FoodMICHELIN BIB 2025
Phở Gia Truyền
Phở · mornings only
Friends dragged me here straight from the airport. Forty minutes in the queue. I ate in silence and came back alone the next morning.
49 Bát Đàn, Hoàn Kiếm
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City 01 of 10
Hanoi
The street-food capital of the north
In Hanoi street food isn't an exotic experience, it's how people eat every day. Within two kilometres of Hoan Kiem lake you get phở, bún chả and egg coffee. Over five years I've settled on a nine-stop route I keep coming back to.
Signature dishes
- Phở Bò — beef phở, broth simmered 12 hours
- Bún Chả — charcoal-grilled pork with noodles
- Egg Coffee — coffee with egg yolk, invented 1946
Where to eat
- Old Quarter around Hoàn Kiếm
- Tạ Hiện street after dark
- 1.5 km radius, hundreds of stalls
When to go
- Dry season October–April
- Summer is humid with frequent rain
Budget
- $15–25 a day on food
- Chả Cá Lã Vọng separately $15–20
FoodMICHELIN BIB 2025
Food
Phở Thìn
Seared beef · since 1979
Smoky, fatty, not delicate. The queue is made of taxi drivers. I burned my tongue and walked out sweating. The opposite of classic phở.
13 Lò Đúc, Hai Bà Trưng
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FoodMICHELIN
Bún Chả Hương Liên
Bún chả · the Obama combo
Obama ate here with Bourdain in May 2016. The combo: bún chả, nem cua bể, Bia Hà Nội. The same food they served a president.
24 Lê Văn Hưu, Hai Bà Trưng
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Food
Chả Cá Hề
Turmeric fish · one dish only
Chả cá is Hanoi's signature dish. Turmeric-and-dill fish is cooked at your table: you stir the pan yourself, add vermicelli and peanuts. I bring people here when the evening needs one long meal instead of five stops.
Chả cá Hề, Hanoi
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Food
Bánh Mì 25
Street food · fast lunch
Opened as a folding table in 2013, now two floors. Pork classic with an egg inside is the best quick lunch in the Old Quarter.
25 Hàng Cá, Hoàn Kiếm
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Coffee
Cà Phê Giảng
Egg coffee · 4th generation
Egg coffee was invented right here, back when milk was expensive. I've been maybe fifty times. I don't touch my phone when I go.
39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Hoàn Kiếm
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Food
Bia Hơi Corner
Tạ Hiện corner · cheapest beer in town
Not a venue, an intersection. Plastic stools, beer by the glass, fried prawns. I've sat there until sunrise three times.
Tạ Hiện × Lương Ngọc Quyến, Hoàn Kiếm
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Place
Train Street (Lê Duẩn)
Coffee by the tracks · open
The Lê Duẩn section is open, Phùng Hưng was shut down. The train passes half a metre from your face. One minute of adrenaline.
Lê Duẩn, Hanoi Railway Station
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Place
Long Bien Night Market
Night farmers' market · peak 2:00–4:00
Hundreds of trucks under Long Bien bridge loaded with mango, watermelon and lychee. I come back with a bag that lasts a week.
Under Long Bien bridge, Hong Ha
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Hanoi with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 02 of 10
Ninh Binh
A village food weekend
Ninh Binh isn't a city, it's rice fields, limestone karsts and goats. There is no restaurant quarter here — the spots are scattered between villages. Gastronomically it comes down to one delicacy, mountain goat, served ten different ways. I come for a day or two before Sapa or Ha Long.
Signature dishes
- Dê núi / tái chanh — mountain goat, lemon-cured tartare
- Cơm cháy — crispy rice crust with gravy
- Miến lươn — eel noodle soup
Where to eat
- Tam Cốc and Tràng An villages
- Ninh Bình town along Trang An street
- Cơm lam stalls at the foot of Hang Múa
When to go
- Dry season September–November
- May–July: rice harvest, golden fields
Budget
- $15–25 on food
- Boat tour $7–11 on top
Food
Đức Dê Restaurant
Goat · the region's main table
I ordered three dishes not knowing one portion feeds two. Couldn't finish. The owner came over and said «next time order one». I went back twice more the same trip.
