Vũng Tàu

Nui Nho at sunset, Villa Blanche before the heat

One night is enough for Vung Tau from Ho Chi Minh City. Arrive for a banh khot breakfast, climb Nui Nho to the Christ statue in the late afternoon and watch sunset from Front Beach, then see Villa Blanche and ride the coast loop the next morning, leaving early to beat the Sunday jam.

Leave Ho Chi Minh City before 7am and you will reach the peninsula in time for a late breakfast of banh khot. Check in along Back Beach, swim while the morning sea is calm, and rest through the hottest hours.

Around 3.30pm, ride or take a Grab to the foot of Nui Nho and climb the long flight of steps to the 32-metre Christ statue. Inside, a narrow stairway leads up to the shoulders, where the view takes in the whole bay. Walk on to the old lighthouse on the same hill, then come down to Front Beach for sunset over the water and dinner nearby.

Next morning, go early to Villa Blanche on the slopes of Nui Lon, the white mansion begun in 1898 for Governor-General Paul Doumer and later a retreat of Emperor Bao Dai; the gardens look out over the sea. Families can then ride the cable car up to Ho May Park for the water park and luge. Everyone else can rent a bicycle for the coast loop, stopping at the whale temple in Thang Tam, where fishermen keep the bones of whales washed ashore.

Eat crab noodles for lunch and leave by early afternoon on Sunday, or stay until Monday morning to avoid the jam back into the city.

Banh Khot griddles, Banh Canh Ghe and back beach hot pot

Banh khot, crisp little rice cakes fried around a shrimp, is the breakfast to eat in Vung Tau, and the best stalls sell out by late morning. Later come banh canh ghe with a whole blue crab and seafood hot pot for groups. Expect higher prices than in other coastal towns, especially on Saturdays.

Banh khot are bite-sized rice cakes fried in a cast-iron pan with small round hollows, so the edges turn crisp and golden around a shrimp in the middle. They arrive with a basket of mustard greens, lettuce and herbs; wrap each cake in a leaf and dip it in sweet, thin fish sauce with pickled papaya.

Later in the day, the peninsula's noodles take over. Banh canh ghe is a thick, slippery tapioca noodle soup topped with a whole blue swimming crab, messy and worth it. Hu tieu muc pairs clear noodle broth with fresh squid. In the evening, groups gather round lau, a seafood hot pot cooked at the table, which only makes sense with four or more people; the big restaurants along Thuy Van and around Front Beach specialise in it.

A few practical points. Prices reflect the weekend crowds from the city. Seafood is sold by weight, so confirm the price before the kitchen starts. For a break from Vietnamese food, the expat pubs near Front Beach serve cheap beer and breakfasts.

A bone-dry February and the Nghinh Ong whale festival

December to April is the dry season and the best time for Vung Tau, with almost no rain from January to March. Temperatures barely shift, highs 29C to 32C all year and lows 23C to 27C, so rain sets the seasons: May to October brings afternoon and evening downpours, though mornings are often fine.

The dry season runs from December to April. January to March are almost rainless, with about 4mm in January and just 1mm in February, and the sea breeze keeps the heat bearable. This is the time to climb Nui Nho and Nui Lon, cycle the coast loop at midday and spend long afternoons on the sand. Tet, usually in late January or February, brings huge crowds from Ho Chi Minh City, full hotels and slow traffic on Highway 51.

Rain arrives abruptly in May at about 180mm, and from June to October each month gets around 205mm to 240mm, mostly in afternoon and evening downpours. Mornings are often fine, so the wet months still work for a beach break. November tails off to about 65mm.

The town's biggest traditional event is the Nghinh Ong festival in the middle of the eighth lunar month, usually in September, when fishing communities honour the whale as their protector. Decorated boats sail out to sea to welcome the whale spirit and carry it back to the Thang Tam temple, where processions, offerings and traditional opera follow.