One of the famous festivals in Vietnam- the Tet Festival, was celebrated initially by Vietnamese farmers to thank the gods for the arrival of spring, dates back thousands of years. Nowadays, it’s a time to pay respects to ancestors and welcome the New Year with family members.

It is a three-day celebration between late January and early February. Still, festivities may continue for about a week or more with every endeavor made to indulge in eating, drinking, and socializing. In the weeks leading up to Tet Festival, all homes are thoroughly cleaned to eliminate any bad luck of the old year. The streets are filled with people performing mua lan or lion dance performances throughout the day, with drums, bells, gongs, and firecrackers going off to ward off evil spirits. At the same time, ancestral altars are presented with five local fruits and votive papers.

Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the harvest festival, held on the 14th and 15th day of the lunar month, features a wide range of activities such as children carrying paper lanterns, lion dances, and food booths selling mooncakes, sticky rice, fruits, and various sweets. Households set up an altar during the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, on which they display offerings in honor of the full moon.

Mid-Autumn Festival in Hoi An, a UNESCO-listed Ancient Town, holds many street performances, lantern processions, and art exhibitions. Children also participate in essays, drawing, and coloring contests during Mid-Autumn Festival. At the same time, visitors can enjoy breathtaking sights of colorful paper lanterns lining the Thu Bon Riverside and Japanese Covered Bridge.

Perfume Festival draws multitudes of local pilgrims from all over Vietnam to partake the Hanoi’s iconic Perfume Pagoda, where they pray for a prosperous year and pay their respects to Buddha. The pilgrimage starts with a dragon dance at Den Trinh Pagoda on the 15th day of the 1st Lunar, where pilgrims and travelers travel by boat along the Yen River to the base of Huong Mountain, passing by limestone caves and rice fields.

The journey continues on foot by climbing hundreds of stone steps towards Huong Tich Cave, offering a colorful display of food offerings, statues of deities, lit incenses, and praying locals.

Hoi An Lantern Festival also referred to as  Full Moon Festival, is a monthly event that transforms the quaint UNESCO World Heritage Site into a spectacular display of paper lanterns. On the 14th day of each lunar month, every shop, restaurant, bar, and business in the Ancient Town switch off all electricity and rely on hundreds of candles and lanterns.

The Hoi An Lantern Festival is held in many parts of Vietnam. Still, UNESCO lists the town of Hoi An as the most popular place for visitors and tourists to come and participate in the monthly festival because of the dedicated lanterns.

Devotees in Vietnam celebrate Buddha’s Birthday. On the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, many temples are adorned with lavish decorations, with locals offering fruit, flower garlands, and various Vietnamese dishes. This event often draws thousands of visitors to partake in street parades and prayer sessions.

Held at Phap Bao Pagoda, the day commences with a procession of monks along the streets of Hoi An Ancient Town before locals flock to the temple to perform religious rites and listen to Buddhist scriptures. In the evening, expect a lively parade along the main road of the Old Town, where animals are released while flower garlands and lanterns are placed along the riverbank. Aside from experiencing the local culture, Buddha’s Birthday is also a fabulous time to enjoy vegetarian dishes sold by street vendors in Hoi An.

Wandering Souls Day is one of the enormous festivals in Vietnam, also known as the Trung Nguyen; the holiday takes every 15th day of the 7th lunar month in the Buddhist calendar. 

The Wandering Souls Day festival is being celebrated all over the country, from temples, pagodas, local homes, and even government buildings and offices. On the eve of the festival, families flock to Buddhist temples and graves of their departed loved ones to offer prayers, flowers, sticky rice cakes, sugarcane, and fruits. Paper money and clothes are also burned during this time of the year.

The Phu Giay Festival is one of Vietnam’s biggest national festivals. The event celebrates and pays tribute to Lieu Hanh, the Goddess or “Holy Mother” of Vietnam. Phu Giay Festival draws worshippers of the goddess Lieu Hanh to Phu Giay Pagoda, where they pray for good fortune while carrying decorated bamboo relics and wearing traditional costumes.

Situated 88km east of Hanoi, the temple hosts various games such as capture-the-flag, human chess, lion dancing, and wrestling. Visitors can also enjoy folk dance and classical songs such as trong Quan, cheo (satirical musical theatre), and ca tru (chamber music).

Lim Festival is a lively festival held in Lim Village, located within the Tien Du District, Bac Ninh Province, on the 12th and 13th day of the first lunar month. Several stages are built within the village where you get to see locals performing in traditional costumes singing UNESCO-listed Quan ho folk. Male singers who are called “lien anh” in Vietnamese wear “khan xep (khăn xếp)” and “ao dai (áo dài)” while female singers who are called “lien chi” in Vietnamese wear four-panel traditional dress (called “ao tu than (áo tứ thân)” in Vietnamese) and “non quai thao (nón quai thao).” In pairs of one female and one male, they sing together.

