Vietnam Highlights: Best Things to Do with Photos

HA NOI: Vietnam’s capital with the old town, ancient pagodas, top museums, and amazing street food

SA PA: With magnificent mountain trekking, ethnic villages, and top views 

HA LONG BAY: a UNESCO-listed site with more than 2000 islands & islets, amazing cruise ships 

NINH BINH: With the UNESCO-listed site of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, boat rowing

PHONG NHA: a UNESCO-listed natural site with caves & junk eco-tours, and boat rowing trips

HUE: Vietnam’s ancient capital with a UNESCO-listed site – Complex of Hue Monuments, traditional food

DA NANG: A city worth living in with beautiful beaches, special local food, and spa retreats

HOI AN: With Hoi An Old Town UNESCO-listed site, beautiful beaches, and local food specialties

NHA TRANG: With beautiful beaches, islands, resorts, spas, entertainment, and seafood

HO CHI MINH CITY: Vietnam’s largest city with cafe culture, food, and colonial architecture

MEKONG DELTA: With boat rowing through floating markets, villages, canals, and mangrove forests

Top 10 Things to Do in Vietnam

1. Take an eco-tour, including a cooking class in Hoi An

Eco-tour in Hoi An is a unique tour that is just available in the countryside of Hoi An, Vietnam’s central region. Despite being only a half-day, the trip offers authentic sightseeing experiences like cycling through palm groves, water buffalo fields, and over bridges, along the Thu Bon River – home to local fishing villages. While admiring the scenery, maybe you will see farmers working in their rice fields using centuries-old farming techniques.

The tour also includes visits to local families in Cam Thanh and Tra Que Villages, two unique Hoi An villages. Daily traditional activities such as growing a wide variety of vegetables, sailing the basket boat, or catching fish in their small canals are still practiced. By visiting here, tourists will have the chance to also learn about environmentally sustainable practices that local villagers have used for centuries, still widely used today.

Cooking and tasting traditional Vietnamese dishes is also specially included in this eco-tour. This trip is appropriate for all ages, with children enjoying it as well.

2. Never miss a boat cruise in Halong Bay

Halong Bay would be a magical stop on your trip through Vietnam. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has its distinct beauty. The bay’s beautiful green waters surround the many tall limestone karst pillars, making for an excellent photo opportunity.

This vast and unique landscape will appeal to all ages. You can choose to relax on the cruise ship or participate in other activities such as cave exploration, kayaking, and possibly spotting fishermen near their floating village.

The cruise ships are extremely comfortable, with large bay windows in the cabins, wonderful meals, and service. You will feel fortunate to have included a boat cruise on Halong Bay in your trip to Vietnam, an experience you will never forget.

3. “Pho” is a must-try food in Vietnam

Pho, a world-famous dish, is one of Vietnam’s most important breakfast dishes but can be eaten anytime. Tourists can easily find a local Pho restaurant in Vietnam because it is available in almost every corner of the country, with very popular places to try this specialty in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital.

Pho is made with simple ingredients such as clear stock, rice noodles, herbs, or green onions, usually with boiled beef or chicken. It is suitable for people of all ages. Many Vietnamese restaurants serve Pho, but the most well-known are Pho Thin and Pho Ly Quoc Su, both of which have their distinct flavor.

It is also not expensive to have a special bowl of Pho at any location in Vietnam, ranging from 30.000VND to 60.000VND (1.5 USD – 2 USD), so you should not miss out on this economic meal during your trip to Vietnam.

4. Have a rooftop coffee in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the largest and best two cities in Vietnam, with world-famous rooftop restaurants for those who want to learn about the bustling life of Vietnamese locals from the rooftops.

From these rooftop restaurants, you can not only enjoy special food and drinks, but you can also see thousands of different motorbikes and cars on the roads below. Sometimes, however, you may see some collisions in front of you, because the roads are so very congested in Vietnam.

In Hanoi, you can have a rooftop coffee or some special food and drinks at the “Ham Ca Map” building, which is located at No. 7 Dinh Tien Hoang Street (nearby Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart of Hanoi). The rooftop of this restaurant offers an incredible view of the bustling streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake. Or, if you’re in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), don’t miss the Lounge on level 50 of the Bitexco Financial Tower for a bird’s-eye view of Vietnam’s largest city.

