Sam Son is a beach city in northern Vietnam, 16 km east of Thanh Hoa City (which is 150 km south of Hanoi). It’s not the sort of place that’s listed in Lonely Planet (I checked my 2018 edition), and that’s fair enough. With hundreds of kilometres of beaches to choose from in Vietnam, you […]
Scenic Ninh Binh – The Trang An Landscape Complex
The Trang An Landscape Complex is the name for what most people just refer to as Ninh Binh. That’s the official UNESCO World Heritage name, while in Vietnam it’s the more superfluous Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. Ninh Binh is also the name of the capital city of the province of the same name, though […]
Notes on Thanh Hoa – A provincial capital in the North Central Region of Vietnam
Thanh Hóa is the capital of Thanh Hoa Province, about 150 km directly south of Hanoi. Like Tuy Hoa on the South Central Coast of Vietnam, Thanh Hoa doesn’t get a lot of tourism traffic. I got a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Thanh Hoa as it’s the closest airport to Ninh Binh. […]
Notes on Quy Nhon – an emerging beach city in Vietnam (2020 trip report)
Quy Nhon is a provincial capital in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. I was last in Quy Nhon in 2018, and a 2020 visit wasn’t on my travel radar until I visited the beaches of Phu Yen to the south. After visiting Phu Yen it made more sense to go to Quy Nhon […]
Vinh Hoa Beach – An idyllic small beach getaway in Vietnam
Vinh Hoa Beach is near a fishing village of the same name in Phu Yen Province, on the south-central coast of Vietnam. It’s not near any major city, so it’s best to describe is as being approximately half way between Quy Nhon and Tuy Hoa. If those cities are obscure to you, it’s about half […]
Notes on Tuy Hoa – Just the right amount of nothing much to do
Tuy Hoa is the provincial capital of Phu Yen province on the south-central coast of Vietnam, about half way between Quy Nhon and Nha Trang. I arrived in Tuy Hoa to visit the beaches of Phu Yen. Rather than heading straight to the coast, I stayed to explore the city. There’s not much to do […]
Comparing the beach neighbourhoods of Da Nang and Hoi An
Da Nang and Hoi An are becoming increasingly popular as bases for digital nomads. The two cities are connected by the same long stretch of sandy beach, and if you stand on the beach of Hoi An you can see the burgeoning Da Nang skyline. There are two beach neighbourhoods in particular that have become […]
Visiting Hoi An without international tourists
Hoi An is one of the most charming little cities in Southeast Asia. Having personally travelled to most of the famous tourist sights in the region I can confirm that there are few places that can match its beauty. As such, Hoi An has become one of the overtourism hotspots of Southeast Asia, and by […]
The Future Southeast Asia Newsletter: news on transport and infrastructure in Southeast Asia
Regular readers of Nomadic Notes may know that I run another site at Future Southeast Asia (previously known as Living In Asia), where I write about urban design, construction, infrastructure, and transport in Asia. I already write a lot about cities in Asia at Nomadic Notes, but I needed a new home where I can […]
Bang Saen – The closest beach to Bangkok
Bang Saen Beach in Chonburi Province is just over 100 km east of Bangkok. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s because it’s not a beach that would make it on a “top ten beaches of Thailand” listicle, let alone top 100. In Thailand though it’s a popular beach destination, especially for Bangkokians who want […]
