Search Vantage
Choose Your Adventure
Subscribe to our newsletter
Vietnam: General Information & Tourist Destinations
Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon is the name of a fantastic river flowing through the city. This river gave birth to the Saigon - Cholon port and the most buoyant riverside city in Southeast Asia in the early eighteenth century. Today Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), with a population of about 6 million is the largest city in Vietnam and one of the three biggest municipalities in the country (the others being Hanoi and Hai Phong).
Phu Quoc
The 16-island archipelago of Phu Quoc lies about 40 km west of Ha Tien in the Gulf of Thailand. The major island - Phu Quoc is 48 km long and covers an area of 1,320 square km. Phu Quoc Island boasts lush tropical forest and mountain zones. Phu Quoc Island holds great potential for tourism with unspoiled beaches, especially in the south. The area is great for swimming, snorkeling and fishing.
Vung Tau
Vung Tau is an old port town 115 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, developed under the French as a seaside resort called Cap Saint Jacques. It served as a rest center for French officers, and later for Australian and American troops on R & R during the Vietnam War. Today it is a popular seaside resort town for wealthy Vietnamese.
Can Tho
Can Tho, 165 km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City population of 200,000, is the largest town in the delta. It is a good base for exploring river life and fruit orchards in the area and an important transport hub to the surrounding other towns and villages. Farther out of town, 35 km to the south (one hour by road or 3-4 hours by boat), is a large floating market at Phung Hiep.
Vinh Long
Vinh Long is a riverside town and located in the Mekong Delta. The Co Chien river flows through this provincial capital where visitors can explore the central market named Cho Vinh Long and the nearby Khmer Temples of Chau Thanh. Boat rides are a welcomed attraction as well as the Bonsai Garden with its natural beauty.
Dalat
Dalat rapidly became so popular with Europeans as a cool retreat from the sweltering heat of the coastal plains and the Mekong Delta that it was once called “Le Petit Paris”, a great compliment to the city of Dalat. The economy of Dalat is based on tourism: 400,000 domestic tourists visit every year. This so - called City of Love is built on a plateau some 1,500 meters above sea level, and enjoys the mild climate of an everlasting spring and marvelous landscape with waterfalls, lakes, springs, pine hills, and beautiful flowers in French built villas.
Nha Trang
Nha Trang, one of the most developed of all the beaches, is Vietnam’s most attractive coastal town, with its charms derived from harmonious combination of mountains, island sea and beautiful white sand beaches. Nha Trang has numerous cultural attractions and interesting sites. It is also an excellent place for fishing, snorkeling and scuba diving.
Hoi An
The ancient town of Hoi An (formerly Faifo) lies 32 km south of Danang on the banks of the Thu Bon River. Originally a Cham port, the town has a distinct Chinese atmosphere with low, tiled-roof houses and narrow streets. The town is divided into five quarters or ‘bangs’, each of which would traditionally have had its own pagoda and supported one Chinese clan group. Hoi An has emerged as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam and there has been no diminution in its status.
Danang
Danang was known under the French as Tourane and it succeeded Hoi An (Faifo) as the most important port in central Vietnam during the 19th century. This coastal city lies by a river, surrounded by several mountains, with a busy port and splendid beaches Non Nuoc (China Beach), My Khe and Tien Sa.
Hue
Founded as a royal city in 1687 - the original citadel city of Phu Xuan was built on the site of present day Hue. Hue is the gateway to the treasures of Vietnam’s royal past. The city served as Vietnam’s political capital from 1802 to 1945 under the 13 emperors of the Nguyen dynasty and it has been one of Vietnam’s cultural, religious and educational centers. Today Hue still remains one of Vietnam’s major tourist attractions. This small and quiet city is widely known for the magnificent architecture of its citadels, palaces, royal tombs, pagodas and temples built under the Nguyen dynasty in a poetic background of greenery on the banks of the Perfume River. UNESCO has called Hue ” an adorable architectural poem”.
Hai Phong
Originally a small fishing and market town, the port city of Hai Phong is endowed by nature with a superb beach only 25 km drive from the city and the famous district producing wool-carpets of Hang Kenb. Do Son, the resort with a sandy beach under coconut palms, attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists annually. From Hai Phong, one can also make a boat trip to the renowned Ha Long Bay or to Cat Ba National Park.
Hanoi
Hanoi, capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a pleasant and even charming city, in large parts because of its famous lakes, shaded boulevards and verdant public parks. The city center is an architectural museum piece, its blocks of ochre buildings retaining the air of a peaceful and austere provincial town, contrary to the fast-living and bustling air of Saigon. The city is about 110 km inland from the Gulf of Tonkin and 1760 km from Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is situated on the right bank of the Red River (Song Hong), with a population of nearly 4,000,000.
Halong Bay
The name “Halong” in Vietnamese means “the dragon descending to the sea”. It is a scenic bay with 3,000 islands rising from the clear emerald water of the Bac Bo Gulf (Gulf of Tonkin), about 170 km from Hanoi. Halong Bay is one of the most beautiful regions in all of Vietnam and according to some tourists and books, the world’s 8th wonder.
Dien Bien Phu
The pan like valley of Dien Bien Phu inhabited 60,000 people by different ethnic minorities. The place is 500 km. from Hanoi and surrounded by the river of Namyoum and the high mountains. Since the Vietnamese people’s army’s victory over the French put an end to the war, the region has become famous. Today it is a spectacular place for natural landscape lovers and travelers who would like to explore the untouched sceneries.
Sapa
Located on the bank of the Muong Hoa river with an altitude of 1750m, Sapa belongs to the Lao Cai province. Close by is the Fan Si Pan mountain, the highest of the country with 3,147m. Sapa is a magical combination of alpine landscapes, ethnic cultures and bracing mountain air. Sapa is an excellent area for hiking through lush mountain valleys with minority villages.
Lao Cai - 38 km. from Sapa Lao Cai was badly damaged during the Chinese invasion in 1979; it is now a flourishing border crossing to China which has recently opened to foreigners in both directions.
Vantage World Strongly Recommends Insurance for all your Travel Programs
We provide, through TravelSafe Insurance, one of the nation's largest and most respected providers of travel insurance, a TravelSafe Custom Plan, where you decide the benefits YOU want and the levels of protection YOU desire including access to their 24-hour emergency assistance service from anywhere in the world. Click the link below the Plan Benefits table for plan details.
