It would take you several weeks to explore all of the mighty Mekong Delta. But for a taste of just some of its 4000 kilometres spend a day floating down the fern-fringed canals around My Tho, where you’ll stop off at stilt houses and small villages.

It’s impossible to overstate the beauty of Ha Long Bay. The soaring limestone pillars of Vietnam’s top tourist attraction create a truly cinematic landscape, one that you’ll have plenty of time to gaze up at on an overnight boat ride through the world heritage site.

Cyclos might be geared to tourists these days but a ride in one is still a quintessential Vietnamese experience. The cycle rickshaws will take you through the backstreets in style, showing you a side of the city you won’t find on the main roads.

At 1400 metres above sea level, the view of the treetops from Vietnam’s Golden Bridge is pretty spectacular. But it’s the bridge itself, which appears to be held up towards the sky by a pair of giant stone hands, that makes this a must-visit.

The heart of Hanoi is its old quarter, where temples, pagodas, French colonial buildings and noodle vendors line a series of impossibly narrow streets. Spend a day meandering here to soak up the city’s old-world charm.

On practically every street corner in Vietnam you’ll find a vendor selling pho, the country’s ubiquitous noodle soup. Load up on chilli, fresh herbs, lime juice and bean sprouts and spend your trip on the hunt for the perfect bowl.

Nowhere in Vietnam is better suited to cycling than Hoi An. The compact and relatively quiet streets of the town are easy to explore on two wheels, while outlying rice paddies and the pristine shores of An Bang Beach are less than half hour away by bike.

The sand dunes at Mui Ne look like they belong in the Sahara, not South-East Asia, which is precisely why you need to see them up close. Rent a plastic sled to glide down the dunes on or find a spot on the sand and settle in for a dazzling sunset.

Smack bang on the border with China is Ban Gioc, a massive multi-level waterfall worth the trip north. Ride a bamboo raft up to the falls to feel the spray and you’ll return soggy but happy.

Dragons, vivid pastels and a giant "divine eye" sculpture adorn the Cao Dai Holy Temple, where worshippers blend Buddhist, Taoist and Confucianist beliefs. Onlookers can watch the daily prayers from an upstairs balcony, the perfect vantage point to the brain-bending architecture below.  

Twice a day, a passenger train rattles down an impossibly narrow residential street in Hanoi. Be there at 3.30pm or 7.30pm to watch – from a safe viewing point – as residents move washing lines and toys off the tracks to let the locomotive through.

There’s no shortage of places to top up your tan in Vietnam. Relax on the beaches a 10 minute drive outside of Hoi An, enjoy the nightlife in coastal capital Nha Trang or for true bucolic bliss, catch the ferry out to unspoilt paradise of Phu Quoc Island.

Vietnam’s biggest city is a dizzying metropolis full of street food vendors, massage parlours, bustling markets and nonstop traffic. Don’t try and fight the madness – give in to Ho Chi Minh’s pulsating rhythm and you’ll quickly fall in love.

The tranquil north-east corner of Vietnam feels a world away from the action of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Come here to trek, visit villages and by awed by the region’s terraced rice fields, which are most spectacular during the harvest season between June and October.

Mangoes, iced coffee, steaming bowls of pho, electrical goods and even live animals can be found for sale at the incredible floating markets of the Mekong Delta. Explore them on small sampan boats for a unique shopping experience.

Forget about flat whites – the Vietnamese take their coffee strong and sweet. The country’s unique take on the morning cup (which is drip filtered then topped off with lashings of condensed milk) has been exported to the world so it’s only right to enjoy the real thing where it began.

You’re never far from a pagoda in Vietnam, where the faithful go to make offerings and receive blessings. Visit the laughing Buddha at Linh An Tu, explore the cave temples of beautiful Bich Dong or see Hanoi’s historic Perfume Pagoda for a look at the country’s spiritual heart.