10 Things You Should Know Before Traveling to Vietnam

Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country known for its beautiful beaches, pagodas, mountains, and bustling cities. If you plan on traveling to Vietnam but don't know where to start, here are the 10 tips for you to make the best memories out of Vietnam. Number one, visa. To enter Vietnam, you most likely need a visa. Vietnam offers visa exemptions ranging from 14 to 90 days for citizens from 24 countries. If you're not eligible for visa exemptions, you can get e-visas which are available for citizens of 80 countries. I'm going to leave the link below so you can check it out if you are eligible. You can also apply for a visa on arrival online or in person at a Vietnamese embassy. Due to the pandemic, visa exemptions rules are being adjusted. If you'd like to get updated with the latest travel requirements to Vietnam, don't forget to follow my channel and my social media at Van Vu from Vietnam. Two, best time to visit. You can visit Vietnam all year round. In springtime from February to April, when the weather is chilly, you can enjoy beautiful flowers in the mountainous regions such as Mộc Châu, Sa Pa, Hà Giang. Also, Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Tết, usually falls in late January and early February when you can experience unique Vietnamese cultures and customs. However, if you're a first-time traveler who comes to Vietnam during Tết, you'll be shocked that almost everything will be closed because everyone goes home to celebrate the holiday with their families and friends. However, spring would be an ideal time to visit Vietnam. In the summer, from June to August, you can go down to the southern part of Vietnam such as Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Quy Nhon to enjoy the sunshine at the beach. Fall in Hanoi is absolutely beautiful with perfect weather, warm street food and young rice season. If you can't stay in the cold in Hanoi from November to January, you can explore bustling cities like Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City. Did you know you don't need prescriptions to buy contact lenses in Vietnam? And sometimes, you can easily buy medicine over the counter? Even though it's not hard to access medicine here in Vietnam, there are certain types of medicine that you have to pre-order because they are not in stock. Most Vietnamese citizens have to pay for medical services themselves at both private and public hospitals. In many cases, Vietnamese people opt to use private hospitals as they are usually better equipped. The emergency services number in Vietnam is 115 just in case you need it. The Vietnamese currency is Vietnam Dong and K uses to denote thousands. 23k approximately equals one dollar and 25k approximately equal one euro. If you want to withdraw money from the ATM, lucky you, they open 24x7 but they are limited in the rural areas. And sometimes, ATM will be out money during peak hours or on special occasions. If you want to go to the bank, the office hours are Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 11.30am, 1pm to 4.30pm. Yep, Vietnamese people enjoy their siesta time for one and a half hours. In terms of money, tipping is not mandatory but greatly appreciated. Just make sure you give the tips directly to the person who provides you the service. Also, you don't need to worry about sale taxes because VAT, value-added tax, is included. Even though Wi-Fi is almost everywhere in Vietnam, you need a SIM card to stay connected while traveling. You can buy a SIM card with different data plans which cost you, on average, at the airport on arrival, SIM kiosk, or grocery shops. I recommend you to use Viettel or mobile phone because they have the best 4G or 5G network in Vietnam. The SIM card might not work with your lock phone which is directly purchased from your carrier. However, you can visit any phone stores to ask for installation. Also, don't forget to check your international roaming because it can cost you a fortune if you use it overseas. 6. Transportation Unfortunately, Uber cannot survive in Vietnam. Instead, you can use Grab, Bee, or Gojek to travel around the cities. A ride-sharing service ranges from $5 every 10km. If you don't mind the chaotic traffic, you can rent or buy a motorbike to explore the cities and the countryside. For long distances, you can go by bus, train, or airplanes. The main airlines operating in Vietnam are VietJet, Bamboo Airways, and Vietnam Airlines. 7. Language Vietnamese is an official language and is written with the Latin alphabet which was adopted by the French in 1910. Vietnamese, grammatically speaking, is easy to learn. However, learning to pronounce Vietnamese can be a major challenge. There are 6 tones that dictate the pitch at which each word must be spoken in order to maintain a given meaning. With that being said, if you mispronounce a word, it can change its whole meaning. These days, more and more Vietnamese people have spoken English fluently, especially young people. Therefore, language barrier is not a huge problem when traveling. However, if you want to have a smooth trip in Vietnam, learning some basic Vietnamese phrases would be helpful and leave it down in the comment below if you want me to do a video about 10 phrases you should know before coming to Vietnam. 8. Where to stay There are many options for you to stay in Vietnam. You can choose 45-star hotels which range around $50-$200 per night if you're not on a tight budget. Agoda or Booking.com are usually the two sources that I go for. If you're looking for a social backpacker vibe or budget-friendly staying, you can check out many hostels and hotels here in Vietnam. You can check out Airbnb or Hostel World for more information. Last but not least, homestays are a form of accommodation where you can stay with ethnic people, very popular in the northern part of Vietnam. You will stay in a bamboo house, sleep in a wooden bed with warm blankets, get a view of rice fields and participate in cultural activities. It's a great way to support the community-based tourism, protect the environment and help the minority group's economy. 9. What to eat Did you know Vietnamese people usually eat pho for breakfast? Besides pho, there are many popular foods such as bánh cuốn, steamed rice rolls, xôi, steamed sticky rice, bánh mì, Vietnamese sandwich, bún bò Huế, lemongrass noodle soup and cơm tấm xương, rice with pork chop. You can get a regular meal with less than $2 and street food is less than $1. However, there are a lot of food safety issues in Vietnam and I made a video about food precautions here. Check out the link above because it will help you a lot while traveling in Vietnam. 10. What to do There are tons of things to do in Vietnam. Besides going to tourist places such as Hạ Long Bay, Bà Nả Hill, Sơn Đông Cave, you can also enjoy yourself at cozy coffee shops, watch water puppet shows in Hanoi, visit the float market in Cần Thơ, participate in minority activities, or explore Vietnamese arts and architectures. If you're not able to come to Vietnam, don't forget to follow my journey on my YouTube channel. Those are the 10 things that you should definitely know before coming to Vietnam. If you think this video is helpful, don't forget to drop a like and follow my channel. And also let me know in the comments down below which tip you found the most helpful. Thank you so much for watching and I hope you have the best memories here in Vietnam.