Vietnam

Vietnam is long. Very long. The country is a narrow strip of 1,600 kilometres, and from north to south everything changes: the landscape, the climate, the food, the people. The mountains in the north have little in common with the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta. That's what makes it interesting, but it also means you have to make choices.

You can't see Vietnam in two weeks without constantly sitting on a bus or a plane. Plenty of people do it anyway. It's not wrong, but you'll miss half of it.

What you need to know before you go

Vietnam is cheap. Genuinely cheap. A bowl of pho for 30 cents, a beer for less than a euro, a hostel bed for a few dollars. Your budget goes far here, but you'll also notice that the tourist industry knows exactly how far they can push prices for foreigners. Knowing what things cost beforehand, or being willing to negotiate, helps.

The food is the best reason to go to Vietnam, and I mean that. Not as an exaggeration, but as a fact. Banh mi, bun bo hue, cao lau, com tam. Every region has its own dishes and most of it is available on the street for next to nothing. Eat from the street, eat where locals eat, and eat a lot.

The coffee culture deserves a special mention. Vietnam is one of the world's largest coffee producers, and you taste it. Ca phe sua da (iced coffee with condensed milk) is the standard order. In Hanoi you drink egg coffee. You just do it.

Scooters are the default mode of transport. If you can ride one, rent one. If you can't or don't want to, there's always a GrabBike or a bus. The traffic in the cities is chaotic in a way that overwhelms you on the first day and starts feeling normal on the second.

How long do you need

Three weeks is a good minimum if you want to cover both the north and the south. With two weeks you need to choose: either go for the north with Ha Giang and Hanoi, do the central coast with Hoi An and Da Nang, or dive into the south with Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong.

Vietnam: tips and stories