Home to delicious foods, beautiful beaches and bustling cities, this S-shaped nation in Southeast Asia has something to delight every type of traveller. Here are a few fast facts to know about Vietnam before your trip:
  • The country has more than 3,200 km (2,000 miles) of coastline and over 5,800 islands, both large and small. No wonder it is renowned for its incredible scenery!
  • Top sights include Halong Bay, Da Nang, the Mekong Delta, the Cu Chi tunnels, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the capital city.
  • The local currency is the Vietnamese dong. Get used to seeing a lot of zeroes: 50,000 VND may sound like a lot of money for a paper bill to be worth, but it’s only around 20 US dollars.
  • The population of Vietnam is over 97 million people, with around 37% living in cities.
  • Vietnamese is the national and official language. It uses the same Latin alphabet as English, but with special symbols called diacritics added to specify tones and pronunciation.
  • Some good phrases to know are hello (xin chao, pronounced ‘sin chow’), thank you (cam on, pronounced ‘kahm uhn’), no thank you (kong! cam on, ‘khom, kahm uhn), and goodbye (tam biet, ‘tarm byeet’).
Learn more about visiting Vietnam in the articles below, and about Vietnam´s eVisa on our dedicated page.