Danang Region
Across the Song Han Bridge, My Khe is fast becoming Danang’s easternmost suburb. In the early morning and evening, the beach fills up with city folk doing…
Must-see attractions in Central Vietnam
Demilitarised Zone
Once the border between North and South Vietnam, Ben Hai River’s southern bank now has a grandiose reunification monument, its stylised palm leaves oddly…
Hue
The stunning, partially ruined Dien Tho Residence (1804) once comprised the apartments and audience hall of the Queen Mothers of the Nguyen dynasty. The…
Hoi An
Just a few steps down from the Japanese Covered Bridge, this old house has a wide, welcoming entrance hall decorated with exquisite lanterns, wall…
Precious Heritage Museum by Réhahn
Hoi An
Hoi An–based French photographer Réhahn has conceived this cross between museum and gallery, combining his outstanding photos of Vietnam's hill tribes…
Hue
A classic covered Japanese footbridge in picturesque countryside, this makes a lovely diversion from Hue. The bridge is in sleepy Thuy Thanh village, 7km…
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
The largest part of the Tu Lan cave system, this moderately challenging dry cave was opened to visitors in 2016. The 10- to 12-hour adventure includes a…
Dong Hoi
The Nhat Le River, which divides the city of Dong Hoi from a beautiful sandy spit, has a landscaped riverside promenade that features the haunting and…
Hue
In 1844, Emperor Thieu Tri described this as one of Hue's most beautiful spots, but it was devastated by war. Check out the superb entrance gate with…
Assembly Hall of the Hainan Chinese Congregation
Hoi An
Built in 1851, this assembly hall is a memorial to 108 merchants from Hainan Island who were mistaken for pirates and killed in Quang Nam province. The…
Hue
Hire a scooter and head out to this picturesque spot on the edge of the lagoon either at sunrise or sunset, when there are beautiful views of the rising…
Ninh Binh Province
Chua Bai Dinh is a bombastic Buddhist complex, built on a vast scale, that rises up a hillside near Ninh Binh. Construction was completed in 2014, and it…
Hoi An
Founded in 1653, this small temple is dedicated to Quan Cong, an esteemed Chinese general who is worshipped as a symbol of loyalty, sincerity, integrity…
My Son
The main kalan (sanctuary), B1, was dedicated to Bhadresvara, which is a contraction of the name of King Bhadravarman, who built the first temple at My…
Hoi An
This pagoda (founded in the mid-17th century) is associated with An Thiem, a Vietnamese prodigy and monk from the age of eight. When he was 18, he…
Hoi An
There’s a whole block of colonnaded French colonial buildings on Ð Phan Boi Chau between Nos 22 and 73, among them the 19th-century Tran Duong House. It’s…
My Son
The effusive have described this as Vietnam’s Angkor Wat, but that’s hardly fair: My Son contains fewer ruins (and they are very much ruined) within a…
Danang
This pagoda has three giant Buddha statues in the courtyard, and an equally imposing large gold one in the temple.
My Son
Group A was almost completely destroyed by US bombs. According to locals, the massive A1, considered the most important monument at My Son, remained…
Endangered Primate Rescue Center
Cuc Phuong National Park
The Endangered Primate Rescue Center is supervised by the Frankfurt Zoological Society, and is home to around 180 primates (15 species in total),…
Ho Thuy Tien Abandoned Water Park
Hue
Closed for mysterious reasons in 2006, this long-abandoned water park outside Hue centres on a dramatic dragon head poking from the waters of Thuy Tien…
South-Central Vietnam
The elegant Cham towers at Chien Dan are located just outside the town of Tam Ky on a wide open field; the only other building nearby is a small museum…
Ninh Binh Province
Yen Ngua Mountain provides a scenic backdrop for Hoa Lu’s two surviving temples, both spaces dominated by dark-red lacquered pillars. The first, Dinh Tien…
Hue
Overlooking Dong Ba Canal, this pagoda was built under Emperor Thieu Tri’s rule (1841–47) and is celebrated for its four low towers, one on either side of…
Turtle Conservation Center (TCC)
Cuc Phuong National Park
The Turtle Conservation Center houses more than 600 terrestrial, semiaquatic and aquatic turtles representing 19 of Vietnam’s 25 native species. Many have…
Assembly Hall of the Chaozhou Chinese Congregation
Hoi An
Built in 1752, the highlights in this congregational hall are the gleaming woodcarvings on the beams, walls and altar – absolutely stunning in their…
Demilitarised Zone
Hamburger Hill was the site of a tumultuous battle in May 1969 between US forces and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) over a 900m-high mountain – resulting…
My Son
Buildings D1 and D2 were once meditation halls and now house small displays of Cham sculpture. Preservation has now been completed at Group G, where a…
Hue
Located just inside the Citadel ramparts, near the gates to either side of the Flag Tower, are the Nine Holy Cannons (1804), symbolic protectors of the…
Vinh
Ho Chi Minh’s birthplace in Hoang Tru, and the village of Kim Lien, where he spent some of his formative years, are 14km west of Vinh. Although these are…
Hue
This 1803 palace is a spacious hall with an ornate timber roof supported by 80 carved and lacquered columns. It was used for the emperor’s official…
Bach Ma National Park
A French-era hill station, this national park reaches a peak of 1450m at Bach Ma mountain, only 18km from the coast.
Hue
The exquisite (though crumbling) little two-storey Emperor’s Reading Room was the only part of the Purple Forbidden City to escape damage during the…
Chinese All-Community Assembly Hall
Hoi An
Founded in 1773, this assembly hall was used by Fujian, Cantonese, Hainanese, Chaozhou and Hakka congregations in Hoi An. To the right of the entrance are…
Demilitarised Zone
A deeply evocative memorial to the legions of North Vietnamese soldiers who died along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, this cemetery is a sobering sight. More than…
Hoi An
The master woodcarvers who crafted the intricate detail adorning Hoi An’s public buildings and the historic homes of the town’s merchants came from Kim…
Danang Region
The major man-made draw on the peninsula is Chua Linh Ung, a temple whose name means 'Spirit Responding Temple'. The highlight is a simply colossal statue…
Ba Na Hill Resort
Designed to seem like it's supported by two massive stone (fibreglass and wire mesh, actually) hands, this recently constructed 150m-long bridge (or…
My Son
The 8th-century C1 was used to worship Shiva, portrayed here in human form. Inside is an altar where a statue of Shiva, now in the Museum of Cham…
Dong Hoi
All that remains of Dong Hoi Citadel (Thanh Dong Hoi; 1825) are two restored and elegant brick and stone gates, one close to the riverbank, which is…