Hạ Long Bay, which means "descending dragon," is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and widespread travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam, situated in north Vietnam round a 120-kilometer long coastline.

The top tourist attraction in Vietnam, Ha Long Bay, features numerous islands with thick jungle vegetation, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Several islands are hollow, with enormous caves; other islands include lakes, and some support floating villages of fishers.

Hoan Kiem Lake is one of the top picturesque spots in the beautiful city of Hanoi and serves as the locals’ favorite leisure spot. Its unique beauty draws many tourists each year, Vietnamese and many foreigners.

Hoan Kiem means “returned sword,” The name comes from a legend in which King Le Loi was given a magical sword by the gods, which he used to drive out the invading Chinese. Later he returned the sword to the Golden Turtle God in the lake.

Mui Ne is Phan Thiet’s most famous coastal resort town, spanning 15 kilometers of sandy beaches lined with an array of dining and shopping venues and luxurious beachfront resorts. The northern end of Mui Ne Bay is home to a traditional fishing village that offers a picturesque view of the coastline lined with swaying palm trees and colorful fishing boats moored on the water. 

With its strong sea breezes, it is a perfect destination in Vietnam for kite- and windsurfing. Additionally, Mui Ne boasts famous picturesque dunes located a short distance north of the town. The vast sandy expanse provides some great panoramic views, especially during sunset.

The ancient Thien Mu Pagoda in Hue is the tallest in Vietnam, with seven stories. The pagoda overlooks the Perfume River and is regarded as the unofficial symbol of the former imperial capital. The temple was built in 1601 during the rule of the Nguyễn Lords. 

In the middle of the area is where Dai Hung Palace – the main sanctuary of Thien Mu Pagoda. Passing the 3-door gate are 12 monumental wooden sculptures of fearsome temple guardians. Buddha sits in Thien Mu Pagoda is worshiped with impressive statues and a giant bell, measuring 2.5m in height and 2 tons in weight, created in the early 18th century. Fragrant incense smoke fills the air there all day long, making the praying for blessings calm and peaceful.

Terraces Sa Pa is a town in northwest Vietnam not far from the Chinese border. Rice terraces can be found in the Muong Hoa valley between Sa Pa town and the Fansipan Mountain, on a backdrop of thick bamboo woodlands. Terraced rice fields in Sapa were voted as one of seven most beautiful and impressive ones of Asia and the world by readers of the US’s magazine Travel and Leisure.

Rice terraces in Sapa are slopes claimed from nature for cultivation in hilly or mountainous areas. Local ethnic minority people can grow rice and establish terraced rice fields, one after another, from the foot to nearly the top of mountains.

Hoi An Town is an incredibly well-preserved trading international port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. This fishing-village-turned-tourist attraction is located on the coast of the South China Sea. The city's heart is still the Old Town, full of winding lanes and Chinese-styled shops.

Hoi An Town is sometimes called the "Venice of Vietnam" because of the narrow canals that cut through part of the town. This place is an intersection of Eastern-Western culture, the crystallization of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and European countries manifested in cuisine, architecture, and local traditions.

Located in front of the Cambodia coast, Phu Quoc is the largest island in Vietnam. The island features pristine tropical forests, untouched coral reefs, and great beaches. One of its beaches, named Bai Dai (Long Beach), was chosen by ABC News as five beautiful and clean beaches.

Phu Quoc is famous for globally producing the best nuoc mam or fermented fish sauce. Phu Quoc Island boasts stunning beaches, romantic sunsets, evergreen forests, and a serene atmosphere, making it a perfect holiday destination for travelers.

The Mekong Delta is the region in southern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea. It is a vibrant and lush area, covered with rice fields, producing about half of Vietnam’s agricultural output. Life in the area revolves around water, from the famous floating markets to the vast agricultural industries; various fruits, flowers, and livestock grow in the region.

Cần Thơ is the hugest city in the Mekong Delta region and home to the Cái Răng floating market, where you’ll see hundreds of boats loaded with more varieties of fruits than you ever thought possible.

The Phong Nha Caves are hundreds of cave systems, many large enough to hold entire city blocks. Phong Nha is world-renowned throughout its adventure treks and caving exploration. The area boasts the breathtaking UNESCO heritage-listed National Park, Phong Nha Ke-Bang.

The National park and the regions surrounding Phong Nha are home to hundreds of caves; many are now open for tourism, including the most extensive cave globally and the most significant and most prominent Hang Son Doong.