Activities to do in Vietnam

1. Light a lantern in Hoi An

Every Tết (Vietnamese New Year), Hoi An is transformed into a kaleidoscope of colour and light for its Lantern Festival. The celebration lasts for seven days, with the road from Hoi An Bridge to the Hoai River Square adorned with thousands of colourful lanterns.

2. Visit Halong Bay and its equally spectacular neighbour

With 1,600 limestone towers rising from its turquoise waters, Halong Bay is rightly considered one of Vietnam’s most beautiful spots. As a result, it’s on every visitor’s list – and hundreds of boats offer cruise trips every day. The bay is huge, but it can still feel crowded.

Bai Tu Long Bay, just a few miles away, offers the same jaw-dropping scenery but sees only a fraction of the visitors. Here, you can explore uncrowded caves and tiny beaches, and feast on super-fresh succulent seafood.

Boat trips to Bai Tu Long Bay leave from the crowded dock at Halong City, just like the ones to Halong Bay. But you’ll head off in the opposite direction, to where the islands are a little less taller and a little more spread out – but, according to locals, are just like what those in Halong Bay used to be like.

3. Hike through Cat Ba Island

You can’t go wrong with a visit to Cat Ba Island. The views are spectacular, and the nearby Lan Ha Bay is a brilliant Halong alternative – another breathtakingly beautiful bay, without the tourist masses.

4. Cruise the Mekong Delta

After travelling over 4,000km from the Tibetan Himalaya, the Mekong hits Vietnam and slows down to a more languid pace. With islands, rice paddies, stilted villages and a way of life that hasn’t changed for centuries, it’s as if the river wants to take it easy and soak up the view.

Hitch a ride with a cargo boat and you can do exactly that. Simply find a shady spot to hitch your hammock and gaze at faraway riverbanks as your boat, weighed down with fruit and rice sacks, ploughs the treacly brown flow.

5. Drop into the world’s largest cave in Phong Nha National Park

The small town of Phong Nha is the epicentre for the area’s caving adventures, its eponymous cave another UNESCO-listed wonder well worth exploring. Here, you can hire both the guides and the gear you’ll need to descend into the caves.

If going underground doesn’t appeal, the area is also famous for trekking. The surrounding jungle is peppered with stunning waterfalls and an active (and noisy) population of monkeys and flying foxes.

6. Visit the coffee-making heartland, Buon Ma Thuot

Buon Ma Thuot is the heart of Vietnam’s thriving coffee industry. The Trung Nguyen coffee company is the big player here, and there’s not a corner of paddy field or industrial zone in the area that doesn’t bear their logo.

9. Go to church, Vietnamese-style

Tây Ninh, a busy town on the Mekong Delta, is perhaps the most unlikely holy city on the planet. Here, amongst the busy streets stalls and noisy traffic sits Cao Dai Temple, the Holy See of the Cao Dai religion.

Caodaism is a Vietnamese hybrid religion founded in the 1920s. It fuses Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, occult and Islam with the ultimate aim to break free of the cycle of life and death. The sect reveres, among others: Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and even French novelist Victor Hugo.

10. Cycle around Hue

Halfway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Hue marked the divide between the north and the south during the Vietnam War. Set upon the pretty Perfume River, it has always played an important part in Vietnamese history and is dotted with important historical sites.

It is also a great place to cycle. Set off in the cool of the morning and head three kilometres out of town to the Tiger Fighting arena. It was Vietnam’s version of the Colosseum, a place where elephants and tigers would fight to honour the strength of the monarchy. Next, head to Tu Duc Tomb before reaching Vong Canh Hill – the best spot for panoramic views of the Perfume River.