VIETNAM MAJOR ATTRACTIONS

 Vietnam with its diversity in geographical terrain, in climatic areas, in cultural heritage can offer you the most colorful holidays.

Vietnam covers an area of 330,992 thousand sq km. Three-quarters of the country consists of mountains and hills of which the highest is 3143-meter Hoang Lien mountain, and the longest is the Truong Son range which runs almost the full length of the country. The country’s coastline is 3200 km having many beautiful beaches along. So either you look for an easy relaxing holiday enjoying natural wonders, or a great adventure of life, Vietnam has it all!

Vietnam’s diversity in culture originates from its more than 4000 years of history, from its various ethic groups of the population each with its own civilization and from the influence of neighboring countries. With more than 1000 years of Chinese occupation, Vietnam is strongly influenced by this 5000 year-old culture. The legacy left in Vietnam is found in pagodas and temples, customs, cuisines, and especially the Vietnamese strong sense of resistance against foreign invasion and the protective sense of the local culture. The Cham civilization, which blossomed in the central region of the country from the 2nd to the 15th century, has left many beautiful Hindu-styled temples, some of which have been recognized as the world heritage sites by the UNESCO. Also when traveling across the country you will probably encounter numerous hill tribe people from different ethnic minorities of the 54 groups in Vietnam, each dressed in their traditional attires and each living isolatedly from the mainstream society. It is their unique cultures that have made the Vietnamese cultures so colorful. So if you look for some special cultural experiences, Vietnam is surely the place!

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NORTH 

Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam. The city architecture is the blend of Vietnamese, Chinese and French. The city is known to the locals as three main areas: The Ancient Citadel Area (11^th centurey); The Old Quarter (Ancient Business Area) dated back from the 11^th century; The Frech Quarter-French architure dated back from the 19^th century. You can join in the hustle and bustle of the 36 streets in the Old-quarter or enjoy the tranquility of the city in many evergreen parks, lakes around. Nice places to visit include:

• HoChiMinh Mausoleum: dedicated to the most revered man of the country;
• The Presidential Palace and Ho Chi Minh’s Houses: Perfect architecture, nice park and interesting history;
• One-pillar pagoda (dated back to 1049): One of the symbols of Hanoi, dedidicated to the Goddess of Mercy;
• The ancient Temple of Literature or The First University of Vietnam (dated back to 11th century), the symbol of the Vietnamese learning tradition;
• Tran Quoc Pagoda, Quan Thanh temple and the West Lake: Independence tradition  of Vietnam, nice setting, floating cafe on the biggest lake of Hanoi; sipping coffee or cold beer catching sunset is recommended;
• Lake of the Restored Sword: Nice setting, surprising Vietnamese culture and the wish for peace;
• Hanoi Famed Old Quarter with many markets;
• Hanoi Opera House: Frech style architecture;
• Water Puppet Performance: unique art in the world, surely should not be missed;
• History Museum: The history of Vietnam;
• Army Museum: History of the country and of the coutry’s army.
• Ethnology Museum: The peoples of Vietnam, having amazing collections of the Vietnamese traditional houses;
• Fine Arts Museum: surprising traditional fine arts of Vietnam along the nation’s history;
• Ho Chi Minh Museum: Ho Chi Minh’s life and Vietnamese history;
• Airforce Museum: Vietnamese airforce and aircraft displays;
• Women Museum: Vietnamese women achievements including collections of traditional women costumes and modern fashion designs;
• Ho Chi Minh Trails Museum: the legendary Ho Chi Minh trails;
• Hoa Lo Prison Museum: used to be called “Hanoi Hilton”

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Halong Bay is 180 km (3 hour drive) north-east of Hanoi. Having 3000 greenlimestone islands rising from the crystalline emerald water in the Gulf of Tonkin, having tens of beautiful caves above and under water and the diverse eco-system, Halong Bay has been recognized as the World Heritage by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Halong Bay can be visited on a 1-day, 2-day or 3-day trips from Hanoi. The visitor can stay at many international standard hotels in Halong city or on luxurious traditional junk in the wild of the Bay.

CatBa island is in the Gulf of Tonkin, 5 hour boat cruise from Halong city. Nice places to see in CatBa are the national park, tranquil white-sand beaches, nice walk on the waterfront sipping cold beer, sharing joy with the locals. Catba Island can be accessed by boat from Halong Bay or from Haiphong harbor city.

HoaLu-TamCoc-BichDong is 130 km (2 hour drive) south of Hanoi. HoaLu was the capital of Vietnam in the 10th century. TamCoc is nicknamed “Halong inland” with beautiful limestone mountains jutting out of the paddy fields. The 2-hour bamboo rowing-boat trip takes you through the rice paddies enclosed by mountains, through three under water caves. BichDong is a Buddhist triple-roofed pagoda built into limestone cliffs and caves of a rocky mountain. A day trip from Hanoi to this area is definitely recommended.

Perfume Pagodas is 60 km (2 hour drive) south-west of Hanoi. This area is the destination for Vietnamese Buddhist Pilgrims during Buddhist festival time. The highlights of this trip include the rowing boat trip on a river with beautiful scenery around and the beautifully designed pagodas built into mountain cliffs which can be visited by hiking or by cable car.

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MaiChau is 150 km (4 hour drive) south-west of Hanoi. This area is home to the Tai, H’Mong, Kinh, Dzao people. The highlights of this trip include the trekking in the wild with breathtaking scenery, staying with a Thai family in a house on stilts, sharing the traditional dance with the Thai people.

