In this article, we decided to share a few travel tips that might help you out when preparing for a trip to Vietnam.
When to go
- You should visit Vietnam’s northern region between March and May and between September to November. In this way, you can avoid the hot summer and the rainy winter. The period between March and May is Vietnam’s spring season and the countryside around Hanoi is in full bloom. We went in November when the wet season ends. It is a good month to travel to the South of Vietnam, where temperatures are not so high. In Hanoi, temperatures were mild and in Sapa temperatures were cold. Since it is such a big country, Vietnam has different climates, which makes it harder to plan what to take with you.
- For clothes, you need to think you’re going to a tropical climate in the south and a colder climate in the north. It is important to layer up, take with you a warm and waterproof jacket and hiking shoes. Since we didn’t go prepared, it was a headache for us to try and find jackets, comfortable multipurpose trekking type trousers, waterproof jackets, hats and sunscreens
Don’t forget & be prepared
- Get ready to haggle as there are no fixed prices
- Take with you an insect repellent, depending on where you go and get your vaccines up to date. Fortunately, we already had a few of them: yellow fever, Hepatitis A & B – you can check it online what vaccines you need
- Make sure you compare prices from different tour agencies you can go with. We realized that some of them were offering the same tours but at cheaper prices. Sometimes they are even next door to each other, so just double check that
- Traffic is quite hectic. But don’t get scared, drivers are used to it. The best way to cross the road is to walk slowly, steadily and make sure your presence is noticed
To know before you go
- If you are an EU citizen you need a tourist visa, you can check in the link: https://www.ivisa.com/vietnam-e-visa?nationality=GR
- Plugs:
Take an adaptor with you because in some places they don’t have one or the other.
Be aware – Hotel booking scam
This happens when you book a hotel room, it could even be one with great reviews, and then when you get there the hotel refuses to you the original room you paid for, due to “renovation or some other issue”, and they propose another room. This room can be in a sister hotel or in a cheaper room than what you paid for.
The hotel oversells the most expensive rooms on purpose to earn better money. Then, when the client arrives, the hotel staff explains that the room originally booked has some issues with it. However, they refuse to show the supposedly damaged room. If the client does not oppose, he/she gets transferred to a cheaper room or hotel without repayment. This happened twice to us, both times in Hanoi, but two different hotels. Hotel Hanoi Golden Charm + Rising Dragon Hotel I.
