During Tet Holiday, most businesses close and you won’t find a place to enjoy a slow dinner over the grill, and admire the beauty of the city. But take it from a local, don’t worry. Phongnha Discovery will give you tips so that you can get wonderful experiences to be in Vietnam for the duration of Tet.

WHAT IS TET?

Tet, shortened from Tet Nguyen Dan, is the most important holiday for Vietnamese people. It marks the arrival of spring, time for blooming. Since many people return home for the holiday, busy cities can become almost like ghost towns during the main day of celebration.
Preparations for Tet begin two weeks before the arrival of the New Year. Houses are cleaned and decorated, new clothes are bought, and debts are paid off, all done to have a fresh start to the upcoming year. Markets become busier than ever as food is bought for family reunions and special, extensive meals are cooked. This is also a time to buy flowers, such as peach blossoms, kumquat trees, and chrysanthemums. For tourists, this is an ideal moment to be in Vietnam as well as explore Vietnamese culture more profoundly.

New Year’s Eve has a party-like atmosphere. Cities will launch fireworks, people will be making noise with gongs, bells, and firecrackers to ward off any evil or unlucky spirits nearby.

SOME TIPS FOR YOU WHEN TRAVELING DURING TET HOLIDAY 

Check the locations (restaurants/ coffee shops/ companies) where you prefer to visit in advance

Nowadays, the demand for traveling during Tet holidays is higher and there have been more and more shops/stores opened on Tet holiday, but travelers still have to be aware of the fact that several shops would not do so, especially on the first day of the Lunar New Year 2024. Normally they will reopen stores on the third day of the Lunar New Year or few days later. So please check carefully before shopping or visiting somewhere.

Book services long in advance

Traditional Tet in Vietnam is an interesting experience with many foreign travelers, it is not easy to get rooms in some most popular destinations in Vietnam during Tet including Hanoi, Halong Bay, Phong Nha, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City..), especially high-quality ones, if you didn’t book in advance. Tet holiday (which includes 8-9 days off) means that the locals also have so much plenty of time to travel through their country so please make sure to book rooms or tickets in advance to make sure everything goes smoothly in the new year at the new country. 

Transportation

Transport should be concerned in your trip to Vietnam during Tet Holiday. Without a doubt, it is quite difficult to plan your trip by airplanes, trains that are mostly fully booked because a lot of people booked tickets to come home for family reunion. Please reserve your airplane tickets and train tickets as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

High prices than usual

This is one big concern that seems to occur to most holiday travelers. On Tet holiday, everything might involve a holiday surcharge. Moreover, many restaurants may not have a full menu either. Accepting this as part of your holiday will relieve you from unnecessary stress. If you book a tour package, extra fee might be incurs as travel companies need to pay extra for transportation and guides.

Phongnha Discovery Tours run all tours as normal during Tet Holiday and applies a surcharge for 3 days of Tet (from 10 Feb - 12 Feb) and provide variety of activities for you. Let's immerse yourself in a festive environment and create unforgettable memories as you usher in the Year of the Dragon.

Be careful when buying or bargaining

When you want to buy something during Tet holiday, be careful, especially with bargaining. Local Vietnamese sellers have strong belief that if their new year starts strong with the generating of many sales this will determine a prosperous outcome for the year. Hence it can be very disappointing and annoying to a merchant if you inquire about an item to later not buy it or you bargain so much. This is a sign of loss of prosperity throughout the year, to their opinions. To avoid getting angry, try to buy at least one thing in their shops, even the smallest and cheapest one, in case you have entered their shops and asked for goods. The advice is to look at the item carefully from the outside before getting inside.

As Vietnamese Lunar New Year is the most important occasion of a year to Vietnamese, just like Christmas and New Year combined to Westerners. Hope these above tips that will be useful for you and help you enjoy Tet in Vietnam to the fullest.

Wishing you a Tet Holiday and a prosperous and healthy road ahead!