What's attractive about the top 5 best community tourism destinations in Vietnam in 2025?

Sin Suoi Ho (Lai Chau), Pa Vi Ha (Tuyen Quang), Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism (Hanoi), Thai Hai Village (Thai Nguyen), Thanh Ha Pottery Village (Da Nang) have just been honored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam as the Best Community Tourism Destinations (Vietnam Tourism Awards 2025).

So what is special and attractive about these places?

Pa Vi Ha

The Mong ethnic community cultural tourism village in Pa Vi Ha village, Meo Vac commune, Tuyen Quang province lies peacefully at the foot of the majestic Ma Pi Leng pass. The "flower" Pa Vi Ha of the Dong Van Stone Plateau is surrounded by the poetic space of towering cat-ear mountains, winding Nho Que river, and buckwheat flowers stretching as far as the eye can see.

Officially welcoming visitors in 2019, this village with 100% Mong ethnic people has an area of over 46,000m² with nearly 30 households. This place recreates intact traditional indigenous architecture through rammed earth houses, yin-yang tiled roofs, and solid stone fences.

The highlight that makes Pa Vi Ha attractive is the harmonious combination between cultural preservation and tourism development. The homestays still keep the original earthen floor, but the interior is modern. Thanks to that, visitors have many choices, from affordable communal rooms or comfortable private rooms, with a variety of services such as sipping a cup of coffee early, shopping for brocade, herbal hair washing, herbal foot bath...

Tourists visit and experience tourism in the village. (Photo: VNA)

Thanks to community tourism, people have gradually changed their thinking, knowing how to preserve and enrich themselves by restoring and developing traditional cultures such as linen weaving, brocade making, corn wine making, etc. They "retain" tourists with rustic "specialty" dishes.

Amidst the Dong Van Stone Plateau, Pa Vi Ha stands out with its majestic nature, unique culture and hospitable people, creating a remarkable attraction, where people know how to exploit potential, preserve identity for sustainable development.

Thai Hai Village

Thai Hai Village (also known as “Thai Hai Ethnic Ecological Stilt House Village Conservation Area,” Thinh Duc Commune, Thai Nguyen City) was honored as the best community tourism destination in Vietnam in 2025. Ms. Le Thi Nga, Deputy Head of Thai Hai Village, said that this is a precious gift for Thai Hai people.

Ms. Le Thi Nga committed: "For Thai Hai village, we aim for a true community tourism model, all products and services are oriented towards the community, culture, and the village in general, to develop tourism and spread it to domestic and foreign tourists."

Stilt houses of the Tay and Nung people in the green space of the village. (Photo: VNA)

Thai Hai was built to preserve the culture of the Tay ethnic group, keeping the stilt houses from fading away. The village space has not only preserved 30 ancient stilt houses, but also preserved and developed the cultural and spiritual life of an ethnic group. Here, all spiritual and cultural practices are still preserved; traditional occupations are still preserved from tea making, baking, beekeeping, wine making, to weaving...

In Thai Hai, there are many interesting things to experience and explore, such as trying to live like a local by trying to make tea and cakes during the day, participating in festivals, eating with locals in the food court, and making a campfire at night...

Previously, Thai Hai Village has been honored many times with numerous awards such as: Top 10 best restaurants serving tourists in Vietnam (2016, 2017); Top 5 leading restaurants in Vietnam (2019); sponsored by UNESCO Vietnam as "a valuable work preserving traditional culture and educating the spirit of national solidarity" (2017).

In particular, in 2022, this special village became the only representative of Southeast Asia to be honored by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as one of the 32 best tourist villages in the world. By January 2025, the product "Tay ethnic cultural tourism, Thai Hai village" was recognized as a 5-star OCOP at the national level, and the Conservation Area also received the ASEAN Homestay Award.

Tourists experience making cakes with locals. (Photo: VNA)

The precious thing is that, despite receiving countless awards like that, "good reputation travels far and wide" and many tourists come, the pace of life here is still peaceful as it is, bringing the feeling of returning home, blending into the rhythm of life of the locals to each visitor.

