15 BEST TREKS IN VIETNAM

1. Sapa

As a town located in the border of Lao Cai province, Sapa is one of the most beautiful places to trek in the Northwest of Vietnam. Along with the beautiful scenes, Sa Pa is also considered as the first option for the best trekking experience in Vietnam. The famous Mt. Fansipan at the height of 3143 meters is the highest peak in Vietnam and the entire Indochina peninsula. With its unspoiled nature and magical view, Sa Pa is also home to various ethnic minorities such as Tay, H’mong, Giay, Dao (Yao) and Pho Lu. Trekking guide to Fansipan will give you more ideas on how, where, and what will you be able to encounter on this amazing hiking trail.

On this trail, you can see majestic valleys, mountains and streams of paradise. There are many remote villages to explore, and the most famous is Cat Cat Village, which is often included in Sa Pa’s itinerary. Last but not least is the famous Roof of Indochina – Mount Fansipan. However, remember that the Fansipan Summit will never be easily accessible. Homestays in Sa Pa are also great places to get in real culture and local cuisine.

The wild and alluring nature of this destination offers challenges and fun for adventure seekers who have many days trekking. The magnificent mountains, dense fog, lush forests, ethnic villages, interesting rock formations have made Sa Pa an ideal trekking place throughout the year.

4.  Son La

The best trekking bucket-list in Vietnam cannot be completed without Son La in northwest of the country. To set your trekking route, just visit Pha Luong Mountain – Moc Chau, Son La Province. The summit is famous for its magnificent scenery and cloudy view that can captivate everyone. Trekkers may need to spend a day to reach Pha Luong Mountain peak. You will need to pass many challenging slopes, bumpy roads, and of course, enchanting landscape. It requires trekkers with good endurance and physical strength to conquer this Pha Luong’s trekking path. However, the result is absolutely worth all of your efforts. Try spending a night in the mountains, you will get chances to experience the icy fog that soaks into your skin and enjoy the early dreamy sunset. Starting your new day by looking at the beautiful majestic view from the mountains is just priceless.

5. Nam Cat Tien National Park

Nam Cat Tien National Park is a unique place for preserving the magnificent wildlife of gibbons, sambar deer, wild boars and many other dangerous animal species as well as plants. This National Park is ranked as one of the top places for trekking in the South of Vietnam with about 160km northeast of Saigon. It may take a 3-day walk for trekkers to explore this park. They will have chances to meet apes in the forest. It is also an excellent opportunity to watch the apes’ daily activities and take rare photos of them. Staying in nature inspires you to be a part of it and grows your love for plants and wild natural life. It’s suggested to walk in Nam Cat Tien National Park with an experienced guide who knows the trails well. It will be more helpful to lead you to the most beautiful and natural corners of the site. Take your time to listen to the natural sounds of the forests and enjoy every view of wildlife.

6. Con Dao National Park (Vườn Quốc Gia Côn Đảo)

Con Dao is a small island located on the East Sea, in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province which offer offer some of teh unique trekking trails. Coming to Con Dao, visitors will enjoy the fresh feeling of the tropical sea. Notably, they can challenge themselves by conquering this Con Dao National Park, which is considered to be the most difficult to explore for visitors. However, if you are a nature lover and desire to explore new things, so don’t be afraid. It’s great to try a day of wandering, spending time trekking through the forest paths in this wild and rare national park.

Con Dao National Park is an ideal location and environment for the development of forest and marine ecosystems. In the near future, Con Dao will be a perfect destination for domestic and foreign tourists to visit, travel, resort and especially eco-tourism. Con Dao National Park has an area of ​​nearly 6,000 hectares of land and 14,000 hectares of water area. It includes 16 large and small islands covered by tropical forests and coral reefs with vivid colors.

Con Dao National Park is a conservation area of ​​882 species from plants to animals. There are also many species such as weasels, squirrels, monitor lizards, monkeys, deer, wild chickens, including 18 rare and precious species. Choosing to travel on Con Dao, visitors will be able to walk through the pristine forests to breathe fresh air and discover many rare forest species.