29 Lane 458, Nguyễn Huệ, Ninh Bình
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Food
Ngọc Linh Restaurant
Home cooking · famous tofu
Ngọc Linh cooks tofu several ways: with mushrooms, in tomato, fried in soy sauce. You don't immediately see why you'd want tofu on holiday. Then you do.
Tam Cốc, Ninh Hải
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Food
An Tam Coc
Home-cooked · 4.9 ★ · #2 of 97
In an alley thirty metres off the main Tam Cốc road. The owner cooks himself. Spring rolls and nem nướng like your grandmother made. I sat down alone and left with two new friends.
alley off Tam Cốc, Ninh Hải
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Food
Tam Coc Kitchen
Family-run · 4.9 ★ · #1 of 7
A small place in Ninh Thang, five minutes from Tam Cốc. The whole family cooks, the food is cheap and homemade. Perfect after cycling the rice fields.
Ninh Thang commune
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Food
Bánh Cuốn Phố
Rice crêpes · breakfast
Thin steamed rice crêpes with mushroom and pork — the northern Hanoi breakfast. Here they're made the home way, dip them in nước chấm. They close by 11.
central Ninh Bình
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Food
Family Restaurant
Hotpot · traditional
Goat hotpot with mountain herbs. The broth is fragrant and a slow dinner takes an hour and a half. Great with four or more, a bit lonely solo.
Ninh Bình City
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Place
Tràng An
UNESCO · caves and rice fields
UNESCO World Heritage since 2014. Limestone karsts, caves, rice paddies. Locals row you through for three to four hours — take the long route, the short one skips half the caves.
Tràng An pier, Ninh Bình
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Place
Hang Múa Viewpoint
500 steps + market
Five hundred steps up to a viewpoint over Tam Cốc — the best panorama in the region. At the bottom, a market of local snacks: cơm lam, sugar cane, fruit.
Khê Hạ, Ninh Hải
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Place
Hoa Lư Ancient Capital
10th-century capital · 2 temples
Vietnam's first capital after Chinese rule, 10th century. Temples of the Đinh and Lê dynasties. Stalls at the gate sell cơm lam (rice in bamboo) and sugar cane. The context you need for Tràng An.
Trường Yên, Hoa Lư, Ninh Bình
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Ninh Binh with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 03 of 10
Sapa
Ethnic cooking of the mountain north
Sapa is the highest-altitude food in Vietnam: 1,500 metres, 15–22 °C year round, and the cooking of the Hmong and Dao peoples. They make things you won't find anywhere else: horse-meat soup, trout from mountain streams, the tiny «armpit pig», corn wine.
Signature dishes
- Thắng cố — Hmong horse-meat soup with 20+ herbs
- Cá hồi lẩu — mountain trout hotpot
- Lợn cắp nách — mini pig over charcoal
Where to eat
- Fansipan and Cầu Mây streets in the centre
- Sapa Market — the main street food
- Sunday Bac Ha Market — 2.5 h away
When to go
- Best March–May and September–November
- December is cold (down to +4), snow possible
Budget
- $20–35 on food
- Glass bridge / Fansipan — $20–40 one-off
Food
Thắng Cố A Quỳnh
Authentic Hmong · not for everyone
The most authentic thing in Sapa. Thắng cố is Hmong soup of horse meat and offal with twenty-plus herbs. First time I couldn't finish it. Second time I understood: you eat it with a shot of rượu ngô corn wine.
015 Thạch Sơn, Sapa town
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Food
A Phu Restaurant
Salmon hotpot · the comfortable option
If the ethnic kitchen isn't for you, come here. Hotpot of mountain salmon or sturgeon with wild herbs. I brought my parents, they cleaned the pot and asked for the recipe.
Fansipan Street, Sapa
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Food
Red Dao House
Dao ethnic · atmosphere
Dao cooking plus the setting: costumes, bamboo, a wood-fired stove. Pork in bamboo, chicken with Dao herbs. This one is about the cultural experience, not peak flavour.
4B Thác Bạc, Sapa town
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Coffee
Le Gecko Café
Coffee · French owner
Coconut coffee, fresh bread, LavAzza espresso. Ideal for the morning before a trek. View of Fansipan, best when the mist is still sitting on it.
