cabin where you can sleep and rest, plus it’s very cheap !

To get around the city or in the countryside, the best option is to rent a motorbike or a bike at your hotel. They will all provide some and it’s way more practical than going to a rental shop. Prices are usually around 5€ a day.

There’s a lot of things to see in Vietnam ! You can visit many typical cities, the famous Ha Long bay, the ricefields regions, Ha Giang Province, Ha Long bay on land…You won’t be bored a second !

Here’s a list of the best things to do in Vietnam :

That’s it for my Vietnam travel tips ! To have a lot more information and pictures about these places, you can read my Three days Ha Giang loop in North Vietnam or my Day trip to Hue from Hoi An in motorbikes. I also made an article about a Two days cruise on Ha Long and Lan Ha Bays