Vietnam is a gorgeous country and definitely unlike any place I had ever experienced. It is rich in beautiful culture, colors, history and food. It can be a lot for some people at first, and we ran into many travelers that were experiencing serious culture shock, but it is a country I every person should explore and experience in their life. Here is my full travel guide to Northern Vietnam and the spots we visited, loved and learned from along the way!
1st: Hanoi, Vietnam
2nd: Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
3rd: Mai Chau, Vietnam
HANOI, VIETNAM
This is one of the main cities to fly into. It is a great home base if you are exploring northern Vietnam; we stayed one night in the beginning of our exploring the region, one night in between two weekend trips and one night on the way out of exploring and that was definitely enough. There is great food and definitely some cool bars and activities to see but other parts of Northern Vietnam should be prioritized if you don’t have tons of time.
Accommodation: We stayed in quite a few spots in this city but the only one I’d recommend and stay in again is the Hanoi Guesthouse Ma May. It was clean, cheap and in the perfect location of the Old Quarter. The staff were super nice and helped us book great weekend trips in neighboring regions too. If you don’t want to do the party hostel thing and are looking for something quiet and clean I’d definitely recommend it! Nothing fancy but all you need.
Food:
Cafe Nola: a must. This is an old apartment building with 3 stories of rooms to eat and hangout in. It’s full of antique couches, lamps and funky furniture. Make sure to explore the whole house and go up to the cute rooftop - it’s a great spot to get away from the craziness for a bit!
Hanoi Social Club: popular spot for yummy dinner and drinks. They have live music some nights.
Pho 10: a must. The best and cheapest pho we had in Vietnam.
Lutulata: This was a cute coffee and treat spot near the lake.
Banh Mi 25: A spot for bomb and cheap banh mi’s, best in town according to everyone we talked to.
Bún Chả Obama: a famous Vietnamese street food spot (where Obama & Anthony Bourdain ate).
Bars:
Polite & Co: a must!! We stumbled across this place on one night and wished we had discovered it sooner. Euro/ Parisian style bar with bomb drinks. Its definitely nicer and locals here are more dressed up, the boujee Vietnamese crowd. It’s a great place to get away from the craziness. Everyone smokes inside.
Pasteur Brewing Co: get the passion fruit wheat beer it may be the best beer i’ve had in a long time. This is a brewery that takes local Vietnamese flavors (like lychee, passion fruit, dragon fruit) and infuses them in the craft beer. Go up to the roof patio!
The Porch, Rock Store (more rowdy bars on Manay Street)
Beer Corner: kinda ratchet but very famous and a must see. It’s an intersection of all Vietnamese beer shops where everyone goes to drink at night in the street!
Shopping Streets: Hang Trong, Hang Gai, Hang Bac
Attractions:
Definitely walk around Hoan Kiem Lake during the day/evening. It’s beautiful and at night people all walk around the lake with drinks in their hands and there are street performer and music.
Let yourself get lost in the Old Quarter and shop around even though it’s chaotic, its part of the experience!
St Joseph’s Cathedral is a famous church in Hanoi. There was a Vietnamese movie being filmed there when we walked by which was cool to see!
Hanoi’s ‘train street’ is located between Lê Duẩn and Khâm Thin street, on Ngo 224 Le Duan, in the Old Quarter. Its a picturesque super narrow street (only a few feet wide) that people walk on and live on that is also a live train track. Only in Vietnam!
HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM
While you are in northern Vietnam, you will want to take a few days to explore Ha Long Bay. The region of Ha Long Bay & Bai Tu Long Bay are one of the 7 Natural Wonders in the world, and it shows. The best way to see it is by boat.
Boat options:
We took the IndoChina Junk and I can’t recommend it more! So awesome. Do either the Red Dragon or Dragon Legend. It’s not a party by any means, but very nice, clean, gorgeous rooms, affordable prices and has kind and hilarious staff. The package provides rides to and from Hanoi, kayaking, cave tours, visiting the floating market on Ha Long Bay and all food (every meal we had was at least 4 courses) included. We did the inclusive 2 day 1 night for $179 each.
The raddest part of all is that its the only ethical and sustainable tour company in Ha Long Bay. We picked up trash on our kayak tour and were given trash bags to help clean the beaches if we wished throughout our stay. The bay is growing more and more polluted by the minute, so visiting the bay with a company built around sustainable tourism is super important.
Castaways: this is the party option that people say is also super fun!
MAI CHAU, VIETNAM
This is a quiet, rural village inside a lush northern Vietnam valley called Hòa Bình Province. It is gorgeous, super green and has a very local vibe. This was my favorite spot on our trip through northern Vietnam. We took a bus from Hanoi here for a 1 night and 2 day stay.
Accommodation:
We stayed at Vinh’s Guesthouse (it’s on Airbnb) and had a beautiful view overlooking the rice fields! She spoke great English and has such good advice for adventures around the village and town. We had dinner with her family one night which was adorable.
Our New Zealand friends we met stayed at the Mai Chau Backpackers and said it was great too. It’s connected to the Sunrise Village Resort.
Activities:
This village is tiny so I don’t have that many rec’s except for to walk around the markets around Vinh’s house and let yourself get lost in the “shops and storefronts” (these are really tables in front of local’s homes) and talk to the locals.
Bike: Vinh has free bicycles for you and we biked everywhere that’s a must to either rent some or use hers. They also have lots of places to rent around the town. Biking around the ricefields is beautiful and a great way to cool off if its hot out like it was when we were there.
Market: theres a market every day in downtown Mai Chau where we got snacks and fresh fruit and people watched
Sunset Bar is a food spot, it’s hard to find and nothing special but has a nice view from the top!
Don’t eat at the Sunset Village Resort Will got food poisoning there lol
Go to the Go Lao Waterfall nearby early in the morning!
