Vietnam among world's top 30 October destinations

"October is the beginning of dry season in Vietnam’s north and south, where monumental natural spectacles and buzzing city scenes both abound," the magazine says.

It suggests that visitors trek up to Sa Pa, the misty tourist town famed for terraced rice fields in northern Vietnam, or sit on low plastic stools to enjoy a cup of condensed-milk coffee in Hanoi.

"In Sa Pa, the most popular activities are trekking the terraced slopes and staying with hill tribes, and the best way to do both is with Sapa O'Chau, a nonprofit homestay and trekking service, which puts funds back into the community such as improving village schools, providing English classes to H'mong guides and street vendors," the magazine says.

It also recommends a boat trip in the Mekong Delta, which is famous for mangroves, cajuput forests, floating markets and orchards.

"Don’t miss The Café Apartment in HCMC, a nine-storey block stuffed with fairy-lit mini-boutiques and craft coffee stores."

Coffee shops at an apartment building on Nguyen Hue Boulevard in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The old apartment block on Nguyen Hue Boulevard in downtown HCMC is home to a series of coffee shops, restaurants, and coworking spaces. It has for long been a popular rendezvous for young people and foreigners in the city.

Other destinations selected by the U.K. magazine for October also include India’s Darjeeling, France’s Provence, Italy's Rome, Japanese Alps, Bhutan and Taipei.

Vietnam is now closed to foreign tourists and the country plans to welcome back fully vaccinated foreign tourists to Vietnam's largest island Phu Quoc Island in the southern Kien Giang Province from November.