7. Tam Dao national park

Tam Dao is a national park offers some of the coolest hiking for trekking lovers in Vietnam, the areas is within 80km distance from Hanoi with an area of ​​over 214 hectare. Being surrounded by primeval forests, Tam Dao has a cool climate with the beautiful natural scenery. All of them have combined to create the poetic and magical feel for any visitors who come here. With fresh nature, chilly climate, Tam Dao is very convenient to develop resorts, ecotourism. This is a favourite destination for tourists on a short day trip. The road to Tam Dao area is winding like a silk sheet. The higher you go, the more the air is fresh. The scenery opens up with a fanciful, smoky view on the top of the mountain and swings down the grasses. Tam Dao is also known as an “old town” with about 145 buildings and villas from the 19th century. There are 60 villas with attractive unique architecture.

Tam Dao is not considered an a large area, and most of the destinations here are also quite close to each other so that you just need to walk. Some famous destinations you should not miss such as TV Tower, Ba Chua Thuong Ngan Temple, Silver Waterfall, Tam Dao Ancient Church, Rang Rang Peak and more. Besides, Tam Dao is also an attractive destination for young people and tourists who love to explore new adventures. Tam Dao national forest is the starting point for the famous trekking routes through Tam Dao and conquering the highest peaks in the Tam Dao range. You will have a chance to visit many exciting attractions on the trekking journey.

8. Mai Châu (Hòa Bình) valley

Trek Mai Chau Valley is in Hoa Binh province, only 140 km away from Hanoi to the Northwest Vietnam. Mai Chau is a beautiful destination with a vivid picture of mountains. The best time to come to Hoa Binh is in the spring days. The views are so incredible, and you will see majestic scenery of attractive mountains, fascinating caves and Rock Mountains as well as valleys in the clouds. In particular, Mai Chau Valley is a great stopover on your trekking journey in Hoa Binh.

In Hoa Binh, especially in Mai Chau, there are many stilt houses gathered around the foot of the mountain. On the peaceful and dreaming field, all the houses make Mai Chau be an attractive place that will amaze every visitor. Besides, there are various charming destinations in Hoa Binh such as Ban Lac, Pom Coong, Thung Khe pass, Mo Luong cave, Ban Van and Go Lao waterfall and more. Coming to Mai Chau valley at any time, you also feel the taste of the local life here. It is a tranquil, peaceful space with breathtaking scenery of the mountains that combine with the shape of houses, the figure and the overall picture of a picturesque valley. Mai Chau is a fascinating place with by natural flavour of fields, forests, mountains and hospitable local people.

9. Mu Cang Chai

Trekking rice fields of Mu Cang Chai: A small mountainous town in the west of Yen Bai province within 300km from Hanoi. Travelling to Mu Cang Chai, visitors will be immersed in the golden color of the sun shattered on the rice fields. No need to go far into each small village of the H’Mong people, right on the highway, trekkers can also see the “golden sea” of rice which is flourishing between the vast clear sky. Mu Cang Chai with its great hiking trails offer a blend of amazing routes for trekking and specially for the photography tour in Vietnam, the area has around 2,200 hectares of terraced fields. It is recognized as one of the unique landscapes in Vietnam as well as a national monument. Mu Cang Chai is charming with numerous rice terraced fields. All of them are like puzzle pieces which are attached in a very harmonious and unique way.

Read more about terraced rice fields of Vietnam

Every year, in September, there is Mu Cang Chai terraced festival. The festival is a time to admire the brilliant golden season that is covered all the terraced rice fields. Along with the festival, visitors can also participate in many other unique highland activities such as fair market or thick cake pounding contest. This is the best time to come and enjoy this “unique” charming landscape.

10. Ba Vi National Park

Ba Vi National Park is another perfect option for trekking from Hanoi. The area has two large lakes, Suoi Hai Lake and Dong Mo Lake. Ba Vi National Park is at the height of about 400m – 600m so from the French colonial period, this is a favorite destination for many people. Being located at an ideal height, the climate in the national park is very cool and pleasant. Therefore, this place also has rich and diverse vegetation which is included in all kinds of different plants and animals.

Because it is not too far from the center of Hanoi, Ba Vi National Park becomes an ideal place for families and groups of friends and those who are looking for light hiking trails within Hanoi. With dazzling nature, majestic mountains and beautiful forests, Ba Vi is an interesting and attractive place for people who want to explore the wild and immense beauty of mountainous forests. Pristine mountainous forests with many flowers, trees, animals, surely Ba Vi will be an excellent trek for you.

