Is Mid-August a good time to visit Vietnam or would my vacation be spoiled due to heavy rains? If yes, what is a good season and what are the cities worth visiting. Also, is 10 days a good time frame to enjoy being in Vietnam and visiting a few recommended places?
Is Mid-August a good time to visit Vietnam or would my vacation be spoiled due to heavy rains? If yes, what is a good season and what are the cities worth visiting. Also, is 10 days a good time frame to enjoy being in Vietnam and visiting a few recommended places?
[Edited: 2011 Jun 21 10:07 - Mell:49612 - Moved to Asia Forum. 😊]
Reply to this In mid-August there will be heavy rain in Vietnam. There has been heavy rain here in Ho Chi Minh for about a month already now and it will continue until Christmas. It doesn't mean it rains all day every day. There are usually short, heavy bouts of pouring rain. Usually no more than once a day and they usually last about an hour. Otherwise it's usually sunny in the mornings and cloudy the rest of the day. Sometimes it's cloudy all day.
The alternative for visiting the South would be to either come in hot season - February - April time when it might be too hot for you to handle. A nice time to come is December-January time when the rains have eased off a bit but the heat hasn't kicked in yet.
Something to remember is that the seasons differ between the North and the South. The North has four seasons and in winter is can get quite cold - it went down below freezing this year. The South is hot all year.
In 10 days I wouldn't try to see the whole country. It's a very long country and transport is slow. You could either concentrate on the North and see Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa and perhaps fly down to Hoi An/Danang. Or see the South and go to Ho Chi Minh, some beach time in Mui Ne or Nha Trang and then perhaps fly to Hoi An. You could include Dalat in that if you wanted. For more information on these places the best thing to do is read the blogs on Vietnam on here. There are thousands of stories and pictures to help you choose what you want to do.
Hope this helps
Reply to this Thanks a lot Kris and Kate, it really helps. I've been thinking of visiting Vietnam for a while now and have read some of your blogs on it too.
If I plan on doing North for about 10 days now, would it be a good idea or should I still push it for Nov-Dec?
I am from India, so I am used to the heat and untimely rains...but don't want it to be a vacation spoiler.
From your experience, what would you suggest?
Reply to this If you are used to the heat and the rains then you will have your way of dealing with them - i.e. finding somewhere dry to hide out until it stops. I wouldn't have thought it would ruin your holiday, but that perhaps depends on what you are planning to do.
The weather will be hotter now in the North. In November/December is going to be cold. Will this affect your holiday?
We took my parents on a tour of Vietnam last August and it didn't spoil it for them. There was a full on tropical storm one day when we were in Hoi An but I think that just added to the interest for them - although they are from the UK so this sort of thing is novel!
We have some other friends coming this August, so we don't advise people to avoid it during the rains!!
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