8 Cầu Mây, Sapa
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Food
Chợ Tình Quán
Local Hmong food · market atmosphere
Named after Sapa's famous «love market», where Hmong and Dao once came to meet. A themed restaurant with local cooking: herb pork, rice wine, a proper family table.
Sapa town center
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Food
Sapa Central Market
Central market · street food
Street food morning and afternoon: pork skewers over charcoal, cơm lam (rice in bamboo), hot chestnuts, corn wine by the cup. Breakfast before a trek.
central Sapa town
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Place
Cat Cat Village
Hmong village + home cooking
A Black Hmong village three kilometres from the centre. Family kitchens cook over wood. Views of the rice terraces. Half a day of walking with lunch on the way.
Cat Cat, 3 km from Sapa
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Place
Fansipan
Roof of Indochina · 3,143 m
The highest point in Indochina. The cable car gets you up in fifteen minutes from Sapa. At the top, a temple complex and a café above the clouds. Go on a clear day or you'll see grey wall.
Fansipan, Sa Pa
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Place
Rồng Mây Glass Bridge
Glass bridge over the gorge
A glass bridge 548 metres above a gorge, one of the highest in the world. Forty minutes from Sapa on switchbacks. Not about food, purely about the drop. Café at the top with the panorama.
Rồng Mây, Tam Đường, Lai Châu
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Sapa with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 04 of 10
Hue
Imperial cuisine
In Hue the food is the inheritance of the imperial court. From 1802 to 1945 this was Vietnam's capital, and they still cook the way they cooked for the Nguyen dynasty: small portions, careful plating, many flavours in one meal. Nobody rushes at the table here — but you get up early, because the grandmothers with the best bún bò sell out by nine.
Signature dishes
- Bún Bò Huế — spicy beef noodle soup with a crab patty
- Bánh Khoái — golden charcoal-fried crêpe
- Bánh Bèo + Nậm + Lọc — the trio of tiny dumplings
Where to eat
- Around Đông Ba market and Lê Lợi street
- Phú Hội district on the south bank
- After 15:00 the outside of Đông Ba turns into street food
When to go
- Dry season February–July
- September–February: rain and typhoons
Budget
- $12–25 on food
- Tịnh Gia Viên royal dinner — $22–55
Food
Bún Bò Huế Mệ Kéo
Bún bò · mornings only · 70+ years
I came twenty minutes late and found empty pots. Next day I got up at 6:30 and was at the door by 7:00. I don't drink coffee in the morning in Hue any more — I eat bún bò here.
20 Bạch Đằng, Phú Cát, Hue
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Food
Madam Thu 2
Combo set of the whole Hue kitchen
Not the most local place: English menu, air conditioning. For a first time in Hue that's the right way in. In an hour you taste six separate things off one tray.
Madam Thu 2, Hue
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Food
Quán Hạnh
Bánh khoái + nem lụi
Bánh khoái is a golden crêpe fried over charcoal with prawn and pork, the edge shatters like glass. Wrap it in rice paper with herbs, dip in peanut-and-liver sauce. Sauce on your hands is part of it.
11 Phó Đức Chính, Phú Hội
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Food
An Lagoon Seafood Master
Lang Co oysters · on the lagoon
Right on Lập An lagoon. This region is Vietnam's number one for oysters. Tanks of live fish — you point, they cook it how you ask. The lagoon wraps around the tables.
Lap An lagoon, Lang Co
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Coffee
Gao Coffee
Café inside the Imperial City
A wooden house with a tiled roof inside the Imperial City. Tables by the pond, yellow apricot and frangipani in bloom. The right stop after walking the Citadel.
inside the Imperial City, Hue
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Coffee
Stella Garden
Café · sunset over the Perfume River
A café looking over the Hương river. At sunset it's the best place to sit with a cà phê muối and watch the sun drop behind Phú Xuân Bridge.
Stella Garden, Hue
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Place
Imperial City (Hoàng Thành)
UNESCO · the Nguyen dynasty
Residence of the Nguyen emperors (1802–1945). Throne hall, five courtyards, lotus ponds. UNESCO World Heritage. Go at sunrise — fewer people and better light.
Imperial City, Hue
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Place
Thiên Mụ Pagoda
Seven-storey pagoda · symbol of Hue
The iconic seven-storey pagoda on the Perfume River, the symbol of Hue, built in 1601. Inside sits the 1956 Austin that carried monk Thích Quảng Đức to his self-immolation in Saigon.
