Curated Experiences
Around 1,600 limestone islands standing out of the Gulf of Tonkin, listed by UNESCO in 1994 and busy ever since. A day trip from Hanoi is a long drive each way for a few hours on the water; an overnight on a junk buys you the bay in the early morning after the day boats have gone home, which is a different place. Kayaking and the cave stops are the parts worth having. Winter brings mist that can hide the whole thing — which some people prefer.
A French-built hill station above Da Nang, reached by a cable car that holds records for both length and height gain and is worth the ticket on its own. The Golden Bridge — the walkway carried by two enormous stone hands — opened in 2018 and is what most people come for. At the top is a full replica French village, a funicular, and gardens, which is either delightful or absurd depending on the hour. Go early: the bridge fills by mid-morning and the cloud usually wins by noon.
Hoi An was a major trading port for Chinese, Japanese and Dutch merchants, and the old town survived intact precisely because the river silted up and the trade moved to Da Nang. The Japanese Covered Bridge is the emblem, but the merchant houses and assembly halls are the substance. Lanterns go on at dusk; on full-moon nights the town cuts its electric lights. It is also where people have clothes made — allow two fittings, which means two days.
The tunnel network northwest of Ho Chi Minh City ran to roughly 250 kilometres at its greatest extent, on three levels, with kitchens, hospitals and sleeping quarters dug into them. Sections have been widened for visitors and are still a tight, hot crawl; there are exits every twenty metres or so for anyone who has had enough. The trapdoors and the improvised weapons are the part that stays with people. It is a half-day from the city, and it is a war site rather than an attraction.
Vietnamese call it Cuu Long — nine dragons — after the mouths the river once emptied through. It is flat, green, densely farmed and lived on from the water: floating markets that trade at dawn, coconut candy workshops, sampans down the narrow channels under nipa palm. Day trips from Ho Chi Minh City reach My Tho and Ben Tre; the better markets are further down at Can Tho and need a night. Go early for the markets or do not bother with them.
The same limestone as Ha Long, standing in flooded rice paddy instead of water, about two hours south of Hanoi. Trang An and Tam Coc are the two rowing routes: Trang An is the UNESCO-listed one and takes you through a series of low caves, while at Tam Coc the boatwomen famously row with their feet. Add the climb at Hang Mua for the view down over the river bend. May and June, when the paddy turns gold, is the picture everyone has seen.
