Lonely Planet Vietnam

Lonely Planet Travel Guide

by Lonely Planet, Brett Atkinson, Katie Lockhart

Lonely Planet's Vietnam is our most comprehensive guide that extensively covers all the country has to offer, with recommendations for both popular and lesser-known experiences. Kayak through Halong Bay, sample street food in Hanoi and immerse yourself in a rich history; all with your trusted travel companion.

Inside Lonely Planet's Vietnam Travel




Lonely Planet's Top Picks - a visually inspiring collection of the destination's best experiences and where to have them

Itineraries help you build the ultimate trip based on your personal needs and interests
Local insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - whether it's history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, politics

Eating and drinking - get the most out of your gastronomic experience as we reveal the regional dishes and drinks you have to try

Toolkit - all of the planning tools for solo travellers, LGBTQIA+ travellers, family travellers and accessible travel

Colour maps and images throughout
Language - essential phrases and language tips

Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

Covers Hanoi, Northern Vietnam, Central Vietnam, Southeast Coast, Southwest Highlands, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor and more

eBook (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones)

Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges

Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews

Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience

Seamlessly flip between pages

Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash

Embedded links to recommendations' websites

Zoom-in maps and images

Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing

About Lonely

Lonely Planet, a Red Ventures Company, is the world's number one travel guidebook brand. Providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973, Lonely Planet reaches hundreds of millions of travellers each year online and in print and helps them unlock amazing experiences. Visit us at lonelyplanet.com and join our community of followers on Facebook (facebook.com/lonelyplanet), Twitter (@lonelyplanet), Instagram (instagram.com/lonelyplanet), and TikTok (@lonelyplanet).

'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' Fairfax Media (Australia)

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Asia, Guides, History

999 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 28, 1991

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought the electronic version of this and found myself disappointed at/by two factors: firstly, it was very difficult to navigate around and required jumping pages to follow links which didn't need to be in a different place, and secondly, there's a serious lack of photographs and diagrams (especially later in the book).

Great mine of information, presented poorly.

[Ming Wei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of top information provided in this book, very useful of people planning/considering a trip to Vietnam, top quality travel related book, books internal layout is excellent, easy to follow. Very good

[Huy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Có cuốn này đi du lịch bụi chả sợ gì cả, đúng là kinh thánh của những người thích lang thang.

[Suzie Brazda · Rating 5 out of 5]

So helpful, such yummy wonderful restaurants

[Phong Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

this bad boy (before it got nicked along w/ my man-bag that had all my important memories/items sans passport + wallet; but i digress) just got me through my month in viet nam. but a lot of the times the places that LP recommends end up being lame b/c they think they're justin timberlake b/c they made it into LP and always jack up their prices (mostly talking about some restaurants but it's hit or miss b/c some of the shit they recommend is legit). but whenever you're travelling alone and are looking to link up w/ some new mates, just do the things LP recommends b/c that's what we're all doing out here. the maps could've been better and i coulda used more color photos though. but word on the skreet is the next edition comes out the end of this august.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed as a big vacation nears closer and closer. Start preparing as early as possible. You’ll never go wrong picking up a travel guide and fortunately, this one has just about everything a travel guide should have. There’s a good amount of information and suggestions on places everyone must visit and places you may not have known to be worthwhile. It also works well if you need to narrow down activities if you’re strapped on time. I wish the guide had made room for more visuals. I don’t think I’d know what was being talked too well without some prior knowledge to said location. I’m excited for Vietnam, but not too thrilled for the 19 hour flight

[Aileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's face it. No one travel book is going to have all the info/answers that you want and Lonely Planet is no exception. If, however, I could bring just one guide book to Vietnam with me, this would be it.

[Bertie Morley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unashamedly read cover to cover on holiday, might be dad-core but still interesting

[Stan Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent three weeks in Vietnam. Found book very useful in terms of planning and navigation. Didn't find sections on where to stay particularly useful as there were many good options not covered by book. Where to eat section, particularly in smaller places, were useful. Note, and true for all LP books, as soon as printed pricing guides are quickly out of date (in Asia, once establishment makes it into LP prices go up by 50%).

