THE 10 BEST Vietnam National Parks (with Photos) – Tripadvisor

Brisbane, nước Australia26 contributions

Moto Hires

Cat Ba is very tourist orientated and English is comparatively wide spread – which is a bit of a rarity in many places in VN. January is off season and prices are pretty cheap but it is really a bit chill for any sort of water sport bar cruising.

There are plenty of moto hires from 80k and up. 80k will get you a battered old Yamaha Neuvo, a Honda will cost you more. But the opportunities for long distance motorbike trips are pretty limited so the 80k ones are alright. However …

The one we rented had barely enough petrol to get us 100 meters – literally, it conked out just around the corner from the bike rental! “Conveniently”, there were an abundance of small stalls flogging off petrol at double the bowser cost on the side of the road.

I have done thousands of k’s on moto’s in Vietnam including many hires so something smelt fishy. So instead of paying the inflated prices, we called the rental guy, who came within 5 minutes, which was good, and declared we were out of fuel, asking why we had not purchased any!

Anyway, there is a Petrolimix public gas station about 200 meters up the port road. There is another on the way out to the ferry port. Going price at the time of writing is 20k a litre – not the 40k they ask on the roadside (and god knows the quality there).

You do not need to fill to the brim. Put 50k (2.5 liters) and if you need more, there are at least several stations about the place.

Review of: Cat Ba IslandWritten January 20, 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

Paris, France4 contributions

Amazing

Beautiful cave, I take the conquer 4,5 km in deepest Phong Nha Cave by kayak with local guide. Very fresher and cool, the cave amazing .

Review of: Phong Nha CavesWritten October 27, 2022This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .

Essen, Germany52 contributions

More information on how to hike / discover Bach Ma national park

Since there is little information on how to discover Bach Ma national park and hike its trails on your own I‘d like to share my experience.

We rented a car (4seats) with a driver from Hue for a whole day. This cost us 2 Million Dong without the park entrance (60k Dong per Person).
At first we tried to rent a car to drive ourselves but we could not find a proper car rental.

On the app AllTrails you will find good maps for the most common trails. These can be downloaded and used offline, which is important since there is no cell signal within the park. You could do the trails without a map as well since most of them are marked, but a map helps you to track your progress.

I‘d recommend to wear closed shoes and long socks to protect you against leeches. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that so I was quite plagued by the leeches. The best shoes for the trail would probably be aquasocks, which allow you to cross shallow streams.
Use mosquito repellent!
Pack at least 1.5-2l of water to rehydrate. Take some food with you.

From the park entrance our driver took us to the end of the road close to the top (about 45minutes to drive) from where you‘ll take an easy concrete trail to the summit (about 20-30 minutes to walk). Here you will find a huge peace bell, summit tower and can enjoy the view over the jungle like forest.

Behind the summit tower you will spot the entrance to a trail, which leads you back down to the road and the entrance to the start of the five lake trail which is behind the restaurant (if you‘re heading downhill on the left and uphill on the right).

The trail from the summit tower back down to the road isn’t well maintained, but it’s still a moderate hike (about 45minutes). Every once in a while there’s a tree that fell across the path. There’s lots of foliage on the ground and lots of leeches.

Instead of hiking this portion you could also return to the end of the road and ask your driver to drop you at the entrance of the five lake trail.

The five lake trail was the highlight of our hike. It is in a decent condition and feels like an adventure playground since you hike along a stream or have to cross it every now and then using big boulders and ropes to hold on to to help you balance your steps. Still the five lake trail challenges you quite moderately.
We did our hike in September and the river didn’t carry much water. I wouldn’t recommend hiking the trail in the rainy season since the stones are covered with moos and might become slippery.

Most important: the five lake trail leads you along beautiful waterfalls, little ponds with crystal clear icecold water and through a lush tropical forest. Take your time and enjoy the hike. You could probably hike this part in 1h, but I recommend planing more time since this is the highlight.

