VIETNAM BASICS
This section has all the practical details youll need on Vietnam as a whole,including information on getting there, advice on getting around if Hanoi isone stop on a longer trip, overviews of the accommodation and eating scenesand guidance on everything from internet access to tipping.
Getting there
As one sign of Vietnams burgeoning popularity as a touristdestination, the number of international flights hitting the country has beenincreasing steadily in recent years. The vast majority fly into Ho Chi Minh City andHanoi, though there are also direct services to Da Nang from other Asiandestinations, and several regional airports have been upgraded to internationalstandard. However, a fair chunk of visitors still take the cheaper option of anindirect flight routed through Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong; a stay in one ofthese cities can be factored into your schedule, often at no extra cost.
You may well save even more by taking a bargain-basement flight to Bangkok, KualaLumpur or Singapore, and a separate ticket through one of the regions low-cost carriers, such as Jetstar, Tiger Airways and AirAsia, for the Vietnam leg.
Long-haul airlines that fly in and out of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City normally sellyou an open-jaw ticket, which allows you to fly into one city and out of the other,leaving you to travel up or down the country under your own steam. Vietnam Airlines ( vietnamairlines.com ) is thenational flag-carrier, and currently flies to over fifty destinations inseventeen countries; its a quality operator, and part of the SkyTeam group.
Airfares always depend on the season, with the highestgenerally being July to August, during the Christmas and New Year holidays andaround Tet, the Vietnamese New Year; fares drop during the shoulder season September to mid-December and youll get the best prices during the low season,January to June.
You can often cut costs by going through a specialist flightagent either a consolidator, who buys up blocks of tickets from theairlines and sells them at a discount, or a discountagent, who in addition to dealing with discounted flights may also offerspecial student and youth fares and a range of other travel-related services such astravel insurance, rail passes, car rentals, tours and the like.
Lastly, combining Vietnam with other Southeast Asian countries is becomingincreasingly popular and a lot cheaper and easier thanks to some good-valueregional .
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Flights from the UK and Ireland
Vietnam Airlines flies from London Gatwick to Ho ChiMinh City and Hanoi; there are no direct flights fromIreland. Note that you may save money by flying with a SoutheastAsian carrier such as Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines orCathay Pacific from London, via the airlines home city. In recent years the bigMiddle Eastern airlines, Qatar and Emirates, have also offered very competitiveprices. Scheduled low-season fares from London startat around 450, rising to 600 or more at peak periods.
A good place to look for the best deals is the travel sections of the weekendnewspapers and in regional listings magazines. Students and under-26s can oftenget discounts through specialist agents such as STA( sta.com ) or USIT in Ireland ( usit.ie ). Whoever you buy your ticketthrough, check that the agency belongs to the travel industry bodies ABTA orIATA, so that youll be covered if the agent goes bust before you get yourticket.
Flights from the US and Canada
In 2004 United Airlines became the first American carrier to resume directflights to Vietnam since 1975. The airline operates a daily service from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City via Hong Kong. Asyet, no other American or Canadian carriers offer direct services, which meansyoull either have to get a flight to San Francisco or catch one of the manyflights to a regional hub, such as Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong, and continuefrom there. Scheduled flights start at around US$1400 from NewYork, US$1200 from Los Angeles, CAN$2000from Vancouver and CAN$2500 fromToronto.
Note that some routings require an overnight stay inanother city such as Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong or Seoul, and often a hotel roomwill be included in your fare ask the airline and shop around, since travelagents policies on this vary. Even when an overnight stay is not required,going to Vietnam can be a great excuse for a stopover somewhere: most airlineswill allow you one free stopover in either direction.
Flights from Australia and New Zealand
Direct flights between Australia and Vietnamare in surprisingly poor supply, with Vietnam Airlines operating routes from HoChi Minh City to Melbourne and Sydney (around AUS$1100). One reason for thedearth of direct services has been the profusion of far cheaper alternateroutes, making use of the areas many budget airlines. You can make the journeywith Jetstar via Singapore, to which there are direct services from Darwin,Melbourne and Perth, while Tigerair flies from Perth to Vietnam via Singapore;these can start at as little as AUS$250 one-way from Perth and Darwin, thoughyoull have to pay more from other Aussie cities. The alternative is to fly toanother Asian gateway, such as Malaysia Airlines via Kuala Lumpur, SingaporeAirlines via Singapore, or Thai Airways via Bangkok (all costing around AUS$1100to AUS$1500), and then either get connecting flights or travel overland to Hanoior Ho Chi Minh City; it often costs no more to stop off on the way.
From New Zealand, low-season fares with MalaysiaAirlines, Thai, Qantas and Singapore Airlines are all around NZ$1500 to NZ$2200,with a change of plane in the carriers home airport.
Flights from neighbouring countries
Regional air connections are becoming better and better you can fly frommany cities in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and southernChina, and budget options are increasing by the year. From Singapore, Jetstar flies to Ho Chi Minh City, TigerAirways heads to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and Silk Air does likewise toHo Chi Minh City and Da Nang. Air Asia offers daily services from Bangkok andKuala Lumpur to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; VietJet Air does the same butonly to Ho Chi Minh City. As with all discount airlines, prices depend onavailability, so the earlier you book the better; prices can start as low asUS$30. Otherwise, youre dependent on flag carriers such as Cambodia Angkor Airand Lao Airlines, though Vietnam Airlines occasionally offers some competitivedeals.
Overland
Its increasingly popular to