When To Visit Vietnam

You’ll often read that the best time to visit Vietnam is in March or April because those months tend to bring clear and temperate weather throughout the country. I’ve been living in Vietnam for a decade, though, and I can tell you that the real best time to visit is a bit more complicated than that.

You’ve got to consider the answer to questions like:

• What part of Vietnam are you visiting?
• What type of travel experience are you looking to have?
• Do you want to attend any cultural festivals or events?

In this guide, I’ll help you settle on when to visit Vietnam based on your answers to these questions. I’ll also provide a listing of recommended destinations and activities by month for those who are unable to visit during their ideal timeframe.

Plan your trip to Vietnam

North, Central, and South Vietnam (And My Favorite Time to Visit Each of Them)

Different regions of Vietnam have very different weather patterns. I’ll cover each in more detail here.

Northern Vietnam is the only region with four distinct seasons:

• Spring (March-May): The months when the lush green areas of the north like Cat Ba and Ninh Binh are at their peak in terms of loveliness. Temperatures are warm, but not as hot as summer.
• Hot monsoon season (June-August): Good for visiting beaches, but too hot and humid for much of anything else. There are also hard monsoons nearly every afternoon.
• Harvest season (September-November): I think this is the best time of year to visit North Vietnam because temperatures are cool, skies are clear, and tourist numbers are low – perfect for exploring the misty mountain regions like Ha Giang or Ninh Binh that I like most about the North. It’s also harvest season in agricultural communities like Sapa, so the rice paddies are an incredible golden hue.
• Winter (December-February): Very, very cold. I don’t recommend it to first-time Vietnam travelers, but it might be interesting for return travelers since the foggy or sometimes even snowy landscapes give a different perspective on Vietnam.

Hoi An

Central Vietnam’s weather can best be described as “extreme.” That is, the hot season is EXTREMELY hot and the rainy season is EXTREMELY rainy. It’s also the least diverse in terms of weather, in my experience, with the only three real seasons being:

• Harvest season (January-April): In my opinion, these are the best months to visit Central Vietnam. It hardly ever rains during these months (although January can be a bit wet during some years), and the weather has not yet gotten oppressively hot.
• Hot season (May-August): During these months, Central Vietnam routinely gets up to 30-40 degrees Celsius (85-95 Fahrenheit). When combined with the extreme humidity of the region, that’s just too hot for me. I went once during this time of year and I won’t be doing it again.
• Monsoon season (September-January): As I said, the rainy season in Central Vietnam is often pretty extreme, with huge flash floods making it a downright dangerous time to go there.

Phu Quoc

Southern Vietnam locals love to say that “Southern Vietnam has two seasons: the hot season and the rainy season.”

• The hot season (February-May): The sun is in full force during this season, which makes hiking or exploring on foot a drag. South Vietnam has some of the country’s best tropical beaches at places like Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and Quy Nhon, though, and the sunny months are a great time to go.
• The rainy season (May-October): The rains are not nearly as extreme as those in North or Central Vietnam, and I actually think the rainy season is a great time to visit South Vietnam if you’re not going to the beach (more on why in the “pros and cons” section below).

I’d argue that there is also a third, though:

• The harvest season (November-February): The period when all of the region’s rich vegetation is still a deep, tropical green because of the rains that fell during the preceding season. It’s my pick for the best time to visit Southern Vietnam, even though tourist numbers might be a bit high.

Here’s a table showing the average temperature (in degrees Celsius) during each month in the three regions of Vietnam. The entry for each month is color-coded based on what type of weather it is.

• Yellow = Clear, Temperate Weather
• Red = Uncomfortably Hot But Clear
• Blue = Rainy
• Purple = Cold, Bring a Jacket

And here’s a chart of the average temperature in each region of Vietnam over the course of a year.

As per this data, I’d say the best time to tour Vietnam in terms of weather would be March, with April being a close runner-up.

Pros and Cons of Each Season

The table below shows each of the seasons found throughout Vietnam and the pros of cons of each.

Festival Seasons in Vietnam

You may also want to take into account the major holiday seasons in Vietnam, as they may make a trip during those periods more or less appealing to you.

Tet Season

“Tet” is the Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year, most popularly known as the Chinese New Year. I could write a whole guide about Tet (and you should have no trouble finding one with a quick Google search), but just know that it will significantly affect your trip to Vietnam.

Traveling to Vietnam during Tet has some pros, such as:

• Much less traffic in the big cities, making for a more peaceful and relaxed atmosphere.
• Extravagant Tet displays featuring flowers, the zodiac animal for the coming year, and other traditional Vietnamese symbolism. These displays will likely be found in the town centers of even small villages.
• Seasonal Tet markets selling books, flowers, fruits, and traditional Tet foods.
• Incredible photo opportunities since Tet clears the country out temporarily and often falls in the middle of the best time of the year in terms of weather.

All that being said, Tet is often not a great time to visit Vietnam for first-timers who want to see what the country is all about. This is because most businesses close, transportation options are very limited, and you won’t get to see much of everyday life.

Christmas Season

I’ve gotten to see the Christmas season evolve over the past 10 Decembers in Saigon. And while the holiday used to be a foreign idea that didn’t really make its way into popular Vietnamese culture, it has changed quite a bit in recent years and turned into my favorite season.

Nowadays, the Christmas season is marked by yuletide decorations and Christmas music, but without most of the cloying commercialism that seems to have infected the December weeks in Western countries. Although most parts of the country don’t get snow, the Christmas season is rather lovely.

Local Festivals

Vietnam has plenty of local festivals that you might want to plan your visit around. Check out a list of local festivals in Vietnam and see what interests you.

Recommended Activities by Month

I understand that not everyone will be able to pick what month they may want to visit Vietnam since some people are constrained by work or school schedules. Because of that, I’ve put together the table below to suggest 2-4 activities that are best for each month of the year.

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Posted SEP 25, 2024

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