IELTS Speaking Part 2 - Describe a holiday you went on

You should say:

Where you went.

Who you went with.

What you liked/didn’t like.

If you would like to go on a similar holiday in the future .

I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m not an avid traveller in any way , but I’m going to talk about a fantastic trip to a famous city of my country: Hanoi capital.

First of all, Hanoi is a city located in the North. It’s famous for its weather, old architecture, local cuisine and culture. I guess it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in Vietnam.

I traveled there with my best friend. We spent our spring break traveling there, and fortunately it was also Tet holiday with a long break period so we just impulsively booked a flight. I was quite nervous as everything might be busy because of Tet, but it turned out to be an amazing experience.

As we arrived , I quickly realized why Hanoi is such a well-known city. I was extremely impressed by the historical buildings from the French colonial era. The city theatre and the St. Joseph’s Cathedral, and Hoan Kiem Lak eare all architectural masterpieces. We took so many photographs! Furthermore, the local residents were welcoming and helped us a lot with directions The cuisine tasted quite different from the food in Saigon in the way it is seasoned , but it really was my cup of tea. The only thing that bothered us was the weather. It was so much colder than in Saigon that we had to forgo visiting some places.

I would definitely visit the North of Vietnam again if given the chanceThe trip opened my eyes to a new culture and it was such a wonderful experience.

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Architecture – the style/design of buildings.

Saigon has such amazing architecture from the French colonial government.

Tourist destination – a place/city that many travelers visit.

Saigon is one of the tourist destinations in Vietnam.

Impulsively (adv) – doing things suddenly and without careful thought.

Impulsive shopping sometimes wastes our money.

Cuisine – food. Used with adjectives. Vietnamese cuisine = Vietnamese food.

Vietnamese local cuisine is different in every region.

A Masterpiece – something made with amazing skill.

Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral is an architectural masterpiece.

To be (a person’s) cup of tea (idiom): something or someone that one finds pleasing.