Tet: how Vietnamese New Year is lived and why it can ruin your trip

Tet Nguyen Dan — the Vietnamese Lunar New Year — is the most important festival of the calendar. It’s celebrated between late January and mid-February (moveable by new moon) over 7 official days (activity stretches 2-3 weeks). It’s to Vietnam what Christmas is to the West: mass homecoming, family reunion, ritual, specific gastronomy, flowers and fireworks. For travellers it’s fascinating and problematic at once: many businesses close, prices rise, trains and flights collapse. Knowing this before booking can save your trip.

What’s celebrated and when

Tet marks the start of spring and the lunar year. Not just calendar: it symbolises renewal, debt repayment, family reconciliation and ancestor worship. In 2026, Tet falls on 17 February (Year of the Horse).

The 3 phases:

• Preparation (1-2 weeks before): total house cleaning (“to send off the old year”), flower buying, ancestral altar, sweet cooking.
• New Year’s Eve to Day 3: family meals, relative visits, ritual first visitor (xong dat — the first person to enter the house determines the year’s luck).
• Days 4-7: temple and tomb visits, games, rest.

• 🗓Duration 7 official days
• 🌸Key flower Peach (N), apricot (S)
• 🍚Key dish Banh chung
• 📅Tet 2026 17 February

The symbols: flower, food and red envelope

The problem for travellers

From 3 days before to 5 days after Tet, Vietnam partially shuts down:

• Family restaurants: close 5-7 days (returning home).
• Museums and temples: open, but with limited hours.
• Trains and domestic flights: collapsed. Saigon-Hanoi can double in price. Book 2-3 months ahead essential.
• Buses: reduce frequency.
• Hotels: urban ones raise prices 20-50% the 3 key days. Coastal (Phu Quoc, Hoi An) double prices.
• Street markets: closed the first 3 days.

What DOES work: large international hotels (with open restaurants), pagodas, beaches, major tourist attractions like Ha Long and caves.

How to live Tet as a traveller

If you travel during Tet deliberately:

• Stay in a big city (Hanoi or Saigon) — more options open.
• Go to the flower market 2-3 days before (Quang Ba or Ho Thi Ky) — best visual moment.
• Attend the lunar New Year’s Eve fireworks at Hoan Kiem lake (Hanoi) or the Saigon river.
• Visit pagodas days 1-3: full of families offering incense. Chua Tran Quoc, Chua Quan Am, Chua Thien Mu.
• Try being invited: if you have local friends or stay in a homestay, you may be invited to eat banh chung with family. Unique experience.

If you DON’T want to coincide:

• Avoid the 5-day-before to 7-day-after window around Tet.
• Early January or March are comfortable alternatives.

What to expect in Ho Chi Minh vs. Hanoi

• Saigon: more relaxed, river fireworks, lively streets at dusk.
• Hanoi: more traditional, quieter first days, packed pagodas.

Appropriate gifts if invited

• Fresh fruit (wrapped in red paper).
• Premium Chinese/Vietnamese tea.
• Traditional sweets (mut — Tet candied fruits).
• Never: knives, handkerchiefs (funerary), white or purple flowers.

The complete Vietnam guide from Far Guides dedicates a section to Tet with a 2026-2030 calendar, booking strategy and etiquette guide for family invitations.