Your Essential Guide to Celebrating Tet in Vietnam as a Traveler

Vietnam‘s Tet holiday is simultaneously the best and most chaotic time of year to visit the country. In 2026, Tet falls on January 29 (the first day of the Year of the Horse), which means the holiday period stretches roughly from January 23 through February 4. Travelers who haven’t planned for this window often get blindsided — restaurants closed, buses cancelled, entire cities emptied out. But those who understand what’s actually happening find themselves inside one of the most meaningful cultural events in Southeast Asia. This guide gives you the full picture.

What Tet Actually Is (and Why 2026 Timing Matters)

Tet Nguyen Dan — shortened to Tet — is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It’s not simply a holiday. For most Vietnamese families, it’s the one guaranteed moment each year when everyone returns home. Think of it as Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving, and a family reunion compressed into a single week-long event with deep spiritual weight attached.

The celebration marks the transition between lunar years and brings with it a complex set of rituals: cleaning the house to sweep out bad luck, paying off debts before the new year begins, offering food and incense to ancestors, and visiting family in a specific order — paternal grandparents first, then maternal, then friends. Every step carries intention.

In 2026, the Year of the Horse begins on January 29. The Horse is associated with energy, freedom, and ambition in Vietnamese astrology — expect that symbolism to appear everywhere, from decorations at flower markets to lucky charms sold on street corners. The official public holiday runs from January 27 through February 2 (seven days), though many businesses close from January 24 onward and don’t fully reopen until February 5 or 6.

One change from previous years: Vietnam’s revised public holiday policy (updated in 2025) now gives employees more flexibility to take additional days around Tet, which means the practical shutdown often extends longer than the official calendar suggests. Plan accordingly.

The Week Before Tet: What You’ll See on the Streets

The ten days leading up to Tet New Year’s Day are arguably the most visually spectacular part of the entire season. This is when Vietnam is fully awake with preparation energy.

Flower markets bloom overnight. In Hanoi, the Quang Ba flower market operates through the night in the days before Tet — the scent of fresh-cut yellow mai blossoms and peach tree branches fills the cold air, mixed with the earthy smell of potted kumquat trees being loaded onto motorbikes. Sellers balance three-foot kumquat trees on the backs of their bikes, navigating through narrow alleys while buyers inspect branches for the perfect density of fruit. Kumquat symbolizes prosperity; peach blossoms (in the North) and yellow apricot blossoms (in the South) represent renewal.

Supermarkets and wet markets transform. Families stockpile food — dried fruits, seeds, sticky rice, pork belly, mung beans — everything needed to prepare banh chung (the square sticky rice cake stuffed with pork and mung bean that is central to Tet in the North) or banh tet (the cylindrical version made in the South and Central regions). You’ll see women cooking these cakes in enormous pots over outdoor fires, a process that takes eight to ten hours.

Streets get cleaned and decorated. Red and yellow lanterns go up. Government buildings display large calligraphy banners. Children get new clothes. Everything moves toward a single moment of transition.

Tet Eve and New Year’s Day: The Heart of the Celebration

Giao Thua — New Year’s Eve — falls on January 28, 2026. This evening is the emotional core of Tet. Families gather for a large meal, with dishes that vary by region but always carry symbolic meaning: whole chicken (for prosperity), sticky rice cakes, pork, pickled vegetables. The meal is preceded by an outdoor offering ceremony where incense is lit and food and paper offerings are placed on a table in front of the house to welcome the Kitchen Gods and ancestors back for the new year.

At midnight, fireworks light up the sky above major cities. In recent years, Hanoi has staged its main display over Hoan Kiem Lake, and Ho Chi Minh City fires off synchronized shows at several points including the Saigon River waterfront. The crowds are massive — hundreds of thousands of people outdoors in near-freezing temperatures in Hanoi (January nights average around 15–17°C) or warm humidity in Ho Chi Minh City (around 26°C). If you’re at Hoan Kiem Lake for midnight, arrive by 10pm to get a reasonable position.

