Cat Ba Island
Lying to the south of Halong Bay off the north-eastern coast of Vietnam, the 300-or-so karst islands and limestone outcrops of Lan Ha are just as…
Must-see attractions in Northern Vietnam
Cat Ba Island
For one of the best views in Vietnam, head to Cannon Fort, where there are astounding panoramas of Cat Ba Island's jungle-clad hills, the harbour and the…
Bac Ha
This Sunday market is Bac Ha’s big draw. There's an increasing range of handicrafts for sale, but it’s still pretty much a local affair. Bac Ha Market is…
Bai Tu Long Bay
Most Vietnamese visitors make a beeline for Hong Van Beach – and justifiably so. It's nearly 3km of fine, white sand lapped by blue water and backed by a…
Bai Tu Long Bay
The spectacular islands of Bai Tu Long Bay, immediately northeast of Halong Bay, form Bai Tu Long National Park and are every bit as beautiful as their…
Haiphong
Du Hang Pagoda was founded three centuries ago. It’s been rebuilt several times, but remains a fine example of traditional Vietnamese architecture and…
Ha Giang Province
This grandiose two-storey mansion was built for a local Hmong king by the French in the 1920s in Chinese-Hmong style. Set in a hidden valley in the tiny…
Cat Ba Island
Cat Ba's beautiful national park is home to 32 species of mammal, including most of the world's 65 remaining golden-headed langurs, the world's most…
Bac Ha
This small market, 20km north of Bac Ha, attracts a growing number of visitors. Some tours from Sapa now visit Can Cau on Saturday before moving on to Bac…
Cat Ba Island
Hospital Cave served both as a secret bomb-proof hospital during the American War and as a safe house for Viet Cong (VC) leaders. Built between 1963 and…
Northeast Vietnam
Often referred to as the Ba Be Lakes, Ba Be National Park was established in 1992 as Vietnam’s eighth national park. The scenery swoops from towering…
Bac Ha
The outlandish Vua Meo, built in 1921 by the French to keep the Tay chief Hoang A Tuong happily ensconced in style, is a bizarre palace constructed in a…
Halong Bay
Hang Trong has wide-arched entrances on either side and a ceiling clustered with stalactites. It's so named because when the wind blows through its…
Bac Ha
The Coc Ly Market attracts Dzao, Flower Hmong, Tay and Nung people from the surrounding hills. It’s about 35km southwest of Bac Ha. Operators in Bac Ha…
Sapa
Towering above Sapa are the Hoang Lien Mountains, once known to the French as the Tonkinese Alps and now a national park. These mountains include the…
Cat Ba Island
A 10-minute walk southeast from Cat Ba Town, the three Cat Co Cove beaches boast the nearest sand to town, though all are being developed with hotel…
Ba Be National Park
Rimmed by limestone peaks, Ba Be (meaning Three Bays) is in fact three linked lakes, with a total length of 8km and a width of about 400m. Most boat…
Halong City
Vietnamese and cruise-ship tourists flock to this cable car that spans the Cua Luc inlet, offering dramatic views over Halong Bay. The views are…
Northwest Vietnam
One potential stopover between Hanoi and Mai Chau is this centre founded by Hanoi artist Vu Duc Hieu to showcase the culture of the local Muong ethnic…
Mai Chau
This interesting weekly market, 30km northwest of Mai Chau, makes for a fine excursion. The back section has a small but high-quality section of batiks…
Northeast Vietnam
Paths follow the the Ngoc Tuyen River through this beautiful cave for about 1km. The entrance has a series of poems carved in Chinese characters by the…
Sapa
An excellent showcase of the history and ethnology of the Sapa area, including the French colonial era. Dusty exhibitions overview the various ethnic…
Bai Tu Long Bay
The beautiful 1km-long crescent-moon sweep of Minh Chau Beach, 12km from Quan Lan town on the northeastern coast, is the island's main drawcard. Between…
Haiphong
In a splendid colonial building, this small museum concentrates on the city's history, with English translations on displays. The front hall's taxidermy…
Halong Bay
This huge cave consists of three chambers reached via 90 steps. Inside, ceilings soar up to 25m high, while some rather disco-festive lighting illuminates…
Northeast Vietnam
Tam Thanh Cave is vast and seductive, with a water pool inside and natural ‘window’ offering a sweeping view of the surrounding rice fields.
Northwest Vietnam
Located 9km east of Muong Te is this traditional-feeling White Thai village. Nearly all of its residents live in elevated wooden houses in a bucolic…
Ha Giang Province
Leaving Ha Giang, the road climbs over the Quan Ba Pass (Heaven’s Gate) around 40km from the city. The saddle has an information centre and an awesome…
Bai Tu Long Bay
The only attraction within Quan Lan Town itself is this beautiful 200-year-old pagoda, flanked by the town's communal house and a temple, all of which are…
Bai Tu Long Bay
Directly north of Hong Van Beach is its slightly scruffier sister, Bac Van Beach. It's quieter, but coarse sand and water not quite deep enough for…
Bac Ha
Lung Phin market is between Can Cau market and Bac Ha, about 12km from town. It’s less busy than other markets, with a really local feel, and is a good…
Halong Bay
The popular Hang Sung Sot has three vast chambers – in the second there’s a pink-lit rock phallus unsurprisingly regarded as a fertility symbol. Even less…
Bai Tu Long Bay
For coastal scenery beyond the beaches, head south from town for 3km, bearing left at the pond, to the flagpole and headland of Mong Rong, where walking…
Cat Ba Island
Within Cat Ba National Park but accessed from a separate roadside entrance 2km north of Hospital Cave, the multi-chambered Trung Trang Cave is fun to…
Ba Be National Park
One of Ba Be's most popular off-the-water sights is this 800m-long cave complex with a pathway leading down into a soaring 50m-high cavern. It's 6km…
Northwest Vietnam
Sin Ho has markets on Saturday and Sunday; the wildly colourful Sunday market is the more impressive of the two. It's a better place to buy livestock than…
Bac Ha
This market, in the remote border area of Si Ma Cai, 40km from Bac Ha, is a vibrant and chaotic weekly hub for the local Nung and Thulao ethnic minorities…
Halong Bay
Part of the same cave system as nearby Hang Dau Go, Hang Thien Cung has ‘cauliflower’ limestone growths as well as stalactites and stalagmites.
Northwest Vietnam
Take a local bus or xe om to Thuan Chau, about 35km northwest of Son La, early in the morning, when its daily market swells with colourfully dressed hill…
Bai Tu Long Bay
Located in the northwestern corner of Co To Island is broad Van Chay Beach. During the summer months it's home to lots of food stalls, as well as kayak…
