Sam Son Beach:
Only 16Km from Thanh Hoa City, Sam Son beach is very good for bathing. The beach became famous seaside resort of Indochina in the early part of this century. A number of villas were already built on the beach before the first Indochina war, including one belonging to King Bao Dai, the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam. Beside sandy beaches, Sam Son also has some scenic spots such as Trong Mai Island, Doc Cuoc Temple, and Mount Co Tien.

The Ho Dynasty Citadel:
It was built in 1397 under the reign of King Ho Quy Ly. It was named Tay Do (Capital of the West), but it is popularly known as Thanh Nha Ho (Citadel of the Ho Dynasty).

The Square, deep moated citadel was built on a vast, flat area of land. Its walls are built totally of green granite, about 5m high and 3m thick. Each block of rock or 1.5m long, and 0.8m - 1m high on average. There are four main gates in the middle of each side of the citadel there remain relics of the foundations of old rural palaces, and two carved stone dragons in front of a palace porch.

All the ancient citadels in Vietnam such as the citadels of Hoa Lu and Co Loa were made of earth, the only exception being the Ho Dynasty Citadel, which was wholly built in block granite, depicting the power of creativeness and industriousness of the labouring people seven centuries ago.

Ba Trieu Temple:
Lady Trieu whose full name was Trieu Thi Trinh was a beloved national heroine. She led the nation in an uprising against the northern invasion in the 3rd century.

The temple dedicated to Lady Trieu was built on the Gai mountain in Phu Dien commune, Hau Loc district, close to National Highway 1, some 137Km from Hanoi. On their way from North to South and vice versa, travellers often make a stop-over at the mountain to both pay homage to the heroine and do some sightseeing.

Ritual ceremonies are held yearly at the temple on the 24th day of the 2nd lunar month. People on pilgrimage to the temple often recall Lady Trieu's outright declaration : "I want to drive over strong wind, sail over strong waves and chase the foreign invaders out of the country, and I will not give up myself to be their servant-concubine".

Ham Rong Bridge:
The Ma River is the largest one in Thanh Hoa. It runs through the province for a length of 381km. Nearing the coast, the river meets a high mountain which resembles a dragon's head, from which the bridge spanning that part of the river derives its name.

In the early 20th century French engineers tried in vain to build an iron bridge over the Ma River. In 1905, they completed a suspension bridge only to see it destroyed in the anti-French war.

When peace returned in 1954, Vietnamese engineers applied new engineering techniques and built an iron bridge. The new Ham Rong bridge some 160m in length was completed in May 19,1964.

The bridge gained fame because it became the main target of US air forces in the efforts to break the North-South supply lines. Five units of the Vietnamese armed forces including militia-persons were were stationed on a 1 sq.km area around the bridge. They were honoured with the title of "Hero of the Armed Forces" for shooting down a total of 106 US aircraft in defense of the bridge.

Ben En national park :
Ben En National Park spans across Nhu Xuan and Nhu Thanh districts, in south western Thanh Hoa. During the 1970s the park was often empty as very few visitors frequented it. However, since it was made into a national park, scientists and tourists alike have frequented the place.

Its scenery is beautiful. The landscape is breathtaking, with its hills, mountains, rivers and the lake. The park covers an area of 16,634 hectares. The water surface accounts for 3,000hectares of the park. With 21 big and small islands on its water, the lake looks similar to Ha Long Bay.

Tourists and naturalists are interested in Ben En also because of its large bio-diversity. One can find a great range of plants and animals. Much of the wildlife found here has been categorized as endangered or rare.

Different ethnic groups including the Kinh, Muong Thai and Tho live within the park. Each group brings its unique cultural features to Ben En, making the place an ideal destination for those interested in cultural ethnographic tourism.

The management of the park has several projects to make it a more attractive tourist centre. The islands are being made into ideal places for rest. Hotels are being built. Transport is being made more convenient and comfortable. New tourism routes are being opened. Ben En is proving its advantages over several other tourism centers.

