Vietnam, from the decisions that actually matter
A hundred guides written for Americans: the visa, the route, the weather that disagrees with itself, and what each choice costs the rest of the trip.
Start with the visa →
Start here, in this order
~30 min of reading, in order- The visaWhat to apply for, and the field people get wrongRead the guide
- When to goThree regions, three different wet seasonsRead the guide
- The shape of the tripFour decisions, in the order they have to be madeRead the guide
- Which directionLocked the moment you buy the ticketsRead the guide
- Getting between placesThe train the length of the country, and when to fly insteadRead the guide
- Eating wellChoose it rather than avoid itRead the guide
The country, end to end
About a thousand miles from Hanoi to the Mekong. The places below are the ones a first trip is usually built from.
Vietnam has no single season
The strip below is the broad national picture — but the north, the centre and the south are wet at different times of year, so the month you can travel partly decides which regions are worth the days.
Vietnam, End to End.
A thousand-mile country, two weeks, three seasons that never agree — and the ticket is bought before anyone looks at a weather table. The order that keeps the trip whole.
Latest guides
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A first trip back has questions the tourist articles do not answer: which visa, which passport, what Vietnam considers your children to be, and how to stay with family. Here is the practical layer under the emotional one.
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Vietnam with Limited Mobility: Where It Works and Where It Does Not
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Counterfeit Spirits in Vietnam: How to Drink Safely
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Two Days from Hanoi: Boat on Ha Long or Rowboat in Ninh Binh
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Destinations
Two answers decide the rest of the trip
Which airport you fly into sets the direction you travel, and the month you go decides which of the three regions are worth the days. Everything else — the route, the nights, the transfers — follows from those two. Answer them and the planner builds the order for you, using 12 bases and the real journeys between them.