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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Destinations
All destinations in Vietnam
Pick a place to see when to go, what to do, what to eat, what it costs and a ready-made itinerary.
Vietnam
Destinations in Vietnam
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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Islands & Beaches
Hai Phong, Northern Vietnam
Cat Ba Island
The largest island in the Ha Long archipelago, with a national park, a climbing scene and the beaches Ha Long Bay does not have.
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Northern Vietnam
Thanh Hoa Province, Northern Vietnam
Pu Luong
A nature reserve of terraced valleys, bamboo waterwheels and Thai stilt villages — the quiet version of Sapa, four hours from Hanoi.
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Northern Vietnam
Hoa Binh Province, Northern Vietnam
Mai Chau
A flat green valley of Thai stilt villages three hours from Hanoi — the easiest overnight escape from the city.
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Northern Vietnam
Son La Province, Northern Vietnam
Moc Chau
A high plateau of tea terraces, dairy farms and plum orchards that turns white with blossom in January and February.
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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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Central Vietnam
Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam
Hue
Vietnam's imperial capital from 1802 to 1945, with a walled citadel, seven royal tombs along the river and the country's most distinctive regional cooking.
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Central Vietnam
Central Vietnam
Da Nang
Central Vietnam's gateway city: thirty kilometres of beach, a mountain pass at each end, and the only international airport between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
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Central Highlands
Lam Dong Province, Central Highlands
Da Lat
A pine-forested hill town at 1,500 metres, built by the French as an escape from the heat and still the coolest city in Vietnam.
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Islands & Beaches
Khanh Hoa Province, South Central Coast
Nha Trang
A six-kilometre city beach in a sheltered bay, with Cham towers behind it, islands offshore and the country's most reliable diving.
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Islands & Beaches
Kien Giang Province, Southern Vietnam
Phu Quoc
Vietnam's largest island, in the Gulf of Thailand: white-sand beaches, a national park over half its area, and a dry season while the mainland is wet.
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