Dao Grotto :
You only need to travel about six kilometers along the north eastern route from Nga Son's district town before you see the majestic Than Dau Mountain ahead of you, The mountain is in Nga Thien commune. It is famous for the Bich Dao grotto, which is located inside.

Local legend says that this is the place where the scholar Mr. Tu Thuc met a beautiful fairy named Giang Huong. Thuc fell completely love with Huong and decided to follow her to her fairyland. He spent his most wonderful days in fairyland, but deep in the back of his mind he always missed his home village. One day he decided to go back to visit his home village. Unfortunately, when he returned nobody recognized him. He didn't realize that the time on earth passed much more quickly than time in fairyland. He had been away much longer than he thought and all the people that he knew had long since died. Tu Thuc left his village and has never been seen again since.

A stone path leads for some hundred meters from the foot of the mountain to the mouth of the grotto. There you will see two poems inscribed in Chinese script on the rocks outside the mouth. Le Quy Don wrote one of the poems. He is a well-known Vietnamese scholar from the 18th century. However, Le Quy Don did not inscribe the poem himself. A district chief inscribed the poem on the rock in 1905.

Passing through the mouth, you will enter the outer section of the grotto. It looks like a huge upside down bowl. It houses many twinkling colorful stalagmites and stalactites. People have given them different names such as the silver store, the rice store, the salt store and the coin store. Some 10 meters further, you will step on a dragon-shaped stalagmite coiling on the ground. In the center of the coil are egg-shaped pebbles. People call this image, "The dragon brooding golden eggs".

The stalactites drop from the roof like leaves. If you beat them with a piece of wood, each one will produce a different sound. They sound very much like traditional musical instruments such as gongs, drums and bells. This area of the grotto is called, "the orchestra."

The middle section of the grotto is not so large, but it is long. It is almost round with a diameter of 35 meters and height of 20 meters. The stalagmites and stalactites here have all sorts of shapes and sizes. One looks like a chessboard. Another looks like shoes. Standing in this area you can see the images of flowery carpets, seals, caps and gowns. These objects make you believe that they must have belonged to the scholar Tu Thuc from the legend.

This section has a path leading upward. The incline is called "the way to heaven." It has another path leading downward which is called "the way to hell." Here there is also a pool of clear and cool water. You can see clearly the pebbles at the bottom. The stalactites hang like a loose curtain, from which water can be heard dripping continuously. This scene makes you think of the bathroom of the beautiful fairy Giang Huong.

The inner section is smaller. It is 12 meters wide and 8 meters high. Looking at the bottom of this section, you will see the rock form itself into an altar. The stalagmites look like candles and ancestral tablets. A huge rock in this section represents the grave of Tu Thuc.

Do Mountain :
If you pride yourself on your skills of observation, then Do Mountain is the perfect challenge for you. Even today, at the turn of the 21st century splinter stone tools can be found scattered about the mountain's surface. Experts say that some of these tools date back 300 to 400 thousand years. Primitive men left them behind. Some pieces are big and others are small. The most beautiful examples of stone axes from this vestige site are kept in the History Museum in Hanoi and the provincial museum in Thanh Hoa. This is just one example of the exciting discoveries that can be made on Do Mountain.

Do Mountain stretches between Thieu Tan and Trieu Khanh villages in Dong Son district. It is about 7 kilometers northwest of the town of Thanh Hoa. The mountain is situated on the right side of the Chu River, at the point where it meets the Ma River. Years ago, local people used to call the mountain, "the two sails abreast on both the Ma and Chu Rivers." Do Mountain is 158 meters high. Its slope ranges from 20 to 25 degrees. You can easily reach it by bicycle, motorbike, car or boat.

From a distance, Do Mountain looks like a huge black tortoise. The highest peak outlines the form of the tortoise's shell. The lower southern peak forms the head of the tortoise. An ancient Vietnamese book compares the image of the mountain to that of a tortoise playing with the water of the Chu and Ma rivers.

At the foot of the mountain, towards the west is a big rock. There are two human footprints on the rock. It is said that the footprints belonged to a giant who used to help the villagers with the construction of their houses.  Unfortunately, one of the footprints has been damaged.

