Vietnam golf holiday: how to plan a trip that works on and off the course

A Vietnam golf holiday rarely follows the pattern of a classic golf trip. The country stretches more than 1,600 kilometers from north to south, the best courses sit in three separate clusters, and what happens between rounds matters as much as the golf itself. Imperial tombs, lantern-lit streets, limestone bays and long beaches all lie within an hour or two of a first tee.

Planning a Vietnam golf holiday therefore starts with decisions rather than course names: which region, how many rounds, how to link the regions and which season suits the trip. This guide takes those decisions in order, introduces the courses that give a Vietnam golf holiday its reputation, and closes with a ten-day sample route that joins northern Vietnam to the central golf coast. Golfers weighing a first Vietnam golf holiday, travel designers building one for clients and society organizers comparing destinations will all find the same logic useful.

Why Vietnam suits a golf holiday

Vietnam was named Asia’s Best Golf Destination at the 2025 World Golf Awards, the ninth consecutive year the country has taken that title, which gives any Vietnam golf holiday a strong reputation to build on. Tourism authorities count more than 80 international-standard courses across the north, center and south, and many sit beside resorts designed for longer stays rather than a quick round. For a Vietnam golf holiday, that pairing matters. The course is only half of the experience; the resort, the spa, the table and the surrounding heritage complete it.

The design pedigree is another draw. Greg Norman, reappointed as Vietnam’s Tourism Ambassador for 2025 to 2030, shaped The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip. Jack Nicklaus designed the Kings Course near Hanoi, Robert Trent Jones Jr. created Hoiana Shores, Nick Faldo designed Laguna Lang Co, Colin Montgomerie lent his name to Montgomerie Links and Luke Donald designed Ba Na Hills. Several of these courses appear among the nominees for Vietnam’s Best Golf Course 2026 at the 13th annual World Golf Awards, alongside Legend Danang Golf Resort and Chi Linh Golf.

Service is the quiet strength behind those names. Caddies know the greens, clubhouses are built around long lunches, and resort teams are used to arranging tee times, transfers and spa bookings in a single conversation. A Vietnam golf holiday therefore feels less like a series of rounds stitched together and more like one continuous stay, with golf as its backbone.

Honest expectations help any Vietnam golf holiday. Vietnam is not the cheapest golf destination in Asia, weekend rounds and the Tet holiday bring higher rates and busier courses, and the midday heat in the south can be demanding. Golfers who plan a Vietnam golf holiday around these points usually find that the quality of the courses, the service and the settings justify the investment.

Three regions, three kinds of Vietnam golf holiday

Vietnam’s golf clusters sit around Hanoi, along the Da Nang and Hoi An coast, and in the south around Ho Chi Minh City and the nearby shoreline. Each cluster shapes a different kind of Vietnam golf holiday.

Northern Vietnam: lake, mountain and heritage golf

Hanoi was named World’s Best Golf City Destination at the 2024 World Golf Awards, a good sign for any northern Vietnam golf holiday, and more than ten international-standard courses lie within roughly 60 kilometers of the capital. BRG Kings Island Golf Resort, about 36 kilometers west of the city, is the headline address. A short boat ride across Dong Mo Lake leads to the clubhouse, and the Kings Course, a Jack Nicklaus design opened in 2018, is known for generous fairways and strong par fives. The older Lakeside and Mountain View courses bring more water and more forest into play. Chi Linh Golf, another nominee for Vietnam’s Best Golf Course 2026, offers a second northern option and pairs neatly with a Ha Long Bay cruise on a short Vietnam golf holiday.

The north has a particular advantage for travelers who want a Vietnam golf holiday without giving up a capital city. Hanoi’s hotels, restaurants and museums sit within an hour of the courses, so a Vietnam golf holiday here can be as short as three or four days and still feel complete.

Central coast: where a Vietnam golf holiday peaks

Between Hue and Hoi An, a string of coastal and foothill courses has earned the stretch its reputation as Vietnam’s golf coast. Four names define it.

Ba Na Hills Golf Club lies about 25 minutes from central Da Nang. Luke Donald designed the championship layout with IMG, and it rolls along the base of the Ba Na mountains at a length of roughly 7,858 yards from the back tees. All 18 holes are floodlit, so night golf is possible.

Hoiana Shores Golf Club sits about eight kilometers south of Hoi An. Robert Trent Jones Jr. routed a links-style course through dunes and native grasses beside the sea. It opened in late 2019 and was named World’s Best New Golf Course in 2020.

Montgomerie Links lies between Da Nang and Hoi An. It was the first course built on the central coast, and it blends links, heathland and parkland features.

Laguna Lang Co, a Nick Faldo design opened in 2013, runs through dunes, rice paddies, rock outcrops and a stretch of coastline between Da Nang and Hue, roughly 55 kilometers from Da Nang airport.