New Year’s Day itself is quiet in a way that can surprise first-time visitors. The streets empty. Shops stay shut. Families stay home or visit relatives. The city that was buzzing 24 hours earlier feels almost surreal in its stillness. Walking through the Old Quarter in Hanoi on January 29 morning is an experience unlike any other time of year — the usual motorbike noise drops to almost nothing, the air smells of incense drifting from house altars, and the few people you do see are dressed in their best clothes.

The first visitor to a home on New Year’s Day — called xong dat or “first footing” — is believed to set the luck for the entire household for the year. Vietnamese families carefully choose who this person will be based on their birth year, reputation, and character. As a foreigner, you’re unlikely to be asked to fulfill this role, but if you are invited as a first visitor, it’s a significant gesture of trust and warmth.

Regional Differences: Tet in the North vs. Central vs. South

Tet is a national celebration, but it plays out differently depending on where you are in Vietnam — and understanding these differences helps you choose where to be.

Hanoi and the North

Northern Tet is the most traditional and ritually formal version of the holiday. Peach blossoms dominate the decoration palette. Banh chung — the square sticky rice cake — is prepared and eaten with a specific gravity; it connects directly to a legend about a Hung King and his son Lang Lieu. Families gather strictly according to hierarchy. The weather in late January is cool and sometimes drizzly, which adds a reflective, inward quality to the holiday. Temple visits on New Year’s Day morning are extremely common — Tran Quoc Pagoda and Ngoc Son Temple see large crowds of worshippers lighting incense and praying for the year ahead.

Hoi An and Central Vietnam

Central Vietnam blends Northern formality with Southern warmth. Hoi An is a popular choice for travelers during Tet because the ancient town keeps more tourist-facing businesses open than most cities, and the lantern-lit streets look extraordinary during the holiday. The city’s Lantern Festival (held on the 14th day of each lunar month, which in 2026 falls on February 11) is separate from Tet but close enough that many travelers combine both. Central families also cook banh tet alongside regional dishes like dưa mon (pickled vegetables unique to the Center).

Ho Chi Minh City and the South

Southern Tet has a more open, social energy. Yellow apricot blossoms (hoa mai) replace peach blossoms. The holiday mood is slightly less formal — families still follow the visiting sequence, but the city itself stays more alive than Hanoi does on New Year’s Day. Nguyen Hue Flower Street in District 1 is worth seeing in the days before Tet: a kilometer-long pedestrian boulevard transformed into a garden of sculpted flower displays, with locals dressed up and taking photos well into the night. It runs from approximately January 24 through February 2 in 2026.

How Travelers Can Participate Respectfully

Tet is a family holiday at its core, and Vietnamese people are genuinely warm about including visitors in it — but there are ways to engage that show respect and ways that miss the mark entirely.

• Accept invitations. If a Vietnamese person — a guesthouse owner, a teacher you’ve met, a market vendor — invites you for Tet dinner or a New Year’s Day visit, say yes if you possibly can. These invitations are genuine and meaningful. Bring a gift: fruit (especially a basket of five fruits, or ngu qua), a box of dried sweets, or a tin of tea. Avoid giving clocks (associated with death) or shoes (associated with departure).
• Give lucky money the right way. Li xi (lucky money in red envelopes) is given to children and elders. If you want to participate, buy red envelopes from any stationery shop before Tet and put in small amounts — 10,000 to 50,000 VND ($0.40–$2 USD) is appropriate for children. The gesture matters far more than the amount.
• Dress modestly for temple visits. On New Year’s Day and the days following, many Vietnamese visit pagodas and temples. Cover your shoulders and knees, move quietly, and don’t photograph people mid-prayer without permission.



• Learn a few phrases. “Chuc Mung Nam Moi” (Chúc Mừng Năm Mới) means “Happy New Year.” Saying it to anyone you meet during Tet — shopkeepers, hotel staff, strangers — earns instant goodwill every time.
• Don’t complain about closures. Yes, your favorite restaurant is shut. Yes, the pharmacy is closed. This is not a logistical inconvenience to apologize around — it’s a country taking care of itself. Adapting gracefully is the only right response.

What Closes, What Opens, and How to Survive the Shutdown

This section is purely practical, because many travelers underestimate how thorough the Tet shutdown is.

What closes: Most local restaurants, all government offices, most banks, many pharmacies, local markets (wet markets especially), most domestic travel agencies, some ATMs (or they run out of cash). Closures typically begin January 26–27 and last through February 2–3, with full normalcy returning by February 5–6.

