Vietnam Essential guide: Best time to travel (weather + festival by months)

WEATHER OVERVIEW

Vietnam has a tropical monsoon climate, There are two distinct monsoon seasons : the southwest monsoon from April to September brings in wet and humid weather and the northeast monsoon from October to late March or early April brings colder and drier weather. Although Vietnam is small, country's climate is quite diverse, it’s clearly distinguished by the regions:

Northern Vietnam:

Northern Vietnam has four seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter. 

• Spring (about February-March) has drizzling rains and high humidity. 
• Summer (April-July) is hot with high rate of rainfall, daytime temperatures sometimes can reach 36 degree.
• Autumn (August-October) is much more pleasant and with clear sky, lightly wind and mild sunshine.
• Winter (November-January) may have heavy mist and cold weather, the temperature can drop really low in the far north of Vietnam. 

Northern Vietnam includes mountain, plain and sea, so there are places to go anytime of the year. 

Central Vietnam

Central Vietnam is a transferring area between Northern and Southern Vietnam. Because of the long coastal line, this region is affected by the monsoon from Pacific Ocean with high rate of typhoons and floods from July to November.

Southern Vietnam

The temperature in this region remains constant all year (about 25-35 degrees), there’s only two seasons: rainy and dry.

• Rainy season is from April to September, Southern Vietnam, especially Mekong Delta gets plenty of heavy rain and often experience floods.
• Dry season lasts long from October to March is slightly cooler and rarely rainy, the day is longer when the sky is clear and sun shines.

Peak tourism season in Vietnam is from October - March, this is the dry season in both Northern and Southern Vietnam, the weather’s a bit cold and not too sunny. Travelers can choose to enjoy the wonderful scene of streets covered of pink cherry blossoms in Dalat, or the white paradise in Moc Chau when plum flower blooms; wait for snow in Sapa or sunbathe on the sunny beach of Phu Quoc Island; feeling the vibrant holiday’s atmosphere in the cities or relax in a boat trip on Mekong River…. This is definitely the best time to visit Vietnam, because the weather is perfect and each place has its very own beauty to discover. 

The summer is long and hot with the chance of heavy rain, so this is not an ideal time to travel in Vietnam, but you won’t actually see the charm of a tropical country if you don’t visit Vietnam this time of the year. It’s the season to taste delicious tropical fruit right in the garden, or watch the tropical downpour while enjoying hot coffee by the sidewalk, it’s also the flooding season in the South when you can explore the life of the local on water. There are so many interesting things to see and experience in this season. The only thing travelers need to pay attention to is the typhoons that come continuously during the summer months in the Central Coast.

WHERE TO GO EACH MONTH