Vietnam

Sixteen hundred kilometres from north to south, and the weather changes completely on the way. Hanoi's old quarter, an imperial city, an empty beach, and Saigon at the far end.

Where to stay

The Hanoi Signature Hotel

Hanoi · Old Quarter · 5 minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake

Old Quarter location at a price that doesn't look real.

See if your Hanoi dates are free

  • In Hanoi's Old Quarter, a five-minute walk from Hoan Kiem Lake, with modern rooms and the sort of nightly rate that makes people check twice. The Old Quarter is the reason to be here — thirty-six streets, each historically given over to a different trade, and the best street food in the country a few doors away in any direction.

    • Old Quarter, five minutes from Hoan Kiem Lake

    • Modern rooms and amenities

    • Exceptional value for the location

    • Walk to the street food, night market and lake

Ancient Hue Garden Houses

Hue · near the Imperial City · riverside

Traditional garden houses, not a hotel pretending to be one.

See if your Hue dates are free

  • Traditional Vietnamese garden houses near Hue's Imperial City, with a spa, several pools and river access. Hue was the imperial capital for well over a century, and the citadel, the royal tombs and the pagodas are all within easy reach. This is the most distinctly Vietnamese stay on the page — an actual set of garden houses rather than a hotel with local touches applied.

    • Traditional Vietnamese garden houses

    • Near the Imperial City and citadel

    • Spa and multiple pools

    • Riverside setting

Odin Hotel Quy Nhon

Quy Nhon · beachfront · all-inclusive

All-inclusive on a beach most itineraries skip entirely.

See if your Quy Nhon dates are free

  • A beachfront all-inclusive in Quy Nhon, with dining included and daily wellness treatments. Quy Nhon is the stretch of coast between Hoi An and Nha Trang that most itineraries drive straight past, which is exactly the appeal. All-inclusive is also quietly ideal when you're on your own — you stop doing the arithmetic on dinner for one.

    • Beachfront in Quy Nhon

    • All-inclusive, with dining included

    • Daily wellness treatments

    • A stretch of coast most itineraries miss

GRAND HOTEL du LAC

Ho Chi Minh City · remodelled 2025

A rooftop pool in the middle of Saigon.

See if your Ho Chi Minh dates are free

  • Eighty individually decorated rooms near Ben Thanh Market and Dong Khoi Street, remodelled in 2025. There's a rooftop pool with lounge areas, a full spa doing facials and deep-tissue massage, two restaurants and a coffee shop. Breakfast is included, the WiFi runs at over 500Mbps, and there's a daily manager's reception — a low-effort way to meet people on a night you feel like it.

    • 80 individually decorated rooms, remodelled 2025

    • Rooftop pool with lounge areas

    • Full-service spa

    • Two restaurants and a coffee shop

    • Breakfast included and a daily manager's reception

10 of the best Vietnamese Tours

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Live in Vietnam

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The best places to stay in Vietnam

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    • Hang Son Doong, in Phong Nha, is the largest cave in the world.

    • French colonial influence is still everywhere — in the architecture, the coffee and the bread.

    • The floating markets of the Mekong Delta are working markets, not shows put on for visitors.

    • Vietnam runs about 1,650km north to south, and Hanoi and Saigon can have completely different weather on the same day.

    • Coffee is served strong, with condensed milk, often iced — ask for cà phê sữa đá.

  • Best time — this is the one country where the answer depends entirely on where you're going. Broadly: the north (Hanoi, Sapa) is best September to November and March to April; the centre (Hue, Hoi An, Quy Nhon) February to May; the south (Saigon, the Mekong) December to April. Doing the whole country, March and April give you the best overall odds.

    Getting around — Domestic flights are cheap and save whole days. The reunification railway is slow but genuinely lovely for one leg — Hue to Da Nang is the famously beautiful stretch. Use Grab in cities rather than metered taxis.

  • Vietnam is well set up for independent travellers, and eating alone is completely normal — the plastic stools on the pavement are the point, not a compromise. Three practical notes: use Grab so the fare is fixed before you get in; in Saigon, keep your bag on the shoulder away from the road, because bag-snatching from scooters is the main risk; and cross the road by walking slowly and predictably rather than waiting for a gap, because the gap never comes.

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