Vietnam: Ten Attractions and Natural Wonders

A country of dramatic landscape and layered history

Vietnam stretches over 1,600 kilometres along Southeast Asia's eastern coast, its landscape ranging from limestone karst bays in the north to terraced rice paddies in the highlands and the dense Mekong Delta in the south. Centuries of Chinese, French colonial, and, more recently, wartime history have each left distinct marks, while cities like Hoi An preserve an extraordinarily well-maintained trading-port past.

The ten below run from Ha Long Bay in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. The dry season varies by region, but roughly October to April suits most of the country.

1. Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, holds around 1,600 limestone karst islands and islets rising dramatically from calm emerald water, formed over hundreds of millions of years of erosion. Overnight boat cruises through the bay, often combined with kayaking and cave visits, remain one of the most popular and recognisable experiences associated with Vietnam.

2. Hoi An

Hoi An, a former trading port that flourished from the 15th to 19th centuries, preserves one of the best-maintained historic townscapes in Southeast Asia, its riverside streets strung nightly with colourful silk lanterns and lined with well-preserved merchant houses reflecting Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese influence. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it remains one of the country's most atmospheric towns, especially after dark.

3. Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City (still commonly called Saigon by many residents), Vietnam's largest city, mixes a fast-modernising skyline with French colonial-era landmarks including the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica and Central Post Office, alongside a street food and coffee culture that has become internationally influential in its own right.

4. Sapa's rice terraces

Sapa, in Vietnam's mountainous north near the Chinese border, holds dramatic terraced rice paddies carved into the hillsides by Hmong, Dao, and other ethnic minority communities over generations, best explored on multi-day treks between villages that offer homestays and a direct encounter with the region's distinct cultural traditions.

5. The Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels, northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, were part of a vast hand-dug underground network that once stretched over a hundred kilometres, used by Viet Cong fighters as shelter, supply routes, and hospitals during the Vietnam War. Sections have been preserved (and in some cases widened for tourists) for visitors, offering a direct, physical sense of the conditions endured during the conflict.

6. French colonial architecture

Vietnam's cities retain a notable layer of French colonial architecture from the era of French Indochina, including Ho Chi Minh City's red-brick Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, built entirely from materials imported from France — a visible reminder of the colonial history that shaped much of the country's urban landscape before independence.

7. Hanoi's Old Quarter

Hanoi's Old Quarter, over a thousand years old, retains its original street plan of 36 guild streets, each historically named for the single trade once concentrated there — Silk Street, Silver Street, Paper Street — a layout still loosely visible in today's shophouses and street stalls. Motorbikes, sidewalk food vendors, and narrow tube houses give the quarter a density and energy distinct from the rest of the city.

Weekend night markets close the main streets to traffic, turning much of the quarter into a pedestrian market.

8. Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Vietnam, sits atop one of the world's largest limestone karst regions, riddled with hundreds of caves — including Son Doong, the largest cave passage on earth, big enough to hold a New York City block with room for skyscrapers, discovered as recently as 1991 and still only accessible on tightly limited, expensive expeditions.

The more accessible Paradise Cave and Phong Nha Cave, reachable by boardwalk and boat respectively, give a taste of the region's scale to visitors without an expedition budget.

9. Hue's Imperial City

Hue, capital of Vietnam's last ruling dynasty, the Nguyễn, from 1802 to 1945, holds a walled Imperial City modelled on Beijing's Forbidden City — a complex of palaces, temples, and gates on the Perfume River, badly damaged during the 1968 Tet Offensive and still under long-term restoration. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it remains the best window into Vietnam's last royal era.

The elaborate royal tombs scattered in the countryside around Hue, each built to its own emperor's individual taste, make a worthwhile addition to a visit.

10. The Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta, Vietnam's rice-growing heartland in the far south, is a dense network of rivers, canals, and floating markets where farmers still sell produce directly boat-to-boat, most famously at Cai Rang near Can Tho. Life here runs on the river: houses, markets, and even petrol stations float, and the region's fertile paddies produce enough rice to make Vietnam one of the world's largest exporters.

Early morning boat trips give the best chance to see the floating markets at their busiest, before the day's trading winds down.

Vietnam suits a well-rounded two-to-three-week trip running from Hanoi and Ha Long Bay in the north down through Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, with domestic flights or the country's scenic north-south rail line connecting the major stops.