Phan Thiet Travel Guide

Source: VnExpress

As a decent destination in South Vietnam, Phan Thiet posseses picture-perfect beaches, big sand dunes, and gorgeous sunshine. It is also well-known as a gateway to Mui Ne Town which has been a hidden paradise for beach holidays. In this ultimate Phan Thiet Travel Guide, Vietnam Travel would like to provide you essential information about this destination to plan and enjoy your trip completely.

General Information

Phan Thiet is the capital of Binh Thuan Province, located in the southeast of Vietnam, about 215km from Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon). It is home to nearly 250,000 inhabitants spreading across 4 wards and a vibrant city center. Phan Thiet has long been famous for fishery and fish product manufacturing but thanks to its beautiful beaches and resorts, it is transforming into Vietnam’s latest tourist attraction. The center of Phan Thiet City is around the public Doi Duong Beach in Hung Long and Phu Thuy Wards. You can find shopping malls, lots of restaurants serving local specialty foods and seafood dishes, some hotels in this area. However, Mui Ne, about 10km from Phan Thiet City, is well-known as a tourist town in Phan Thiet with many tourist attractions. There is also full of hundreds of resorts, hotels, homestays, restaurants, shops, and stores.

Weather in Phan Thiet & Best time to visit

Phan Thiet weather is influenced by oceanic climate and tropical monsoon with 2 distinct seasons: dry season and rainy season. The rainy season lasts from May until October. The truth is, even during the rainy season, it doesn’t rain all day long, just 1 or 2 hours so you can still enjoy the good and sunny weather when coming here at this time.

However, it is best to avoid visiting Phan Thiet in July and August – the 2 wettest months of the year. From November to April is the dry season in Phan Thiet when it is sunny and windy and rains do not chance to interrupt your trip.

Thanks to the mild weather with the average annual temperature of 26-27°C and little thunderstorms, Phan Thiet is a perfect destination to travel all year round. However, the ideal time to visit Phan Thiet is from January to May when the beaches are the most beautiful with clear sky, vast blue water, yellow sand.

Where to Stay

Beach resorts, hotels, homestays and guesthouses are mainly located in Mui Ne area (10km from Phan Thiet center) since it is nearby many tourist attractions in Phan Thiet. There is a wide range of accommodation from friendly budget to high-end that satisfy any customers’ needs. You can also choose to stay in the center of Phan Thiet City with many standard accommodation options.

Below are some suggested hotels in Mui Ne for your consideration:

– Novela Mũi Né Resort & Spa
– Blue Ocean Resort Mui Ne
– Unique Muine Resort Beach & Spa
– Pandanus Resort
– Anantara Mui Ne Resort

How to get to Phan Thiet

There is no airport in Phan Thiet so the best and fastest way is to take a flight to Ho Chi Minh City then transfer to Phan Thiet.

From Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet: Phan Thiet is far about 215km from Ho Chi Minh City and it takes about 4 hours driving

Phan Thiet is far about 215km from Ho Chi Minh City and it takes about 4 hours driving. Depending on your trip plan and budget, you can choose private car, train or sleeper bus.

• By train: Every day from Saigon Train Station, there are 2 train trips per day, departing at 6:10 am (SPT2) and 7:15 am (SPT4), arriving Phan Thiet Train Station, located in the northwest corner of the city, at 10:30 am and 11:10 am, respectively. One-way train ticket price is from 7-12 USD, depending on seat types. You will be served free mineral water and cold towel on the train.

• By sleeper bus: Currently, many companies use high-quality sleeper buses to run the route from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet. Compared to train, sleeper buses will be more convenient and cheaper since there are many trips in day for you to choose from. They also provide pick-up and drop-off services at tourist areas, hotels, and homestays in the main road in Mui Ne. Some recommended buses are Phuong Trang (Futa), Hanh Café, Tam Hanh, Kumho Samco… The price is about 5-7 USD/one-way ticket.

• By private car: For those who are seeking for the privacy and comfort or traveling with kids, booking a private car with a local travel agency is the best option though it may cost you more. There is no train/ bus schedule you have to follow. The private driver will pick up at your hotel in Saigon anytime you want and transfer you to Phan Thiet. Along the way, you can stop for short break for photo opt.

Mui Ne Beach

Mui Ne Beach features 15km of sandy beaches, gentle waves and luxurious beachfront resorts. The northern end of Mui Ne Beach is home to a traditional fishing village while the southern caters to recreational activities, including swimming, kitesurfing, kayaking, and surfing. The period between November and March is ideal to enjoy these activities since the weather is sunny with strong winds. The area of Mui Ne Beach is filled with hundreds of resorts, hotels, guest houses, restaurants, and shops along Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Huynh Thuc Khang streets and always full of tourists.