Legend Danang Golf Resort, named Vietnam’s Best Golf Course at the 2024 World Golf Awards, completes the cluster. Because the courses sit close together, a Vietnam golf holiday of five to seven nights in a single base can cover four or five rounds without repacking a bag. For golfers who want the most golf per day of travel, this stretch is where a Vietnam golf holiday makes its strongest case.

Southern Vietnam: dune links and easy city access

The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip, Greg Norman’s links-style design over coastal dunes, lies about 130 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. It opened in 2014 and is often cited as the finest course in the country. Closer to Saigon, clubs such as Vietnam Golf & Country Club, Song Be and Long Thanh suit short stays. Along the Phan Thiet coast, the Ocean Course at NovaWorld Phan Thiet, another 2026 nominee, pairs well with a beach finish at Mui Ne. A southern Vietnam golf holiday suits travelers who arrive through Ho Chi Minh City and want to be on a first tee within a day.

Choosing a base and setting the rhythm

A common mistake on a first Vietnam golf holiday is trying to play every region in ten days. Distances are long, domestic flights and transfers consume mornings, and golf bags add friction. Two patterns work better.

The first is a single-region stay of five to seven nights. The central coast suits it best, since several courses lie within 30 to 60 minutes of Hoi An or Da Nang. The second is a two-region route, such as Hanoi followed by the central coast, linked by a short domestic flight. A Vietnam golf holiday built on three regions is possible, but it needs at least twelve to fourteen days to avoid feeling rushed.

Rhythm matters as much as routing on a Vietnam golf holiday. One round a day is the comfortable standard in Vietnam’s warmth and humidity, with an early tee time to avoid the hottest hours. After three golf days in a row, a rest day protects both energy and enjoyment, and it gives non-golfing companions a full day together. Most resort courses use caddies, and carts are common, so rounds stay comfortable even in warm weather. Night golf at Ba Na Hills adds one more way to shape a day.

Hotel choice shapes the rhythm of a Vietnam golf holiday too. A resort with its own course removes the morning transfer, while a base in Hoi An or Hanoi trades a longer drive for access to the old towns in the evening. The right balance depends on whether a Vietnam golf holiday is built mainly around the golf or mainly around the destination, and the two kinds of trip often call for different bases.

When to go

Vietnam’s climate differs sharply between regions, so the best season for a Vietnam golf holiday depends on the route. The north is at its most pleasant from September to April, the central coast shines from about February through the summer months, and the south is dry from November to April. Golf specialists often point to November to April as the most reliable window overall.

March and April sit in the overlap and are widely regarded as the most balanced months across the country, which makes them a natural choice for a route that joins the north and the central coast. The central coast sees heavy rain in late autumn, and Tet brings crowded courses and higher rates, so those periods call for extra care and early booking.

Summer is not off the table for a Vietnam golf holiday. Early tee times on the central coast stay manageable through the dry months, and quieter courses can offer a more relaxed pace. A Vietnam golf holiday in the shoulder months simply calls for flexible tee times and a plan for afternoon showers in the north and south.

Pairing golf with culture, cruise and rest days

A round takes around five hours, which leaves the rest of the day open on a Vietnam golf holiday. Vietnam rewards that time better than most golf destinations, and each region offers its own pairing.

In the north, Hanoi’s Old Quarter, the Temple of Literature and the capital’s street food fit around a morning tee time. An overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay adds a quiet, scenic night between two golf days. On the central coast, Hoi An’s old town, a cooking class, a tailor visit and the imperial city of Hue fill the afternoons. In the south, Saigon’s markets and museums and a Mekong Delta day trip balance a run of rounds.

A Vietnam golf holiday also works well for couples and families where only one person plays. Resorts with spas and beaches, private guides for heritage visits and cooking classes keep non-golfing companions fully occupied while the round is on, and rounds can be timed so everyone meets for a late lunch. Planned this way, a Vietnam golf holiday becomes a shared journey rather than a golf trip with passengers.

Culture also gives a Vietnam golf holiday its context. A morning on a links course beside the East Sea reads differently after an evening in a lantern-lit old town, and a Vietnam golf holiday that includes both leaves a fuller memory than one that is all fairways. For golfers who travel widely, that combination is often what separates Vietnam from other golf destinations in the region.

A 10-day sample Vietnam golf holiday

The route below is indicative. It works best in March and April and includes five rounds, one cruise night and one full rest day. It also shows how a Vietnam golf holiday can move from northern landscapes to the central coast without a single rushed morning.

Day 1, Hanoi: arrival, check-in and an evening walk through the Old Quarter.

Day 2, Hanoi and BRG Kings Island: a morning round on the Kings Course, reached by a short boat ride across Dong Mo Lake, then dinner in the city.

Day 3, Ha Long Bay: transfer to the coast and an overnight cruise among the limestone islands.

Day 4, Ha Long Bay to Hoi An: late-morning disembarkation, a transfer to Hanoi airport and a short domestic flight to Da Nang, followed by a drive to Hoi An.

