10 min read
How to Choose a Vietnamese Cooking Class and Market Tour
A cooking class can be the best half-day of your trip or a tourist conveyor belt. Here is how to tell the difference before you book, one city at a time.
On the Ground Vietnam
Insights, updates and local perspectives to better understand Vietnam as it evolves.
All articles
10 min read
Vietnam's Farm-Stay Turn: Rural Tourism Grows Up in 2026
Farm stays, craft villages and OCOP-certified community tourism are reshaping rural Vietnam. Here is what is genuinely changing, and what is still marketing.
11 min read
Phu Yen and Tuy Hoa: The Quiet Coast of the New Dak Lak
Since 2025, Phu Yen's coast has been part of Dak Lak province. Here is how you travel Tuy Hoa, its lagoons and basalt cliffs at a genuinely slow pace.
8 min read
Vietnam's New Residence Declaration Rules from 15 September 2026
Vietnam's new inter-agency residence reporting starts on 15 September 2026. Nothing to file yourself, but your host now has twelve hours to register you.
9 min read
Vietnam's New Flight Map: What Airline Expansion Means for Slow Itineraries
A new carrier, a wave of point-to-point routes and a second Ho Chi Minh City airport are quietly changing how a slow Vietnam itinerary is built. Here is how.
10 min read
How to Stay Healthy in Vietnam: Pharmacies, Clinics and Insurance
Most travellers to Vietnam never need a doctor. This is how to keep it that way, and exactly what to do in 2026 if a fever or an accident changes things.
11 min read
Ly Son Island: Vietnam's Volcanic Garlic Isle, Taken Slowly
Off the Quang Ngai coast, Ly Son packs five extinct craters, coral-sand garlic fields and four centuries of maritime memory into ten square kilometres.
10 min read
Vietnam's Vape Ban in 2026: What Travellers Risk and What Is Still Legal
E-cigarettes and heated tobacco are illegal in Vietnam, and enforcement is real. What the ban covers, the fines, and the airport checks travellers meet.
9 min read
How to Hire a Car and Driver in Vietnam: Costs, Terms and Common Traps
Hiring a car with a driver is the default way to cover distance in Vietnam. Here is what a fair day rate looks like and what should be written down first.
9 min read
Yen Tu: What Vietnam's Ninth UNESCO Listing Really Changes
Vietnam's ninth World Heritage listing is not a beach or a bay but a walking landscape of pagodas and forest. Here is what it changes, and what it does not.
10 min read
Moc Chau: Tea Hills, Plum Orchards and the Slow Side of the Northwest
Most itineraries cross Moc Chau in an afternoon. Give Son La's tea plateau four days and it becomes a destination with its own calendar, climate and quiet.
9 min read
Vietnam's New Tourism Resolution: Visas, Insurance and What Changes at the Border
A Politburo resolution signed on 22 August 2026 reshapes Vietnam's visa policy and tourism targets. What is decided, what is not, and what to do about it.
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