Safety in Vietnam: what overland travellers should know
Our summary of the country advice published by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Viaggiare Sicuri) on 6 September 2026.
Safety
- Restricted zones — The authorities can close parts of the country for public-order and internal-security reasons: military and border areas, and places of political, economic or cultural significance, including some ethnic-minority areas in the Central Highlands (Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Quang Ngai provinces). They are signposted "Khu vuc cam" or "Dia diem cam" and foreigners may only enter with a permit from the Immigration Authority of the Ministry of Public Security or its provincial equivalent.
- Mines and unexploded ordnance — Unexploded ordnance and mines still cause often fatal accidents, especially in the central provinces and in Quang Tri in particular. Stay off untrodden tracks and do not pick objects up.
- Paracel and Spratly Islands — Access to the disputed Paracel and Spratly archipelagos is closed to foreigners.
- Typhoons — Exceptional rain falls between June and October or November, and typhoons hit roughly July to November — sometimes into December in the centre of the country — bringing landslides, mudslides and flooding. November to March is the driest and most comfortable window.
- Arbitrary fines — There are cases of foreigners stopped arbitrarily by police and made to pay a fine for a minimal or non-existent irregularity. Officers rarely speak any foreign language, so dealing with them without an interpreter is hard.
- Crime — Public order is stable and crime is contained, with thefts and pickpocketing. Phones and smartphones are snatched from mopeds off pedestrians standing on the pavement.
Before you rely on this
This is our summary of advice written by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Italian travellers, published on 6 September 2026. We summarise in good faith, but we cannot guarantee it is accurate, current or complete, and we take no responsibility for decisions made on the basis of it. Rules change without notice and are applied by officials at the border, not by websites. Always read the original source and the travel advice your own government publishes for Vietnam before you travel. GuideMeet has no way of checking whether an individual guide meets any standard mentioned here — ask them directly.
Source: Viaggiare Sicuri — Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, updated 6 September 2026. Last checked by GuideMeet on 2026-09-20.