What to Pack for Vietnam

Vietnam is a buy-what-you-need-when-you-need-it country. The clothes are cheap, the pharmacies are well stocked, the hardware shops are open at 10pm. Pack light, leave room.

That said, here is what is worth carrying versus what you should leave at home or buy on arrival.

The universal short list

For any trip to anywhere in Vietnam in any season:

• Passport plus a paper photocopy stashed separately
• Bank card (debit + a backup credit), small USD cash buffer
• A real rain layer (a proper packable jacket, not a hostel poncho)
• Reef-safe sunscreen — expensive and patchy to buy here
• Insect repellent with at least 20% DEET or 20% picaridin (smaller bottles, hard to find here)
• Universal travel adapter — see power plugs and voltage
• Reusable water bottle (a filter bottle like Grayl is overkill for tap-water-fearful travellers)
• A small daypack for day trips
• Quick-dry travel towel
• Earplugs (mopeds start at 6am)
• A pagoda cover-up — see "modesty" below

Buy on arrival: shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant (Western brands available in any Circle K), basic clothes, sandals, an umbrella for 35,000đ on every street corner.

By season

Dry season (Nov–Apr in the south, Oct–Apr in the north)

• Light layers — a fleece or jumper for Hanoi evenings (Dec–Feb can hit 12°C)
• Down jacket if you are going to Sapa in winter
• Long trousers for evenings in the highlands
• One smart-casual outfit for nicer restaurants in HCMC

Wet season (May–Oct in the south, May–Aug in the centre)

• Quick-dry shorts and t-shirts only — cotton stays damp
• A proper rain jacket (not a poncho — they tear and overheat)
• A dry bag (10L) for camera, phone, passport on rainy rides
• Trail-running shoes or sandals with grip — flooded streets are slippery
• An extra pair of socks. You will get wet.

See weather by month for the regional version of this.

By activity

Trekking (Sapa, Phong Nha, Cat Tien)

• Proper hiking boots if you have ankle issues — otherwise trail-runners
• Long synthetic trousers (leeches in summer)
• Bug headnet for evening swarms in some areas
• 1L water bottle minimum
• Lightweight rain shell
• Bring trekking poles only if you are doing Fansipan summit

Beach (Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Con Dao, Hoi An's An Bang)

• Two swimsuits (one is always wet)
• Rashguard for sun and for snorkelling
• Reef-safe sunscreen (banned brands are sold at airports — bring your own)
• A wide-brim hat
• Aqua shoes if you have sensitive feet (Con Dao beaches have coral fragments)
• Beach towel if you are at a small guesthouse

Motorbike (Da Lat loop, Ha Giang, Mai Chau, Hai Van Pass)

• Closed-toe shoes — no flip-flops, ever, on a bike
• Jeans or proper riding trousers — Vietnam road rash is brutal
• Long-sleeve shirt (sunburn ruins three days of riding)
• Sunglasses with secure arms (cheap shades fly off at 60kph)
• Buff or thin scarf — exhaust fumes in traffic
• Phone holder for the bars (~80,000đ at any moto shop)
• Quality helmet — rental ones are usually trash. Buy a Royal helmet locally (~600,000đ) if riding more than three days
• Light gloves
• See travel insurance before riding — the motorbike clause is real

Business / smart-casual

Vietnamese business culture is more formal than the heat suggests. Bring:

• One blazer in linen or unlined wool
• Closed-toe shoes (not loafers without socks — that reads as casual)
• A formal shirt or blouse

Suit-and-tie meetings are rare outside banking and law. Smart-casual is the safe default.

Family with kids

• See family travel with kids for the longer version
• Formula and Western nappies are available in cities (DM, Concung) — bulky to fly
• A baby carrier beats a stroller almost everywhere
• Kids' sunscreen and DEET-free repellent — bring from home

Modesty and pagodas

Most temples in Vietnam want shoulders covered and shorts at least to the knee. Strict ones (Bai Dinh, the Hanoi Imperial Citadel, some Cham towers) refuse entry without it. Pack:

• One pair of long trousers or a midi skirt
• A light long-sleeve cover-up that fits in a daypack

For women: a thin pashmina is more useful than a dress. For men: long-cut shorts (below the knee) get you in most places, but proper trousers get you everywhere.

Electronics

• Laptop, charger, power bank (carry-on only — Vietnamese baggage handlers are rough)
• US/EU charger heads — Vietnam takes both Type A and Type C
• Camera + spare battery (humidity eats batteries)
• A small silica-gel sachet pack for the camera bag in the wet season
• Unlocked phone for a local SIM

Medicine

• Anything prescription, with the prescription paperwork
• Anti-diarrhoea (loperamide), oral rehydration salts
• Plasters and antiseptic — small cuts in the tropics turn into big ones
• Throat lozenges (HCMC air quality, Hanoi cold-season smog)
• Mosquito repellent (DEET 20%+)
• See vaccinations for what to sort before flying

What NOT to bring

• Multiple pairs of jeans — too heavy, too hot, takes three days to dry
• A hairdryer — every hotel has one
• A money belt — pickpocketing is rare; a normal zip pocket is fine
• Hiking poles for casual trekking — buy or rent in Sapa
• A drone without research — drone rules tightened in 2024 and major sites are no-fly
• Camo / military-style clothing — Vietnamese border officials sometimes detain people in heavy camo. Olive cargo trousers are fine; full surplus jackets are not
• Pepper spray — illegal
• Anything labelled CBD — legal grey area; not worth the customs question

Cabin or hold?

For trips up to three weeks, a 40L carry-on is the sweet spot. Vietnamese domestic flights (Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Bamboo) charge for hold bags. Carrying on saves the wait and the fee, and you can move through three cities in a week without thinking about it.

When you are ready, pair this with the best time to visit.