Thiên Mụ Pagoda, Hue
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Place
Tomb of Khải Định
Imperial tomb · 1925
The most spectacular of the three main tombs. Grey concrete outside with an eastern silhouette; inside, every wall is inlaid with porcelain and glass. Gaudí in Hue.
Tomb of Khải Định, Thuỷ Bằng
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Hue with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 05 of 10
Da Nang
Food, a mountain pass and snorkelling
Da Nang is the base city of the central coast. From here everything is an easy drive: Hue north over the Hai Van pass, Hoi An and the Cham Islands south, the Marble Mountains right on the doorstep. Bánh canh with locals in the morning, a poke bowl on the beach at midday, tanks of live seafood in the evening.
Signature dishes
- Bánh Xèo — crispy crêpe with prawn and pork
- Bánh Canh — thick tapioca noodles in a heavy broth
- Seafood — crab, oysters and clams straight from the tank
Where to eat
- Hải Châu on the west bank — local food
- An Thượng / My Khê — beach, brunch, seafood
- Ngũ Hành Sơn — Marble Mountains, 9 km south
When to go
- Dry season February–May
- September–November: typhoons, Cham boats don't sail
Budget
- $10–15 street food
- $25–40 mixed with seafood
- $60–90 a day on the Cham Islands
Food
Poke Wow
Poke bowl · healthy brunch
Poke without pretension: rice, tuna or salmon, avocado, sauce. Opened by a surfer from My Khê. I go after a long morning on the beach, when nothing heavy will go down.
An Thượng / My Khê district
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FoodMICHELIN SELECTED
Bánh Xèo Bà Dưỡng
Charcoal crêpe · Michelin Selected 2025
Three things on the menu: the crêpe, nem lụi skewers, beef. I joined the queue thinking it was overrated. The peanut-and-liver sauce settles the argument — I came back three times just for it.
K280/23 Hoàng Diệu, Phước Ninh
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Food
Phở Long Hội
Phở bò · early breakfast
Southern phở is a different animal: sweeter broth, a mountain of herbs served separately, chilli in soy sauce. I take phở bò tái nạm, add a fistful of basil and lime.
Hải Châu, Da Nang
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Food
Bánh Canh — Quán Thu
Tapioca noodles · a working breakfast
Thick tapioca noodles in a heavy fish-and-crab broth. Guidebooks rarely list it; in Da Nang it's the working-class breakfast. The lady pours extra if you turn up hungry.
Hải Châu district
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Food
Hải Sản Thời Cổ
Seafood · live tanks
Old-style interior, tanks of live fish and crab. You walk over, point, wait twenty-five minutes. Tamarind crab and oysters with scallion oil are the best I've had anywhere in Vietnam.
Sơn Trà / My Khê district
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Coffee
The Kheos Coffee
Specialty coffee + bakery + brunch
A specialty coffee shop with its own bakery. Bread arrives fresh at eight, by ten the croissants and baguettes are gone. I take an oat cappuccino and an egg sandwich.
An Thượng district, Da Nang
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Place
Marble Mountains
Five marble mountains · pagodas
Five marble hills with pagodas and caves, nine kilometres south of the centre. Inside Huyền Không there's a hole in the dome that drops a column of light into the cavern. There's a lift up.
Ngũ Hành Sơn, 9 km south
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Place
Hai Van Pass
Mountain pass · viewpoint
The pass between Hue and Da Nang. If you're driving between the cities, take the top road rather than the tunnel: an old French fort at the summit and the whole bay below. The Top Gear route.
QL1A between Hue and Da Nang
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Place
Cham Islands
UNESCO · snorkelling
A UNESCO Biosphere an hour away by boat. Snorkelling over coral, sea urchins, schools of tropical fish. Boats leave Cửa Đại in Hoi An at 7:30 and are back by 14:00.
Cù Lao Chàm, 1 h by boat
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Da Nang with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 06 of 10
Hoi An
Cao lầu, lanterns and coconut boats
Hoi An is a museum in the shape of a town. UNESCO since 1999, houses from the 15th century, lanterns every evening. The food route here is dense: two famous bánh mì counters, the benchmark cao lầu in a family shophouse, a restaurant over the river. Between meals: the old town, the Japanese bridge, the Ba Mu gate and the round coconut boats in Cẩm Thanh.
