Everything you Need to Know about Ha Long Bay

Halong Bay is a beautiful natural wonder in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border. The Bay is dotted with 1,600 limestone islands and islets and covers an area of over 1,500 sqkm. This extraordinary area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. For many tourists, this place is like something right out of a movie. The fact is that Halong Bay features a wide range of biodiversity, while the surrealistic scenery has indeed featured in endless movies. The best way to get to Halong City is by car, minibus or bus from Hanoi which is only 170km away. If budget is not a problem, an hour-long helicopter transfer is also available.

Everything you Need to Know about Hue

The ancient city of Hue (pronounced 'whey') in central Vietnam was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty at the beginning of the 19th Century, and during the Vietnam-US war some of the most intense conflicts occurred in this region.

One of Hue's main tourist attractions is the spectacular riverside Hue Citadel or Royal Palace of the Imperial City, built according to the practices of ‘feng shui'. Such is Hue's historical significance that it is recognised today as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Everything you Need to Know about Da Nang

Previously occupied by both the French and the Americans, Da Nang marks the halfway point between the capital in the north, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. It's the fourth largest city in Vietnam. Apart from some shopping highlights and historical sights, the main reason for most travellers staying here is its proximity to the well-known China Beach, Lang Co Beach, Hoi An and My Son.

Lang Co Beach is lined with palm trees, the water of the nearby ocean crystal-clear and enticing, lapping onto white sand. It is a peninsula with a sparkling lagoon on one side, and the beach on the other. The area is fairly under-developed, although recent years have seen many new hotels opening.

Ho Chi Minh City is the business and financial hub of Vietnam, with a prominent history going back hundreds of years. The Khmers originally settled the region, with the Vietnamese taking over in the 17th century.

The French conquered Saigon, as it was then known, in 1859, and made it the capital of Cochin China in 1862. They extended and embellished the city with broad boulevards and elegant architecture. At the peak of the Vietnam War in 1969 the city had 4.5 million inhabitants. They were all evacuated when Saigon and the rest of the South fell to North Vietnam in 1975.