Vietnam Travel Guide 2026: Timing, Visa, Costs, Routes

There is no single answer, because Vietnam runs about 1,650 km north to south and its three regions have conflicting seasons. Northern Vietnam is best in March-April and September-November. Central Vietnam is best February-May, and has a typhoon season running roughly August to November. Southern Vietnam is dry and warm from December to April. The commonly quoted advice that November to April is the best time to visit Vietnam works for the south, but it puts you in Hoi An during the wettest, most storm-prone part of its year.

It depends on what you want from the trip. Tet, the Lunar New Year, moves every year; in 2026 it fell on 17 February, with the public holiday running roughly 14 to 22 February. Domestic flights and sleeper train berths sell out, accommodation prices rise, and banks, government offices and many family-run businesses close for several days. The cities themselves are busy and the atmosphere is worth seeing, so Tet is not a reason to cancel a trip. It is a reason to book internal travel months ahead rather than the two to three weeks that works the rest of the year, and to expect some restaurants and shops to be shut. Check the current year's Tet dates before booking; travelling from late February onwards generally avoids the disruption while keeping the good February to April weather.

Roughly August to November. That window covers Central Vietnam's typhoon season, and September, October and November bring the region's heaviest rainfall. Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An all sit in this belt. Flooding in Hoi An's old town is a regular occurrence in these months. If your trip is fixed for October and you want beach and old-town weather, the south is the safer bet.

Most travellers need an e-visa. It is open to every nationality and allows stays of up to 90 days, a change that took effect in August 2023 rather than recently. It costs USD 25 for single entry and USD 50 for multiple entry, with processing typically taking 3 to 5 working days. Around 38 nationalities are exempt: the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Belarus and a group of European countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and the Nordic states have a 45-day exemption. Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand have 30 days. US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Irish citizens are not exempt and need a visa for any tourist visit.

At the official government portal, evisa.gov.vn. Vietnam's Immigration Department moved the service to this domain, alongside thithucdientu.gov.vn, in November 2024, replacing the older evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn address that many guides still cite. This matters more than it sounds, because a large number of lookalike sites charge two to four times the government fee for the same application and some are outright fraudulent. Apply at least five days before travel even though processing is typically 3 to 5 working days, and check your passport has at least six months of validity from your entry date.

Excluding international flights and the USD 25 e-visa, budget travellers manage on roughly USD 20-35 a day and mid-range travellers on about USD 45-95 a day, though some estimates run higher at USD 30-50 and USD 80-150 respectively. Over two weeks that lands around USD 1,400-2,800 for a mid-range trip. Accommodation runs USD 8-12 for hostels, USD 10-30 for budget guesthouses, USD 25-50 for three-star hotels and USD 60-120 for boutique or four-star properties.

Street food runs about USD 2-4 a meal. At local restaurants expect roughly USD 5-10 for breakfast, USD 4-8 for lunch and USD 8-15 for dinner. Tourist-facing restaurants charge noticeably more: USD 8-15, USD 10-18 and USD 15-25 for the same meals. The gap between local and tourist pricing is one of the largest single variables in a Vietnam budget, and eating where locals eat is the difference between the budget and mid-range daily figures.

It depends on the leg. Flights are the practical choice for long distances: Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City runs USD 35-80, Hanoi to Da Nang USD 25-60 and Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang USD 25-55 when booked two to three weeks ahead, with Hanoi to Da Nang taking about 1 hour 20 minutes. The train is the scenic option and works well for shorter coastal hops. Sleeper buses are cheapest but Hanoi to Da Nang takes 16-20 hours door to door for USD 20-35. Last-minute flights can cost three to five times the advance fare.

For a segment, yes. For the full run, most travellers find it too long. The North-South Railway covers 1,726 km between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and the complete journey takes roughly 32 to 35 hours depending on the service. Hanoi to Hue costs about USD 20-50. The 4-berth soft sleeper is the class most travellers find comfortable for overnight legs. Book two to three weeks ahead for sleeper berths, and note that the SE3 and SE4 services are generally considered the best of the four, using newer carriages and timed for daylight through the Hai Van Pass. The Hue to Da Nang coastal stretch over the Hai Van Pass is the segment worth planning around.

Ten days covers one end of the country plus the centre without rushing. Two weeks lets you do north, centre and south at a reasonable pace, which is the classic route. Anything under a week means picking one region and staying there. A common planning error is treating Vietnam as a single compact destination. It is roughly 1,650 km end to end, and internal travel time is the constraint that quietly eats short itineraries.

Hanoi, then Ha Long Bay or Ninh Binh, then a flight or train to Hue and Hoi An in the centre, then on to Ho Chi Minh City and often the Mekong Delta. It can be run in either direction. Running north to south is more common, and southbound has one practical advantage in the cooler months: you finish in the warmest region. Sapa in the far north and Phu Quoc in the far south are add-ons rather than core stops on a two-week trip.

Hoi An and Da Lat consistently offer better value for accommodation and food than Hanoi's Old Quarter or central Ho Chi Minh City, where tourist density pushes prices up. This is worth structuring a trip around. Spending more nights in the mid-priced places and fewer in the expensive city centres can shift a trip meaningfully without changing what you actually do.

Viettel is the most widely recommended provider because it has the broadest 4G and 5G coverage across the country, ahead of MobiFone and Vinaphone. Viettel tourist plans run roughly 60,000 to 200,000 VND, about USD 2-6.50, with validity of 15 to 30 days and unlimited data on the higher tiers. Tourist SIMs generally cost USD 5-20 depending on data and duration. An eSIM is the simpler route if your phone supports it: Airalo offers 20 GB for around USD 32 running on the Viettel network, installed before you fly.