5. Light a lantern at the lantern festival in Hoi An 

The Lantern Festival is a must-see for visitors to Hoi An, also known as the “Old Town of Hoi An,” one of the world’s UNESCO cultural heritage sites. This one-of-a-kind festival will take place this year on February 1st, 2022, and in 2023,  on February 10th, 2023, lasting 7 days during Tet Festival (Vietnamese New Year) and only a day during every full moon in Vietnamese.

With thousands of lanterns floating on the river at the same time, visitors will have the opportunity to see Hoi An as a colorful festival. If you want to immerse yourself in this special lantern party, you can rent a basket boat rowed by a local who will take you around the river to get a better view, or you can buy a lantern to float on the river with the locals.

Take part in this unique festival, and don’t forget to eat plenty of the local cuisine served along the walking streets of Hoi An’s old town. With over 50 workshops, most of the locals take part in this special festival by creating beautiful traditional lanterns to display. Visitors will enjoy this unique Hoi An experience, one not to miss.

6. Cruise the Mekong River Delta 

A boat trip down the Mekong River is another exciting tour to take in Southern Vietnam. Visitors can observe the way the locals live by their basic houses and ordinary wooden boats.

The cruise trip also includes a visit to the fruit garden, where you can try a variety of fresh fruits. A small wooden boat rowed by locals will take you through the small water canals where you can also see green coconuts and many unique houses on stilts.

With boats being the primary mode of transportation in the Mekong River Delta, locals and even children can easily control their boats, even in the most tucked-away corners of the canals.

Tourists, in particular, will be able to listen to folk and traditional songs performed by locals while visiting the Mekong River Delta’s water river villages. A boat trip to the Mekong River Delta is a must-do on any trip to the southern part of Vietnam, especially if you want to understand what life is like there.

7. Explore Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site

A visit to a UNESCO World Heritage Site is eye-opening on any trip. Having HOI AN as a destination option in Vietnam makes it very easy to incorporate those special sites into your itinerary. Hoi An is a sensory overloading experience.

The first things you notice are the ancient-tiled rooftops and a variety of colorful flowers. You’ll realize why Hoi An is known as the “City of Lights”. At dusk, hundreds of elegant silk lanterns are illuminated on the river of the old town near the Japanese Covered Bridge. The reflection of the lantern light on the buildings is magnificent.

Pedestrian-friendly streets are home to a variety of tailor-made clothing stores, art galleries, bars, cafes, street food, and restaurants, serving regional specialties. Over 800 historic structures, including temples, Buddhist shrines, and French colonial houses are also found in Hoi An.

Aside from admiring the old town’s architecture, it’s also fun to ride in a basket boat for the first time and take a cooking class in a nearby village. You can also ride a bike through the surrounding countryside of Hoi An, where you can see farm animals, ancient cemeteries, and some of central Vietnam’s best beaches.

An Bang Beach, named one of the Top 100 Best Beaches in the World by CNN in 2016, allows you to walk along the long sandy shore, join a yoga class, or relax on a hammock, happy that you chose Hoi An as your destination.

8. Trekking through fields and ethnic villages in Sapa

Sapa is located in northern Vietnam and is home to a variety of ethnic groups including the H’Mong, Dao, and Tay people. These ethnic minorities are dispersed throughout Sapa’s villages.

When visiting Sapa, tourists will be able to see some of the most magnificent mountainous landscapes in northern Vietnam, as well as trek along the rice terraced rice fields, which are located in a unique mix of ethnic villages.

Sapa is also a place where tourists can learn about the local cultures and stay the night at a homestay. Then, they can learn more about these distinct cultures while also enjoying the regional cuisine.

Sapa is also well-known for Fansipan Mountain “the Roof of Indochina” which is the highest mountain in Vietnam and the Indochina Peninsula.

9. Take a Vespa tour – Guided by Vietnamese Ao Dai girls

Vietnam is known for its world-famous local food and various cultures throughout the country. To learn more about Vietnamese food and culture, take a Vespa tour, which is ridden and guided by girls dressed in the Vietnamese traditional long dress known as “Ao Dai”.

10. Take a cooking class in Vietnam

Vietnam is still known for its world-famous food, with various street foods available in all of the country’s major cities, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, and Hue.

There are a variety of cooking classes available in tourist cities throughout Vietnam so it is an excellent opportunity for tourists to participate in short-term cooking classes. These include going to local markets with guides to select the ingredients for a dish that you will learn to cook. Depending on the dish, it usually takes 3-4 hours to prepare and cook it. 

Although Vietnamese food is delicious, its ingredients are also simple to find and prepare, so you’ll be sure to remember to cook at home once you’ve returned from your trip to Vietnam.

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