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Things you need to know before travelling to Vietnam

10 Things You Need To Know Before Visiting Vietnam

Given the scale of bucket-list-level destinations that await visitors to Vietnam, planning the perfect trip takes time and effort. This is where our 10 things you need to know before visiting Vietnam comes in. From the best time to visit, to sorting your Vietnam visa, our quick list should set you up for an unforgettable trip of a lifetime. Whether you decide to visit Ha Long’s otherworldly karsts, take in the hectic streets of Hanoi, or hike the lush Central Highlands.

The majority of travel tips for Vietnam are repetitive and based on travelling common sense. This article provides a list of things most travellers will not be aware of.


When planning a trip to Vietnam, most people have visions of eating bowls of Phò (Vietnamese noodle soup) sitting in picturesque destinations, snapping Instagram enviable shots. What we didn’t realise was that we were about to embark on an adventure that would teach us so much more than how to consume mountains of food and take pictures of pretty destinations. 


Vietnam is a popular travel destination for first-time visitors to South East Asia. Offering a rich culture, stunning scenery, and delicious cuisine. If you’re planning a trip to Vietnam, arrive armed with these tips and you’ll be the savviest traveller touching down at the airport!


1. Select Your Season & Region Wisely

Sapa in Northern Vietnam

Vietnam is a long and narrow country, with a variety of scenic and cultural destinations to choose from. Being roughly 1600km long and only 50km wide at it’s narrowest point, Vietnam consist of varied landscapes and matching weather.


The weather being the most important factor when planning where and when you choose to visit. And, considering that it comprises a tropical climate zone and a temperate zone — both of which experience the annual monsoon — Vietnam also has a variety of temperatures and seasonal rain patterns to match.

Vietnam is soaked by the southwest monsoon from May to September and the northeast monsoon from October to April. Make sure to check the weather in the areas you plan to visit before you leave.


Generally, South Vietnam doesn’t require you to pack cold weather clothing, but a raincoat might be necessary depending on when you go. If you are travelling from November to March in Northern Vietnam, you should pack some jumpers, long sleeves and trousers, and other warm clothing. Between October and December, Central Vietnam floods due to the monsoon. so a raincoat is necessary.

2. Arrange Your Visa In Advance

The visa situation for Vietnam differs for each nationality, check your nationalities visa conditions before travel. Not all nationalities need a visa to enter Vietnam for a short time, but most do. Generally, visa exemptions last for a period of 15 days, and the standard length for a tourist visa is 30 days.


The easiest way to obtain a visa is to apply for an e-Visa online. A Vietnam e-Visa is valid for a maximum of 90 days, for single or multiple entries. Just be aware that the e-visa application fee is paid through the e-visa portal’s e-payment gateway and it is non-refundable if the visa is not granted.

Vietnam Visas - electronic visa and visa on arrival

The cost of an e-visa is 25 USD for a single-entry visa and 50 USD for a multiple-entry visa.


3. Patience In A Queue … Or Watching Queue Jumpers

Mount Fansipan, Sapa, Vietnam

Few experiences challenge a person’s patience and decency like the act of queuing. The sanctity of the orderly line and the unspoken rules that govern them vary from one part of the globe to another, but it’s pretty cut and dry, form an organised line, wait your turn and no jumping the line!


Most would agree that the Vietnamese are happy, kind and helpful, however, they are not a queueing nation. In Vietnam, queuing is an entirely different beast. Passive-aggressive nudging, shoving, and blatant queue-jumping are expected and accepted. A lot of people cut in line and if you don’t aggressively hold your position, you’ll never get through.

This doesn’t mean that this happens everywhere, or that there aren’t any orderly queues. However, it’s very common for the queue to turn into everything except a queue. As we have stood in line, patiently waiting for our turn to come, I’ve actually wondered if it’s a Vietnamese thing, or if it’s actually other visiting nationalities that are not behaving in a “queue like” manner … Let us know what you think or your experiences.

4. Pollution

Pollution …. You will notice that every kind of pollution is a problem in the major cities. The most noticeable is the quality of the air, it is generally not great. That’s not a surprise. 


Once we landed in Hanoi, we became aware of it straight away. And then, after a few days, we started to feel it. We started to feel our throats dry and our noses clog up. Personally, I have asthma, and if it wasn’t for my amazing preventer, I think I would be wheezing and gasping after a few days.


