Find out what tourists like and dislike on their vacation in Vietnam. We have collected together the reviews of vacationers in 2020, and also shared our experience.
Vietnam is about jungle, rice fields, exotic food and endless sandy beaches. Consider the most popular resorts in Vietnam and give reviews of tourists and personal experience about the rest.
Reviews about the rest in Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a large city with an active nightlife and developed infrastructure. The people dubbed it "Vietnamese Sochi". Everything here is simple and understandable for a Russian tourist: store signs and menus in Russian, Russian-speaking staff, and even broadcasts at the airport in the great and mighty. In short, almost complete absence of a language barrier. Despite the large number of nightlife venues, the atmosphere in Nha Trang is quite decent; in the evening you can safely walk with your children.
Related article: How to get from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang.
According to some tourists, in Nha Trang, a beach vacation is not entirely convenient: often, in order to get to the beach, you need to cross a busy road. And the beaches themselves were not impressed - loose sand of an expressionless color, although they are cleaned regularly. Of course, you can find a hotel with a beach, for example, there are many accolades about the Winperl entertainment island, which is located near Nha Trang. But such hotels are most often located outside the city limits, and rest in them will be more expensive.
Our review. We lived in Nha Trang for two winter months and with a clear conscience we can recommend it to you for a vacation in 2021: many inexpensive hotels, food and fruits, a nice wide beach and a fairly clear sea. There are also a huge number of interesting sights in the area - you can take an excursion or rent a bike. Well-groomed beautiful embankment with exercise equipment. Of the minuses - a rather sharp entrance to the sea, sometimes there are waves. Some people consider Nha Trang to be very noisy, but we didn't think so, on the contrary, it was quiet, calm and safe.
Reviews about holidays in Mui Ne and Phan Thiet
Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are another Russified resorts dearly loved by our compatriots. These are former fishing villages with sandy beaches and hotels along the coast. Entertainment - cafes, water scooters, wind and kitesurfing. Many consider these resorts to be a good place for a relaxing holiday with children, while others, on the contrary, do not advise to relax there with small children, since in winter the wind often blows on the sea after lunch and waves rise, which are more suitable for wind and kitesurfing, and not bathing.
According to tourist reviews about holidays in Mui Ne and Phan Khet in 2020, the disadvantages are slightly overpriced and lack of animation. In Mui Ne, groceries will have to be bought in small shops; there are large supermarkets in neighboring Phan Thiet. The city center in Phan Thiet is located far from the resort area, it is better to get around by transport. Another disadvantage is that Mui Ne is popular with young people, so it can be noisy in the evenings. According to tourists' reviews, despite all the disadvantages, Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are one of the most popular resorts in Vietnam among our compatriots.
Our review. We lived in Mui Ne in January: we ate delicious seafood, went sightseeing and rode a bike. This is a small village, and there is almost no entertainment, so there is nothing to do there for more than a week. The beaches are clean only near expensive hotels, and the sea is more suitable for kiting and surfing.
Where to book a hotel? Search on Rumguru - the site compares prices of various booking systems and finds the best one.
Reviews about holidays in Fukuoka
Phu Quoc is the most expensive and respectable resort in Vietnam, according to tourists. Tall palm trees, beaches with clean white sand, clear turquoise water, breathtaking relaxation and overpriced prices for Vietnam. For comparison, a room in a hotel in Nha Trang will cost almost half the price of a room in Fukuoka. There is no shopping here, and there is no national flavor either, except for dancing in national costumes. This is a typical European-style resort, if at all it is appropriate to speak of Europe in an Asian state. Everything is comfortable, but without a twist.
According to tourists' reviews for 2020, Phu Quoc is being actively built up, its infrastructure is developing: new hotels, shops and restaurants appear, roads are being asphalted. However, the disadvantage of such a large-scale construction is noise and dug roads. However, few people are confused by this, since almost all tourists lie lazily on the beach and travel by taxi. If you decide to explore the island, rent a bike, since there are many rental points and it's cheap.
Our review. We lived in Fukuoka for almost a month. We agree with the reviews of tourists: there are a lot of construction sites, dusty and dirty, noisy. There are few attractions, but the beaches are good. It is worth coming here for a vacation in 2021 if you want to live in a beautiful resort, eat cheap fruits and seafood, and enjoy stunning sunsets.
When is the best time to go on vacation to Vietnam
In winter, the south of Vietnam is ideal for a beach holiday: on Phu Quoc Island during the day + 30 ° С, at night + 26 ° С, water + 28 ° С, the sea is clean and transparent. Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are not far behind: during the day +32 ... + 34 ° С, at night + 24 ° С, the sea + 26 ° С. It is a couple of degrees colder in Nha Trang. Tourists often meet the New Year at the resorts. If you're planning a trip, read more about winter vacations in Vietnam.
