Things to know before visiting Vietnam

Two distinct chopstick mistakes catch tourists off-guard: tapping your chopsticks on your bowl (considered rude) and sticking them vertically into a bowl of rice (associated with funeral offerings). Knowing these in advance saves genuine embarrassment with locals.

The thumbs-up gesture carries a rude or offensive connotation in Vietnam — the opposite of its Western meaning. Similarly, showing the soles of your feet toward a shrine, altar, or an elderly person is considered deeply disrespectful. Remove shoes before entering homes or temples.

The head is considered the most sacred part of the body in Vietnamese culture. Touching someone's head — even a child's — without permission is a significant breach of etiquette that can genuinely offend locals.

While bigger hotels and restaurants increasingly accept cards, street food stalls, local markets, night markets, and smaller eateries across Vietnam typically expect cash payment in Vietnamese dong. Creators who spent full days on local food found that dong was essential for nearly every transaction under a few dollars.

Evan Edinger Travel specifically flags ATM issues in Ho Chi Minh City as a notable enough problem to dedicate a chapter of his video to it. Having multiple bank cards, knowing which banks' ATMs your card works with, and carrying some cash from the airport are all implied safeguards.

Grabbing a Grab ride is the most-cited way to avoid the taxi overcharging and metered-fare tricks that catch tourists. The app calculates fares upfront and shows you the route, removing the negotiation problem entirely. Travel Escapes demonstrates this on-screen in Saigon, even using it for short cross-city hops.

Travis Travels Vietnam dedicates a full video to motorbike riding in Vietnam, noting that most tourists get it wrong. The traffic culture, lack of enforcement familiarity, and road conditions make riding a genuine risk if you're unprepared. He recommends knowing what you're getting into before renting, and ensuring travel insurance covers motorbike riding (many policies do not by default).

Joose the Nomad specifically warns that Da Nang's Beach Road is busy and hectic, and recommends choosing accommodation on quieter side streets — ideally on a higher floor — to avoid noise and traffic stress. This applies equally when walking or cycling around the city.

Multiple creators covering the Hanoi-to-Sapa route recommend overnight sleeper or cabin buses as the best value transport option. Nicole & Ryan cite Inter Line as a reliable booking option; LoRa's Travel Vlogs documents the luxury cabin bus experience showing lie-flat pods as genuinely comfortable for an overnight journey.

Travel Escapes captures the moment a restaurant vendor asks if he used a complimentary-looking tissue — because it costs extra. Small charges for napkins, condiments, or extras can appear on bills at tourist-adjacent restaurants. Always clarify before using anything that wasn't explicitly ordered.

Travel Escapes is approached multiple times on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City by people offering to polish or repair his shoes without being asked, then expecting payment. This is a widespread low-level hustle in tourist areas; you are under no obligation and a polite but firm refusal is all that's needed.

Airport SIM card vendors in Vietnam have a reputation for selling cards that fail within weeks, leaving you with dead data mid-trip. Multiple creators now recommend arranging connectivity before landing, either via eSIM services (Holafly, Ubigi, Airalo) or purchasing from established city shops rather than airport kiosks.

Travis Travels Vietnam warns that Vietnam's café culture means travelers spend enormous amounts of time on public Wi-Fi, which creates real risk of password and credit card data theft. He uses and recommends NordVPN specifically for this purpose while traveling or living in Vietnam.

Travel Escapes actively seeks out alleys and neighborhoods where he is the only foreigner visible — and consistently finds better food at lower prices. In Saigon, Vietnamese coffee in a local neighborhood costs 15,000 VND versus 20,000–25,000 VND at a tourist-area café. The advice: venture one or two streets off the main tourist strip.

Travis Travels Vietnam, who never drank coffee before moving to Vietnam, describes Vietnamese coffee as hitting 'differently' — the robusta-heavy local brews are significantly stronger than Western espresso. Egg coffee (a Hanoi specialty) and traditional iced ca phe sua da are both worth trying but can be overwhelming for first-timers.

Vietnam's traffic — especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City — looks terrifying but follows a logic: motorbikes flow around pedestrians who move at a constant, predictable pace. The worst thing you can do is freeze or bolt midway across. Multiple creators who experienced this firsthand say to commit to a slow, steady walk and let the traffic part around you.

Travis Travels Vietnam, who has lived in Vietnam for over six years, consistently reports that Vietnamese people — especially younger generations who make up the majority of the population — feel no animosity toward Americans or other Westerners. The culture tends to be forward-looking rather than resentful, and the Vietnamese language itself avoids strongly negative phrasing.

Travel Escapes observes that Vietnam as a whole — not just one city — wakes up extremely early, with street food vendors, markets, and locals active from before sunrise. Early mornings offer the most authentic street-life experience and the fewest crowds at popular spots.

The Ha Giang motorbike loop in northern Vietnam is a famous multi-day route attracting visitors from around the world for its stunning landscapes and genuine cultural encounters. Madeleineaabo, who documented the full experience, describes it as offering breathtaking views and a very genuine cultural experience — but it requires preparation on what to book and what to expect physically.

Travis Travels Vietnam warns that Vietnamese national holidays — particularly Tet — cause flights and accommodation to spike in price and availability. He advises submitting bookings weeks ahead to avoid stress, especially around Independence Day and major local festivals.

Nicole & Ryan tried both approaches over three months in Vietnam and strongly recommend booking directly with a guide from the local Hmong community (they provide a specific WhatsApp contact) rather than going through Hanoi-based operators who bundle everything at a markup. The local guide also provides crucial cultural context — for example, when to keep distance from remote mountain communities who rarely see tourists.

Both Travis Travels Vietnam (who personally spent four days in a Vietnamese hospital) and Joose the Nomad flag travel insurance as non-negotiable for Vietnam. While healthcare is affordable by Western standards, unexpected emergencies without coverage can still result in bills that drain a travel budget. Multiple creators recommend SafetyWing or equivalent medical insurance.

Travis Travels Vietnam, who helps travelers with visa issues regularly, says the e-visa payment portal itself is the most common point of failure — not the user's bank or credit card. Switching to Chrome browser and retrying usually resolves it. He also warns that money can leave your bank account without confirmation arriving, requiring patience.

Travis Travels Vietnam explicitly warns against leaving the pre-arrival immigration form for Ho Chi Minh City until you've landed, when you'll be standing in a crowd fighting for Wi-Fi signal. Completing it before the flight makes the arrival process significantly smoother.