Being a coastal city near Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau is probably one of the most popular beaches for the blue & crystal clear water with sandy beaches. Not only has beautiful beaches, but Vung Tau still has many tourist attractions, amusement parks - entertainment, and countless delicacies from the sea that no food lovers wants to miss.
General Information:
Only about 3 hours drive from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, with a coastline stretching 20km, Vung Tau is one of the favorite destinations of southern tourists. Lying completely out of the mainland like a strip of land, from here, one can see the East Sea both at sunrise and at sunset. Besides the natural landscape values, Vung Tau is also a land with a long historical and cultural tradition.
Coming to Vung Tau, you will have a feeling of peace and comfort with wide and open roads. Below is the blue sea, above are big mountains, small mountains, and pure pagodas... All create a Vung Tau full of magic, a Vung Tau city that is not only peaceful and idyllic but also countless famous landmarks.
Best time to visit Ba Ria - Vung Tau
Located in the tropical monsoon climate of the Southeast, Vung Tau has a typical 2-season climate:
Rainy season: May - October and has a southwest monsoon.
Sunny season: November - April and with northeast monsoon.
The average annual temperature in Vung Tau is 27 degrees, the lowest is 24 degrees and the highest is 30 degrees. It is thanks to this mild weather that Vung Tau becomes a year-round destination for tourists. The advice of Vung Tau travel experiences is that you just need to pay attention not to go on stormy days or rough seas to ensure safety.
One note is that due to its convenient location, Vung Tau is always crowded on weekends, especially during the Tet holiday season, making the cost of services also higher than usual. So, if you want to relax and enjoy your vacation, you should avoid going at these times.
How to get to Ba Ria - Vung Tau
Only 120 km from Saigon, the most convenient way to travel to Vung Tau from the southern provinces is to continue moving to Vung Tau. There are also many other means to get to Vung Tau such as speedboats, coaches, buses, taxis, motorbikes... but the most popular are passenger cars and motorbikes.
By plane
From Hanoi (or from other northern provinces) you can fly to Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City and then go by other means to Vung Tau or you can fly directly to Con Dao:
Fly to Ho Chi Minh City: Flight fare from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is only from 510,000 VND/way. After arriving at Tan Son Nhat airport, domestic airlines such as Jetstar or VietJet have buses to transport tourists from the airport to the coastal city of Vung Tau.
Fly to Con Dao: From Hanoi, you can also choose a direct flight to Con Dao and then move to Ho Chi Minh City. Vung Tau.
From Ben Dam port of Con Dao, you will take a boat to Cat Lo port of Vung Tau with a fare of about 85,000 VND. This is also the ideal experience for those who want to experience traveling by train.
Must-to-see attractions in Ba Ria - Vung Tau
Back Beach
Vung Tau back beach is famous for its beautiful coastline and few big waves, with many hotels and food courts. Therefore, most tourists when traveling to Vung Tau prefer to stay at Back Beach. The back beach also has quite famous Thuy Van street similar to Tran Phu street in Nha Trang, there are quite a few hotels from budget to high-class located on this road.
Front beach
The center of Vung Tau city is located at the front beach, where there are many high-rise buildings and busy shopping areas. Tourists often choose the beach in the back beach area because the front beach is more polluted due to the density of the population and tourists. However, the front beach will be an ideal place for you to watch the sunset or go for a walk.
Long Hai
About 110km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (equivalent to about 2-2.5 hours by motorbike), Long Hai Beach is a favorite resort destination for many tourists. Long Hai has a beautiful beach with clear blue water, long stretches of golden sand and resorts near the sea. In particular, Long Hai sea has a lot of fresh seafood with quite cheap price. Binh Chau hot spring is located on the Long Hai tourist route, which is also an interesting stop for tourists.
Ho Coc - Ho Tram
These two beaches are in Xuyen Moc district, which is an attractive tourist destination for tourists because of the rare primitive wild features. The sea here is clear blue water with sandy bottom all year round, the white sand beach area is wide, the slope is gentle and especially poetic thanks to the rocks located in the beach creating white foam waves.
Suoi O (O Stream)
Suoi O Beach is located in Binh Chau commune, Xuyen Moc district, about 3km from Binh Chau market, on the way towards Binh Chau hot spring. Suoi O Beach has both a freshwater stream and a smooth white sand beach with immense blue sea water. This is one of the rare beaches in Vietnam that has both fresh and salt water.
Con Dao
Con Dao is famous for its clear beach, green coconut trees and white sand that can captivate any visitor. It is easy to understand why Con Dao attracts so many domestic and foreign tourists to enjoy. With unspoiled beauty and untouched by the tourism industry, Con Dao is now a rare tourist paradise in Vietnam.
Tourists are still used to choosing Vung Tau to change the wind at the weekend because its location is very close to the city. HCM. But in addition to the beaches and delicious restaurants, Vung Tau has many interesting tourist attractions for you to explore.
The Statue of Gautama Buddha
Shakyamuni Buddha Statue. Photo: banchanviet
This is a pagoda located on the slopes of Big Mountain of Vung Tau city. The beauty of the temple cleverly combines religious architecture and natural scenery. The most notable is the 19m high octagonal tower and the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha meditating on a lotus built halfway up the mountain, which visitors from afar can admire.