11. Pu Luong Nature Reserve

Pu Luong nature reserve offer some of the unique hiking trains for trekking. The area is about 130 km away from the northwest of Thanh Hoa City and about 150 km from Hanoi. Whether from Hanoi or Thanh Hoa, the road to Pu Luong is quite easy to go. Going to Pu Luong, visitors will have a chance to explore numerous beautiful villages. Most of them are surrounded by various terraced fields, lush green forests, cool mountains, streams and waterfalls. Most homestays or houses in Pu Luong are stilt houses are built high on the mountains. All of them are nearly right next to the terraced fields, so if you stay here, the views are lovely and very close to nature. By the end of June, all terraced fields will ripen and turn into brilliant golden carpet-like. It is also the time when Pu Luong attracts the most tourists of the year.

In Pu Luong, the mountain scenery is connected with clouds, sky, fields with a brilliant yellow array that has created a charming landscape picture. Coming to Pu Luong, there is no more chaos of daily life, instead of that, visitors can enjoy the cool fresh air and pleasant scenery. It’s like immersing yourself in the tranquility of nature.

12. Pu Mat National Park (Vườn Quốc Gia Pù Mát – Nghệ An)

Located in southwest of Vinh city, Pu Mat National Park offer appropriate hiking spots for trekking lovers, the trails is about 120 km toward the southwest of Vinh City, Nghe An Province of Vietnam. This is a large area of ​​forest in Northern Central Vietnam and also one of the biosphere reserves in the world. With beautiful natural landscapes, rich flora and fauna, Pu Mat is now an ideal eco-tourist attraction for domestic and foreign tourists.

Pu Mat is one of the significant biological conservation areas in Vietnam. It is the house of more than 2,400 species of plants and animals. There are 37 species which are listed in Vietnam’s Red Data List and 20 species in the world’s IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Especially Sao La, this is a scarce animal discovered first in Pu Mat. Crossing along the Central strip, with a tropical monsoon climate, Pu Mat National Park has been a favorite tourist destination for many people, especially those who want to explore, admire and harmonize with nature.

Travel to Pu Mat nature reserve and the National Park and you will experience typical cultural beauty of ethnic groups; such as Thai, H’ mong and Dan Lai. A unique feature that makes visitors in Pu Mat National Park extremely excited, it is the pure, rustic but equally majestic nature of the wild green forest.

13. Lam Dong

Lam Dong is a hiking destination located on the Lam Vien – Di Linh plateau, with an average height of 800 to 1500m above sea level. Lam Dong is a beautiful destination with a cool, fresh climate all around the year. Coming to Lam Dong, visitors will have a chance to explore various interesting attractions. They are such as Madagui forest, Love waterfall, Pren waterfall, Truc Lam Zen Monastery, Lang Biang mountain, and especially Da Lat city.

Da Lat is the most famous destination in Lam Dong. It is the ideal place for tourists, especially in the hot summer. Going into Da Lat city, visitors will discover a “museum” of amazing waterfalls, splendid lakes, beautiful flower valleys, beautiful grass hills and extraordinary pine forests. Da Lat city, with more than 100 years old, is becoming one of the most attractive tourist destinations for domestic as well as foreign tourists.

As a land with a long history of establishment and development, Lam Dong has been gathered over 43 ethnic communities as well as many cultural and historical vestiges of ethnic groups. If you are an adventure seeker, Lam Dong is definitely an excellent place for your journey to discover the new land and different lifestyles of people.

14. Nam Du island

Located 250 km away from Ho Chi Minh City, Nam Du is considered as a destination that people in the South definitely need to visit during holiday to Vietnam. This is a top-rated destination for those who want to roam or explore a new island. Nam Du owns more than 21 large and small islands, beautiful hills, attractive beaches and magical aquarium world. As one of the most remote places of Kien Giang, Nam Du has owned many natural features of an undiscovered region. This is an ideal place to bring visitors many exciting discoveries. In Nam Du, trekkers also have chance to enjoy the fantastic view of Nam Du lighthouse, which is located at the top of the hill and higher than 300 meters above sea level. The best time to come to Nam Du is around New Year days, you will enjoy the unique refreshing and relaxing atmosphere that cannot be found anywhere. When in Nam Du island, go for a lovely light trek toward the Nhum Beach beach.