The ruins of the grave of King Le Duy Hop (1676-1705) can be found on the eastern side of the mountain. There is also a temple dedicated to him there. Green trees surround the site. The path leading to the grave is about 2,000 meters long. It used to be paved with stone slabs.

Another interesting spot on the mountain is a place called "the horse saddle." The old people say that when they were young, they used to see a light that would move from east to west at night from this spot. They believe that the light came from a bright pear, worn by a horse.

At the end of the 19th century, the Can Vuong anti-French partisans used the Do Mountain as their resistance base. One can still see some traces of their existence here. There is an old stone that was used for their flagpole, a well and the kitchen.

At the foot of the Do mountain is the Tran village. It was established in the 14th century. The village is known for its production of mulberries and silkworms. Many of the villagers are also good masons. People from Tran village built the tomb of King Tu Duc in Hue. Young women from the village are known for their excellent singing voices. Several of them became Kings' concubines in the past.

For the visitor with a keen eye and an acute sense of curiosity there is no place quite like Do Mountain. It offers the visitor not only a beautiful landscape but also the exciting discovery of an ancient culture.

Ham Rong :
Ham Rong is a well-known beauty spot and historical vestige site. It is located on the National Highway No. I A, four kilometers north of the provincial town of Thanh Hoa

In English, Ham Rong literally means the dragon's jaws and there is a good reason why this place was given the name. The landscape actually appears in the shape of a dragon. The mountain range begins in Duong Xa commune, Dong Son district and meanders along the Ma River. It ends at the Ham Rong Bridge with an elevated peak. The range that makes up the shape has the dragon's body and the peak next to the bridge forms the dragon's head. There is a grotto that pierces through the mountain. It looks like the two eyes of the dragon. Hence, its name Dragon's Eyes. The grotto has a hole on top of it and rainwater runs through this hole. The rainwater is dark brown and is called the dragon's tears. The grotto also has a round hole on the left; it has a dark green texture around it; people compare it with the dragon's eyebrows and eyelashes.

Over the centuries many great poets have been attracted to this grotto. Nguyen Trai (1380-1442), who has been recognized by UNESCO as a great man of culture, used to visit this grotto. One day he was inspired to write a beautiful poem in Chinese characters to extol the beautiful scenery. Some poems can be found inscribed on the rock. One such poem has a flowery border. King Le Thanh Tong may have written this poem in 1478.

Opposite the Dragon Mountain and across the Ma River is Ngoc Mountain. It has many layers of rock amassed on top of each other. The mountain's top shines a brilliant red colour in the sun like a fire blazing up from inside the earth.  Towards the southwest of Dragon Mountain, the rocks bear different shapes and have a variety of names according to their appearance. They are the five lotuses, a woman lying down, a sleeping man, two eggs, a crouching cat and the dragon's legs.

The vestige site of Dong Son in Ham Rong is known throughout the world. Archaeologists have found many artifacts of the Bronze Age here. Graves of inhabitants from that period have also supplied a wealth of artifacts. Archaeologists often use the name Dong Son to refer to the period of bronze tools.  The Ham Rong area also suffered a lot during the US bombing, but it managed to maintain its strong character. Traces of the war can still be seen in different places with the craters and broken walls.  With all of these attributes and interesting sites, Ham Rong offers the visitor a unique chance to trace Vietnam's history from an early age.

Ho Citadel :
Ho Citadel, also called Tay Do Wall, is situated in Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province, approximately 150 km from Hanoi. The citadel was erected in 1397, during the Ho dynasty. The stone citadel was built in the shape of a square with a gate on each side. The south wall gate is similar to the South Gate of Thang Long Wall. All four walls are surrounded by deep channels, protecting the Imperial Palace inside. Upon completion of the wall, King Ho Quy Ly  moved the capital from Thang Long to Tay Do. The citadel was eventually destroyed and abandoned. Nearly 6 centuries have passed since the wall was erected, and only ruins of the South Gate remain.