Signature dishes
- Cao lầu — thick yellow noodles made with Cham well water
- Bánh mì Phượng — the baguette Bourdain called «a symphony»
- Mì Quảng — turmeric noodles with almost no broth
Where to eat
- Old Town around Phan Châu Trinh and Trần Phú
- Bạch Đằng embankment — restaurants over the river
- Cẩm Thanh — coconut boats and fields
When to go
- Dry February–April, 22–27 °C
- October–November: typhoons, Old Town floods
Budget
- $10–20 eating local
- $25–40 restaurant with a view
- 120k ₫ Old Town ticket (5 sites)
Place
Hoi An Ancient Town
UNESCO · the old town
The Old Town ticket gets you into any five sites: assembly halls, old houses, bridges. You can walk the streets without it, but not enter the houses. Best hours are 5 to 7 in the morning, before the coaches, or after 21:00 when the lanterns are lit.
Phường Minh An, Hội An
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Place
Chùa Cầu — Japanese Bridge
Japanese covered bridge · 1593
The Japanese covered bridge from 1593, the symbol of the town and the face of the 20,000 đồng note. A small weather temple sits inside. Come at 6:00 or 22:00 if you want the photo without a queue.
186 Trần Phú, Minh An
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Place
Tam Quan Chùa Bà Mụ
Three-arch gate · lotus pond
All that survives of a 1626 pagoda: a red-and-gold three-arch gate with a lotus pond in front. The pagoda itself burned in the wars. Shoot it at 17:30, when the walls catch the last light.
675 Hai Bà Trưng
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Place
Coconut Boat Cẩm Thanh
Round bamboo basket boats
The Bảy Mẫu coconut forest, five kilometres from the centre. Round bamboo basket boats — the fisherman spins yours, sings, catches crabs. Do it before 9, while the sun is soft and the coach groups haven't arrived.
Cẩm Thanh, 5 km from Old Town
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Coffee
Roving Chillhouse
Coffee + kitchen in the rice fields
A café in the middle of the rice fields in Cẩm Châu, three kilometres from Old Town. Iced coconut coffee, ginger tea, fish and chips. At weekends come before 10 or after 16 or there are no tables.
Cẩm Châu, 3 km from Old Town
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Food
Bánh Mì Phượng
Bánh mì · Bourdain's «symphony»
Bourdain called it a symphony and the queue has never got shorter since. I take number 2 — pâté, pork, pickled carrot. Fifteen or twenty minutes of standing, eaten on the move. If the line is absurd, go to number 7.
2B Phan Chu Trinh
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Food
Madam Khánh — Banh Mi Queen
Bánh mì · the alternative to Phượng
A grandmother has been making one sandwich for forty years. Not five fillings to choose from — her composition: omelette, pâté, pork, herbs, sauce. Shorter queue than Phượng, but it forms by noon. Go before 9.
115 Trần Cao Vân
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Food
Quán Cao Lầu Bá Lễ
Cao lầu · the benchmark · Cham well water
The benchmark cao lầu, from a family that still draws water from the old Cham well. Thick yellow noodles that squeak, char siu pork on top, crisp crackling, fresh herbs.
near the Bá Lễ well
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Food
Old River Restaurant — Bar
Dinner on the water · lanterns and boats
A terrace above the Hoai river. From it you watch the lantern boats push off in the evening. I order the set: cao lầu, white rose dumplings, grilled seafood. Book a rail table a day ahead — the corner one facing An Hội bridge.
Bạch Đằng embankment
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Hoi An with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 07 of 10
My Son
Champa · UNESCO · 4th–13th century
My Son is the main monument of the Champa civilisation in Southeast Asia: brick towers from the 4th to 13th centuries, standing in a valley between mountains in Quang Nam province. It isn't a food town — half a day to get there, two hours walking, lunch back in Hoi An. Worth doing inside a central-Vietnam route, not as a trip of its own.
How it was found
In 1898 the French explorer Camille Paris stumbled on jungle-covered brick towers in a valley between mountains. By then the place had stood abandoned for six centuries. Two years later the archaeologist Henri Parmentier of the École française d'Extrême-Orient arrived and spent thirty years documenting more than seventy structures, sorting them into groups A–H.
