Vietnam Sights And Activities

Vietnam’s sheer range of landscapes and scope of history can keep you happily occupied for the rest of your natural life, and while that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, your visa might run out. To help you prioritize, Let’s Go has compiled some of the country’s best features and written its highlights into suggested itineraries. Don’t forget to take plenty of detours.

• Best Place To Sleep With The Stars (Or At Least Closer To Them Than Most): The stilt houses of Ba B€ National Park offer the perfect night’s sleep. Be sure not to miss the sight-packed boat tour down the Nang River and the stalagmite that (kind of) resembles the Buddha.
• Best Rip0ff Of Famous Parisian Architecture: Escape Vietnam without ever having to leave its borders. à Låt’s alpine French feel extends to its cafes and its very own mini Eiffel Tower. Head to the hills for some great ecotourism, and don’t miss the city’s artistic community.
• Best Place To Drink Away Your Hangover:  Nha Trang is Vietnam’s collective party. It’s the kind of tropical paradise you thought only existed on postcards—except crowded with fun wine bars and wine-filled tourists. Who ever thought Communism could be so much fun?
• Best Place To Swallow A Still-Beating Heart: If you’re gonna live the Vietnamese dream, you may as well do it with the pros in Lˆ MÆt , the snake village just outside of Hà Nÿi.
• Best Place To Get Wired: Any of the numerous cafes in Bu®n Ma Thuÿt , Vietnam’s coffee capital, provides an ideal setting to savor unique, authentic blends.
• Best Starting Point For A Wardrobe Overhaul: The possibilities are endless at the Mai stall in Hÿi An. No tailoring skills necessary. Sense of style (and silk boxers) recommended.
• Best “Disneyworld Gone Wrong”: Near Thái Nguyˆn, Lake Núi C®c flaunts a wonderfully tacky theme park. Bring the kids!
• Best Intersection: Hà Nÿi’s L™£ng Ngÿc Quyèn and Tå Hiˆn meet to form Bia H£i Junction , where all four street corners house bia h£i bars.
• Best Two-Story Concrete Chicken: The residents of a K’ho ethnic minority village , near à Låt, have constructed what is probably the best two-story concrete chicken in Vietnam. Probably.
• Best Place To Learn How To Protect Monkeys (And Their Delicious, Delicious Brains):  The Endangered Primate Resource Center at Cúc Ph™£ng National Park provides a wealth of information on Vietnam’s unique fauna. Contemplate the issue on one of the park’s amazing hikes. However, if you’re just interested in the monkeys for their nutritious brains, perhaps we can dissuade you .
• Best Place To Go Underground: The Vænh M#c tunnels were home to more than 300 Vietnamese during the war with the US. The extensive subterranean abode is open for exploration—claustrophobes beware.
• Best Naturally Occuring Mudbath: We assume “Marvellous Hot Water Pot” is a loose translation of “Hot Springs.” Just 45 minutes in the 37˚C mud bath at Bình Chñu is said to reduce your risk of skin cancer.
• Best Place To Escape Modern Technology: No hot water, no A/C, and the town generator stops running at 11pm; welcome to the capital of Quán Lån Island , one of the remote outposts of Bái T Long Bay. A flashlight and some matches might not be a bad idea.
• Best Place To Rock The Night Away: The brand new boat-turned-bar- and-club in Hà Nÿi, Titanic will groove you, pending any untimely iceberg collisions.
• Best Way To (Sort Of) Stay Afloat: The water, four more-or-less-related bamboo logs, and thou; ladies and gentlemen, we give you Thng Hen Lake .

• Trek, Pedal, And Zoom

Breathtaking vistas and hikes are a Œ·ng a dozen in this country. Rural Vietnam is characterized by lovely and less-than-lovely towns surrounded on all sides by natural splendor; get a map or a guide ...more

• Get Wet

Vietnam is a long, skinny country with 3444km of coastline, dominated by river deltas and rice paddies—if there weren’t water activities galore, something would be seriously wrong. The natural ...more

• Eat

Skipping out on some of the world’s most revered cuisine would be the worst decision you have ever made. Ever. Vietnamese food is life-changing. It ranges from the delicate and exquisite to the more ...more

• Burn Incense

Pagodas and temples without number stud the hills, fields, and streets of Vietnam. Vietnam’s triple religion is largely structured around the ritual and practice of Mahayana Buddhism; one of its ...more

• Live For The City

Urban Vietnam explodes with energy and history. While the country’s mountains and beaches get a lot of attention, the cities are absorbing in their own right. H· Chí Minh City , ...more