Most travellers rush through Hai Phong on their way through to the bucket-list coastal spot of Ha Long Bay, which rises in chiselled karst spires from the azure waters of the South China Sea. The ones who do arrive however, come for the beaches, threading their way along the jungle-shrouded edges of Cat Ba Island and past the all-inclusive hotels that cluster at the nearby Do Son resort.

This bustling port town is also a great place to experience the frenetic, fun-loving metropolitan character of North Vietnam, and many have hailed Hai Phong as a more digestible, mini Hanoi. Consequently, travellers stopping off in the centre can expect a hubbub of local marketplaces, where pungent noodle soups and shrimp skewers dominate the menus and knickknacks of all shapes and sizes are sold by vocal locals. Hai Phong tour guides encourage visits to the Du Hang Pagoda, the acclaimed city museum or the naval exhibitions on 353 Street before allowing sightseers to wander between the exquisite architecture at the Colonial Quarter or take a stroll along the popular Tam Bac Lake.