I am from India. I took a 10 day trip to Vietnam with my wife and here is my experience in bullet points.

Cities visited - Da Nang > Saigon > Phu Quoc. Month - November 2025

Yes Vietnamese people don’t know English. But they are very helpful and always with a smile too. Google translate was very handy. 1.

Use Grab for taxi and Klook for recreational activities and your will be safe. 1.

We were never once bothered by scammers. But always check the Taxi registration number before boarding. Some Taxi drivers tried to trick us into getting in even though they were not the one assigned to us. 1.

Vietnamese cold coffee is the best! I had atleast 2 everyday. Salt coffee was also good. 1.

Vietnam is not cheap! From an Indian context atleast. We spent a lot on water bottles alone! They have no MRP. So prices can sometimes be double or triple in some places. If you depend on western food and don’t like the local cuisine, be ready to pay more. 1.

Don’t spend time in shopping. Every market in all three cities were identical. There were like 4 different shops that keep repeating over and over. And they were not cheap or special either. 1.

Spend time exploring the local cuisine. Da Nang is a paradise for Sea Food. 1.

CHECK WEATHER before you book tickets. We narrowly escaped floods in Da Nang. 1.

Ba Na Hills will be awesome, for someone who has not been to Europe. We stayed there for one night and we loved it. It didn’t feel like a cheap knock off of European architecture. They have put a lot of effort into the property and it’s evident. 1.

Staying in Bana Hills overnight gives you the chance to visit the Golden Bridge early in the morning and beat the crowd. 1.

There is no limit to how many times you can experience the shows and rides. But even after two days there were places we missed. 1.

We experienced no problems with VietJet. We were worried after seeing so many negative reviews online. Maybe we were lucky. But chose Air Asia for international and only used VietJet for domestic travel. 1.

In our experience Saigon had very little to offer. The cathedral is under renovation. The post office is not all that amazing. And Da Nang had a lot more to offer that we had not enough time to cover even after 3 whole days. 1.

The Dragon bridge was just ok. Sơn Trà Marina, Da Nang was also a bit over hyped in my opinion. 1.

Cocktails were really good and pretty cheap in Maia Beach Bar. The food and ambience were also awesome. 1.

Beer is really cheap compared to India and the quality is also a lot better. I tried every brand and none of them were disappointing. Alcohol in general is pretty cheap. 1.

Hoi An is a must visit. You can cover Hoi An and marble mountain in a single day trip from Da Nang. And don’t book Day Trips online. Just take Grab. It’s a lot cheaper. 1.

I haven’t got much to say about Saigon. It was not bad nor was it great. 1.

In Phu Quoc we made the mistake of staying 2 days in Sunset Town and 2 days in Grand World. And we totally missed out on the local goodies of Duong Dong. 1.

Island hopping in Phu Quoc is just a cash grab if you have been to some other beautiful islands. There were no corals and the beaches were not all that crystal clear. I have been to Phi Phi and that was a paradise. Most water activities are pretty costly too. 1.

None of the beaches were strikingly beautiful either. I have not been to Hanoi or Halong Bay. But maybe there are better beach destinations in the north. But sun set at the sun set town was breath taking. 1.

The Sun Bavaria Gastro pub was really good. They had some amazing live dance and music performances that we didn’t even know about until we got there. Be there after sunset and it will be amazing. 1.

We went in October 2025, maybe it’s off season but most of Sun Set town was unoccupied and felt like a ghost town. But in whole of Vietnam we never felt unsafe anywhere. Grand World Phu Quoc was also deserted at night. Maybe it’s better to stay in Duong Dong and visit both the locations as a day trip. Grand World provides free shuttle and they have app to see the bus route and timings too. 1.

The one thing I hated about Phu Quoc is nothing to do with Vietnam but with Indian tourists. They have no civic sense whatsoever. At one point we were waiting in line for a ride in Grand World Phu Quoc. The whole place is setup like a Aztec pyramid with a bit cramped tunnels that resembles an old pyramid. And around 40 indians came rushing in. Shouting at the top their voices, all of them, at the same time! Who is talking and who is listening if all of them are shouting! And one guy kept whistling in high pitch which was echoing through the tunnel like crazy. There were some irritated Chinese, Vietnamese and Europeans standing in queue who did not deserve this. And at one point the crowd started chanting bharat mata ki jai! But why? You are standing in queue for a ride! 1.

Phu Quoc was not bad by any means. We had a great time. But just don’t go there looking for snorkeling or corals. 1.

And if you want vegetarian food say VEGAN and the people will understand.