Vietnam Travel Information

TOURIST INFORMATION

Tourist information on Vietnam is at a premium. The Vietnamese government maintains a handful of tourist promotion offices and a smattering of accredited travel agencies around the globe, most of which can supply you with only the most general information. A better source of information, much of it based on firsthand experiences, is the internet, with numerous websites around to help you plan your visit. Some of the more useful and interesting sites are travelfish.org, a regularly-updated online guide to Southeast Asia; worldtravelguide.net, a viewer-friendly source of information on Vietnam and other countries; Wactivetravelvietnam.com, with helpful information about national parks and beaches; and Wthingsasian.com, which consists mostly of features on Asian destinations and culture.

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In Vietnam itself there’s a frustrating dearth of free and impartial advice. The state-run tourist offices – under the auspices of either the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (Wvietnamtourism.com) or the local provincial organization – are thinly disguised tour agents, profit-making concerns which don’t take kindly to being treated as information bureaux, though the official website has a lot of useful information about destinations and practicalities such as visas. In any case, Western concepts of information don’t necessarily apply here – bus timetables, for example, simply don’t exist. The most you’re likely to get is a glossy brochure detailing their tours and affiliated hotels.

You’ll generally have more luck approaching hotel staff or one of the many private tour agencies operating in all the major tourist spots, where staff have become accustomed to Westerners’ demands for advice.

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Another useful source of information, including restaurant and hotel listings as well as feature articles, is the growing number of English-language magazines, such as Asialife, The Word and The Guide. There’s also a government-run telephone information service (T1080) with some English-speaking staff who will answer all manner of questions – if you can get through, since the lines are often busy.

TRAVELLERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Despite the fact that Vietnam is home to so many war-wounded, few provisions are made for the disabled. This means you’ll have to be pretty self-reliant. It’s important to contact airlines, hotels and tour companies as far in advance as possible to make sure they can accommodate your requirements.