Top 10 authentic experiences in Vietnam

Make your trip to Vietnam an exceptional moment of life by punctuating your stay with authentic experiences that will spice up your trip and give it a whole new meaning. First, let’s take inspiration from the top 10 authentic experiences in Vietnam.

Explore an ethnic market

Exploring an ethnic market during your stay in the fabulous mountains of Northern Vietnam offer you a rare experience that you can never forget. It is a striking sight in which many mountain tribes are dressed in their most beautiful colourful traditional clothes. In these markets, there is a unique atmosphere that can not be found anywhere else in Vietnam. It's guaranteed that you will have a total change of scenery!

Bac Ha ethnic market

Leave the busy life for the inhabitant

The mountains of northern Vietnam are home to a multitude of hiking trails. The experience will give you the chance to discover spectacular mountainous areas and many terraced rice fields which symbolizes the landscape here. Stop at a homestay for a night in a remote village is a chance to immerse yourself in the local culture, understand its ancestral traditions and receive the warm hospitality of ethnic minorities. It is also an opportunity to encourage the solidarity-base and raise the awareness about the responsibility for local tourism.
>>>Wonderful rice terraces in Sapa Vietnam
     Muong Hoa Valley – Treasure of the North West mountainous region of Vietnam

A terrace feild in Sapa, northern Vietnam

Try Hanoi street food

Mingle with the Vietnamese people by joining them on a sidewalk to sample the legendary street food of Hanoi. A tasting experience quickly becomes addictive and that makes people just want to go back for more!
>>>5 best places for street food in Hanoi

Banh da cua - A typical street food in Hanoi

Drink an egg coffee in a small cafe in Hanoi

Coffee is one of the national drinks in Vietnam. Cafes are everywhere in Hanoi and some have specialized in egg coffee. A creamy coffee traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar and condensed milk. An experience that you can not forget!

Egg coffee in Hanoi

Explore a floating village in Halong Bay

If taking a cruise in the majestic Halong Bay is already a wonderful experience, discovering a floating fishing village is the other one should not be missed. Nestled at the foot of the impressive limestone mountains, these floating villages immortalize  the ancestral traditions of the sea. There is a singular life punctuated by the sea and its hazards where children go by boat to their floating school.
>>>Ha Long A to Z travel guide
     Top 3 Must-See in Ha Long Bay

A floating village in Halong bay

Attend the preparations for Tet, the Vietnamese new year

The whole Vietnam shuts down during the preparations for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, which is the most important holiday of the year. For at least 1 to 3 days, most of the services, shops, restaurants, etc stop for the time of family reunion. But the atmosphere of the holiday starts even before Tet, just like Christmas in western counties. We advise you to go to a Tet market where Vietnamese families rush to buy everything to make sure the festivities are exceptional. You will see traditional Tet trees such as blossom flower or kumquat tree to decorate the house, votive objects, fruits and all the food necessary for the good performance of Tet. This is also the opportunity to taste a Vietnamese Tet specialty: a traditional sticky rice cake stuffed with mung bean, pork belly, and black pepper.
>>>Vietnamese New Year
     Festivals in Vietnam
     3 reasons for visiting Vietnam after Tet holiday

Decorations for Tet Holiday

Having a festive meal in a small restaurant in Hue

The popular cuisine of Hue is a real treat. Many small restaurants flourish every corners of the city. They are very often specialized in a single preparation of the dish that they master perfectly. Go from vendor to vendor, from restaurant to restaurant to try the specialties of the old imperial city and the friendly atmosphere you can barely find in other places.
>>>7 famous foods in Hue
      One day in Hue

Take a boat trip on Tam Giang Lagoon

Explore by boat the primitive beauty and the activities of the fishermen who populate these postcard landscapes. It is such a beautiful experience to immerse yourself into the exceptional natural site that’s recognized to be one of the largest brackish water expanses of Southeast Asia.

A day living in the Mekong Delta

Your beautiful day strolling in this “tropical Venice” could not finish better than by a dinner and a night at the inhabitant at the heart of the Mekong delta. Such a beautiful experience that you can live under the shade of coconut palms to savor some beautiful regional specialties and to share with your hosts the moments that’s full of conviviality.

Floating market in Mekong Delta

Attend the spectacle of a floating market

This is a painting that we’re never tired of contemplating: the incessant ballet of boats in different sizes that at dawn intermingle on the Mekong River to trade goods. The floating markets of the Mekong Delta are a unique cultural feature of this region, a true legacy of a shopping life of the past that must not be missed.

>>> Top 5 unmissable floating markets in Mekong Delta
       The 3 most attractive routes for visiting Mekong Delta in the flooding season
      4 homestays with typical Mekong Delta style