Tips and tricks for your Vietnam trip

Everything you need to know before traveling to Vietnam

Almost ready to leave for your dream travel to Vietnam? Read on below for answers to common questions.

Still in the search for the perfect travel to Vietnam that suits you? Then have a look at our pages about places you shouldn’t miss. 

When you sit and plan your trip to Vietnam, many questions may arise. We have collected some of the questions we most frequently get from our customers prior to their trip to Vietnam.

If you do not find answers to your question here on the page, you are of course welcome to contact us. See our contact information

Passport

When traveling to Vietnam, your passport must be valid for a minimum of 6 months beyond the travel period. This is IMPORTANT, since the airport staff simply do not allow you to travel with the aircraft from your departure country.
Remember to check your passport well in advance.

If you get a new passport after ordering your trip to Vietnam, just call our office, and we will update the passport number on your order.

Vaccination

When traveling to Vietnam with Topas, we recommend that you contact your doctor for guidance on vaccinations about 30 days before your trip.

It is important that you inform your doctor about where your trip to Vietnam goes. The doctor will often ask if you are going to a jungle in the lowlands and your own preferences for malaria medicine.

Topas is not allowed to guide the use of medication, but notes that most guests are tetanus vaccinated and have Hepepatitis A vaccine. About half of our guests in Vietnam have malaria pills in their luggage. Whether you want this is up to you and your doctor.

Visa

Be sure to check if you need a Visa for going to Vietnam in advance of your trip. Rules for Visa differs for each country.
For trips lasting less than 30 days Vietnam has made it possible to apply for visa online if you are coming for 80 different countries.
Visit the official portal on Immigration for Vietnam

Time difference

The timedifference in Vietnam is 5 or 6 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, depending on summer- or wintertime.

Electric devices

Chargers for phones and other small electrical appliances usually do not require an adapter to use Vietnam.
Be aware that three-pin power plugs and completely round plugs (often computer chargers) may not fit into the connectors. If necessary, be sure to have a two-legged plug or adapter included.

Money

The currency in Vietnam is called Vietnamese dong – in everyday speech Dong.

1 US dollar equals about 23,000 Dong.

If you bring cash, we suggest that you bring USD as the rate is favorable, but EUR can also be used. Topas recommends that you on your Vietnam journey keep you from street exchangers, thus avoiding being cheated with counterfeit banknotes.
There is ample opportunity to exchange with the banks in Vietnam, which in addition often have the best exchange rate.
When traveling home, you can switch excess Dong to US dollars at the airport.

When you land at international airports, you can always find branches of major banks where you can safely exchange or withdraw money from your VISA or Mastercard.

You don’t actually have to bring cash from home at all. During your trip to Vietnam will often meet ATMs in the larger cities. Vietnam’s rapid development also means that you can eventually use credit cards for payment at more and more restaurants, in shops, etc. Many of the ATMs, however, have a ceiling of approximately USD 100 per withdrawal (equivalent to 2.3 million dong).

One of the advantages of traveling to Vietnam is the relatively low price level. Especially if you are eating at the local Vietnamese restaurants.

Food and drink

You can with great pleasure, and a little consideration of your stomach, both eat the wonderful food and enjoy drinks with ice cubes in Vietnam.
Ice cubes are made on purified drinking water and even street kitchens are often without problems for the stomach, although it seems somewhat exotic.
DO NOT drink water from the tap. For the sake of plastic consumption, Topas encourages you to bring a water bottle on your journey, which you then fill up from hotels, restaurants and the like, all of which have blue 20-liter canisters with clean water – they like to share for free! If you do not have this option, you can buy 1.5L bottles of clean bottled water all over the place.

WiFi and cell phones

On your trip to Vietnam you will find that there is both good mobile coverage and WIFI options. You can thus keep in touch with your loved ones as needed. You can easily and cheaply buy a Vietnamese sim card in every city, here the street vendor will be happy to help you install the card and make sure your phone works.
Virtually all hotels and major restaurants offer free WIFI.

Flight

Please note that there may be other weight limits on domestic flights in Vietnam than there are on international flights.

International flights will often have a weight limit of about 25-30 kg, where domestic flights in Vietnam often allow a maximum of 20 kg.

Further information will appear on your airline information that you receive before departure.