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Travelling to Vietnam

Everything you need to know to make your trip unforgettable.

Discover Vietnam

From the French architecture of Hanoi to the Chinese streets of Hoi An, Vietnam offers a unique blend of history and culture like no other. Here’s our guide to everything you need to know.

Explore the buzzing cities

Explore the buzzing cities


Across South East Asia, you’ll find cities bursting with life from dawn to dusk – and Vietnam is no exception. Whichever city you explore, you’re sure to find yourself immersed in a world of fast-paced action and buzzing life. Hanoi is packed with culture, whilst Ho Chi Minh City is alive with cosmopolitan vibrancy. Hue is drenched in history, and Phan Thiet in sunshine.

Discover the picturesque beaches of Vietnam

Discover the picturesque beaches of Vietnam


You might not think of Vietnam as a beachy paradise, but the golden sands here are the country’s best kept secret. Quiet and undiscovered compared to neighbouring Thailand, the shoreline here is just as beautiful. Whether you’re looking for the modern resort charm of Nha Trang and Da Lat or the adrenaline-filled watersports of Mui Ne, there’s a Vietnamese beach to suit every taste.

Enjoy the blossoming food and coffee culture

Enjoy the blossoming food and coffee culture


You’ve probably tasted the signature Vietnamese dish of pho, a delicious noodle soup that’s quickly catching on around the world. And there’s plenty more where that came from, with fresh ingredients, delicate flavours and a plethora of seafood making the basis of a classic Vietnamese cuisine. Vietnam is also home to a popular café culture and is big on coffee – a throwback to its time as a French colony – meaning there’s plenty of opportunity to grab a quiet minute and enjoy a spot of people watching.

Money

The currency of Vietnam is the dong, which due to inflation is no longer broken down into its sub units of hào and xu.

One pound is currently worth Vietnamese dong.

Here’s a roundup of what you can expect to spend in Vietnam, with prices in British pounds:

Inexpensive meal for one – £1.20Bottle of water – 20p0.5 litre beer – 50p
Mid-range restaurant meal for one – £4.50Cappuccino – £1.15Local bus ticket – 20p

Need to convert your pounds to dong? Order them here.

If you don’t want to carry cash on you, you’ll be able to use our Travelex Money Card wherever you see the MasterCard logo. Just load it up with British pounds and it’ll convert to the local dong currency when you start using it in Vietnam.

If you’d like to use US dollars, you’ll find that they’re widely accepted and used in Vietnamese cities – although you’re likely to get a much better conversion rate by using dong instead.

Order your Vietnamese dong

Travelling around Vietnam

By plane

Since Vietnam is such a long and thin country, many miles lay between the north and the south. Plane travel is a quick and relatively easy way to travel, with regular flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City lasting around two hours and costing around 1,600,000₫.

By bus

Vietnam is well connected with plenty of long distance bus routes taking you from city to city. The open tour buses are very popular with tourists and travellers, allowing you to buy one ticket for as little as £12 from Ho Chi Minh City up to Hanoi (or the other way around), where you can stop off along your journey at any point, and get back on a bus of the same company any time later.

By train

The train is the least developed mode of transport across the country, but does provide no end of opportunity to see the stunning countryside of Vietnam on the long journeys between cities. The Vietnamese travel search engine Baolau is a great way to organise your train journey and you should aim to book tickets at least four days in advance before trains become fully booked.

Within cities

A classic sight in Vietnam, cyclo pedicabs are a cheap and scenic way to get around the streets of Vietnam’s cities and a journey should cost you around 20,000₫ for up to 2km. Another popular and admittedly much faster way is to use a motorbike taxi known as a xe ôm, costing you around 10,000₫ for a 10 minute trip.

Travelex in Vietnam

Travelex in Vietnam

Before you jet off to Vietnam, be sure to pick up some Vietnamese dong from us online. Use our store locator to find the nearest store to collect your order from – it might even be in the airport that you’re flying out from! If you’d rather, you can have your travel money order delivered right to your door, using the Royal Mail Special Delivery service.

Order your Vietnamese dong