Vinh Long Travel Guide

General Information

Located in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam, Vinh Long, the same capital name, covers the area of 1,475 km² and also is the homeland of 1,023,400 people. The province is bounded by Tien Giang to the north, Ben Tre to the east, Tra Vinh to the eastern south, Can Tho to the west and Dong Thap to the western north.

To access Vinh Long, roadway and waterway are all available. The total length of roadway is 260km, including 5 national highways (No.1, 53, 54, 57, 80) and 5 provincial roadways (No.902, 903, 905, 906). Besides, thanks to the system of 342km waterway with 13 main rivers and many channels, connects between Vinh Long and other provinces are being more and more convenient.

Vinh Long is rich in culture which is the high potentiality for tourism with 450 relics, including 10 relics known as national relics of culture and history and 32 provincial relics of culture and history. Some can be listed such as Cong Than, That Thu temple, Thanh Tinh Ngoc Son Quang, ancient pagodas in Tra On, Tan Hoa communal house, An Binh isle etc.

Vinh Long is characterized as a flat region with the large area of alum soil which is more fertile than the soil in other surrounding provinces. The alluvial here is built by Tien and Hau rivers. With the abundance in quantity and quality of alluvial, the cultivation has more than two paddy crops annually. Also, this brings full benefits in many sizable fruit orchards in this area. It is not surprising that the name Vinh Long is translated to ‘eternal prosperity’.

If visitors plan for a day trip to Mekong Delta, Vinh Long should be put in your booklet as a must-come place. Coming to there, visitors have a chance to walk among the trees, relax in hammocks, try all kinds of delicious tropical fruits in the gardens of An Binh and Binh Hoa Phuc islands. Some popular places are Mr.Sau Giao’s Flower Garden, Mr. Muoi Day’s Stilt-House and Mr. Hai Hoang’s Old House.

Vinh Long Weather

Like other provinces in Mekong Delta, the best time to travel to Vinh Long is from September to December. It is the floating season here, thus, you can enjoy a pleasant climate, go fishing, and sample mouth-watering fish dishes.

Getting to Vinh Long

Vinh Long is 70 km from Mytho, 34km from Can Tho and 136km from Ho Chi Minh city. There are always buses from Vinh Long to Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, My Tho, Long Xuyen, Sa Dec, Rach Gia and other Mekong Delta destinations and vice versa. Within the province, the bus system is 5km long from the center of Vinh Long. Apart from buses, there are boats to some surrounding destinations and Tam Nong in Dong Thap, Cho Lach in Ben Tre, Cai Be in Tien Giang, and Song Doc in Ca Mau on your tour to Southern Vietnam.

What to See in Vinh Long

Don Ca Tai Tu Show

Vinh Long is featured as the province of both tangible and intangible heritage. The most popular intangible value is Don Ca Tai Tu show, which is a not-to-be-missed activity of most travelers when traveling to Vietnam.

‘Don ca tai tu’ is a typical and traditional form of music performance in Southern Vietnam in general and in Vinh Long province in particular. It has also been recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. To implement the Government policy, the local committee has been conducting many measures to preserve and utilize heritage values for socio-economic development, particularly in tourism and culture. Through years, ‘Don ca tai tu’ has been proving its powerful vitality as the major part in local people’s daily lives. The show has been performed at big events, like death anniversaries, birthday celebrations, weddings, and public gatherings. To perform this type of music, the instruments are used to accompany singers who perform many tones of emotion through beautiful and tormenting rhythms.

An Binh Island

An Binh is a top choice among many domestic and international tourists looking for a tropical getaway. You will have an opportunity to contemplate the gentle beauty from natural landscapes and discover the uniqueness of indigenous people.

Hiring a small boat to float on the system of the interlaced river, you find yourself lost in the fruit orchards with both sides of deep blue rows of willow. The soil here is very fertile and populous with fresh water which benefits many types of fruit such as rambutan, mango, longan, durian, and sapodilla, etc. Coming here, all the noise, hurry and bustle of the urban life will be dispelled to be replaced by the smooth, soft and comfortable feelings from watching peaceful sceneries in the countryside water. There are some suggested gardens for tourists to come such as Mr. Sau Giao garden, Mr. Muoi Day’s house on stilts, Mr. Hai Hoang ancient house. Besides, tourists can also find other gardens to relax under ‘homestay’ tourism. For example, Mr. Nam Thanh homestay, Mr. Tam Tien homestay, Mr. Ba Linh homestay, etc. Here, the hosts are very willing to invite you to have a meal with typical dishes of water regions such as fried gourami with pieces of fish rolling with basil, star fruit, banana dipped in chili garlic fish sauce, crispy fried spring rolls, etc. and live with the friendly and hospitable locals.

Eco-Tourism zone – Vinh Sang Farm

From An Binh island, tourists can pay a visit to Vinh Sang tourist area to join in exciting activities, namely riding ostriches running on the sand, going fishing crocodile, walking in the unique monkey bridges, cycling around the village, slapping ditch for fishing, spreading the nets, experiencing grass sleds, kayaking along the river, etc.

Vinh Sang farm was built in 2004 by local government with the total investment capital of 12 billion VND and over 2.2ha of raising area. Ostrich-raising zone is the most attractive area for most tourists. Mr. Vinh – the farm’s owner announces that ‘Tourists come here mainly to try such a new game which firstly emerged in the West. Children are the first ones attracted by this game. Some of them even shout out ‘Hugo riding ostriches’ even when they are riding on the real ostriches.” Every year, this farm attracts thousands of tourists, of which international tourists take up from 15-20%.

Vinh Long Temple of Literature and Saints

Vinh Long Temple of Literature and Saints is located on the wide area along Long Ho River, which is one of the three Confucian Temple of literature constructed in southern Vietnam in the 19^th century.

Built from 1864 to 1866 by Phan Thanh Gian, a mandarin of the Nguyen Dynasty, the name of the temple, Van Thanh Mieu, stands for ‘a temple worshiping the holy literary genius’. The person referred to in the name conferred upon Confucius, who is widely known as ‘the eternal teacher’.

The scenery inside the temple brings tourist a pretty feeling of silence and holiness in mind. The spacious area with a straight asphalted road decorated by two lines of old trees and the ancient statues of talented intellectuals on the grounds of the temple puts visitors at ease to contemplate. In March 1991, it was recognized as a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

What to Eat in Vinh Long

Vinh Long is the homeland of various fruits and some serious delicious foods. Followings are some special famous dishes in Vinh Long:

Grapefruit

This kind of fruit is very rich in nutrition. It’s big, sweet and sour, has a lot of meat. You can enjoy grape with the local type of salt mix with dried shrimp.

Cicada

Travelers may feel weird or even scary when being introduced to this food. But do not ever miss the chance to enjoy cicada. According to Oriental medicine, the cicada is used to cure fever, seizures, etc.

Ut fish soup

Appetizers find the best way to enjoy Ut fish is to cook them with spinach growing at fields. This kind of vegetables is self-generated, no need for extra nutrition. Fish meat is fatty, soft. You can enjoy fish with salt, pepper to feel the delicious taste in each bite.

Luc Si Rice paper

There are many diverse types of rice paper upon their using methods such as rice paper rolls, dipped rice paper, sweet rice papers rolls, and baked rice paper. This is 100% handmade product from rice flour without using any chemicals. Appetizers can feel soft and a little salty when tasting this kind of food. For most visitors, rice paper wrapped with shrimp, meat, vegetables, rice noodles, and sauce or soy sauce is the best-served dish ever.