Rice fields in Vietnam are the typical images, attracting a lot of international and domestic guests.
The golden terraced fields covering the hills and mountains and the large green rice fields in Mekong Delta seem to invite visitors to admire the colorful pictures.
Typically, when the rice gets ripe, and its color from green into a golden one, the rice paddy will make you relaxed in the quiet countryside.
Let’s take a look at some beautiful places to see the Vietnamese rice fields!
Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai)
Mu Cang Chai is a highland district of Yen Bai province (North Vietnam), located at the foot of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.
From Hanoi to Mu Cang Chai, it is about 280km through Khau Pha Pass – one of the most dangerous and beautiful passes in the Northwest of Vietnam.
Mu Cang Chai is well-known for its terraced fields spreading across the slopes of the mountains. They are so brilliantly beautiful, making this area be ranked as a national landmark, along with Hoang Su Phi and Sa Pa.
Mu Cang Chai has 2 rice crops per year: spring crop (April – May) and main crop (September – October). In the spring crop, people focus on growing rice in low-level fields, because high hills do not have enough water for irrigation. Only the rice crop that falls in September and October covers all the mountainous rice paddies, and the harvest gets better products.
At this time, if you travel to Mu Cang Chai, you can enjoy stretching out the bright yellow of the rice fields into the ripeness and brown color of the fields that have been harvested. All create a wonderful landscape picture.
Y Ty (Lao Cai)
Being a mountainous village in Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province, Y Ty locates on a rocky mountainous area at an altitude of about 2,000 meters above sea level.
Y Ty gives you a completely different feeling from other places. Visiting it, you can watch plenty of terraced fields scattered at the foot of the mountain, with all shapes and different colors. And typically, you can also see the sea of clouds suddenly overflowing on the fields.
Terraced fields in Y Ty and some neighboring communes such as A Mu Sung, A Lu, or Ngai Thau are very attractive. They are like waves running along the rugged mountains, down the valley like a sea of immense gold.
The clouds floating in the valley and combining with the golden color of ripe rice create a lyrical painting that brings our souls to heaven.
Tam Coc (Ninh Binh)
Tam Coc (Ninh Binh) situates in the famous scenic complex of Trang An. With a system of caves, limestone mountains, beautiful rice fields, this place becomes a true eco-tourism area of the northern countryside.
To get to Tam Coc from Hanoi, the easiest is to hire a private car and go along National Highway 1A, about 110km, taking 2.5 hours.
Every year from the end of May to June, lots of people traveling to Tam Coc take pictures of the ripe rice when most of the rice paddies change the green color into a golden one. What a beautiful picture!
The rice fields here only grow one crop, and the rice will be fully ripe at the end of May and the beginning of June in two weeks.
Seeing the ripe rice season in Tam Coc, you will feel relaxed, immersed in the peaceful nature of the quiet countryside. All crate fragments of natural color, gentle and beautiful.
Bac Son (Lang Son)
Bac Son (Lang Son) is about 160 km from Hanoi. The first impression when traveling to this area is a fresh climate mixed with the wide rocky mountains and unsteady passes. This beautiful little town stays in the heart of the valley, surrounded by limestone mountains.
In Bac Son, the flat terrain and the favorable weather are good to grow rice in two seasons. The golden rice season is in July and mid-November.
The rice does not come at once, so there are fields to be harvested first, and the others still have ripe rice. All create unique colorful patches interwoven between ripe and green paddies.
Ha Giang
Ha Giang in the north highlands has plenty of beautiful terraced fields, being a favorite destination of many professional photographers.
If you intend to find the ripe rice season, the best time to visit Ha Giang is in the autumn, from September to mid-October.
You will feel lost in another world when you arrive in Ha Giang and start to experience the treks, with the eye-catching golden terraced fields during the ripe rice season.
Besides, when visiting Ha Giang, you can enjoy the majestic natural scenery, relax comfortably in the fresh air with identical mountains and forests.
Surely, you cannot miss the golden yellow rice fields to enjoy the aroma and color of amazing rice fields.
Sa Pa (Lao Cai)
Coming to Sa Pa in the last days of September, you can admire the terraced fields that have turned bright yellow. In the cool weather of autumn, the whole valley suddenly lit up with warm colors.
Many terraced fields intertwine to create beautiful curves. In the harvest, the terraced fields turn golden yellow, making you love the peaceful and rich beauty of this place.
It can be said that this is a precious gift from nature to the Northwestern people in particular and Vietnam in general.
Muong Thanh Field (Dien Bien)
Muong Thanh field has an area of more than 140 km2, stretching more than 20 km with an average width of 6 km. The field has an altitude of 400 meters above sea level.
Muong Thanh field is the largest mountainous one in the Northwest, located in the middle of Dien Bien Province. This field is like a giant warehouse full of corn and rice for the local people.
Looking down from above, the Muong Thanh field running along the bank of Nam Rom river spreads out like a flower petal embracing historical land.
