Thái Nguyên is in Northern Vietnam.

Understand

Thái Nguyên is Vietnam's 9th largest city, famous for Tan Cuong tea. It was also the site of Vietnam's first steel mill and is nowadays the home of a large university and distinctive "Coffee Street" (Hoàng Hoa Thám) where you can pretty much find a coffee shop everywhere you turn.

Get in

Thái Nguyên is about 80 km north of Hanoi.

• 1 Thái Nguyên railway station (Ga Thái Nguyên). (updated May 2023)

Get around

There should be plenty of motorbike taxis.

See

• 1 Cultural museum of Vietnam ethnic minority groups (Bảo tàng Văn hóa các Dân tộc Việt Nam), 1 Đội Cấn, Trưng Vương. 07:30-11:30, 13:30-17:00 daily, closed M. Kind of a smaller version of the ethnographic museum of Hanoi. (updated Aug 2020)
• 2 Đài phun nước TP. Thái Nguyên. Multi-colored fountain right in front of the cultural museum that is a gathering point in the evening. (updated Aug 2020)
• 3 Quảng trường Võ Nguyên Giáp (just northeast of cultural museum and fountain). a nationalist type monument with hourglass-like obelisk and town square. (updated Aug 2020)
• 4 Cua Tu Waterfall (Suối Cửa Tử), Hoàng Nông (west of Nui Coc Lake). somewhat dirty forest waterfall (updated Aug 2020)
• 5 Phuong Hoang Cave (Hang Phượng Hoàng), QL 1B, Phú Thượng, Võ Nhai (about 45 km northeast of Thai Nguyen via DT265/QL1B), ☏ +84 916040388. Riverine cave system and karst formations. (updated Aug 2020)
• 6 Thai Hai Reserve Area of Ecological Houses-on-stilts Ethnic Village (Khu bảo tồn Làng nhà sàn Dân tộc Sinh thái Thái Hải), Khu du lịch Thái Hải, Thịnh Đức (southwest of Thai Nguyen), ☏ +84 832192184. Stilt village ethnic tour. (updated Aug 2020)
• 7 Tan Cuong Tea Cultural Center (Không gian văn hóa trà Thái Nguyên), Tân Cương, Thành phố Thái Nguyên, ☏ +84 2083700077. Tea farm tours. (updated Aug 2020)

Do

Nui Coc Lake2

• 1 Nui Coc Lake, Tan Thai Commune Dai Tu District (about 18 km west of Thai Nguyen). a lake featuring an amusement park on a hill, water park, boat rides, extreme sport activities, sunsets behind tea plantations, and musical water performances. Kind of like a Vietnamese ecotourism area on steroids with concrete Buddhas and dragons everywhere. (updated Aug 2020)

Sleep

• 1 Habana Hotel Thai Nguyen, 318 Quang Trung, Tân Thịnh, Thành phố Thái Nguyên, ☏ +84 901522663. Clean multi-story hotel with pool, spa, restaurant, free breakfast, wifi, spa. 531385 dong. (updated Aug 2020)