Statue of God with outstretched arms
Statue of Jesus Christ. Photo: dulichbanvatoi
Statue of Christ or Statue of God with arms outstretched on top of Small Mountain of Vung Tau city, built in 1974. This statue is 32 m high, with a span of 18.3 m on a height of 170 m overlooking the sea. Inside, there is a staircase of 133 steps up to the two hands of the statue. The statue can be seen as a similar version of the statue of Jesus with outstretched arms in the city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
White Palace
The beauty of Bach Dinh seen from above. Photo: tripssaving
In 1898, Governor General of Indochina Paul Doumer built Bach Dinh (Villa Blanche) on the foundation of Phuoc Thang fortress, which used to open fire on French warships nearly 50 years ago. Bach Dinh is a 3-storey Roman architecture, 19 m high, with its back leaning against Big Mountain. There are still 19 cannons kept here.
Location: No. 10 Tran Phu Street, Vung Tau City.
Ho May tourist area
This is one of the interesting destinations to explore when coming to Vung Tau. Just ride the cable car to enjoy the scenery, play games comfortably, and also swim in the lake. In particular, this place is an ideal destination for children with a series of games such as airplanes, spinning horses, continuous houses, trains, children's water parks, etc. Children are happy to have fun during their vacation.
Dinh Thang Tam relic site
At this relic site, in addition to Tien Hien and Ong Nam Hai's Tomb, Ba Ngu Hanh Temple also has Ba Temple, located on a small island, lying precariously, protruding in front of the sea. Nghinh Ong Thang Tam Vung Tau Festival is considered one of the spiritual tourism products of Ba Ria Vung Tau, attracting a large number of tourists.
Location: 77A Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Thang Tam Ward, Vung Tau.
Nirvana Vihara
This is one of the most beautiful pagodas in Vung Tau with modern architectural lines. The pagoda "Niet Ban Tinh Xa" also known as the pagoda "Reclining Buddha" was built on the slopes of Small mountain, facing the sea. The pagoda was built in 1969 and inaugurated in 1974 with donations from Buddhists. Venerable Thich Thien Hue represented the construction. This is one of the most beautiful pagodas in Vung Tau with modern architectural lines.
Quan The Am Bodhisattva Temple
Quan The Am Bodhisattva Pagoda seen from the outside. Photo: vietnamtourism
This is a prominent small temple with a 16m-high white statue of Lady Quan Am facing the sea standing on a lotus, holding a Cam Lo vase, with a gentle and virtuous face.
Location: Bodhisattva Quan The Am Pagoda is located on the big mountain road, Vung Tau city, 500m from Dau beach.
Linh Son Ancient Temple
Although not massive or large, Linh Son Co Tu is the oldest temple in Vung Tau. In the main hall, there is a 1.2m high Buddha statue made of gilded stone that is skillfully sculpted to create a compassionate and lively look on the Buddha's face.
Location: 61 Hoang Hoa Tham, Vung Tau.
Vung Tau Lighthouse
Coming here, after following the tunnel built solidly in the two-storey house which is the residence and living place of the lighthouse keepers, you will reach the top of the tower. From here, you can see the whole city of Vung Tau hidden in the mist, the crescent-shaped beaches, the green Minh Dam mountain. Or look down right below, the whole forest of bright porcelain flowers highlights the solidity and solidity of the entire tower cluster.
Location: Located on the top of Nho mountain, Vung Tau city.
Big House (Ong Tran Temple)
Long Son Big House or Ong Tran Temple is an architectural complex of ancient art, made of bricks and tiles and precious woods located in village 5, with a total area of about 2 hectares, divided into three areas: temple worship; meeting house, school, market, Ghe Sam conservation house and Mr. Tran's tomb area.
Location: At the foot of Pineapple mountain, village 5, Long Son commune, Vung Tau.
Museum of Ancient Weapons
Ancient Weapons Museum. Image: wikimapia.org
The World Arms Museum was founded by Mr. Robert Taylor (British nationality) and his wife Nguyen Thi Bong. According to visitors, this is one of the most worth seeing museums in Vietnam. Opened in early 2012, the museum displays 500 life-size dummies, dressed in beautiful military uniforms, representing warriors from all over the world in various periods; More than 1,200 guns, 1,000 ancient swords with history and other interesting stories attached.
Hon Ba
At low tide, visitors can walk to Hon Ba. Photo: panoramio
Hon Ba is a small island, at the foot of the island, the sea waves make white foam very poetic, located outside the sea along Ha Long road around Small Mountain, From Front Beach, through Pineapple Beach to Nghinh Phong Cape. Hon Ba is located about 200m from the foot of Small Mountain. In 1881, Mr. Ho Quang Minh, originally from Central Vietnam, spent money to build a small temple on the island called Mieu Ba.
At low tide, you can follow a rocky path to the island. On the full moon day or the first day, people often go to the island in large numbers to burn incense and pray for good luck at this small temple.
Upside Down House
Model Vung Tau Upside Down House is a 3-storey building, including 2 sightseeing areas and a cafe. The sightseeing area has 7 shooting rooms, each room has about 4 different shooting angles, the rooms are decorated with colors and furniture suitable for actual use needs.
Location: No. 98 Tran Hung Dao, Vung Tau city.
Not only interesting on the outside, but when you step inside, you are even more surprised with all the furniture in the house being reversed. Specifically, you will walk on the roof instead of the floor and the furniture will float above. The upheaval made visitors feel like they were lost in a space station or traveling on a highway. Therefore, anyone who comes here wants to record their interesting photos.
Entrance ticket price: 40,000 VND/person
Opening hours: From 6am to 10pm
Address: No. 66 Co Giang, Ward 4, Vung Tau City
Above, these are all the sharing of Vung Tau travel experiences in 2021: Transportation & sightseeing. Hopefully, it can provide you with complete your next trip in Vung Tau.