From April to May, dry and warm weather is established along the entire coast: water is +25 ... + 28 ° С, in the daytime + 30 ° С and above. In May, it will be very hot in the south: in the afternoon + 33 ° C and above, walks and trips will have to be done in the early morning hours before 11 or in the evening after 19. In the summer, it is better to relax in the center of the country, in the same Nha Trang it is easier to breathe at this time. for the current sea breezes.
Reviews of entertainment and excursions in Vietnam
The best time for a beach and sightseeing holiday in Vietnam is a dry season. The itinerary of trips depends on the chosen place for rest: from Mui Ne it is convenient to visit the Red Canyon, Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat with its temple complex and flower garden. From Nha Trang - Cham Towers, Cape Lovers and Long Son Pagoda, Yang Bay Waterfall, Dalat, Halong Bay and the northern islands. Tours start from 400 rubles. Dalat, temples, islands - 1500-2000 rubles, a trip to Halong Bay - 20 thousand rubles.
You can ride elephants or play golf (700 rubles), go kitesurfing, fishing, snorkeling or diving. So, a 40-minute dive in Fukuoka costs 5 thousand rubles, snorkeling is 4-5 times cheaper. To visit the spa - from 700 to 1000 rubles, go to a trendy nightclub in Nha Trang - 700 rubles.
As for excursions in Nha Trang, not everything is worth taking - some are much cheaper and more interesting to visit on their own if you know how to ride a bike. We are not in favor of group visits to attractions, as it is often expensive and not enjoyable. For example, we recommend visiting Yang Bay Eco Park and Winperl amusement island on your own, Po Nagar Towers, Long Son Pagoda, Cathedral, Ba Ho Falls and mud and mineral baths - in general, something that you can easily get to on your own. But tours to the northern and southern islands are best bought from a tour operator. Tourists are advised to choose an English-speaking guide as it is much cheaper.
We recommend gourmets to try Vietnamese coffee (we are big fans of it), the secret of its special taste is not in the varieties of beans, but in the technology of preparing the drink. As for food, Vietnamese cuisine can offer both exotic things like fried crocodile, shark and ostrich, and completely harmless mussels with shrimps.
If we talk about prices, then they are quite affordable - perhaps a little more expensive in Fukuoka. You can dine together in a cafe for 300-500 rubles, in a restaurant - 1500 rubles. Fruits are cheap - any exotic can be bought for 50-100 rubles.per kilogram. If you are fond of trying all tropical fruits, we recommend checking out our fruit guide for descriptions, prices and names in Vietnamese.
And of course, what a vacation without shopping? Tourists buy pearls and silver, leather, silk and cotton products, cosmetics, medicines, tea and coffee. A very popular souvenir for friends is a snake in alcohol or some other animal in a bottle.
Reviews of tourists about the beaches of Vietnam
The beaches in Vietnam are sandy, with white or yellow sand. The white sand beaches of Phu Quoc Island, the most famous of which are Long Beach and Bai Sao, are also considered the best. The beaches in Halong Bay are inferior in their characteristics - despite the stunning landscapes around, the sand here is imported, and the water is not so crystal clear.
Another famous resort that has earned the recognition of tourists precisely because of its beaches is Mui Ne. A long sandy strip of beaches stretches between the village of Mui Ne and Phan Thiet - Mui Ne Beach. This beach is adored by both family vacationers and those who practice water sports.
In Nha Trang, the city beaches are clean, well-groomed, well-equipped and crowded. There are cafes and merchants on the beach. True, the entrance to the water is not good everywhere, in some places small pebbles come across. According to reviews of vacationers in 2020, the beaches of Nha Trang are not suitable for children - the depth usually starts close to the coast. At the beginning of winter, the water in the sea is muddy and restless due to storms, so it is better to come for swimming in spring or summer.
Tips and tricks for tourists
There are many interesting things for tourists in Vietnam. For fans of sightseeing holidays, this is a treasure trove of surprises: ancient cities and temples, mountains, jungles and amusement parks. Plus delicious coffee, fresh seafood and an abundance of fruit all year round. Affordable prices are a huge plus. It's a good idea to save money on a vacation in Vietnam in 2021 by going in the off-season or early summer.
Vietnamese are very positive people, friendly and inclined to compromise. As elsewhere in Southeast Asia, children are loved here, but one should not be afraid of excessive attention to them, the Vietnamese are well-mannered people and will not impose themselves with obvious manifestations of sympathy.
According to tourists' reviews for 2020, not everything is so rosy - there are drawbacks in a vacation in Vietnam: the service is still ambiguous and not good in all places. Some are annoyed by the sheer number of bikes on the streets. The Vietnamese transport insane loads on them, from furniture to a bunch of live pigs, while the drivers do not consider it necessary to give way to a pedestrian. Unaccustomed to cross the road, it is scary, and a poor tourist has to wait for crowds of people in order to run over with them for the company, or directly ask for help from local law enforcement officers.