Mai Chau (Hoa Binh)
Mai Chau Valley is a well-known tourist attraction in Hoa Binh province, also North Vietnam, which is highly appreciated by many domestic and foreign tourists.
The top highlight in this area comes from the rice field in the valley combining with the mountainous landscape, creating an incredible picture of colors.
The best time to visit the rice field in Mai Chau is May and June when the rice is blooming and fully ripe.
As the rice blossoms, the scenery is fresh, the green rice flowers lean in the wind. When the rice is ripe, the scenery is poetic and brilliant because of the golden rice fields shiny in the sun. Coming to Mai Chau this season, you will have unique and vibrant photos.
Moc Chau (Son La)
Traveling to Moc Chau is 185km Northwest of Hanoi, many people think of a peaceful plateau with wide grasslands, green tea hills, and cows that are leisurely grazing grass and beautiful peach branches bringing colors to Tet holidays.
Moreover, at an altitude of 1050m above sea level, the special terrain and climate have created for Moc Chau many beautiful landscapes and beautiful flower seasons, including plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, and the golden season of rice.
Entering autumn from Sep to Oct, this place is a cool time with pleasant weather. Specifically, the terraced fields in Moc Chau have begun being ripe, so that is the best ideal time to visit Moc Chau.
Coming there, you will see terraced fields dyed in yellow color, scattered with the roofs and villages. You may also have the opportunity to visit the tea hill and immerse yourself in the yellow wildflowers and white cabbage.
Binh Lieu rice fields (Quang Ninh)
Binh Lieu can be a strange name for many foreign and domestic tourists. Binh Lieu rice field is a mountainous district adjacent to the border of China and Vietnam, 110km from Halong Bay (Quang Ninh province).
Binh Lieu still retains its intimate, pristine features, not affected by tourism. Although its rice paddies do not own sky-tall terraced fields like in the Northwest of Vietnam, the immense space of Binh Lieu rice fields also captivates visitors. How charming it is!
Over the years, Binh Lieu rice fields not only bring food sources to the local people, but also become a rendezvous site of tourists in the journey of exploring the golden season of rice paddies, in Sep and Oct of every year.
When the sunset gradually falls, the sun gradually stops in the afternoon, and the gentle breezes suddenly pass, that is the great time you can visit the rice paddy with many emotions overflowing, the inspiration rushes.
It is the time when the rice fields are the most beautiful, which can make you remember forever when getting the opportunity to visit Binh Lieu during the season of rice ripening.
Ta Pa rice field (An Giang)
If you do not have the opportunity to see the ripe rice of terraced fields in the North, you can still admire the golden scenery of rice fields in South Vietnam, in the Mekong Delta.
Every year, every September to early November, the Ta Pa field in Tri Ton district, An Giang province covers with the yellow colors of the whole rice paddy. Ta Pa rice field becomes one of the most beautiful rice fields in the Mekong Delta.
Coming to Ta Pa, watching the golden rice fields iridescent, you will surely feel excited and full of joy.
Admire the picturesque and charming countryside landscape in Ta Pa, you also have a chance to see the industrious farmers, a few cows grazing, or the children riding bicycles on small roads between rice fields.
When you step into a poetic and rustic rice field there, you will feel so peaceful, like returning to your childhood.
Ta Pa field is not only a meeting spot for taking pictures of golden rice paddies, but it is also a place to help you get rid of all troubles, purify your soul, fall in love with the nature typical in the countryside of South Vietnam.
Just watching the golden rice flowers leaning against the gentle breeze in the huge rice fields in Vietnam, how warm and relaxing you feel!
The ripe rice season is both the harvest time of the people and the starting moment for discovery trips.
If you plan to hunt for the golden color of Vietnamese rice paddies, wrap your luggage and travel!
Frequently asked questions about rice fields in Vietnam
How long is a rice crop?
A rice crop usually lasts about 100 days. However, depending on the topography and weather of each region in Vietnam, the local people can grow one or two rice crops per year.
Is rice the main food for Vietnamese people?
Yes, Vietnamese people use white rice as the principal food for daily meals. The habit of eating of the Vietnamese is familiar with rice, even when changing it into other types, such as Vietnamese noodles, or rice paper rolls.
Which region in Vietnam has the largest area to grow rice?
In Vietnam, the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam is the largest rice-growing area. Rice there is both for domestic consumption and for export to many countries around the world.
Where is the most beautiful place in Vietnam to see rice fields?
Although the Mekong Delta has vast fields, the most beautiful rice paddies in Vietnam locates in the Northwest. There are plenty of beautiful terraced rice fields in Sapa, Mu Cang Chai… that we mentioned in the article.
When is the best time to see rice fields in Vietnam?
Each place will have different rice harvest seasons. However, September to October is a great time for trips to discover the golden rice fields in the Northwest of Vietnam.