Best Time To Travel To: Vietnam
Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia and extends between 9° to 23° North. The country borders with China, Laos and Cambodia. In addition, Vietnam has coastlines to the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea.
Typical for this region, Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate. From May to September, the southeast monsoon determines the climate, then from October to April, the northeast monsoon.
The geology of the country is also important for the climate, because Vietnam has some mountainous regions. In the north lies the Yunnan highlands with the highest mountain in the country, Phan-xi-pang (3,144 m).
In the north lies the vast lowlands along the Red River Delta with the city of Hanoi, and in the south lies the Mekong Delta plain with Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), among others.
Climatically, Vietnam is often described as Indo-China in connection with the neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia. In fact, there are some similarities. For example, there is mostly a rainy season during the southeast monsoon between May and September. From October to April during the northeast monsoon it also rains, but not quite as much as during the rainy season.
Roughly speaking, there are three climate zones in Vietnam. There is the somewhat cooler Cloud Pass. It separates, if you will, the north from the south. The north of the country has a subtropical climate with hot summers and mild winters. In the south, on the other hand, it is tropically warm. In the north of Vietnam, one must always expect cloudy and rainy days even in the dry season from October to April. During this time, the south of the country is much drier and sunnier. Typical for the north would be the climate table of Hanoi, for the south that of Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon).
Vietnam is considered the rainiest region in the whole world. Between May and September it gets very humid in the whole country, then it is the time of the southeast monsoon. Thereby it rains, monsoon typical, mostly short but heavy. The only exceptions are Hue, Hanoi and Da Lat. From August to October there are always typhoons and cyclones. The violent winds are then mainly in the north and the center. For Vietnam, it can also be noted that, for example, on the coast and the mountainous regions facing northeast, the main rainy season tends to be between September and January. Relatively typical here would be, for example, the climate of Tourane. Here the rain often falls together with violent typhoons.
Basically, it is true for all of Indochina that in the south the temperatures are quite high all year round, while in the north a slightly cooler phase is noticed during the time of the northern monsoon. This is especially so when the north monsoon brings cool air from China.
Nevertheless, frost and snow are rather rare in Vietnam. Only on the high mountains and there especially in the north it can snow. However, the snow is only a few days a year. In the south of Vietnam, especially the plains are extremely protected. There it is actually always very warm and even the cool northern air rarely reaches these areas.
Basically, the rainy season in Indochina is climatically not very pleasant. Not only that it rains a lot. Due to the heat, there is an enormously high humidity, which makes it very stuffy and oppressive. Even at the coast and in the higher altitudes it is not really pleasant in the country during this time.
when is the best time to travel to Vietnam
The best time for the north is between November and May. The months of December and January are often singled out. Then there is less rain and it is not quite so hot - restricting one must say however that it can become somewhat cooler in the time. The best time to travel to the south is from November to January. In central Vietnam, the monsoon prevails in the period from August to December in the northeast with sometimes strong typhoons. It then often comes to heavy flooding. This can be quite extreme in Hue and the surrounding area. Basically, for the provinces of Central Vietnam and the Mekong Delta and for some provinces in the south of Vietnam, it had to be noted that between June and October there can be heavy storms and large-scale flooding. Therefore, the best time to travel to Central Vietnam is probably between February and May. The central highlands are cooler overall (between 20 and 25 degrees during the day). At night it gets even cooler. The rainy periods in the highlands can be long lasting. The driest period and optimal travel time for the central highlands is between December and March