At the end of the five lake trails the trail becomes the rhododendron trail. This part is paved and leads to the top of Do Quyen waterfall after an easy walk of about 30 minutes.

The waterfall drops 300m. Enjoy the view.

At this point I‘d advice against hiking down the trail, which leads to the bottom of the waterfall, which we did. This trail is in desolate and dangerous condition. Most of the hand rail along the very steep moos covered steps collapsed, the parts that didn’t collapse yet are rusty and not stable enough to hold on to. My girlfriend found this part unbearable and I found it highly challenging. After our previous hike this was too much and it wasn’t really worth it.

From the top of waterfall there’s a paved path which leads you back to the road and kilometer 16, where our driver picked us up.

Review of: Bach Ma National ParkWritten September 17, 2022This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

Tissamaharama, Sri Lanka524 contributions

Beautiful forest

If you are staying on Cat Ba Island for a couple of days this is definitely worth a visit to get an impression of the forest on the steep rocks. We took a taxi to the park. We chose the path to climb Ngu Lam peak – which is what most people do. The path is excellent, all done with rocks and concrete. There were no leeches. However, it is going up quite a bit, involving many stairs. I would not recommend sandals, but huge hiking boots are not necessary. There is a small building on top from which you have a phantastic 360 degree view. The path goes a little bit further from there to another peak where you also have a nice view. Then it goes back down more or less the same way. Just follow the arrows, no map needed. We didn’t see many animals, certainly not the famous monkeys. The forest is too dense and the birds to shy. The few birds we saw were at the bottom near the houses – the ones that used to people. The park entrance ticket is also valid for a cave 1 km down the road. Tell your taxi ( if it is also taking you back ) in advance that you will also see the cave. Ours tried to get more money for that. The cave has some nice spots in it and is worth a visit. It won’t take long at all. The entire trip tooks us about 4.5 hours .

Review of: Cat Ba National ParkWritten July 27, 2022This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

5 contributions

Nice Day Trip

The Cave of Prehistoric Man was incredible and a lot bigger than I was expecting, don’t forget to bring a torch ! There was also a nice trek to the oldest tree which was nice .

Review of: Cuc Phuong National ParkWritten December 10, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .

Miami, FL381 contributions

Stunning flora and fauna

Had an amazing trip to Pumat natural park for 3 days for trekking and staying at local ethnic homestay which is unique and cozy. We falled in love with green tropical nature, biodiversity here with a lot of wild animals. We’re almost alone during covid outbreak !

Review of: Pu Mat National ParkWritten November 16, 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .

Ashford, UK277 contributions

Limited access

This was part of one of our Island trips. Nothing really to shout about as access is very limited as the army take up most of the forest. Being a keen bird watcher I thought this will come up trumps, no it didn’t I heard one bird singing in the distance. Thank goodness our guide was able to make the walk interesting with his knowledge of the forest. One good thing the shade was much appreciated .

Review of: Phu Quoc National ParkWritten February 1, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .

Hanoi, Vietnam30 contributions

Wonderful land near Hanoi

Although located 50 km from the capital Hanoi, Tam Dao has a temperate climate.
Cool all year round. From Hanoi to Tam Dao, follow the Highway Hanoi – Lao Cai and turn to Vinh Phuc province.

Tam Dao has beautiful scenery and is a national park so it has diverse flora. This is also a short-term resort with specialties as green vegetables and chickens and fish

Review of: Tam Dao National ParkWritten March 18, 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .

Beersheba, Israel13 contributions

Amazing site

Breathtaking view. We rented a boat that took us to the stalactite cave, the Hindu temple for lunch and a trip to the waterfall. The waterfall is disappointing and can be given up. You can request a boat custom to stop to swim

Review of: Ba Be National ParkWritten October 16, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .

Hong Kong, Nước Trung Hoa126 contributions

Good for half-day getaway from Hanoi

The hike to the temple at the top is quite easy. Good for a quick getaway as the air is refreshing. However nothing much special here so if you want to be properly touristy, maybe this is not your best choice .