Sapa is 400 km (9 hour drive by car) north-west of Hanoi. This cloud-covered town is located at 1550 m above the sea level, cool all year round. There are many magnificent mountains including the peak of Indochina. 

The area is home to 7 ethnic groups with unique cultures, lifestyles and languages; all wearing their traditional attires, working on evergreen terraces. Hill tribes gather for the weekend market for trade and for meeting with lovers.  Sapa is a good place for relaxing, for culturally touring, and for trekking and should not be missed on your trip.

Sapa can be accessed by road or by train (to Laocai) from Hanoi. Activities include sighseeing, discovering the hill tribes’ culture, mountain climbing, and trekking with home stay.

North-West, Nort-East: This area is excellent for adventurous travelers with the evergreen scenery, high mountains, and deep valley. It is home to more than 20 ethic groups relatively isolated from the mainstream society. Highlights of this trip includes the Sapa love  market (where boys and girls from the local ethnic groups look for lovers), the scenic drive flanked by forests of blossoms in January and February, DienBienPhu -the French military base where the French lost the war to the VietMinh, the colorful hill tribe market in BacHa and the magnifient BanGioc Waterfall.

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THE CENTRAL REGION  

Hue  is 689 km( 1 hour flight, 12 hours by train from Hanoi, 1 hour flight from Saigon) south of Hanoi, was the capital of Vietnam in 19th century, controversially considered the most beautiful city in Vietnam. Highlights include the ancient citadel; a cruise on the Perfume River to visit the royal tombs of MinhMang, TuDuc, Khaidinh; the Thanh Toan Roofed-Bridge and the matchless Vietnamese traditional cuisines. Hue should not be missed on your trip.

HoiAn is a riverside town 138 km (4 hour drive from Hue) south of Hue, was once a major international port trading in silk, ceramics, and spices. Hoian has the blend of Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese culture which has been retained in parts of HoiAn architecture. If you look for some cultural discovery, or for fine silk clothings, or just simply some easy time hanging around the beach, then HoiAn is the place! HoiAn is a World Heritage site and has always been one of our tourists’ highlights.

MySon is 65 km south-west of HoiAn. This site was once the Holy Land of the Cham people whose civilization was strongly influenced by the Indian culture. The legacy is the many Hindu-like temples. MySon is a World Heritage Site and can be visited in half a day from Hoian or Danang.

The Central Highland is renowned for the temperate climate. This area is home to many ethnic groups with very distinct cultures. Dalat (elevation 1475 m) is situated in a pine forest-covered region dotted with lakes, waterfalls, beautiful flowers and vegetable gardens. Dalat is a four-seasons-in-a-day city and a romantic honeymoon spot, the destination for Vietnamese artists. Dalat should not be missed on your trip. Dalat is 205 km (5 hour drive) north-west of NhaTrang and 320 km( 7 hour drive, 30 minute flight from Saigon) north of HoChiMinh city.

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NhaTrang   is 450 km north of HoChiMinhcity (1 hour flight from Saigon). With white sand beaches, turquoise almost transparent water and superb corals, NhaTrang is certainly excellent for relaxing, snorkeling and scuba diving. NhaTrang should not be missed on your trip.

PhanThiet is a sleepy fishing town 200 km (4 hour drive) north-east of HoChiMinh city. The region is beautiful with many sand dunes and white sand beaches, crystal clear water. PhanThiet is good for anyone who likes to relax and easy holidays. Accommodation is quite good with some European-managed resorts and hotels. The area is considered to be the driest one in all of Vietnam.

Muine: 20 km from Phan Thiet, the Mui Ne Bay has more than 16 km of pristine white sand beaches. Driving from PhanThiet to Mui Ne, you'll have a chance to savor the most exotic scene of the region with the famous Red Sand Dunes one side and the white sand beaches with coconut trees on the other. Passing by this region, you also can visit one of the oldest Cham towers in Vietnam.

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SOUTH

HoChiMinh City (Saigon) is the always-in-rush-hour city. In here one would easily find something to entertain himself whether he wants to discover museums, pagodas, markets or just sipping coffee in a sidewalk café, chatting with his fellow travelers, listening to thumping music. Nice places include

• The Reunification Palace with information about the situation in Vietnam during the War;
• War Remnants Museum: used to be called the War Crimes Museum
• The Notre Dame Cathedral;
• The General Post Office;
• The Municipal Theater used to be the Parliament Building;
• GiacLam Pagoda;
• The Jade Emperor  Pagoda;
• Thien Hau Pagoda, Binh Tay Market and China Town

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CuChi  is 65 km (1.5 hour drive) north of HoChiMinh city. The tunnel network of CuChi became legendary in the war for facilitating the Vietcong to gain victory over the American troops.  At its height, this three-leveled tunnel stretched over 250 km. Coming to CuChi, one would have a chance of checking how underground life of the locals was in the war.

TayNinh serves as the headquarters of one of Vietnam most interesting indigenous religion. The CaoDai Great Temple at the sect’s Holy See is as extraordinary as the sect’s philosophy whose patron saints include Victor Hugo, Winston Churchill, and Goddess of Mercy.

Mekong Delta is the southernmost region of Vietnam, the “rice basket of the country”. The region is intersected by a vast network of canals which also make lifestyle in here so different, life on water. Daily activities mostly take place on water. Check out the colorful floating markets or just enjoy the tasty fruits in an orchard are the highlights of the trip to the Mekong Delta. Cantho is the capital city of the region.

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