The air quality is the number one reason a lot of people wear masks, even before the pandemic, to filter out the dirt so they were not breathing so much of it into their lungs.

Pollution and poor air quality in Vietnam

The pollution isn’t only the air quality, but it also falls along into rubbish …


There is no social stigma against throwing your rubbish on the street. IWhat happens is the street sweepers pick up all the rubbish at night. However, wha they don’t tell you, is that in some parts of the cities, even out in the beautiful tranquil tourist attractions such as Ning Binh and Ha Long Bay, they burn the rubbish. Which then leads into the poor air quality.


Unfortunately, it’s the dark side of tourism, the part that makes a pretty disagreeable juxtaposition. You not only get to experience the beautiful scenery, but also the reality that Vietnam is a developing country still trying to deal with its rubbish problem. That means, that as a tourist expect to see plastic strewn along the side of the road or floating in the waterways.

5. Haggling Is A Way Of Life

Haggling in a Vietnamese market

In Vietnam, haggling is a fact of life. Especially at markets and souvenir shops. If you don’t learn to haggle, you may pay over the odds if you accept the first price suggested. One point to remember, bargaining should never be a confrontational process.


Haggling is a game – counter the starting price with a lower offer, and see how the seller responds. With a little bit of back and forth, you should reach a mutually acceptable price. If you don’t, you can always decline politely and try another vendor. There’s little point haggling over tiny sums of money – if you pay 5000 dong (AU$0.32) over the going rate …. maybe just consider that you can probably afford it and it will make a difference to the vendor.

6. Respect The Customs & The Culture

Primarily, try to learn a few key Vietnamese phrases and have these under your belt before travelling and embrace the bartering. We also advise following a few pillars of Vietnamese etiquette. 


First up, in Vietnam wearing skimpy clothing is not the done thing. Most importantly, when visiting temples and pagodas, show respect by covering your arms and legs. Above all else, just remember that these are places of worship and reflection.


Lastly, a few words of caution around photography. Always ask before you take a photo of someone. Do not take photos of anything related to the military. Just remember that doing the latter could land you with a substantial fine … at the very least. You don’t want to end up in the worst case scenario!

7. Prepare & Book Ahead For TET & Holiday Peak Seasons

Tet or Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in Vietnam. To most, it might seem like a great idea to visit Vietnam during Tet, however, the reality is that most of the larger cities will be mostly deserted, with almost all businesses shutting down. Most markets and restaurants will be closed for the 7 day period, you may find that the top tourist attractions stay open, but the city itself will be deserted and empty.


Booking transport, accommodation and tours ahead of time is not essential, but it’s a good way to avoid disappointment if you plan to be in Vietnam during the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival in late January or early February. Just remember that travelling Vietnam at this time is much more expensive and will likely cost you more than the normal price.

Prepare for travelling during TET in Vietnam

8. Sleeper Buses & Trains Are Cheap & A Great Budget Option

If you’re on a tight budget and planning to travel from city to city, the sleeper buses are your answer. Before arriving in Vietnam we had never experienced anything like it. The buses have individual seats that are like are like recliners or beds, depending on the type you book. This allows you the extend your legs fully and recline til you’re lying down.

VIP Sleeper Train Hanoi to Sapa

We travelled from Hanoi to Sapa on the overnight Sleeper Train. We booked our ticket through 12Go.com, it was easy and effortless. I paid the extra AU$3 for First Class Support. Essentially, this meant that I had WhatsApp contact with the train company and was able to speak with a person and ask any questions I had about the journey.


We paid AU$204 for 3 of us for a VIP Sleeper Cabin. When we got to the station, we paid an extra US$35 for the 4th bed in the cabin – so that, as a family, we had the 4 berth cabin privately.

The cabin was clean and tidy. The bedding had been changed and was also clean. When you get on the train, someone comes around and gives you a bottle of water, a banana, some biscuits and you get a choice of a beer or a soft drink. If you buy the VIP ticket, this is all included in the price.


HOT TIP: Bring some snacks with you for your journey – especially something that you can have as a quick breakfast in the morning. Make sure you have some dinner before you get on the train … or even take dinner with you onboard.


There are plug points near each bed, although we really struggled to get our adapters into the plugs and have them stay in the plughole. Needless to say, my phone didn’t charge that whole journey, but the other’s phones did.


There is a toilet onboard. However, as the night draws on, it does get ugly and it is not cleaned throughout the journey. The toilet paper is not replaced, so go armed with tissues or bring your own toilet paper.