Day 5, Hoiana Shores: a morning links round, then an afternoon in Hoi An’s old town as the lanterns come on.

Day 6, Hoi An: a full rest day for a cooking class, a tailor visit, the beach or spa treatments.

Day 7, Ba Na Hills Golf Club: a morning round in the foothills, with floodlit golf as an option for a later tee time.

Day 8, Montgomerie Links: a round on the links-style layout between Da Nang and Hoi An, then a transfer toward Lang Co.

Day 9, Laguna Lang Co: a round on the Faldo course among dunes and rock outcrops, with a visit to Hue in the afternoon if energy allows.

Day 10, departure: a final morning at the resort and a transfer to Da Nang or Hue airport.

The logic behind the route is simple. The northern leg opens this Vietnam golf holiday gently, with one round and one cruise night to absorb the time difference. The central leg then concentrates the golf, with a rest day placed after the first two golf days so the final three rounds feel fresh. Because the courses on the central coast lie within an hour of each other, this Vietnam golf holiday loses no transfer day to travel.

Three variations keep the same logic. A shorter version ends after Ba Na Hills and flies out of Da Nang, which brings the trip to eight days. Replacing Kings Island with Chi Linh Golf fits the northern leg around a Ha Long itinerary. Adding two nights in Ho Chi Minh City, with a round near The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip, extends the route into a full north-to-south Vietnam golf holiday.

Practical points before booking

On any Vietnam golf holiday, tee times at the best courses are usually arranged ahead through the club or a tour operator, so dates and courses are confirmed together at the planning stage. Rental clubs are available at resort courses such as Ba Na Hills and Laguna Lang Co, which makes traveling light a realistic option. Golfers who prefer their own set should check airline sports-baggage rules and domestic flight allowances early, since many routes include internal flights.

Soft spikes are required at some courses, and a collared shirt is the safe choice everywhere. Visa rules and entry requirements change, so they should be checked against official sources shortly before departure. Weekday rounds are generally quieter than weekends, which is one more reason to place the busiest golf days midweek on a Vietnam golf holiday.

Travel insurance that covers sports equipment and medical care is worth arranging for any Vietnam golf holiday, and sun protection, a light rain jacket and plenty of water belong in every bag. Early booking matters most for peak months, large groups and the most sought-after courses, so a Vietnam golf holiday timed for March or April is best confirmed several months ahead.

Planning a Vietnam golf holiday for a group or society

Societies and corporate groups add layers to a Vietnam golf holiday: blocks of tee times, transfers for many players, caddie allocation, prize-giving dinners and rest-day programs for companions. A local destination management company can hold those layers together. Vietnam Today Travel, active in Vietnam since 2004, designs golf programs for corporate groups, friends and societies, and can combine rounds with cultural days or event-style evenings.

Group travel also changes the pace of a Vietnam golf holiday. Larger parties benefit from staggered tee times, a lead guide who coordinates with each club and a fixed rest-day program that keeps non-golfers engaged. A group Vietnam golf holiday run this way keeps the competitive spirit on the course and the social side in the evenings.

Vietnam golf holiday: frequently asked questions

Is Vietnam a good destination for a golf holiday?

Yes. Vietnam was named Asia’s Best Golf Destination at the 2025 World Golf Awards for the ninth consecutive year, and it offers more than 80 international-standard courses, designs by well-known players and resorts built for longer stays. The main trade-offs are that it is not the cheapest golf in Asia and that weekends and Tet are busier and more expensive.

How many days does a Vietnam golf holiday need?

A short break of three to four days suits Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Seven to eight days suits a single region such as the central coast, and ten to fourteen days suits two or three regions. One rest day after every three rounds keeps the pace comfortable on any Vietnam golf holiday.

Which region is best for a first Vietnam golf holiday?

The central coast offers the highest concentration of top courses in one area. The north suits golfers who also want Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, and the south suits those who want an easy arrival and a beach finish.

Are caddies and carts included on a Vietnam golf holiday?

Caddies accompany most rounds at resort courses, and carts are common, but inclusions differ from course to course. Confirming them for each round at the planning stage avoids surprises.

Can non-golfing partners join a Vietnam golf holiday?

Yes. Spas, beaches, cooking classes, heritage visits and private guides fill the hours of a round, and rest days give the whole group a shared program.

Conclusion

The strongest Vietnam golf holiday starts with a few clear choices: one region or two, a rhythm of one round a day, a season that suits the route and a program that gives the days between rounds real substance. A Vietnam golf holiday rewards that care with courses of genuine quality, resorts of real comfort and a setting that no other golf destination in Asia quite matches.

Plan a Vietnam golf holiday with Vietnam Today Travel

Vietnam Today Travel is a local destination management company that has designed tailor-made journeys across Vietnam and Southeast Asia since 2004. For a Vietnam golf holiday shaped around chosen regions, courses and travel dates, the team can build the route, arrange tee times and transfers, and add the culture, cruise or beach days that complete the trip.