Vietnam tips for your first visit

Vietnam is one of my favorite countries in the world! It’s a place I could easily live or travel for extended periods of time.

If you are planning to go, get excited! You’re going to love it!

The food, the shopping, the affordable luxury, the culture, and the incredibly kind and welcoming people make this country truly stand in a league of its own.

So here are my top 15 tips if you’re heading to Vietnam anytime soon!

1.⁠ ⁠Come with an empty suitcase. The shopping is elite and inexpensive.

Seriously, don’t bother overpacking.

Between the clothes, local boutiques, markets and custom tailoring, you’ll want room for everything you bring home!

We couldn’t help buy buy beautiful linen sets. Silk dresses are also extremely popular here.

2.⁠ ⁠Give yourself extra days for beauty or medical treatments.

Healthcare, medical treatments, and beauty costs are a fraction of the price compared to the USA.

At home, I was quoted $450 for a yellow fever shot which I needed for an African safari trip. In Vietnam, the exact same shot was $21.

While in Vietnam, I also got my eyebrows microbladed for about $100. Meanwhile, the place I wanted to go in Minnesota charged $750. And my results in Vietnam were fantastic!

Research qualified providers beforehand and allow time for consultations, recovery and follow-up appointments. Recovery depends on the treatment—ask your clinician when it’s safe to fly or resume activities.

I recommend Raffles Medical. This is where Tessa and I got our rabies and dengue fever vaccinations for super cheap. But again, they do a lot more than just vaccines!

If you’re looking to get any beauty treatments done, stay at La Vela in Hoh Chi Minh City. The beauty clinic is connected to the 5 star hotel. You can walk right in and get just about any treatment you desire!

3.⁠ ⁠Time your trip carefully if you’re visiting north, central AND south.

The regions have different weather patterns, so sunshine in one doesn’t mean sunshine everywhere. March–April is generally a good starting point for planning a countrywide trip.

Otherwise you may be in rainy season in one section of the country and stinking hot in the other.

4.⁠ ⁠Download Grab before you arrive.

It’s my top pick for getting around the cities: book your ride through the app instead of negotiating a taxi fare. You can also use it for food delivery! It’s like Uber in the USA but you can also hail a moped.

5.⁠ ⁠Hire a photographer in Hoi An.

Those lantern-filled streets deserve more than a rushed selfie!

It’s such a charming, photogenic city.

Look up Airbnb photographer Nhật Hoàng — you can also reach out to him on Instagram: @nnh.pt for your shoot. He is the exact photographer I worked with here and he did an AMAZING job! So affordable and incredible photos. I highly recommend. If you can start the photoshoot just before sunset so you get daylight pictures, sunset pictures from a rooftop and then finish with night boats at the boats!

6.⁠ ⁠Visit a tailor early in your Hoi An stay.

Bring inspiration photos and leave time for fittings and adjustments rather than ordering on your last afternoon.

7.⁠ ⁠Carry small cash denominations.

Handy for markets, street food and little purchases—and take a second to count the zeros before handing over a note!

8.⁠ ⁠Get connected when you arrive.

A local SIM or travel eSIM makes booking rides, translating menus and finding your way around much easier.

I personally have the T-Mobile international plan so my phone works in nearly every country in the world automatically. But if you aren’t set up with worldwide data and texts, you can get an e-sim for cheap!

And an e-sim will be much cheaper than the $10-$15 a day that phone carriers charge while roaming.

9.⁠ ⁠Make the food part of the itinerary.

Vietnamese food is INCREDIBLE! It’s so fresh, so flavorful…it’s truly one of my favorite cuisines anywhere in the world.

So make sure you leave room for street-food stops, Vietnamese coffee and dishes you haven’t tried before.

A food tour is a fun way to get started! And I highly recommend the XO Tour in Ho Chi Minh City.

5 foods and drinks you have to try in Vietnam

1.⁠ ⁠Phở. Vietnam’s famous noodle soup, made with flat rice noodles and fragrant broth. Order phở bò for beef or phở gà for chicken. Try a bowl for breakfast, especially if you’re in Hanoi.
2.⁠ ⁠Bánh mì. A crisp Vietnamese baguette with fillings like pâté, roast pork, pickled vegetables, cucumber, cilantro and chili. Every shop has its own version, which is a very good excuse to try more than one.
3.⁠ ⁠Egg coffee (cà phê trứng). Strong coffee topped with a thick, sweet foam made from whipped egg yolk. It’s rich and custardy, a little like drinking tiramisu. Put this one on your Hanoi list.
4.⁠ ⁠Salted coffee (cà phê muối). A Huế specialty that pairs strong coffee with sweet, lightly salted cream. The salt softens the bitterness, so the whole thing tastes surprisingly smooth.
5.⁠ ⁠Coconut coffee (cà phê cốt dừa). Vietnamese coffee with creamy coconut milk, often blended with ice and condensed milk. Think coconut slushie with a kick of strong coffee. This is the one to order after a hot afternoon of sightseeing.

10.⁠ ⁠Don’t squeeze the whole country into a week.

Vietnam is a very long country and you’ll lose too much time traveling if you try to do the whole country in a week. To do North, Centeral and South vietnam you’ll need more like 12 days – 2 weeks!

Give yourself time to wander, sit at cafés and enjoy each destination.

11.⁠ ⁠Splurge on the luxury hotel!

Vietnam is one of those places where a hotel splurge can feel surprisingly affordable. A beautiful boutique hotel in Hoi An or a resort on the coast can be a highlight of the trip.

I absolutely love the Peridot in Hanoi. It’s a truly luxurious hotel right in the city center. A hotel of this quality would be easily over $1,000 in Amsterdam but here in Hanoi, it’s roughly $250 depending when you book!

12.⁠ ⁠Educate yourself about the Vietnam War before you go

Read When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip with Jay Wurts.

It’s a memoir about growing up in central Vietnam during the war, told from the perspective of a Vietnamese civilian.

Then watch The Quiet American, a political thriller set in 1950s Saigon that explores the early roots of American involvement in Vietnam. The book gives you the human story, and the movie is the one I’d put on for the flight.

13.⁠ ⁠Fly into one end of Vietnam and out the other.

If you’re traveling the length of the country, search for a multi-city ticket into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh City, or the reverse.

It can save you from spending your last day retracing your route just to catch your flight home.

14.⁠ ⁠See Hoi An before breakfast and again after dark.

Go early to wander the yellow streets while they’re quiet, then come back in the evening to see the lanterns reflected in the river.

15.⁠ ⁠Join me on a Wanderlust Group Trip to Vietnam

If you’re interested in coming to Vietnam but don’t want to go alone, you can join me! I host luxury trips to Vietnam that cover the entire country + best activities in each destination. Photos of your trip are included and you’re sure to make a ton of new friends!

My first 4 Vietnam trips sold out in less than 24 hours but I plan to bring this trip back in the following years to come! So stay tuned and follow Wanderlust Group Trips on Instagram to get updates.

I am personally on every trip I host and would love to show you around Vietnam with my team of local guides!