Just like the Philippines, Vietnam carries a stigma stemming from events past. There’s no need to mention what that is, obviously, other than that it has spawned approximately four excellent movies and countless hours of trash.

Over the last couple of decades, the Vietnamese government realized that economic reality has no respect for political doctrine. As such, they set about improving international relations with their neighbors and, more importantly, the United States. What was once the adventure playground of a select few travelers is rapidly becoming a thriving destination.

So, how to get there and when to go?

From North America, there are few airlines flying direct to Vietnam. Asiana is one, from LAX, and Vietnam Airlines aims to start a direct service in 2010 to SFO. There are several carriers offering multi-sector flights but, with the current fuel price, the days of paying less for the inconvenience of a connection are long gone.

For those wanting to explore the entire country, Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam Airlines and Indochina Airlines all operate domestic routes. Booking in advance, rather than using them as airborne last-minute taxis, will give the best rewards. There are other outfits available, some incredibly cheap. However, given the poor safety record of certain low-cost operators, even in the U.S., it would be best to check what the FAA think about them first. Saving $200 may seem like a no-brainer, but if you need to spend triple that when the airplane breaks…

As for when to go, the climate varies from north to south. The winter monsoon is from October-March, where the weather is damp and chilly to the north, but dry and warm to the south. The summer monsoon, from April-October, is hot and humid in all but the mountainous regions.

For northern and central areas, only storm chasers should visit between July and November, as violent typhoons lash the country from the South China Sea. Tickets may well be cheaper to these areas, but the likelihood of massive delays (sometimes days) makes it a huge risk.

The most popular tourist periods, for a growing number of homegrown tourists as well, are May, June and September. Prices reflect this in both flights and accommodation so they’re best avoided, if possible. Christmas and New Year are even more expensive, which is only to be expected. Putting all these into the shade, however, is the Tet (Vietnamese New Year) festival. While the idea of joining in with the countrywide celebrations sounds wonderful, the price hikes for this period give new meaning to Tet Offensive!

One money saving possibility would be to fly to a city out of season, then take an adventurous train ride through the superb scenery in search of better weather. As always, prior planning will pay off – after all, what else is an internet connection for?

Tags: Vietnam

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Phillip Clark. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.