A First-Timer's Guide to Backpacking Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the most popular backpacking destinations in Asia — and with good reason.

Its epic natural sites, mouth-watering food, insanely bustling cities, distinct culture, and low cost have drawn backpackers and holidayers alike for decades.

But it’s worth planning your Vietnam trip well, especially if you want to have a more authentic experience!

The truth is that Vietnam has a bit of a reputation for tourist traps and some overcommercialized sights. But it also has some of Asia’s most amazing and authentic experiences. How you travel will hugely affect your impressions of this beautiful country.

Mua Cave (Ninh Binh)

HOW TO PLAN A ROUTE

There are a lot of places to explore in Vietnam and it’s impossible to cover them all in one trip. In this map below, I show some of the most common travel destinations:

How much time needed

"If you want to do the north, center, and south of Vietnam, honestly the more time you have available the better.
This country is bigger than you might realize from seeing its thin shape at a glance!"

Vietnam’s length is similar to that of Japan including Hokkaido or almost the entire West Coast of the USA. The total driving distance from the north to south tip is more than 40 hours.

Keep these distances in mind when planning your trip. Night buses and overnight trains can be a good way to efficiently cover more ground and they’re very budget-friendly too. I’ll talk more about this later.

Despite its considerable size, many travelers try to cover the whole length of the country in one trip. To do such an itinerary justice I think you need at least 3 weeks but ideally 4 weeks.
Even if you have 3 or 4 weeks to spend, you will probably have some tough decisions to make on what to include in your route.

Planning a shorter trip

If you have only one or two weeks in Vietnam, then consider focusing on just the north + center, or the center + south. There’s no shame in doing fewer things but doing them properly!

Hoi An, very touristy but fun

On my first backpacking trip in Vietnam, I actually didn’t see much in the north. It was still very cold and misty there in December, so I skipped entirely over some popular places in the north like Sapa.

On my second trip, I skipped a lot in the south instead. I just felt more like seeing the northern mountains than the southern beaches. In both cases, I had an amazing time.

All I’m saying is that you don’t necessarily need to include everything to have an incredible trip. It is possible to create a trip that’s focused on just a part of Vietnam.

Places to visit in Vietnam

Some places in Vietnam are very popular and most people end up including them in their itinerary. The main ones are:

• The capital Hanoi
• The northern mountainous region, usually the town of Sapa, which is famous for its rice terraces and mountain treks
• The archipelago of Ha Long Bay, a collection of thousands off small limestone islands of the coast that you can see as part of a sailing trip
• The cute riverside town of Hoi An — super touristy but still a very atmospheric town with many things to do
• The imperial city of Hue, home to many temples and pagodas
• The cosmopolitan southern city of Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon)
• A trip to the Mekong Delta. Here you can see floating markets on the rivers, where loads of little boats converge to sell fruits and vegetables.

Quy Nhon

Many backpackers also stop by the seaside resorts of Nha Trang or Mui Ne. These places sometimes get mixed reviews — honestly, they’re nothing mindblowing, but they can be fun unpretentious places to party or hang by a swimming pool. I’ve enjoyed the quieter beaches around Quy Nhon and there are some decent beaches around Hoi An as well.

Some places are not in every itinerary but I think they are awesome and highly worth visiting, such as:

• Ninh Binh, sometimes called the Ha Long Bay on land
• Phong Nha, home to the world’s largest caves
• Ha Giang Province, a stunning mountainous region best explored by motorbike