Offering both captivating cities and time-forgotten countryside, Vietnam always rewards exploration. In this exclusive extract from Where to Go When, your guide to the most amazing places in the world and the best time of year to visit them, we find out why Vietnam is the perfect getaway in November, when the start of the dry season brings uninterrupted pleasant days…

Where To Go When

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With a blend of mesmerizing sights, sounds, smells and tastes that is like no other, Vietnam delivers adventure and sensory overload. This is a land of picture-postcard images: a scattering of bobbing conical straw hats dotting a patchwork landscape of emerald rice fields; graceful girls in their elegant ao dai dresses, zipping around cities on motorcycles; and the dizzying colours of a Cao Dai temple.

From a rich civilization with deeply held traditions has risen a country that has seen the future, and rushed headlong into it. The past, however, is always remembered, whether it be at ancient temples or the poignant sites of terrible 20th-century wars.

In contrast to other parts of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta seems untouched by time. The pace of life is slow in this lush, watery world of rice paddies, fish farms and floating markets, where an intricate web of canals links tiny green islands on which all manner of tropical fruits grow.

Noisy, vibrant, chaotic and colourful, Ho Chi Minh City dazzles, with its French colonial architecture and striking modern buildings. Tiny cafés line traffic-clogged streets, the smells of aromatic spices waft from countless restaurants and food stalls. At the end of a long day of exploration, enjoy an evening drink at the balcony bar of a high-rise hotel and watch the city light up in a riot of neon.

Plan a trip January-February to take part in Vietnam’s extravagant Tet (Lunar New Year celebrations).

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