No wonder my wife hates me when I pack my bag and simply plan to vamoose on a vacation. That’s the way I have always been I guess – a type of wanderer.
When I read about great new places to visit like Vietnam, I packed my bags and went flying out the door and straight into Vietnam’s lap. From my extensive travels, here are my favorites.
Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Vietnam
- Nha Trang is considered to be one of Vietnam’s most popular seaside resort towns and is located along the second most beautiful bays in the country. The temperatures are constantly mild with clean sand and crystal clear water. This is one of the best centers for scuba diving!
- The Cu Chi Tunnels are an immense network that connects internally underground and is located about 40 km northwest of Ho Chi Minh city. It was popular for guerilla warfare and was a base of operations in 1968.
- The Mekong Delta is the place where the Mekong river winds and dances its way to meet the sea at the bottom. Being on a river, the banks are rich and very lush — covered with rice fields that produce half of Vietnam’s total agricultural output.
- The Mui Ne was formerly a little-inhabited beach south of a fishing village that has seen extensive development. With its strong breezes it is popular for kite and wind surfing. You also can’t miss the famous sand dunes — It is a view worth catching during sunset.
- Sa Pa is a beautiful town very close to the Chinese border. Rice terraces can be easily found with a lush backdrop of thick bamboo woodlands. The local mountains grow rice and corn on these paddy terraces along with vegetables.
- Phu Quoc is the largest island in Vietnam consisting of pristine tropical forests and coral reefs. One of the beaches — the Bai Dai — has been chosen as one of the five most beautiful and clean beaches by ABC News. The place is famous for producing nuoc mam or fermented fish sauce.
- Hoi An is a fishing village turned tourist attraction that is situated on the coast of the South China Sea. It has much history and has been an international port since 16th Century. It is also called the Venice of Vietnam for its numerous small water channels.
- Hoan Kiem Lake is a major scenic spot in Vietnam. Its name means “returned sword” and come from a legend in which King Le Loi was bequeathed by gods a magical sword to invade China.
- The Thien Mu Pagoda is considered to be the largest pagoda in Vietnam and it overlooks the Perfume river. It is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital and was built in 1601 during the rule of Nguyen Lords.
- With a coastline of 75 miles (120 kilometers), Ha Long Bay is situated in north Vietnam and considered to be one of the best and longest beaches. It is called the “Bay of Descending Dragons”. Near Ha Long stands thousands of small islands with thick jungle vegetation that forms a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars.
About the Author
Ryan Holman is a professional photographer. He goes on natural photo expeditions and has written a number of posts on spending holidays in Vietnam. He loves to travel and vacations are a big must every 3 months. Having traveled far and wide, Ryan visits new places and takes them in with his camera lens.