In 1969 group A, with the tallest tower at 24 metres, was destroyed by American carpet bombing. A bomb hit the main sanctuary and it was never rebuilt. What survives are groups B, C and D — and they still carry the place.
Why it matters
Champa was a Hindu state that existed in Vietnam for nearly fourteen hundred years, from the 2nd to the 17th century, before being absorbed by the Viet from the north. My Son was its religious centre, dedicated to Shiva, and it is the only major surviving Champa temple complex in Vietnam. Think Angkor Wat in Cambodia or Borobudur in Java, only smaller and far less crowded.
The engineering puzzle: the bricks are laid with no visible mortar. Cham masters used a mix of resin and plant saps, and the recipe is lost. UNESCO since 1999; restoration runs jointly with India and Italy.
Getting there
- From Hoi An — 40 km, about an hour by car. Transfer $10–15
- From Da Nang — 70 km, about 1.5 hours. Taxi $25–35
- By scooter on your own — 220–280k ₫ a day, the road is fine
- Entry 150k ₫, open 6:00–17:00
- Go at sunrise, 6:00–8:00: cool and no coaches
- The apsara dance show is included: 9:15, 10:45, 14:00
Walk My Son with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
Message us on TelegramCity 08 of 10
Nha Trang
Sea, mud baths and seafood
Nha Trang is the south coast and the country's main beach resort. In this guide it's the town for sea, spa and slowing down. Everything sits in one zone with Cam Ranh: the Tháp Bà mud baths, the seashell temple at Tu Van, Doc Let beach, the Ba Ho falls in the hills. The food is maritime — lobster, clams, oysters — plus three café-destinations for long mornings.
Signature dishes
- Seafood — lobster, clams, oysters
- Bún chả cá — soup with fish cakes
- Nem nướng — Nha Trang skewers with rice paper
Where to eat
- Centre / Lộc Thọ — cafés and brunch
- Bãi Tiên / Phạm Văn Đồng — north, by the beach
- Cam Ranh — the temple and the airport
When to go
- Dry February–August
- September–December: rain and storms
Budget
- $15–25 breakfast plus lunch
- $40–80 dinner with lobster
- $20–30 mud baths
Place
Doc Let Beach
White sand · shallow water
Doc Let is the other Nha Trang: white sand, shell dust, shallow water. Quieter and cleaner than the town beach. Drive up in the morning, eat at a seafood shack, head back by four.
Bãi Biển Dốc Lết, Ninh Thuỷ
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Place
Nhà Hát Đó — Đó Theatre
Puppet show · Vega City
A theatre shaped like a traditional đó fishing trap. The show, Rối Mơ, is an hour of water puppetry, shadow work, contemporary dance and Southeast Asian music. Book ahead.
Vega City, Bãi Tiên, Phạm Văn Đồng
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Place
Chùa Từ Vân (Shell Pagoda)
Temple of shells and coral
A temple built from shells and coral in Cam Ranh. Since 1968 the monk Thích Đức Minh has built it from whatever the sea delivered: oysters, scallops, coral. The main tower is 39 metres. The quietest place around.
Cam Ranh, 56 km from Nha Trang
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Place
Ba Ho Waterfalls
Three cascades · trekking
Three cascades in the jungle, 25 km north. An hour on foot over rocks from the car park — no tourist concrete. Swim in the middle pool, the lower one is crowded. Wear sandals; leeches in the wet season.
Ninh Ích commune, Ninh Hòa
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Place
Tháp Bà Mud Bath
Thermal mud + pool
Mineral mud baths by the Cham towers. Half an hour in warm mud, a shower, a thermal pool, tea. Not a resort — a local place, with families and locals. After a day in the sun you stand up new.
15 Ngọc Sơn, Vĩnh Ngọc
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Food
Hải Sản Mộc Quán
Seafood · live tanks
Seafood in a traditional wooden room. You pick live from the tank and they cook it in front of you. Lobster, mussels in lemongrass, clams nướng mỡ hành.
central Nha Trang
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Coffee
Alpaca Homestyle Cafe
Brunch · Mexican fusion · 4.6 ★
Russian owners, Mexican-fusion plus brunch classics. I go for breakfast: chorizo omelette, oat latte, house focaccia. They've held 4.6 stars for years.