Transport and money-switching are the two most consistently reported. The money switch involves a higher-value note being swapped for a similar-looking lower one during a transaction, most often a 500,000 VND note replaced with a 20,000 VND note, since both are blue. Paying with small notes or exact amounts largely removes the risk. For transport, tampered taxi meters and fake ride-hailing drivers are the usual problem. Using the Grab app is the most reliable defence; among street taxis, Vinasun (white) and Mai Linh (green) have the better reputations.

Vietnam is generally regarded as safe for visitors, and the risks most travellers encounter are financial rather than physical: scams, overcharging and road traffic. Traffic is the genuine hazard. Crossing roads in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City takes adjustment, and motorbike hire carries real risk for inexperienced riders, including insurance complications if you are not correctly licensed. Check your own government's current travel advice before departure.

Both. Cards work in hotels, mid-range and tourist-facing restaurants, malls and larger shops in the cities. Cash is still needed for street food, markets, small family-run places, local transport and most of rural Vietnam. The currency is the Vietnamese dong, and the note denominations are a common source of error because several are similar colours. Carrying smaller notes reduces both scam risk and the friction of nobody having change.

Better than its reputation, largely thanks to Buddhist cooking. Vegetarian restaurants signposted as com chay exist in every city, and vegetarian versions of the staples are widely available, including pho chay and banh mi chay. The practical difficulty is that fish sauce and meat-based broths are used routinely and are not always disclosed, so it is worth asking directly rather than assuming a vegetable dish is meat-free. Travellers avoiding onion and garlic can ask for khong hanh toi.

A mandatory pre-arrival declaration, officially called Pre-Arrival Information or PAI, which is separate from the e-visa. It began at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport on 15 April 2026 and has expanded since. As of mid-2026 it applies at five airports: Tan Son Nhat (SGN), Phu Quoc (PQC), Noi Bai (HAN), Cam Ranh (CXR) and Da Nang (DAD), as well as the Dong Dang land border and seaports nationwide, with a full nationwide rollout planned. Because the scope is still expanding, confirm the current requirement for your specific entry point shortly before you travel rather than relying on any guide.

Not yet for scheduled commercial flights. Long Thanh International Airport, about 40 km east of Ho Chi Minh City, held a ceremonial technical opening in December 2025 with a small number of special and technical flights. Commercial operation is scheduled to begin 1 December 2026, with trial operations planned in the months before that. It is intended to take over much of the international traffic currently handled by Tan Son Nhat, but until scheduled service actually begins, book Tan Son Nhat (SGN) unless your airline specifically confirms Long Thanh service.

A total of 83 international airports, land borders and seaports accept e-visa holders, 17 airports, 27 land border gates and 39 seaports. That figure comes from Resolution 389/NQ-CP of 2 December 2025, which added 41 gates to the previous list of 42. It means overland entry from Cambodia or Laos is far more practical on an e-visa than it used to be. One caveat: Long Thanh Airport near Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremonial opening in December 2025 but is not yet operating scheduled commercial flights, commercial operation is scheduled to begin 1 December 2026, so do not plan an arrival there until your airline confirms scheduled service. Confirm your specific crossing is on the current list before travelling, particularly for less-used land borders.

Yes, and the penalty for not doing so is steep. Fares booked two to three weeks ahead run USD 25-80 depending on the route, but last-minute fares can be three to five times higher. The Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City corridor has departures every 30 to 60 minutes at peak times, so availability is rarely the problem, price is. The same applies to sleeper train berths, where SE1 and SE3 sell out first.

It is one of the country's most heavily visited attractions, and the experience varies enormously by operator and season. The scenery is genuinely remarkable; the crowding and the quality gap between cruise operators are the real variables. Ninh Binh, sometimes described as Ha Long Bay on land, is a common alternative for travellers who want comparable karst landscapes with fewer boats. Many two-week itineraries include one or the other rather than both.

Yes. Indian passport holders are not on Vietnam's visa exemption list and need an e-visa, which has been available to every nationality and valid for up to 90 days since August 2023. It costs USD 25 for single entry and USD 50 for multiple entry, with processing typically 3 to 5 working days. Apply through the official portal at evisa.gov.vn, and make sure your passport has at least six months of validity remaining.

Yes, and the network has expanded. Air India, IndiGo, VietJet Air and Vietnam Airlines operate direct services from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Delhi to Hanoi takes around 4 hours 30 minutes and Delhi to Ho Chi Minh City around 5 hours, covering roughly 3,100 km. Published starting fares have been around Rs 12,000-14,500, though actual pricing varies considerably by season and how far ahead you book.

Reported ranges put a budget trip at roughly Rs 45,000-60,000 for around eight days including flights, and a mid-range trip at roughly Rs 65,000-95,000 per person. A seven-day mid-range itinerary covering Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Da Nang and Hoi An has been costed at approximately Rs 68,000-1,02,000 per person including flights, visa, hotels, food and internal travel. Return fares in shoulder season have been reported around Rs 18,000-28,000. Treat these as planning estimates rather than quotes.

Four things. Vegetarian food is more available than expected through com chay Buddhist restaurants, and Indian restaurants exist in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. Vietnam uses UTC+7 year-round, which puts it 1.5 hours ahead of India (IST), so jet lag is negligible. Do not rely on UPI: an India-Vietnam linkage has been announced but acceptance is not established on the ground, so carry a forex or travel card with low markup plus dong in cash. And the e-visa must be applied for in advance, unlike destinations offering visa on arrival.

Underestimating the country's length. Vietnam is around 1,650 km north to south, and itineraries built on the assumption that everything is a short hop away lose days to internal travel. A second common error is applying the generic November to April timing advice to a trip centred on Hue, Da Nang or Hoi An, which puts travellers in Central Vietnam during its wettest and most storm-prone months.