Tam Dao

Tam Dao was laid out by the French from 1904 as a hill station where the administration could escape the delta heat - at about 900 metres it runs ten degrees cooler than Hanoi - and villas, a church and a swimming pool were built along the ridge. Most of the colonial fabric is gone; the stone church of 1937 survives and the rest is modern Vietnamese resort building, a great deal of it, and the town now has a heavily developed centre. The mountain is in cloud a large part of the year, which is either the atmosphere people come for or a wall of grey. Tam Dao national park covers the range.

What you actually see

• A hill station from 1904 - built for the colonial administration.
• Ten degrees cooler than Hanoi - the reason it exists.
• A stone church of 1937 - most other colonial fabric gone.
• Cloud much of the year - the town's defining condition.

When to go

April to October for the temperature; expect cloud in any month. Two days.

Honest expectations

Development in the town has been heavy and fast and much of it is unlovely. Weekends bring crowds from Hanoi and prices rise. Visibility is frequently nil. The road up is steep and winding.

Nearby

Tay Thien temple complex is on the same range; Hanoi is south-east.