What is Hanoi like during Tet festival?
During Tết (3–5 days around Lunar New Year), Hanoi goes quiet. Residents return to hometowns, most street food stalls and local restaurants close, and the Old Quarter empties. The days before Tết are the best part — flower markets on Hàng Lược, peach blossom vendors, and preparation buzz. The holiday itself is calm but inconvenient for visitors needing food and services.
Tết Nguyên Đán — Lunar New Year — is the most important holiday in Vietnam. For a visitor, it’s either the best or the worst time to be in Hanoi, depending on which side of the calendar you land on.
The week before Tết
This is the good part. The city is busy, energized, and visually at its best:
- Hàng Lược flower market — the Old Quarter street transforms into a wholesale flower market, packed with chrysanthemums, peach blossoms, and kumquat trees. Go at night (7–10pm) for the full effect.
- Peach blossom vendors along the Red River dike — temporary stalls selling branches of peach blossoms (the northern Tết symbol) from the back of motorbikes.
- Hàng Mã street — ceremonial paper goods, gold bars made of paper, firecrackers (the decorative kind). This is the street for Tết decorations.
- Atmosphere — everyone is busy, the pace is faster, and there’s a collective sense of finishing things before the holiday. The energy is infectious.
Everything is still open. Restaurants, cafés, and shops operate normally until about 2 days before Tết.
During Tết (3–5 days)
The city empties. Hanoi’s population includes millions of internal migrants from other provinces — they go home. The streets are quiet. Most restaurants and shops close. The ones that stay open are:
- Hotel restaurants and hotel-adjacent businesses
- 24-hour convenience stores (Circle K, WinMart, FamilyMart)
- Some tourist-facing restaurants in the Old Quarter (often with a Tết surcharge of 10–20%)
- International chain restaurants (KFC, Lotteria, Pizza Hut)
The atmosphere is not unpleasant — it’s calm, almost meditative. Hoàn Kiếm Lake without traffic noise is something you won’t see any other week. But if you’re here for street food and the usual energy, you’ll be disappointed.
Practical advice
- Stock up on food — buy snacks, instant noodles, fruit from convenience stores the day before Tết starts
- Confirm hotel breakfast — it may be your only reliable meal for 2–3 days
- Book transport early — trains and flights sell out 1–2 weeks before Tết as everyone travels home
- Avoid arriving on Tết day 1 — you may not find an open restaurant near your hotel
- Visit the flower markets the nights before — they close on Tết eve