A backpacker’s guide to Nha Trang, Vietnam

Nha Trang in Vietnam is a bit of an oddball for the average traveller. Its nice beaches are a major draw for holidaymakers, but as for backpackers? It’s another story.

I visited Nha Trang in November 2023 and had mixed feelings. Other backpackers I’d met had already shared similar sentiments, so I can’t say I was surprised!

I’ve prepared this backpacking guide on Nha Trang following my trip. It contains practical information about how to visit, such as what to do and where to stay, as well as my honest thoughts about whether it’s even worth a visit in the first place. I hope it’ll help you in your trip planning, even if only to help you decide to give it a miss.

About Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a coastal city in Southeastern Vietnam.

I first heard about Nha Trang because of its long beautiful beach, which makes it a prime holiday destination for tourists. However, it’s also known for its diving, which was the main attraction for us.

Nha Trang as a tourist destination

If you go to Nha Trang, you’ll find it fills a niche for a particular group of tourists: the Russians. In most of Vietnam, Russian tourists are just one of many groups that are visiting; in Nha Trang, they are the dominant group.

You’ll find many signs in dual Vietnamese and Russian (often with English too) and Russian-speaking tour guides and agencies. Lou and I got mistaken for Russian several times, where guides automatically gave us the sales pitch in that language (awkward).

Why? Nha Trang is a popular mass tourism destination in Russia, with direct flights and visa-free travel. As more and more people have visited from the country, it’s become more of an enclave tailored to the Russian experience, in a self-affirming cycle.

Also, there used to be a naval port used by Russia at Cam Ranh, a city down the road, which no doubt helped it get going as a tourist destination.

As with most other touristy cities in Vietnam, you’ll also find lots of Korean and Chinese tourists.

Nha Trang as a backpacker destination

Nha Trang is on the radar for backpackers, but often it is ultimately discarded. I’ve heard it described as “having a weird vibe” with “not much to do”.

To be honest, I can understand this viewpoint. I won’t say here that Nha Trang is the perfect Vietnamese tourist city – it isn’t. I wouldn’t go back if I visited Vietnam a second time!

The fact is, the tourist area of Nha Trang doesn’t feel like Vietnam. You get the impression it was built for tourists, probably quite recently, as it’s mainly high-rise buildings. There is little Vietnamese style or influence, and, aside from workers, very few Vietnamese people in this area as well.

What’s the point in visiting a place that doesn’t feel like the country it’s in?

The draws of Nha Trang

However, not all is lost. There are several appealing aspects for a visit to Nha Trang.

The top one has to be its beach. It’s long, wide and sandy, stretching on for miles. It’s lined with palm trees, which makes it perfect for tourists who don’t want to rent a sunlounger, and has plenty of space and room for everyone. Plus, it’s right next to the tourist area, so you can roll off the beach, into your hotel, and out for the night.

That being said, its beach wouldn’t be for everyone. I didn’t like the sea, which was cloudy and had a break close to the shore, making swimming difficult. Arguably there are better destinations for beaches, especially if you’re doing a multi-country trip.

However, the biggest draw for us was the diving. Nha Trang is known for being one of the best places in Vietnam to go scuba diving – although, as Vietnam is not known for its corals, this isn’t as positive as it sounds! There still are corals and interesting things to see, but don’t expect the diversity you’d see in nearby countries like Thailand or Indonesia.

Is it worth a visit?

Whether Nha Trang is worth a visit depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re into diving, the city makes a good stop – we liked our dive trip and thought it justified our visit.

However, if you’re visiting lots of places in the region, you’ll find better beaches elsewhere. I’m not sure I’d travel to Nha Trang just for the beach!

And if you’re wanting an authentic Vietnamese experience, don’t expect to get that in Nha Trang.

Ratings

As part of this blog, I give every place I visit a rating so that I can easily compare destinations and decide whether they’re worth a visit. Those are the scores you see at the top of the page!

This is how Nha Trang rated:

• Accessibility: 5/5 – Nha Trang is easy to get to, with flight and rail links. The town itself is reasonable for accessibility.
• Safety: 5/5 – I felt pretty safe in Nha Trang.
• Enjoyment: 3/5 – there isn’t that much to do in the city, and the experience doesn’t feel authentic or Vietnamese in the slightest.
• Value: 3/5 – Nha Trang is fairly expensive compared to other areas of Vietnam, although accommodation is affordable.

If you’ve already visited, let me know if you agree with these ratings! Just to note, the ratings are my personal opinion based on my visit, so you might have a completely different experience.

How to get to Nha Trang

Getting to Nha Trang is pretty easy:

1. By plane: there are a range of domestic connections to Nha Trang, and direct flights operate from cities in China and South Korea.
2. By train: Nha Trang is just one of the stops on the long railway line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This is what I did, travelling from Da Nang to Nha Trang on a very long train journey. It was comfortable and easy!
3. By bus: you can get to Nha Trang fairly easily by bus, with direct buses connecting Nha Trang to other destinations. This is what we did to get to Dalat. It would also be a good option if you’re travelling from places a bit further away which aren’t on the railway, such as Hoi An.

Where to eat in Nha Trang

The tourist area of Nha Trang isn’t very Vietnamese and contains mainly Western restaurants and cafes. Whilst you can find Vietnamese restaurants, they’re mostly targeted at a Western audience, so you’ll find inflated prices.

As a result, when I was in Nha Trang, I didn’t really attempt to eat Vietnamese food or find the best local spots. I had plenty of time to do this elsewhere in Vietnam!

Instead, just pick your favourite cuisine and search out the best restaurants. I’d suggest using Google Maps for this, as you can check out the reviews of the places nearest to you.

