The places to visit in Vietnam

Vietnam is so hot right now.

Once it conjured up images of napalm showers, Agent Orange and Viet Cong-infested jungle, now Vietnam is surely one of the best travel destinations in Asia – a backpacker paradise to rival even the mighty Thailand.

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And what’s not to love? Vietnam is cheap and cheerful, has beautiful beaches and food, fascinating culture and history, it’s relatively easy to get around and there’s heaps to see and do.

These are some of the best places to visit in Vietnam.

Night market in Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, with scooters rushing past.Ho Chi Minh City

Don’t be put off by the perils of crossing the road in Ho Chi Minh City (a city that is still commonly known as Saigon); in fact, consider it an extreme sport. Anyone who gets hit by a scooter loses.

The former capital of South Vietnam is chaotic, smelly, crowded and noisy – but it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Highlights include the ghostly Reunification Palace, the ghastly War Remnants Museum and the nearby Mekong Delta.

Something of a backpacker rite of passage, Ho Chi Minh also boasts an excellent night market, cheap beer and some amazing food (drop by Pho 2000 for a meal befitting a president).

Ho Chi Minh's final resting place, Hanoi, VietnamHanoi

Equally chaotic is Saigon’s opposite, Hanoi – the former capital of Northern Vietnam and current capital of reunified Vietnam.

You can’t help but compare the two largest Vietnamese cities (personally I like Saigon a little bit better). Highlights include the grisly mausoleum of former president Ho Chi Minh (above) and Hanoi’s infamous Bia Hoi corner, an intersection of cheap bars in the Old Quarter where travellers sit on plastic seats and drink cheap beer by the roadside.

Taxi drivers in Hanoi are a real pain in the ass, as they are in most places in Vietnam. Go only with taxis that have a meter – I recommend you flag down only Mai Linh taxis (the green cabs). More Vietnam travel tips.

Another bleak day in Hue, Vietnam

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Hue

Another former capital city, Hue in central Vietnam was home to the imperial Nguyen Dynasty, which ruled the country from 1802 to 1945. The city subsequently fell on tough times during and immediately after the Vietnam War.

You can visit the sprawling complex that housed the government, surrounded by walls and moats – as well as some of the tombs of former emperors. The Perfume River is the city’s major landmark but I think that’s a misnomer – the river doesn’t smell like perfume to me.

The weather here is notoriously terrible, which is reflected in the fact that I had a rather difficult time trying to find a photograph from my time there that wasn’t of me holding an umbrella, trying desperately to smile in spite of the rain.