10/1B Nguyễn Thiện Thuật
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Coffee
Jungle Coffee Nha Trang
Pavilions in the undergrowth
A café done as tropical forest — pavilions in the greenery, coconut vines. The point is the photos; the coffee is average. Good if you're between stops and need an hour outdoors.
Nha Trang, Vĩnh Hải district
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Food
Ăn Thôi
Vietnamese bistro · seasonal menu
The concept is dishes of the day, no menu. The cooks work from whatever was at the market that morning: bánh canh with clams, eel congee, cá kho with vegetables. Minimal English.
central Nha Trang
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Nha Trang with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
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Da Lat
Tea, coffee and mountain cafés
Da Lat is a mountain microclimate: 15–22 °C all year, mist in the mornings, coffee plantations and vineyards. The French built it in 1907 as a retreat for the colonial elite. In this guide Da Lat is the town of coffee, tea and cafés with a view: a glass bridge, a mosaic pagoda, a weasel-coffee farm, two plantations and four cafés each prettier than the last.
Signature dishes
- Lẩu Atisô — hotpot with artichoke flowers
- Lẩu Gà Lá É — chicken hotpot with basil
- Bánh Tráng Nướng — the «Vietnamese pizza»
Where to eat
- Centre by Xuân Hương lake and 3/2 street
- Trại Mát — the pagoda and cloud cafés
- Tà Nung / Mê Linh — coffee and wine
When to go
- Dry December–April, 15–22 °C
- February — cherry blossom
Budget
- $10–15 eating local
- $20–35 with tastings
- Weasel coffee 100–200k ₫
Place
Ngàn Thông Glass Bridge
325 m · five-layer glass
The first glass bridge of the Central Highlands. 325 metres across the valley between the Valley of Love and Mộng Mơ hill. The glass is five layers, four centimetres — not frightening, but looking down still does something.
Valley of Love, Phù Đổng Thiên Vương
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Place
Chùa Linh Phước
Mosaic pagoda · 11 km
A mosaic pagoda from 1949 in Trại Mát. Inside and out it's inlaid with broken ceramics, crockery and bottle glass. A 49-metre dragon runs along the façade and the tower has seven tiers.
120 Tự Phước, Trại Mát
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Coffee
Trại Hầm Weasel Coffee
Weasel coffee farm · tasting
A weasel-coffee farm three kilometres from the centre. 120 civets kept under forestry licence, 500 kg of coffee a year, the whole process in front of you. It ends with a siphon tasting.
135E Hoàng Hoa Thám, Đà Lạt
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Place
Cầu Đất Tea Hill
Plantation · oldest in Indochina
The oldest tea plantation in Indochina, planted by the French in 1927. 230 hectares at 1,500–1,650 metres, 20 km southeast. A café on the slope over the «sea of tea». Go at sunrise.
Trường Thọ, Xuân Trường
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Coffee
Mê Linh Coffee Garden
Coffee farm · robusta and mocha
A hillside coffee plantation in Tà Nung. A terrace over the valley, their own roast of robusta and mocha. Tasting is free if you buy a bag.
Tà Nung commune, 20 km from the centre
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Coffee
The Seen House
Tuyển Lâm lake · pine forest
A café in the pine forest on the shore of Tuyển Lâm. Verandas over the water, silence, decent coffee. Wooden boats for hire next door at 100k ₫ an hour, kayaks 150k ₫.
Hồ Tuyền Lâm, east shore
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Coffee
Windmills Coffee
Windmills · mountain views
A café with actual windmills on a mountain slope, looking over a valley of pine forest. The espresso is strong, not tourist vanilla. Very busy at sunset — come in the afternoon.
Đà Lạt, Trại Mát district
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Coffee
Le Petit Jardin Dalat
French villa · retro garden
A café in a 1930s French colonial villa. A retro garden with fuchsias and hydrangeas, vintage furniture, crested cups, lemon tart. The most photographed place in the centre.
central Da Lat
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Coffee
Thác Mây & Chill
Chasing clouds · opens at 5:00
A café in Trại Mát on Dốc số 9. It opens at five in the morning — you come to watch the sun break through the clouds over the valley. The coffee is ordinary; the place is the point.