Here were the places we tried:

• Greek Kitchen – it satisfied our Greek craving!
• Bao Ngon – this restaurant specialises in banh bao (bao buns), which I hadn’t yet gotten round to trying in Vietnam. With their selection of bao with Western flavours (pepperoni bao, anyone?), it wasn’t authentic, but it was super tasty.
• Atelier – this ice cream shop was friendly and calming. I loved the pea flower flavour (although maybe it was because of the pretty blue colour…).
• Perfect Reality – our favourite drinks spot in Nha Trang was this cafe, full of speciality drinks. Lou did a lot of research into cafes with good reviews and reasonable prices, and this one came out on top. The shop gave us Northern Quarter vibes – that is, trendy Manchester / industrial chic – and I loved my banana cacao!
• Banh Mi Phan – this banh mi was possibly the tastiest one I had in Vietnam. Their pate was so good and I particularly liked the grilled meatball option.

Where to stay in Nha Trang

Within Nha Trang, most people stay in the tourist area, a couple of kilometres south of the main centre. It’s along the main beach and has lots of tourist amenities, restaurants, bars and cafes to pick from.

For us, staying in this area meant a relatively stress-free experience. However, this area of Nha Trang felt unlike the rest of Vietnam and is devoid of much of Vietnamese culture and influences. If you want something a little more authentic, I’d suggest exploring other areas of Vietnam and giving Nha Trang a miss.

We stayed at Happy Home Hotel. It’s cheap but comfortable, and the owner is friendly. Plus it’s only 2 mins from the beach!

What to do in Nha Trang

1. Go diving

Nha Trang is known for being one of the top places to dive in Vietnam.

Whilst diving conditions in Nha Trang aren’t the best (as with the rest of Vietnam), personally I think it’s still good enough to warrant a trip. Don’t get me wrong, the visibility can be low, and there isn’t as much to see as in other areas, but the diving here was much better than I expected.

In the waters surrounding Nha Trang, you’ll find small corals and nudibranchs to keep you entertained. There are lots of holes in the rocks you can swim through too.

I’ve written an account of our dive trip in Nha Trang if you’re interested in finding out more.

2. Have a beach day

Nha Trang has a long and popular beach. Whilst this city wouldn’t be my personal first choice for a beach break, I can understand the appeal. The beach is right next to all the tourist amenities, so you don’t have far to go to get back to your hotel, buy a drink or food, and make arrangements for tours and trips.

The beach in Nha Trang is of a decent quality. I like that most of the main stretch is lined with palm trees, so there’s a lot of shade. There are also lots of gaps in terms of sunlounger coverage so you don’t have to rent a sunlounger if you don’t want to.

The water itself is a bit choppy – too choppy for swimming in my opinion, although plenty of visitors were attempting it! The beach drops off steeply so there are angry waves from a shallow depth.

3. Visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers

Nha Trang and the wider region of South Vietnam once belonged to Champa, a Hindu kingdom in existence between the 4th and 13th centuries.

The Cham built many temples across Vietnam, such as My Son Sanctuary near Hoi An and the Thap Doi Towers in Quy Nhon, although many were destroyed in the Vietnam-American war. Nha Trang has its own temple in the form of the Po Nagar Cham Towers. You’ll find four towers, plus the remaining pillars from a meditation hall.

As it’s only a couple of kilometres from the tourist area, you can take a Grab or taxi to visit it. The site isn’t that big so it only took around 1 hour to visit. I’d recommend it if you’re interested in the history of the area.

4. Explore the Dam Market

Many blogs and tours of Nha Trang suggest a visit to Dam Market, the biggest in Nha Trang. Here you’ll find clothes, household items, groceries and dried goods all on sale.

If you are interested in markets, perhaps it’s worth a visit. However, I didn’t like the vibe. When we visited at 12 pm, it was very quiet with only tourists present. Whilst I know markets are normally busiest in the early morning, I didn’t get the feeling this market was very popular with locals…

It didn’t feel worth the time we spent to visit it!

5. Browse the stalls at the night market

Close to the beach stretch you’ll find a little night market which appears in the evening. Visiting it only took us 15 minutes. The market was super busy and full of tourists.

Most stalls at the night market sell souvenirs. Make sure to bargain to make sure you get a good price!

6. Visit the Hon Khoi Salt Fields

If you are visiting Nha Trang in the earlier months of the year, it’s worth looking into a visit to the Hon Khoi Salt Fields. In the area around this village, salt is made using traditional processes, where saltwater is spread on fields and left to evaporate.

The Hon Khoi Salt Fields are around 40 km from Nha Trang so they aren’t the easiest to get to; however, in season, you could probably join a tour to get there.

We visited Nha Trang in November when it was off season, so no salt was being produced. I would’ve loved to visit if we were in the city in the right month.

7. Take a day at VinWonders Nha Trang

On Hon Tre Island just off the coast of Nha Trang, you’ll find VinWonders, a theme park with all sorts: rides, a waterpark, an aquarium, a hotel… It certainly lights up the beach with its multicoloured wheel!

It’s also home to the world’s longest seafaring cable car. It’s been shut since 2021 though so this one might be hard to tick off your very niche bucket list.

Conclusion

Nha Trang is a city which certainly splits opinions. Its beach is great for a relaxing holiday, but for anything more than that, it misses the bill. If you want to experience Vietnamese culture, give Nha Trang a miss!

When there are so many other great places in Vietnam for backpackers, I would personally skip the city on your itinerary.

Would you want to visit Nha Trang? Let me know in the comments!

If your plans take you elsewhere in Vietnam, also check out my guides to Hoi An, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City