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Northeast Vietnam includes Halong Bay, one of the region's biggest draws. Reasons to linger after your boat trip include the lesser-known but stunning Bai Tu Long Bay, the intersection of nature and culture that is Ba Be National Park, the otherworldly karst landscapes outside of Cao Bang and the urban options in Haiphong.

Dong Hoi is a pleasantly untouristed port and seaside town. It enjoys an attractive location, clinging to the banks of the Nhat Le River, and has beaches to the north and south. Recently established air links to Haiphong (for Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island) and the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai promise to significantly increase the city's appeal as a destination. Dong Hoi also has excellent transport links to the Phong Nha region.

Welcome to an alternative reality populated by European royalty, film stars and the otherwise rich and secretive. For the average punter not able to afford an uber-luxurious hotel, this place doesn’t exist. Well, at least not before 2017, when the mother-of-all flashpacker retreats opened here on a private bay.

Isolated from the mainland, the Con Dao islands are one of Vietnam's star attractions. Long the preserve of political prisoners and undesirables, they now turn heads thanks to their striking natural beauty. Con Son, the largest of this chain of 15 islands and islets, is ringed with lovely beaches, coral reefs and scenic bays, and remains partially covered in tropical forests. In addition to hiking, diving and exploring deserted coastal roads there are excellent wildlife-watching opportunities, such as the black giant squirrel and endemic bow-fingered gecko.

Rugged, craggy and jungle-clad Cat Ba, the largest island in Halong Bay, has experienced a tourism surge in recent years. The central hub of Cat Ba Town is now framed by a chain of low-rise concrete hotels along its once-lovely bay, but the rest of the island is largely untouched and as wild as ever. With idyllic Lan Ha Bay just offshore, you'll soon overlook Cat Ba Town's overdevelopment.

A popular weekend escape from HCMC, Vung Tau rocks at weekends when beach-starved locals and expats descend in numbers, but it is relatively quiet during the week. The city enjoys a spectacular location on a peninsula, with ocean on three sides; the light and sea air make it a refreshing break from sultry Saigon.

Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2003, the remarkable Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park contains the oldest karst mountains in Asia, formed approximately 400 million years ago. Riddled with hundreds of cave systems – many of extraordinary scale and length – and spectacular underground rivers, Phong Nha is a speleologists’ heaven on earth.

Cat Tien comprises an amazingly biodiverse area of lowland tropical rainforest. The 72,000-hectare park is one of the outstanding natural treasures in Vietnam, a true jungle, and the hiking, mountain biking and birdwatching here are the best in the south of the country. At weekends and public holidays it gets busy with domestic tourists – it's worth calling ahead to book the most popular excursions.

The spectacular karst limestone landscapes around Ninh Binh and Tam Coc are ideal for exploring by boat or bicycle, and there are stellar opportunities for caving and trekking amid the fast-developing travellers' scene of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. Dong Hoi, the coastal gateway to Phong Nha, also has an enjoyable low-key beach scene and good restaurants.

Gateway to the Mekong Delta, My Tho is the capital of Tien Giang province and an important market town – although for the famous floating markets, you’ll need to continue on to Can Tho.