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. No affiliate-driven advice. 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.
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.
Archaeological sites of Vietnam
Mỹ Sơn Cham towers, Đông Sơn Bronze-Age, Cổ Loa pre-Chinese citadel, and the lesser-known sites worth a trip for the archaeology-curious traveller.
French colonial architecture across Vietnam
Where to find the best surviving French colonial architecture — Hanoi French Quarter, HCMC Centre, Đà Lạt villas, Hải Phòng — and what era each represents.
DMZ and Vietnamese war sites by region
The 17th parallel and the war sites you can actually visit — DMZ tours from Huế, Khe Sanh, Vĩnh Mốc tunnels, Cu Chi, plus the lesser-visited sites.
Vietnam museums worth visiting
The 12 Vietnamese museums that justify a half-day — War Remnants, Ethnology, Vietnamese History, Cham Sculpture, plus the smaller specialty ones.
Religious history of Vietnam
Mahayana Buddhism, Vietnamese folk religion, Confucianism, the French Catholic legacy, and the indigenous syncretic religions Caodaism and Hòa Hảo.
Vietnam in regional trade-route history
Hội An as the silk-and-porcelain port. Hanoi as the Tonkin trading capital. The Mekong delta's rice exports. Vietnam's place in pre-colonial and early-modern Asian trade.