Vietnam - weather & travel conditions in November

Weather

November is good time to travel in Vietnam

The North of the country keeps staying in good weather of autumn with plenty of cool and clear days. The average temperature is around 23oC in the lowland and the coast whilst on the mountainous areas could be 2 or 3oC cooler. Most time of the month is dry and sky is clear.

Fried Dumpling is perfect for the chilling weather in North Vietnam in November

Weather in the Centre is another story when the area still in the rainy season making it wet. Storms may also occur during this time. The areas north of Hai Van Pass include Hue and Quang Tri normally receives large rainfall during this time and average temperature stays at around 25oC. South of the Pass including Hoi An, Quy Nhon and Nha Trang is warmer and less rain except Nha Trang that receives almost half of annual rainfall.
Central Highland area including Da Lat offers good weather with cool temperature and less rain expected.

Don't forget your raincoat or umbrella while visiting Central Vietnam in November

The South of Vietnam including Mui Ne, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta, Phu Quoc and Con Dao Island now enjoys favorable weather with blue sky and clear days dominate the whole month. Both rainfall and humidity decrease noticeably and temperature stays milder at around 29oC.

Events

Ooc om bok festival

This festival of the Khmer people in the South of Vietnam (Mekong Delta) is organized to worships the moon deity and prays for good fortune, happiness, and good crops.

The festival is started on the evening of 14th day of the tenth lunar month normally at the beginning of the dry season just before harvesting season. Worshiping activities take places at pagodas and people’s houses with many kinds of offerings to the deity of the moon.  Anyone visiting a Khmer household on this occasion will be given Com Dep, a kind of young sticky rice.

The Ooc - Om - Bok festival features folk religion originated from Buddhism and profoundly bear the mark of Khmer culture.

The festive activities include ethnic games and traditional fashion shows, flying lanterns contest and so on but the most attractive and exciting activities during the festival is “Ngo” boat racing on rivers.

A boat (tuk ngua) are made from timber in the shape of a Nagar snake, the sacred object of the Khmer, about 24 meters long, 1.2 meter wide colorfully decorated and is able to hold about 40 people sitting in two lines midway along the sides.

Hundreds of boat gather and take a race on the river really create a really cheerful and exciting atmosphere.

If you visit the Mekong Delta this time, just travel a bit deeper to Soc Trang or Tra Vinh where you can see and join with locals for one of the most exciting and colorful festival.

Thanks giving day

It is not very common but normally organized in hotels, bars, restaurants for tourists especially for those from the US and Canada. So if you happen to be here during this time you can join the atmosphere of the event. Meal and party seats can be book in some big hotels around whilst bars and restaurants offer entries free.

How to do and what to expect if travel to Vietnam in November

First to say, November is amongst best times to travel in Vietnam. The weather and travel conditions fit almost all the travel types and activities.

All places in the North are promising this time. Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba Island, Cuc Phuong, Mai Chau all offer good travel condition. Mountainous areas such as Sa Pa, Dien Bien, Ha Giang and so on also expected to be clear and dry making it good to discover.

In the Centre weather is not so favorable though traveling is possible. Hue, if put into the itinerary, should just be a short stay whilst Hoi An is alright since the town is convenient to walk around even in unfavorable weather. Just remember to get accommodation in the town’s upper part, not along the river front or on islands in case the area is flooded.

Quy Nhon and Nha Trang are not mentioned since the weather normally unfavorable and though it is dry it will not be warm enough for water discovery and swimming.

In the South, all the places can be put into your itinerary depending how much time you have and what you interested in.

Adventure activities like biking, motorcycling, trekking and so on are suitable at this time. The itinerary should focus on the North and the South of Vietnam and if you are adventure and nature lover then mountainous north or central highland are highly recommended.

In case you have just short time and prefer easy classic style then 4 days in the north, 2 day in the centre and another 3 or 4 days in the south should be enough with almost all highlight of the country. Beaches in the south are highly recommended for beach lovers.

Since the weather is changing toward winter in the north and centre so, jumper is good for light cold weather sometime.