Mui Ne Fishing Village

Mui Ne Fishing Village boasts a splendid view of an expansive coastline lined with swaying palm trees and colorful fishing boats anchored on the water. It is very busy and bustling in the early mornings when the local fishermen sort out their catch of the day such as fresh scallops, stingrays, crabs and groupers. This will be a great chance for you to explore the daily life of locals here. Walking further into the village, you can give your eyes a great feast with the picture of locals meticulously making fish sauce or drying fish.

Ta Cu Mountain

Located about 50km from center of Phan Thiet City, Ta Cu Mountain has an area of over 250,000 sq.m of lush rainforest, limestone caves, rare wildlife, and ornate Buddhist structures. To reach the top of the mountain, tourists can take a 10-minute cable car ride, offering offers some beautiful views of the surrounding lowlands, crisscrossed with rice fields and dragon fruit tree plantations, or spend 2 hours hiking through the jungle instead, but make sure that you wear a comfortable shoes and bring a plenty of water. The main attraction in Ta Cu Mountain is one of the biggest reclining Buddhas in Vietnam, standing at 49m long.

Sand Dunes

No trip to Phan Thiet would be complete without an adventure to the sand dunes. The Red Sand Dunes are around 11km out of Mui Ne and are best seen at sunset when the orange sand burns a fiery red. Sunrise may be even more beautiful and a little less busy if you can make it up in time. A farther 23km and you will come across the White Sand Dunes which stand taller and wider than their colorful neighbors. Sand-sledding, squad biking are interesting and fun activities you should not miss here. In addition, there are numerous tour operators organizing Mui Ne day tour to these sand dunes such as sunset/ sunrise tour, Jeep car tour…

Rom Island

About 28km from Phan Thiet City, Rom Island is considered as a beautiful island near the shore in Mui Ne, connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of sand. Hon Rom manifests its beauty in the pristine seashores in the southwest coast and stones with various shapes lying peacefully in the east coast. Gazing westward from the island, you can see sand dunes hidden behind bushes and cactuses. They all highlight the charm of nature on the island and entirely contribute to the magnificence of Phan Thiet.

Cham Towers: Po Sah Inư

Built in the late 8th century, they are an incredible example of Cham architecture and are well worth visiting as a thing to do in Mui Ne. There are also the ruins of an old fort on the site, which is a beautiful place to stand, take in some history, and look out over the ocean.

Bãi Đá Ông Địa

Ong Dia Rocky Beach is located at Nguyen Dinh Chieu street, Phan Thiet city in Binh Thuan province. With a long coastline of rocks and stones and clear blue sea, the rocky beach has attracted many young people as well as tourists who like to take pictures to check in and live virtual. This is a completely natural site with no human impact or exploitation. So to visit you need to keep the car and go along the coastline. The road to Ong Dia Rocky Beach is quite convenient, so you can choose from a variety of means of transportation to get there. Starting from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, visitors take about 5 hours to move to the rocky beach. Go straight through Pham Van Dong street to National Highway 1A. Then go to Hoa An Bridge and turn onto Provincial Road 768 to reach Tri An Lake.

Phan Thiet’s Cuisine

Lau Tha: This specialty will stun anyone who is in a Vietnam beach holiday in the Phan Thiet coastal city. Fish used for the hotpot varied; it may be gudgeon or spade-fish. While there are suggestions for tasting the cuisine of Phan Thiet, you must surely try this kind of hotpot. The reason for this recommendation is that the philosophy and essence of the Vietnamese culinary art are hidden behind the food’s flavor, which is based on five chief elements of the Buddhism: fire, wood, water, earth, and metal, and certainly you will be eager to uncover it.

Perhaps, to those people who have fallen in love with Vietnamese cuisine, Banh Can (also mini-pancakes) is not by means strange as it is spreading through many regions of Vietnam. One of the places where you easily find it is Phan Thiet; it is possible to claim that getting Banh Can enjoy is absolutely not hard since plenty of small food booths serving this food are located along streets here. The best time to find the one is in the afternoon and evening.

In Phan Thiet and other lands of Vietnam, Banh Quai Vac is essentially not in line with the luxurious culinary delights; instead, it is listed street food sold every corner by vendors. One point distinguishing the food with sumptuous menus at the dazzling restaurants is the way to experience it. There is no perspective in which you sit in a spacious air-conditioning room and sip a drink to wait for the food; instead, you will use a tiny plastic chair on the sidewalk and sit around the vendor. It is a great experience to savor the food in such a special style. Hence, it is put in the must-try food in Phan Thiet You can enjoy the dish at the food court of Phan Thiet market or hawkers.

Travel Safety Notes:

If you're a more budget-conscious traveler, then you may want to consider traveling to Phan Thiet between June and August, when hotel prices are generally the lowest. Peak hotel prices generally start between March and May.

Rent a Bike--Don’t fancy renting a motorbike while in Mui Ne? A great alternative is to rent a bicycle! Because everything is located fairly close together in Mui Ne, it’s easy to cycle from place to place. This is a great way to also get a little bit out of town, and see a bit more of the beautiful coastline, and fishing villages.

Source: VnExpress

Read more: Muine Travel Guides

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