Other than those few pointers, the journey was perhaps the best we had out of all the transport options we tried on our travels across Vietnam. It was comfortable and we actually rested because we were not second guessing what was happening on the journey.


From Sapa we travelled to Ninh Binh on an overnight Sleeper Bus. Again, we booked our tickets through 12Go.com and paid the extra AU$3 for the First Class Support.


From all my research on the different sleeper buses that you can catch all across Vietnam, I found that the number that comes after the bus indicates the number of seats on the bus. The higher the number, the less “luxurious” and “spacious” the bus. So, our bus was a VIP Sleeper 20 … Basically, the VIP means the bus has cabins, and the 20 denotes that it only has 20 seats/cabins onboard. Ideally, you want to book a VIP bus with the least amount of seats to insure you have a better journey.

VIP Cabin 20 Sleepr Bus Vietnam

We got onboard the bus at Sapa Bus Station at the bottom of town. Here we waited until the driver was ready to leave … and yes, you go on the drivers time not the time on the ticket. Your luggage is chucked under the bus and you have no access to it for the rest of the journey. We highly recommend that you take EVERYTHING of value with you in your backpack onto the bus. You have to remove your shoes to get on the bus, our biggest tip – WEAR SOCKS! Your shoes are put in a plastic bag and you get on the bus.


HOT TIP – Bring snacks and drinks with you onboard. Yes, there is an opportunity to get snacks if your bus stops … but, you never know what might be there, if anything.


You are shown to your cabin – there are usually to rows – 1 up and 1 below. Bedding is provided, but we recommend that you just move this to the side and leave it alone. There was nothing to show that the bedding had been cleaned so we just left it at the bottom of our cabin near our feet.


HOT TIP – Bring a sleeping bag liner with you so that you can climb inside this and stay safe in the knowledge that you will not be ‘relaxing’ on the provided bedding – clean or dirty.


The bus usually stops along the way to collect packages and other passengers from other stops – IF people are getting on and off along the way. About half way, the driver stops at a bus station. You can either get off the bus and put your shoes on, or slip into a pair of plastic thongs they leave at the dot piled in a plastic tub. Here you have roughly 30minutes to go to the toilet, get something to eat and stretch your legs.


HOT TIP – You will pay to use the toilets at the bus stations or train stations. It is usually 3000VND to go to the toilet, and at some of them they will give you toilet paper … it’s usually only 2 or 3 pieces. They are not clean.

BEWARE: Bedding on overnight transport is often filthy!

9. Mattresses In Vietnam Are ROCK Hard

Many of the hotel beds in Vietnam come with form … or some might say … Rock Hard mattresses. From what I can gather, this comes from an old Vietnamese belief that sleeping on a soft surface will warp your spine.


The only way you will find a ‘softer’ bed is by booking a large chain hotel. Even then you might not be guaranteed a softer bed. It wasn’t until we stayed in a larger, higher star hotel, that we experienced a ‘softer’ bed in our room. We learnt to check the reviews and see what people mentioned about the beds before booking anything.

10. Hotels & Tours In Vietnam Are Plagued With Fake Reviews

Unfortunately, Vietnam’s tourism industry is plagued with fake reviews. Yes, this is indeed a WORLD WIDE issue, however, it seems to be abhorrent in Vietnam.


Tour operators and hotels will often create dozens of fake accounts on booking and travel sites and leave 5 star reviews praising their won business all to sabotage their competitors. Often, you will be asked to not leave a review if you are not going to rate the hotel 10/10 or 5/5.


BEWARE the Tripadvisor review! – Tripadvisor is is especially guilty for fake reviews. There are scams created from people buying 5 star reviews as well as creating fake accounts to leave reviews. It’s a good strategy to cross-reference reviews with other sources and then try and find the actual hotel’s website to investigate.



Travelling anywhere requires preparation, especially to Vietnam. The culture and customs are so different to those of any western country. However, visiting Vietnam offers incredible experiences, a fantastic chance for adventure and endless opportunities to immerse yourself in local life.


By being mindful of Vietnam’s customs, staying aware of practical tips, and planning ahead you an avoid those holiday pitfalls that can turn a fun filled journey into a sour experience.

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🚖 Rideshare Apps – The most complete guide to Rideshare, Ride-hailing and taxis in Southeast Asia.

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