Salzburg

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is Vietnam at its most dizzying: a high-octane city of commerce and culture that has driven the country forward with its pulsating energy. A chaotic whirl, the city breathes life and vitality into all who settle here, and visitors cannot help but be hauled along for the ride.

Notable for its extensive mangrove forest, Can Gio is a low, palm-fringed island sitting at the mouth of the Saigon River, some 25km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City. It was formed from silt washing downstream from the river, so don’t expect any white-sand beaches. A few hopeful resorts have sprung up along the murky 10km shoreline.

Sleepy Bac Ha wakes up for the riot of color and commerce that is its Sunday market, when the lanes fill with villagers who flock in from the hills and valleys. Once the barter, buy and sell is done and the day-tripper tourist buses from Sapa have left, the town rolls over and goes back to bed for the rest of the week.

Vietnam's capital races to make up for time lost to the ravages of war and a government that as recently as the 1990s kept the outside world at bay. Its streets surge with scooters vying for right of way amid the din of constantly blaring horns, and all around, layers of history reveal periods of French and Chinese occupation – offering a glimpse into the resilience of ambitious, proud Hanoians.

Northwest Vietnam, with its rocky, cone-like mountains, high vistas and deep valleys, encompasses some of the most extreme geography in the country – if not all of Southeast Asia. Travelling to the more remote parts of the region takes time and effort, but those short on either can stick around Sapa, the surrounding hills of which are a microcosm of the region as a whole.

Quang Ngai city is something of an overgrown village, so most visitors only drop by for a spot of grazing at lunchtime. The few travelers who venture here for longer usually do so to pay their respects to the victims of the most famous atrocity of the American War at nearby Son My.

Pronounced ‘hway’, this deeply evocative capital of the Nguyen emperors still resonates with the glories of imperial Vietnam, even though many of its finest buildings were destroyed during the American War.

Often referred to as the Ba Be Lakes, Ba Be National Park was established as a national park in 1992. The scenery here swoops from limestone mountains peaking at 1554m down into plunging valleys wrapped in dense evergreen forests, speckled with waterfalls and caves, with the lakes themselves dominating the very heart of the park.

Ha Tien may be part of the Mekong Delta, but lying on the Gulf of Thailand it feels a world away from the rice fields and rivers that typify the region. There are dramatic limestone formations peppering the area, which are home to a network of caves, some of which have been turned into temples. Plantations of pepper trees cling to the hillsides. On a clear day, Phu Quoc Island is easily visible to the west.

Just 3km north of Hoi An, An Bang is one of Vietnam’s most happening and enjoyable beaches. At present there's a wonderful stretch of fine sand and an enormous horizon (with less of the serious erosion evident at Cua Dai), and with only the distant Cham Islands interrupting the seaside symmetry. Staying at the beach and visiting Hoi An on day trips is a good strategy for a relaxing visit to the area.