Northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam
Hanoi
A thousand-year-old capital that still runs on plastic stools, motorbike horns and the smell of charcoal — and the natural first stop for the north.
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Vietnam travel guide
Everything you need to plan a trip to Vietnam
Where to go, what it really costs, how many days each place is worth, and how to get between them.
Destinations
Where to go in Vietnam
From the karst bays of the north to the Mekong Delta — the places worth building a trip around, and how long each one needs.
Northern Vietnam
Lao Cai Province, Northern Vietnam
Sapa
Terraced valleys under the Hoang Lien Son range, and the easiest place in Vietnam to spend two days walking between highland villages.
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Northern Vietnam
Ha Giang Province, Northern Vietnam
Ha Giang
The northernmost province in Vietnam, and the country's best road trip: three or four days of limestone plateau, hairpin passes and border villages.
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Northern Vietnam
Ninh Binh Province, Northern Vietnam
Ninh Binh
Ha Long Bay's limestone towers, but standing in rice fields instead of the sea — and only 90 minutes from Hanoi.
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Islands & Beaches
Quang Ninh Province, Northern Vietnam
Ha Long Bay
Around 1,600 limestone islands in the Gulf of Tonkin, seen properly only from a boat that stays out overnight.
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Central Vietnam
Quang Nam Province, Central Vietnam
Hoi An
A UNESCO-listed trading port that stopped growing in the 19th century and therefore survived intact — lanterns, tailors and a beach twenty minutes away.
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