Review of: Ba Vi National ParkWritten May 3, 2022This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

18 contributions

Lots of wildlife on Dam Tre walk

We were planning on doing the So Ray walk, and rented a motorbike and went up to the ticket office, which was really easy to find. The So Ray walk was closed because the military were there, so we opted for the Dam Tre walk instead, we motorbiked up to the start of the walk which is near the airport. There is a sign for Dam Tre bay which helps to know where to come off the main road.

The walk itself is ok, not that strenuous. The bay at the end was a real shame, it had loads of rubbish and oil covered a lot of rocks, it’s not clean enough to swim or go in the water.

I gave it a 4 star because we saw a lot of wildlife, and in my opinion this made it all worth it. We saw loads of crabs on the beach, coming out of the holes they’ve dug and scuttling down the beach, 2 black squirrels, butterflies, birds, lizards and monkeys. The monkeys didn’t bother us at all, they stayed up in the trees, we even saw a baby one!!

The walk took us roughly 90 minutes each way

Review of: Con Dao National ParkWritten January 22, 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

Rach Gia, Vietnam45 contributions

National Park in need of TLC

This park is quite hard to find but Google maps got it in the end (car GPS stopped us some distance away).
It’s a very flat area as most are in this corner of Vietnam, and lots of water. Very quiet on the two occasions we’ve visited, and not really surprisingly because it isn’t a gem.
However, if you want to see some undeveloped Vietnam, see some monkeys and a bit of bird life, have a boat trip down the canals and have a meal and a drink, then it’s worth a visit.
Unfortunately the boats are those with the long prop shafts and they’re pretty noisy so tend to scare the birds.
Plenty of monkeys to welcome you and of course everything is at effectively local prices so entry, refreshment, lunch with beer if you want, all about AUD 30 for 3 people.
And a lot of local interest villages on the way….oh, and the worst roads !
Still, worth a visit.

Review of: U Minh Thuong National parkWritten October 4, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

Rotterdam, The Netherlands6 contributions

Kon Ka Kinh – off the beaten track

I visited Kon Ka Kinh in Jan 2018. It was my favorite destination in Vietnam. In flew in via Pleiku. It proved difficult to find information on the park ; acces, permit, guides etc. By asking around I found the Gia Lai Eco tourist office, ( 82 Hung Vuong st, Pleiki ) the only office with English speaking agents in Pleiku. It seemed I was the only visitor during my period there. I was blown away by the service by miss Anh and Nga from the office. Not only did they help me with all that comes with visiting the park, they invited me for dinner, English lessons for the kids, etc. Kon Ka Kinh park is about 70 km from Pleiku. I went by bike ( about 1.5 h drive ). Make sure to have arranged a guide and permits in advance. It might be a problem in you havent. I tracked through the jungle for two days with a guide ( 400 – 500 VND per day incl guide ) and stayed overnight in the park ( 200 – 300 VND ). I had dinner with the park staff. Kon Ka Kinh is truly primary jungle. The fauna is amazing and multiple endangered animal species live in the park .

Review of: Kon Ka Kinh National ParkWritten January 12, 2018This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

Vietnam107 contributions

What a huge và beautiful natural lake

It’s a gud idea to come here for relaxing with the natural. Driving on the road here is also an amazing experience. You can rent the boat for visiting many small islands in farther.
400.000VND/ boat.

Review of: Ben En National ParkWritten November 10, 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on trình làng .

Encinitas, CA88 contributions

Better accommodation that expected

Having read a previous rating my level of expectation was quite low as to the accommodations. Was the room and bathroom spotlessly clean–no, but it was certainly acceptable. Although I did not see mosquitos in the room appropriate netting was provided. Although not as powerful as some the aircon did work and the fan worked quite well. Food at restaurant was decent. Only spent one night and one excellent morning of birding in the park .

Review of: Yokdon National ParkWritten April 17, 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor thành viên and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on ra mắt .