A practical guide to Vietnam — for tourists, expats, and people moving here.
Vietnam Knowledge is an independent reference for tourists, expats, retirees, digital nomads, families, and first-time Asia travellers. No tour-operator affiliation. Nothing here is recommended because it pays. Updated when policy changes — especially visa and traffic law.
Start here
The eight things almost every visitor asks first.
Which traveller are you?
Pick the path closest to your situation — we'll keep the tone consistent.
Most useful tools
All ten tools →Static, no API costs, nothing stored.
Vietnam by city
The big destinations, with honest verdicts.
Sections
Reference material, organised by topic.
Best of Vietnam
Honest "best of" lists. Methodology stated, recommendations clear.
Day Trips
The day trips that actually deliver — by base city and by destination.
Seasonal travel
Vietnam by season — what to expect and how to plan around it.
Events & Festivals
Vietnamese events worth planning a trip around — and the ones to plan around avoiding.
Checklists
Printable, checkbox-marked lists for the high-stakes Vietnam tasks.
Tools
Static tools that work offline, store no data, and give straight answers.
Business & Investors
The investor and entrepreneur reference — Vietnam-specific, plain English.
Practical Info
The logistical baseline: money, connectivity, health, weather, and what to put in your bag.
Transport
The north–south spine, the city motorbike chaos, and the apps that make it manageable.
Health & Safety
What to know about staying well — and what to do if something goes wrong.
Itineraries
Ready-to-execute routes by trip length and traveller type — backpacker, family, foodie, motorbike.
Living in Vietnam
Everything the move requires — apartments, schools, healthcare, taxes, driving.
Attractions
Beyond the cities — the natural and historical places that make Vietnam trips memorable.
History
A thousand years of independence, a century of colonisation, decades of war, then reform.
Culture
How Vietnam thinks about ancestors, neighbours, Tết, and the dinner table.
Regions & Provinces
The country is long and thin and each thirty kilometres feels different.
Language
Tonal, monosyllabic, written in chữ Quốc Ngữ — easier to read than you expect.
Food
A food culture built on broth, herbs, fish sauce, and breakfast on a low plastic stool.
Economy
One of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, with FDI to match.
Visa & Relocation
Vietnam has no general digital-nomad or retirement visa — but several real long-stay routes if you fit them.
Scams to Avoid
Most are mild and avoidable once you know the pattern.
Recently published
The newest articles across all sections.
Getting to Côn Đảo: Ferries and Flights Compared
Ferry routes to Côn Đảo from Vũng Tàu and Trần Đề, flights from HCMC and Cần Thơ, and why sea conditions turn rough roughly October to March.
HCMC Metro Line 1: A Rider Guide
How to ride Ho Chi Minh City's Metro Line 1 — the stations, fares, hours, and where the Bến Thành to Thảo Điền corridor is genuinely useful for visitors.
Bản Giốc Waterfall: Getting There and When to Go
Vietnam's largest waterfall, straddling the Chinese border in Cao Bằng — the bus-and-transfer route from Hà Nội, the 2–3 day motorbike alternative, best season for full flow, the raft ride, and what the border zone means for visitors.
Sài Gòn to Hà Nội by Motorbike: The Full Route
The classic 1,700–2,000 km north-south crossing — coastal QL1A versus the inland Hồ Chí Minh Road, realistic pacing, key overnight stops, and the buy-vs-rent, licence and end-of-trip questions everyone asks.
North vs South Vietnam: Real Cultural Differences
Hà Nội and Sài Gòn feel like different countries in places — partition history, migration, accents, sweeter southern food, and where the old north-south stereotypes hold up and where they don't.
Bún Riêu: Vietnam's Crab Noodle Soup Explained
A tomato-red broth built on freshwater crab paste, fried tofu and a tangle of herbs — bún riêu is Vietnam's most underrated noodle soup, with a snail variant worth seeking out too.