Dốc số 9, Trại Mát, Đà Lạt
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Da Lat with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
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Ho Chi Minh City
Tunnels, the Mekong and Michelin
Saigon is the southern capital — twelve million people, motorbikes running like a river, colonial houses wedged between towers. The whole southern map lands here: the Củ Chi tunnels and the Cái Răng floating market on the outskirts, a MICHELIN star in the centre, the country's best bánh mì, southern-style phở. Plus two pieces of architecture: the Taoist Jade Emperor pagoda and the pink church of Tân Định.
Signature dishes
- Phở (southern) — sweeter, thinner noodles, herbs on the side
- Bánh mì Sài Gòn — eight to ten meats in one baguette
- Cơm tấm — broken rice with pork and a fried egg
Where to eat
- District 1 — centre, restaurants, MICHELIN, cafés
- District 3 — old family places, phở
- Outskirts — Cu Chi, the Mekong Delta
When to go
- Dry December–April, 25–32 °C
- May–October: one heavy downpour a day
Budget
- $15–25 street food and coffee
- $40–70 mid-range dinner
- $80–150 MICHELIN
Place
Cu Chi Tunnels
Viet Cong tunnels · 50 km
The Viet Cong tunnel network: 250 km of passages going twelve metres underground. What you visit today is the reconstruction at Bến Dược. An hour and a half from Saigon, two hours on site. After the tunnels the scale of the war reads differently than in films.
Bến Dược, Củ Chi, ~50 km northwest
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Place
Cái Răng Floating Market
Mekong floating market · Can Tho
The largest floating market of the Mekong, in Can Tho. Boats start trading at five and are gone by eight. From Saigon it's a brutal day: four hours there, four back. Better with an overnight.
Cái Răng, Cần Thơ, Mekong Delta
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Place
Chùa Ngọc Hoàng
Taoist temple · the Jade Emperor
A Taoist temple from 1909 dedicated to the Jade Emperor. The most atmospheric pagoda in Saigon: hundreds of wooden statues, incense, smoke drifting across the hall. Obama came through in 2016.
73 Mai Thị Lựu, Đa Kao, Q.1
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Place
Nhà Thờ Tân Định
Pink church · neo-Gothic
A pink church from 1876, neo-Gothic with baroque detailing, painted pink in 1957. One of the most photographed buildings in Saigon. Come by eight, while the façade is in clean light without car shadows.
289 Hai Bà Trưng, Q.3
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Food⭐ MICHELIN
Ăn Ăn Saigon
Michelin · Asia's 50 Best #40
Chef Peter takes street food and pushes it into fine dining: phở tartare with truffle, bánh mì with foie gras, a gougère made from cốm. Not cheap, but it is the best fine dining in Vietnam. The cocktail bar Nhậu Nhậu is upstairs.
89 Tôn Thất Đạm, Q.1
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Food
Bánh Mì Huỳnh Hoa
Bánh mì · ten meats in one baguette
The best bánh mì in Saigon according to locals. Around ten kinds of meat inside: pâté, ham, two sausages, braised pork. Thin crisp baguette, packed to bursting.
26 Lê Thị Riêng, Q.1
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Food
Phở Lệ
Southern-style phở · since the 1970s
Phở the southern way: broth a touch sweeter, noodles thinner than in the north, sprouts and basil on the side. Open on Nguyễn Trãi since the 1970s. Locals pick it over the touristy Phở 24.
413–415 Nguyễn Trãi, Q.5
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Coffee
The Cafe Apartments
Nine floors of cafés and boutiques
A nine-storey colonial building on Nguyễn Huệ. Every apartment is a café or a boutique: specialty coffee, vinyl bars, Japanese snacks, Thai desserts.
42 Nguyễn Huệ, Q.1
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Coffee
Rose Villa Saigon
Pink colonial mansion · garden
A pink colonial mansion with a vintage garden. Fuchsias, hydrangeas, crested cups and saucers, French cooking alongside Asian plates. Take a table in the garden.
District 1, Saigon
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Nothing in this city matches the filter.
Walk Ho Chi Minh City with a guide
These places live their own lives: somewhere the food runs out by nine, somewhere it is shut today for a wedding, and between cities there is a day of road. On our routes that part is already solved — transfers, bookings and a guide who gives you the context before you take the first bite.
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