LOOKING FOR A TOUR TO VIETNAM?

The tour presented in this Vietnam travelogue was organized through Asiatica Travel as an individual departure (so, not a group tour) with a customized itinerary. If you are looking for a trip to Vietnam, Asiatica Travel can book for you a car with driver and guide (guides are available in different languages), all the hotels for overnight stays and tickets for any domestic travel by train, plane or bus. This tour in Vietnam took place in two separate trips: during the first trip in March of 2013, I visited Southern Vietnam, in particular Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the delta of Mekong river with its floating markets (this route takes about 5 days and can be easily combined with a tour in Cambodia). In the second trip instead, in October of 2014, I visited the rice terraces of northern Vietnam among small villages with ethnic minorities, before heading to Halong Bay and Hanoi (this route requires at least 8 days). If you would like to go to Vietnam and are looking for Vietnam travel tips, in this Vietnam travel guide you will find lot of pictures and information about the many attractions the country offers.

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO SEE IN VIETNAM?

Vietnam is a very interesting country from several points of view: nature, landscapes, ethnic minorities, museums and culture. In Southern Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), you can visit the War Museum, numerous pagodas and many colorful street markets where locals sell everything. The trip could then go to the countryside among the villages lost in the maze of the Mekong delta, where rivers and canals are used as natural highways and where almost everyone owns a boat. In this region you can stay in close contact with the simple life of fishermen and farmers, where families run small business based on the transformation of the many natural resources the place offers. Northern Vietnam on the other hand, is suitable for anyone wishing to take an ethnic tour, thanks to the many minorities who live among the mountains along the border between Vietnam and China, throughout a picturesque countryside dominated by vast terraced rice fields, as well as plantations of tea, corn and other crops. This tour can easily be combined with a cruise in Halong Bay, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, as well as a city tour in Hanoi. The central region of Vietnam, around the city of Hue, offers many interesting attractions for tourists as well, but is currently not covered by this travelogue.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO COMBINE VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA IN A SINGLE TOUR?

If you have enough time and wish to visit other countries of Indochina or Southeast Asia together with Vietnam, such as Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, you should know that both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have direct connections with all these countries, making possible to have a multi-country trip quite easily. One of the most popular choice is to combine a tour to Vietnam with an extension in Cambodia, for example to have a glimpse of Angkor temples: this is possible thanks not only to convenient flights from Vietnam to Siem Reap (closest airport to Angkor), but also to a river cruise linking Southern Vietnam with Cambodia by boat. Other tour extensions from Vietnam to Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are instead increasing in popularity, but you must have really plenty of time available (a complete tour of Indochina, not to mention the other countries of southeast Asia, may require over a full month).

HOW TO GET TO VIETNAM?

Vietnam is conveniently connected with direct flights onto most airports in southeast Asia, Middle East and with some in Europe and rest of world as well. If there aren't direct flights from your country, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Seoul or Singapore can be good hubs with daily connections. If you decided to go to Northern Vietnam, the most convenient airport to arrive and leave is Hanoi, instead, if you wish to go to Southern Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is the entry and exit point to choose. Of course if you visit both regions, you may arrive in Hanoi and leave from Ho Chi Minh City (or vice versa) since most airlines offers international connections from both cities. Recently, other airports like Cam Ranh, Danang and Dalat are seeing increasing traffic and are particularly convenient for visiting central Vietnam.

HOW TO GET TO HANOI OR SAIGON?

If you are traveling to Vietnam on your own, or if your tour package doesn't include airport transfers, you may book a taxi from Hanoi airport or from Saigon airport in advance from one of the many travel agencies on the web, skipping the long queues needed to get a taxi once on place. A driver will wait for you at the airport holding a sign with your name on top, and will wait also if your flight will be delayed, before driving to your hotel or any destination address.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO GO TO VIETNAM?

There is no actually best time to visit Southern Vietnam because it's warm all year round; however the season corresponding to fall and winter in northern hemisphere is the least rainy period. Instead, if you wish to visit Northern Vietnam, the best season is from spring to mid-autumn, although in summer it may be quite rainy (but summer is the only time to admire the beautiful green rice fields on the mountains). If you are looking for a beach holiday in Vietnam, then the best time to go is during winter, because in summer the weather may be too rainy.

WHEN TO GO TO SAPA TO SEE RICE FIELDS AT THEIR BEST?

If you like nature and unusual landscapes, the rice terraces of northern Vietnam, particularly in the area of Mu Cang Chai or in the more crowded Sapa, can offer wonderful photo opportunities thanks to the beautiful countryside and the small villages inhabited by ethnic minorities. However, you should choose the "when to go" period quite carefully and without forgetting that, in any case, there may be variations from year to year because of climate change and traditions. If you want to see the terraced rice fields with yellow ripe rice and people involved in the harvest, the best best time to go runs from early September in Sapa, until the beginning of October in Mu Cang Chai (after these dates, the rice is all harvested and the terraces remain empty and brown: the harvest starts at higher elevations, to proceed slowly down). If you want to see the rice terraces flooded and without vegetation, the best time is instead the beginning of spring, around March. During the summer rainfall is higher, but the fields are all very green and beautiful to see. It is recommended in any case to always ask the locals, such as the travel advisor if you book through an agency, about the best time to visit the rice fields, depending on the route you want to follow and what do you expect to see exactly.