Attraction
Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
The lake at the heart of Hanoi, linked to the legend of the returned sword, with the Turtle Tower and the 18th-century Ngoc Son Temple on…
Vietnam stretches along the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, and its capital, Hanoi, is the natural starting point for the north. The country combines a long history, visible in Hanoi's Temple of Literature and Imperial Citadel and in the former imperial capital of Hue, with dramatic landscapes such as the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay, the river scenery of Ninh Binh and the mountains around Sapa. Ho Chi Minh City is the main city of the south, and Da Nang and Hoi An sit on the central coast. Food is a major reason to visit, from pho and banh mi to regional specialities, and the Michelin Guide now covers Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.
Attraction
The lake at the heart of Hanoi, linked to the legend of the returned sword, with the Turtle Tower and the 18th-century Ngoc Son Temple on…
Attraction
The UNESCO-listed former trading port of Faifo, with more than a thousand preserved houses, Chinese assembly halls, temples and museums set along the Thu Bon River.
Attraction
A museum documenting the conflicts of 1946 to 1975 through photographs, reconstructed prison cells and a yard of captured aircraft and armour.
Attraction
The 1960s presidential palace of South Vietnam, whose gates were breached by a tank on 30 April 1975, preserved with its state rooms and basement command…
Attraction
A small roofed bridge begun by Japanese merchants in the 1590s, with a temple built onto it in 1653 and a full restoration completed in 2024.
Attraction
Hanoi's Confucian temple, founded in 1070, home to Vietnam's first national university and the stone stelae recording the names of successful royal examination candidates.
Café
The family café where egg coffee was invented in 1946, still run by the founder's son in an alley off Nguyen Huu Huan Street in the…
Café
The flagship café of Marou, the Vietnamese bean-to-bar chocolate maker founded in 2011, serving chocolate drinks, cakes and French-style pastries on Calmette Street.
Café
A calm tea house on Tran Phu Street staffed by speech- and hearing-impaired people, where you order in writing and taste Vietnamese teas in near silence.
Café
A simple second-floor café overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake, opened by the daughter of egg coffee's inventor and known for its hot and iced egg coffee.
Café
A home-grown Hoi An coffee roaster founded in 2015, serving Vietnamese and specialty coffee in historic buildings on Tran Phu and Tran Cao Van.
Café
A specialty coffee café in a bright, high-ceilinged heritage space up a staircase just off Dong Khoi Street, known for pour-over and serious coffee.
Hotel
A beachfront resort of 100 private villas on Ha My Beach, inspired by traditional Vietnamese architecture, with a cooking academy and an award-winning spa.
Hotel
Hanoi's grand colonial hotel, open since 1901, with a restored wartime bomb shelter, celebrated restaurants and a guest list from Charlie Chaplin to Graham Greene.
Hotel
An opulent five-star hotel in the Times Square Building between Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi, home to the Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Long Trieu.
Hotel
A riverside resort of 92 rooms and suites on the Thu Bon River, less than a kilometre from the old town, with free bicycles and a…
Hotel
A 47-room luxury hotel designed by Bill Bensley around the theme of opera in the 1920s, with a Michelin-starred teppanyaki counter and an indoor pool.
Hotel
A refined luxury hotel on Lam Son Square with 245 rooms, a pool and spa, steps from the Opera House, the Central Post Office and Notre-Dame…
Bar
Vietnam's first jazz club, founded in 1997 by saxophonist Quyen Van Minh, with live jazz every night from 9pm on Trang Tien Street.
Bar
One of the city's longest-running rooftop bars, on level 26 of AB Tower, with 360-degree views, DJ nights and a strictly enforced dress code.
Bar
The evening market on Nguyen Hoang Street on An Hoi, across the river from the old town, with around 50 stalls of street food, lanterns and…
Bar
A bamboo dome theatre where the Hoai and Thu Bon rivers meet, staging Teh Dar, a bamboo circus inspired by the music and traditions of the…
Bar
A long-running Hoan Kiem bar that began as a beer pub in 1995 and is now a whisky, cigar and cocktail lounge with a seasonally changing…
Bar
The Caravelle hotel's historic open-air rooftop bar on Lam Son Square, a 1960s haunt of war correspondents with live music most nights.
Restaurant
Chef Peter Cuong Franklin's Michelin-starred restaurant in a narrow tube house in the Old Market, reworking Vietnamese street food with modern technique.
Restaurant
Chef Sam Tran's Michelin-starred restaurant opposite the Temple of Literature, serving a single seasonal tasting menu rooted in traditional Vietnamese cooking.
Restaurant
Ms Vy's original restaurant in an old house on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, serving Hoi An and Vietnamese dishes from family recipes, with an open kitchen…
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred tasting-menu restaurant on the ninth floor of Le Meridien, serving creative European dishes with Vietnamese influences around an open kitchen.
Restaurant
Chef Tran Thanh Duc's riverside restaurant, open since 2008, serving inventive Vietnamese fusion dishes with views across to the Japanese Covered Bridge.
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred restaurant in the style of a vintage northern tea house, serving refined home-style Vietnamese dishes at moderate prices near the Temple of Literature.
Thing to do
The covered market of central Saigon, in its clock-towered building since 1914, selling food, coffee, crafts and clothing, with a night market on the streets outside.
Thing to do
The historic trading district north of Hoan Kiem Lake, known as the 36 streets, where each street was once named after the goods sold there.
Thing to do
A centuries-old vegetable and herb growing village about 2.5 km north of the old town, where visitors can try traditional farming and cook with the harvest.
Thing to do
A large outdoor show with more than 500 performers that tells 400 years of Hoi An's history without dialogue, staged most evenings at Hoi An Impression…
Thing to do
A broad pedestrian boulevard running from City Hall to the Saigon River, converted in 2015 and busiest in the evening when families and visitors stroll its…
Thing to do
Hanoi's best-known water puppet theatre, founded in 1969, staging several 50-minute shows a day of a northern Vietnamese folk art with traditional music.
Tour operator
A volunteer club of Hanoi students who lead free English-language city and food tours for visitors, usually starting from your hotel.
Tour operator
A long-running Hoi An cooking school on the Thu Bon River, combining a market tour, a boat trip and a herb garden walk with hands-on cooking…
Tour operator
Vietnam's self-described first all-female motorbike tour company, running food, night, sightseeing and photography tours of Saigon since 2010 with guides in ao dai.
Tour operator
A Saigon motorbike food tour company whose local drivers take guests to street food stalls on afternoon, night and private chef-led tours.
Tour operator
A non-profit, student-run organisation founded in 2012 that offers free private walking tours of the Old Quarter, war sites and the Ho Chi Minh complex.
Tour operator
A local tour company running since 2005, offering basket boat, fishing village and rice-farming experiences in the countryside around Hoi An.
The Reunification Express railway links Hanoi with Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, and domestic flights save time on the longest journeys; within cities, taxis and ride-hailing apps are widely used
It depends on the region, as the climate varies from north to south; in Hanoi, September to November is usually the most pleasant time
Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh and Sapa in the north, Hue, Hoi An and Da Nang in the centre, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south