The Vietnam Guides is an independent travel and living resource built by a young Vietnamese team — people who grew up here, left to study and work abroad, and came back with a different set of eyes.
Who we are
Most of us are in our late twenties and early thirties. We had the chance to study or work overseas through our twenties — living in Europe, Australia, North America, and across Southeast Asia — and after a few years of exploring the world, we found ourselves looking back at Vietnam and realising how much of it we hadn’t actually seen.
We started building The Vietnam Guides in the post-COVID years, when tourism was slowly coming back to life and Vietnam was opening itself up again. In a way, we were re-learning our own country for the second time — not as kids growing up in it, but as people who had spent years living the way international travellers and expats live. That perspective changed how we see things here.
We know what it’s like to land somewhere unfamiliar and not know who to trust, where the good food actually is, or how to get somewhere without getting overcharged. We know how much difference it makes to have someone local — not a guidebook, not a review algorithm — point you in the right direction. That’s what we’re trying to be.
What we’re trying to do
Most travel content about Vietnam is written from the outside looking in. Ours is written from the inside, with the perspective of people who have also been on the outside. We want to close that gap — between what regular travellers find and what the authentic experience actually looks like — and make it accessible without making it feel curated or sanitised.
We write about destinations the way a local friend would brief you before you went: what’s worth your time, what’s overrated, where to eat, how transport actually works, what season to avoid, and what nobody tells you until you’re already there.
Beyond tourism, we cover life in Vietnam for expats, digital nomads, and people thinking about retiring here — because that’s a journey we understand personally, and because the gap between “visiting Vietnam” and “living in Vietnam” is larger than most people expect.
What we do
We write and maintain in-depth guides to Vietnam’s cities, regions, and attractions — tested on the ground, updated when things change, and written by people who live in the places they’re describing. Our team is spread across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Hoi An.
We are not a tour operator, we don’t write paid reviews, and we don’t take commissions on hotel recommendations. When we link to tours through our tour platform, those are locally licensed operators we’ve vetted — and the platform exists to help travellers connect with them directly, without a middleman adding a margin.
Our tour platform
Alongside the editorial site, we operate tour.vietnam-guides.com — a directory of licensed local tour operators across Vietnam. It’s not a booking engine with a markup; it’s a place to browse real options and contact operators directly. The best tours come from people who know their destination well and who you can actually speak to before you book.
Contact us
For editorial questions, corrections, or contribution enquiries, email us at admin@vietnam-guides.com.
For tour enquiries, visit the FAQ page or go directly to tour.vietnam-guides.com.