Sin Suoi Ho

Nestled on the mountainside of Son Bac May, more than 1,500m above sea level, about 30km from Lai Chau city, Sin Suoi Ho (meaning “golden stream” in Mong language) is especially attractive thanks to its majestic natural scenery and cool climate. If you come here in the season of wild sunflowers, you will be able to see the brilliant yellow flower roads.

Home to the Mong ethnic group, this village is also famous for the community's four no's: no drinking, no gambling, no using illegal substances, no promiscuity that destroys family happiness.

Sin Suoi Ho is known as “paradise in the clouds” because of the magical scenery of the sea of clouds every morning. Soak in the cool water of Love waterfall, Heart waterfall and admire the terraced fields with the fragrant scent of ripe rice… truly captivating.

Special house gates in Sin Suoi Ho. (Photo: Xuan Mai/Vietnam+)

In addition, in the village, visitors can also enjoy cultural performances imbued with local culture, and visit Sin Suoi Ho market - where traditional brocade weaving and embroidery are preserved.

And certainly, the cuisine with dishes that are hard to miss are local pork with all kinds of dishes, wild fern salad, sturgeon hotpot, crispy fried bamboo worms, sticky rice, thang co, smoked meat, cat cabbage...

Not only was it honored as the best community tourism destination in Vietnam in 2025, on February 5, 2023, at the International Tourism Fair forum in Yogyakarta city (Indonesia), Sin Suoi Ho village was honored as the most attractive community tourism destination in ASEAN in 2022.

A corner of Sin Suoi Ho village. (Photo: Xuan Mai/Vietnam+)

Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism

The Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism (Doai Phuong Commune, Hanoi) attracts tourists by vividly recreating the diverse lives and cultures of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups, with practical experiences such as participating in folk games, enjoying traditional cuisine, watching art performances and learning about the typical architecture of stilt houses and communal houses...

This place is known as the “all-in-one” Vietnamese cultural destination. Where you can learn about the customs, traditions, costumes, architecture and unique culture of ethnic groups across Vietnam without having to travel far.

Once there, experience traditional culture with folk games such as stilt walking, bamboo dancing, throwing con, playing hopscotch, seesaw…; experience pottery making, weaving, making musical instruments, painting sand paintings, bamboo dragonflies, and other traditional handicrafts; try wearing ethnic costumes of the Dao, Thai, Mong, Tay, Nung… to take photos and feel the national pride.

Traditional dance performance of Mong ethnic people in the village. (Photo: Khanh Hoa/VNA)

In the large space of the village, artists from different regions will also bring folk songs, Mong people's Khen dance, Thai people's Xoe dance, or gong performances...

And of course, when coming here, you cannot miss the dishes with the bold flavors of the ethnic regions such as smoked buffalo meat, braised pork, roasted pork of the Tay and Nung people; five-color sticky rice, banh chung of the Thai and Muong people; bamboo rice, grilled fish of the M'Nong people; grilled chicken, wild honey, pollen of the Dao and Ede people... Visitors can also directly experience the process of preparing traditional dishes in the market spaces and cultural activities in the Village.

On the morning of April 28, 2025, in Hanoi, Ms. Le Thi Bich Tran, wife of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Ms. Ishiba Yoshiko, wife of the Japanese Prime Minister, visited the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism and danced xoe with ethnic minorities in the North. (Photo: VNA)

Thanh Ha Pottery Village

The soul of the Thanh Ha Pottery Village tourism model (Hoi An Tay ward, Da Nang city) is the community of 33 households, including 5 artisans directly involved in production and guiding tourists. Coming here, tourists are guided by artisans to sharpen pottery and shape products. This is the most favorite experience for families and international tourists.

In particular, a major mark of the renovation process here is the birth of the Terracotta Park - displaying a series of ceramic products, craft tools and vividly recreating the traditional craft village space, giving visitors the opportunity to learn more about Thanh Ha pottery.

Previously, in 2019, Thanh Ha pottery was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The effectiveness of this community tourism model is that more than 62% of revenue from tickets and product sales has been used to pay local workers, reinvest in heritage conservation and infrastructure upgrades./.