What stays open: Hotels, international supermarkets (like WinMart and Co.opmart, though with reduced hours), some tourist-area restaurants (especially in Hoi An, Da Nang, and parts of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1), petrol stations, hospitals, and convenience stores like Circle K and 7-Eleven. Major airports operate normally; domestic flights run but are extremely expensive and often full.

What to do before the shutdown hits:

1. Withdraw enough cash for at least five days. ATM networks get strained during Tet.
2. Stock up on medications, toiletries, and non-perishable food by January 25.
3. Confirm with your accommodation whether they’re providing breakfast during the holiday period.
4. Download offline maps and translation apps — not Tet-specific, but essential if you’re suddenly navigating a quiet city with no one around to ask for help.



5. Book any intercity transport (trains especially) at least three to four weeks before Tet. Trains sell out entirely.

2026 Budget Reality During Tet

Tet brings price surges in some categories and surprising savings in others. Here’s what to expect in 2026.

Accommodation

• Budget: Hostels and basic guesthouses, 250,000–450,000 VND/night ($10–$18 USD). Many budget spots close entirely; those that stay open often charge a premium.
• Mid-range: Three-star hotels, 700,000–1,400,000 VND/night ($28–$56 USD). Most operate normally with slight Tet surcharges of 15–25%.
• Comfortable: Four and five-star hotels, 1,800,000–4,500,000 VND/night ($72–$180 USD). These often run Tet packages that include gala dinners and can be good value compared to booking separately.

Food

• Budget: Convenience store meals and instant noodles, 30,000–80,000 VND ($1.20–$3.20 USD) per meal. Not glamorous, but the reality if local eateries are shut.
• Mid-range: Tourist-area restaurants staying open during Tet typically charge 150,000–350,000 VND ($6–$14 USD) per main course, up from their usual 80,000–180,000 VND baseline.
• Comfortable: Hotel restaurants, 400,000–900,000 VND ($16–$36 USD) per person for set menus. New Year’s Eve gala dinners at major hotels run 1,200,000–3,500,000 VND ($48–$140 USD) per person and require advance booking.

Transport

Domestic flights during the Tet peak window (January 26 – February 3) surge dramatically — a route like Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City that normally costs 800,000–1,200,000 VND ($32–$48 USD) can hit 3,000,000–5,000,000 VND ($120–$200 USD) or more if booked late. Trains are similarly sold out. If you need to move cities during Tet, book in November or December 2025. Taxis and ride-hail apps (Grab remains the dominant platform in 2026) operate normally, though surge pricing applies on New Year’s Eve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Tet a good time to visit Vietnam as a tourist?

It depends entirely on your priorities. If you want to witness Vietnamese culture at its most authentic and emotionally resonant, Tet is extraordinary. If you need reliable access to restaurants, transport, and services, the timing is genuinely difficult. The sweet spot is arriving about five days before Tet, then leaving by New Year’s Day or staying through the full first week.

What date is Tet in 2026?

Tet 2026 (the Year of the Horse) begins on January 29. Most businesses start closing from January 24–25 and return to normal operations around February 5 or 6.

Where is the best place in Vietnam to celebrate Tet?

It depends on what you’re after. Hanoi suits those wanting the most traditional, ritually formal experience. Hoi An balances atmosphere with tourist accessibility. Ho Chi Minh City stays the most open and active through the holiday. See the Regional Differences section above for full detail on each.

What should I bring as a gift if invited to a Vietnamese home for Tet?

Fruit (a basket of five varieties is traditional), boxed dried sweets, premium tea, or wine all work well. Wrap in red or gold if possible, and avoid clocks, scissors, and anything in sets of four — all carry negative associations in Vietnamese culture.

Will I be able to eat out during Tet?

In major cities, some restaurants — particularly in tourist districts and inside hotels — remain open, but at reduced capacity and often with limited menus. In smaller towns, expect almost everything to be shut from January 27 through February 2. Stocking up on food before the closures begin and relying on hotel dining or convenience stores for two to three days is a realistic strategy.

📷 Featured image by Steven Wilcox on Unsplash.