[Karl Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used the electronic version of this - available for free through Amazon Prime Reading in Dec 2018 to Jan 2019 at least - to get ideas on what to do and where to go.

Gave us some great insights at various places, and helped us know of the major places to hit in Ho Chi Minh City. We didn't always hire someone to give us the tour, and didn't always acquire the audio tour, so this book helped us get some great insights at a number of places.

Recommended, especially for $0 on Amazon Prime Reading!

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is pretty outdated by now. I remember using this (2005 edition) in 2007. The map of Ha Tien town showed a bridge that was no longer there and the guy in a guesthouse 'with extra smiles' (according to this book) was terribly rude.
Upgrade to a newer version if you want reliable information.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was full of misinformation. It listed the nightclub Apocalypse Now (which can possibly be the most famous nightclub in all of Vietnam) in Hanoi when it really is in Saigon. I stopped reading it once I saw that because I couldn't believe anything else listed in this guidebook.

[Jojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the 2009 edition so the cost estimates are out-of-date, but the information is still quite good and helpful to read through while I'm here in Vietnam. I especially like the side-bar-like information boxes.

[Melissa]

[2011.12.23] Used 2009 10th Edition to plan the Central & South Vietnam portion of our Nov-Dec 2011 trip (approx 11 days). Sections used: Central, Ho Chi Minh City, Around Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong. No major complaints.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never did make it to Chicken Village.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

have read through once, reading again as we are planning to travel in Vietnam. Won't know if it's really good until we are there!

[Rhona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly out-of-date.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative as usual with lonely planet guides. I wish I had it before my trip to Vietnam but it clarifies a lot for me.

[Y C]

Preparing for my first trip to Vietnam...

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for any trip to Vietnam!

[Larry Hoyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive and detailed.

[Oriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great holiday companion with good food recommendations and history facts.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Restaurants were hit or miss, though the local food descriptions were good. It seemed like a lot of the recommendations were for upscale western style places so wandering around and picking street food or hole-in-the-walls served as equally well and was cheaper. We ended up not staying at any of the recommended hotels because prices and availability varied drastically. Booking.com and TripAdvisor were better better bets. Also, the guide was missing some good transit options like Good Morning Cat Ba/Sapa buses, Chapa Express overnight trains, and Uber/GrabTaxi phone apps. The maps, tourist attractions, traveler information, and general price guidelines were all great and useful.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Lonely Planet turned out to not be any more helpful than free content for my recent trip to Japan and Korea, and after Lonely Planet changed its format to contain less of the boring-but-important stuff I once bought it for, I decided against buying a new edition for my upcoming Vietnam trip, and instead just reread the one I already own, hence this review is for the 2012 edition.

I recall that this book was very useful for my earlier trip, after my next trip I will update this review with whether it's still useful

[Turkey Support · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Anne Roossink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Online versie aangeschaft. Erg handig voor een reis door Vietnam. De combinatie van informatie uit dit boekje met informatie van locals geeft leuke activiteiten. Vooral fijn om wat extra informatie te hebben voor je bepaalde plekken bezoekt. Hierdoor heeft een bezoek meer waarde en snap je beter waar je op dat moment bent.

[Piret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vietnam is a country currently in a rapid changing process and you get the overview from the book. However, circumstances change so rapidly that it is quite normal to find restaurant suggested in a book released in 2016 to be no longer such a good choice or it may even no longer exist.

[Kasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the new (red ) edition. Highly recommended if you are going to Vietnam!

[Lasairfhíona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this on my 'currently reading' shelf from November 2019.. remember travelling? This was, as always, a good overview. Probably will need some major updating post-covid!

[Col · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good resource to have while travelling.
maybe I'm getting older... but they just don't make Lonely Planets like they used to.