Nice By Vietnam

  Here are some world-class resort villas in Vietnam that could set you back $7,000 a night. Spread over an area of more than 1,000 square meters,  Bay View Villa inside Amanoi Resort  in the south-central Ninh Thuan Province overlooking Vinh Hy Bay is a good choice if you want to be close to nature. It has five bedrooms, a swimming pool and lots of vegetation and a tranquil atmosphere. Situated in the Nui Chua National Park, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve, Amanoi was Vietnam's first six-star resort and has a total of 36 villas. The villa is a blend of contemporary style and Vietnamese architecture and all rooms offer breathtaking views of Vinh Hy Bay and pristine beaches. Since it is secluded, it is a good choice for families who fear large crowds amid the Covid-19 pandemic. A night’s stay costs up to VND160 million ($7,000), including private transfer from Cam Ranh Airport, free non-alcoholic drinks from the minibar, private electric car, daily afternoon tea, wellness...

  Aircraft at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC, January 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) says regular international flights will resume next month to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Cambodia and the U.S. As of Tuesday, it has reached agreements with aviation authorities in these five destinations to implement the plan approved by the government earlier this month to resume regular international flights from Jan. 1, 2022, the CAAV said. For the Japan route, the CAAV has granted licenses to Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and All Nippons Airways. The first flight will be launched by Vietnam Airlines on Jan. 5, followed Vietjet Air and All Nippons Airways on Jan. 6. Flights from Japan cannot start as early as Jan. 1 because Japanese agencies will be on New Year's holidays and passengers cannot be tested according to regulations, the administration said. Taiwan has also agreed with the flight resumption plan but suggested raising...

  Tourists join boat tours in Trang An Natural Landscape Complex in Ninh Binh Province, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/James Cao With more areas in Hanoi turning into orange zones with high Covid risks, here is a guide to places capital tourists can travel during the New Year holiday without quarantine. With four days to go before the three-day New Year holiday begins this Saturday, eight districts in the capital including Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Hoang Mai, Long Bien, Nam Tu Liem, Tay Ho, Dong Da and Hai Ba Trung are now designated 'orange zones,' deemed as having high Covid risks after Hanoi led the country’s daily infection tally for a week. Some tourists living in high-Covid risk areas have canceled their room bookings or found alternative holiday destinations as some northern localities require home or centralized quarantine from visitors in orange and red zones. Hanoians can now travel to Ninh Binh Province, Moc Chau Town in Son La Province, Ha Giang and Hoa Binh, which still allow ...

  An aerial view of the Imperial Citadel in Hue at night. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh Authorities have postponed the launch of a night street zone around Hue's Imperial Citadel scheduled on January 1 on Covid-19 safety grounds. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had last week ordered a ban on large gatherings during the New Year and  Tet  (Lunar New Year) holidays amid the worsening pandemic situation and rising concerns over the new Omicron variant. The night zone, spanning August 23, Dang Thai Than, Le Huan, and Doan Thi Diem streets, would open once the pandemic situation is better controlled, provincial authorities said without elaborating, according to the provincial portal. The zone, meant to attract tourists during the New Year holidays, was to open from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. every Friday and Saturday and feature food stalls and folk games and art performances. Hue was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 until the end of feudalism in Vietnam in 1945, and the UNESCO-...

  A charter flight brought 226 Russian tourists to the central coastal Khanh Hoa Province on Sunday under an ongoing vaccine passport trial program. The first Russian tourists visiting the province since the country partially reopened its borders last month after nearly two years are staying at Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang, Selectum Noa Resort and Cam Ranh Riviera Beach Resort, and will visit tourist attractions such as Yang Bay eco-tourism sites, Nha Phu Lagoon, Hoa Lan (Orchid) Island, and some shopping destinations. Nguyen Duc Tan, director of tour operator Anex Vietnam, which has brought the tourists to Vietnam, said they would enjoy a vacation in Khanh Hoa for one week to 25 days before returning home also by charter flights operated by Russian carrier Azur Air. A Russian tourist wearing the Vietnamese  non  la  (conical hat) arrives in Cam Ranh Airport, Khanh Hoa Province, on December 26, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc All were required to furnish certificates...

