UK daily newspaper The Telegraph has picked 17 reasons visitors should take advantage of a paperwork-free trip to Vietnam, which has maintained its essences despite a tourism boom.

According to Telegraph, one of the reason is hustle and bustle in Hanoi.

Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi.

What makes Hanoi so interesting is that it feels very old-fashioned, stuck in the past with its French colonial history entrenched in its pavement cafes, architecture and wide tree-lined boulevards.

“Take a ride in one of the thousands of tuk-tuks swarming through the city’s streets to get a sense of the daily buzz,” The Telegraph wrote.

In addition, The Telegraph’s experts also picked cuisine is one of the reason why should visitors choose Vietnam. From pho to banh mi, and spring rolls to steamboat, Vietnam’s cuisine is fascinating.

“We watched tofu being made and shaped into pliable white girders, ready to be cooked with tomato sauce. There were stalls heaving with tiny clams; baskets of colourful chillies and limes; delicious and sweet jackfruit (best fried in flour with coconut milk); plumes of banana flower; sacks of lotus seeds to make puddings, and giant live catfish that periodically made a bid for freedom from their giant bowls,” Mark C O’Flaherty wrote for The Telegraph Travel after visiting a market in Hanoi.

There are many things visitors might choose to do in Vietnam, such as visiting bustling Ho Chi Minh City, breathing in the Mekong, finding the right angle at Ha Long Bay, staying in a hotel with history, finding luxury in Da Nang, etc.

Vietnam has become increasingly attractive to tourists from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy who will enjoy visa exemptions for the next three years until June 30, 2021, from July 1, 2018.

The country first offered visa waivers for citizens from the five European countries in July 2015. The policy has been updated annually and would have expired at the end of June. The continued visa exemption is expected to push up the development of the Vietnamese tourism sector.

The number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the first half of 2018 surged 27.2% year-on-year to 7.89 million, according to the General Statistics Office.

Arrivals by air, road, and sea in the reviewed period recorded annual increases of 22.2%, 63.7% and 1.7%, respectively.

Growth was also seen in the numbers of visitors from all five continents, with Asia (32.7%), Europe (11%), America (13.5%), Oceania (10%) and Africa (22.2%).

Hanoitimes