Uzbek tourists arrive at Phu Quoc International Airport in Kien Giang Province, December 25, 2021. Photo courtesy of Vinpearl   210 tourists from Uzbekistan landed at Phu Quoc Airport in the southern province of Kien Giang Saturday on a nine-day tour under the ongoing vaccine passport trial program. They arrived on a charter flight operated by Uzbekistan Airlines. The Uzbek visitors will stay at the Vinpearl Discovery Coastalland Phu Quoc, and the Vinpearl Resort and Spa Phu Quoc for nine days and eight nights. During their stay, they will visit tourist attractions like the Phu Quoc United Center, VinWonders theme park, Vinpearl Safari wildlife conservation park and play golf at Vinpearl Golf. All tourists were required to furnish certificates showing they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid and tested negative for the novel coronavirus within 72 hours before departure. Kien Giang is one of five localities to get the green light from the government to welcome ba...

  Despite the severe pandemic impacts, Vietnam’s manifold attractions continued to catch the eye of international media and win top prizes at global travel awards in 2021. In January, the New York Times included Con Dao, the 16-island archipelago in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, in its list of "52 places to love in 2021." The newspaper releases an annual list of 52 best travel destinations every year. However, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, it termed this year's version "52 places to love in 2021" and instead of using recommendations from travel writers, asked readers to write about a place of special significance. The paper then chose 52 destinations to highlight from a list of more than 2,000. Con Dao, notorious once as "hell on earth" by virtue of inhuman treatment of prisoners in a prison built by the French colonialists, continued its notoriety under the American-backed regime during the Vietnam War. The archipelago has become an...

  International tourists, some of the first to visit Vietnam since the country closed its borders in March 2020, tour Hoi An in November 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Duy Hau Vietnam will not hurry to fully reopen to foreign tourists as concerns rice about the Omicron variant, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam says. While the tourism industry "should be better prepared and renew itself to be ready to welcome back foreign tourists," the reopening should not be hasty, he said a seminar on tourism recovery held Saturday. Instead, he said, Vietnam has to continue taking "firm steps" like the current pilot reopening program being implemented in Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam. Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen said: "we should not be negligent about the pandemic during the new normal period when the world is struggling with the Omicron strain, which is 3.2 times more infectious than the Delta strain." The note of caution came after Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the Vietnam Na...

  Heavy traffic in Da Lat as tourists have flocked in from mid December. Photo by VnExpress/Minh Tan With just a week to go for the three-day New Year holiday break, several four and five-star hotels and resorts in popular tourist hotspots are reporting high bookings. The holiday, which starts next Saturday, has become a perfect opportunity to travel, with most localities easing travel restrictions as per the new strategy of living safely with the pandemic. According to the Sa Pa Tourism Association, occupancy at 4-star accommodation facilities in Lao Cai Province's chilly resort town has reached 90 percent for the December 31 to January 2 holiday. Pham Cao Vy, chairman of the association, said since the beginning of November, the number of visitors to Sa Pa has increased sharply during weekends with people choosing to stay at luxury resorts that are offering big discounts. A Topas Ecolodge representative said the five-star resort was fully booked for Christmas and New Year's E...

  Foreign tourists visit Hoi An ancient town in Quang Nam Province on November 20, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Duy Hau Vietnamese tourism expects to welcome five million international visitors under the ongoing vaccine passport program in 2022 an industry official says. The industry also hopes to earn revenues of VND400 trillion ($17.5 billion) next year, Nguyen Trung Khanh, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said at a seminar on tourism recovery held Friday. In more than a month after partial reopening of international tourism following nearly two years of closure over the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam has welcomed 3,500 foreign visitors on special tour packages. "This was a great encouragement for the tourism industry after more than 19 months," Khanh is quoted as saying in a report on the tourism ministry portal. Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa and Da Nang, home to several UNESCO heritage sites, got the green light to allow in foreign visitors u...

  A Vietjet aircraft prepares to land at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City in June 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran Budget carriers Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways announced Friday the resumption of regular commercial flights to Asian destinations on January 1 after a hiatus of nearly two years. Vietjet Air plans to operate two-way flights from Hanoi, HCMC to Japan’s Tokyo, South Korea’s Seoul, Taiwan’s Taipei, Thailand’s Bangkok and Singapore on the first day of 2022, the carrier said in a press release. There would be one weekly flight on each of these routes and the frequency would be increased later based on market demand, it said. Bamboo Airways also said it would operate direct flights connecting Hanoi with Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul from January 1, with the frequency of one weekly flight each. From January 16, it would operate more direct routes to Hong Kong, Germany and Australia. There would be seven flights a week from Hanoi, HCMC to Hong Kong and two ...