FAQs: What to Expect When Traveling to Vietnam During Tet Holiday?

Ask almost anyone in Vietnam what the most important time of year is, and you'll get the same one-word answer: Tet.

If you're planning a trip during this period, a trusted Vietnam travel agency can help navigate holiday schedules, transport changes, and accommodation availability.

Tet  the Vietnamese Lunar New Year is less a holiday than the holiday. It's when families that have scattered across the country pour back to their hometowns, when the big cities go strangely quiet, and when customs handed down for generations move front and centre. For a traveller it can be one of the most absorbing times to be in the country. It can also catch you off guard if you turn up expecting business as usual.

Whether you're loosely sketching out tet 2027 or scanning the calendar for vietnam holidays 2026, getting your head around how Tet reshapes travel will save you a lot of friction.

So when is it, exactly?

Here's the part most guides leave vague, so let's not. Tet 2027 falls on February 6, 2027 — the first day of the Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Horse. The official public holiday clusters around it, roughly February 3–11, though plenty of businesses shut a little earlier and reopen a little later than the official dates suggest. (For reference, Tet 2026 lands earlier, on February 17, with a nine-day official break.)

Because it tracks the lunar calendar, the date shifts every year  always somewhere between late January and the third week of February. That's worth knowing if you're booking far out.

What Tet actually is, and why it matters so much

Tet marks the turn of the lunar year, and it's the biggest celebration on the Vietnamese calendar by a wide margin. In the weeks beforehand the whole country shifts into preparation mode flower markets spill onto the streets, kumquat trees and peach or apricot blossom appear in doorways, homes get scrubbed and decorated, and kitchens fill up with the smell of banh chung steaming for hours.

For a visitor, it's a window into a side of Vietnam you simply don't see the rest of the year: one built around family, ancestors, and ritual rather than sightseeing.

What's actually going on during the holiday

People often ask what activities in tet holiday there even are, assuming everything just shuts. It doesn't. Yes, some shops and family-run businesses close, but Tet is anything but a dead week. You'll find flower festivals, temple and pagoda visits where people pray for luck in the new year, fireworks on New Year's Eve, lion dances, and street decorations everywhere you look.

Wandering Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City over Tet is its own strange pleasure  the usual traffic thins out as people head home, and the public spaces fill instead with flowers, lanterns and families out together. It's one of the few moments you get to watch a whole nation observe its traditions at once.

Is Tet the best time to visit Vietnam?

Depends entirely on what you're after. A lot of people researching the best time to visit vietnam start and stop at the weather and fair enough, it's a long, climatically split country. But February actually sits in a pleasant window for much of the south and centre, and the cultural payoff of Tet is something no amount of good weather delivers on an ordinary week.

The honest trade-off: the atmosphere is unbeatable, but transport books out, hotels fill, and the peak days (around February 6–8 in 2027) are when the most things are closed and millions of people are on the move at once. A trick worth stealing arrive a few days before Tet. You catch the electric pre-holiday buildup while services are still running, then experience the actual New Year somewhere scenic like Halong Bay or Ninh Binh rather than a shuttered city.

The wider 2026 holiday picture

If you're planning around it, it's worth a glance at the vietnam public holidays 2026 calendar before you lock anything in, since public holidays nudge opening hours, transport schedules and room availability.

Tet is the giant, but it isn't the only one. The 2026 line-up also includes New Year's Day on January 1, Hung Kings' Commemoration Day in late April (falling around April 26–27 with a compensatory day), the back-to-back Reunification Day and Labour Day on April 30–May 1, National Day around September 2 and, newly added, a Cultural Day on November 24. Travellers who skim the public holidays 2026 vietnam list often find it cuts both ways: dodge the disruption on some dates, or deliberately aim for a local celebration on others.

What "closed for the holiday" really means

For a lot of international visitors, vietnam holidays 2026 might sound like holiday periods back home a few quiet days, then back to normal. Tet is its own animal. Some family-run spots close for several days straight, restaurants run reduced hours, and transport can be fully booked solid as essentially the entire country travels to see relatives.

But the big tourist destinations especially in the larger cities and established tourism hubs  mostly stay open and accessible. The mental model that works: Tet changes daily life across Vietnam rather than switching it off.

Should you go during Tet?

If you're drawn to culture, it's often a yes. You get to see traditions most tourists never witness the markets, the temple visits, the family gatherings, the red envelopes (lì xì) handed to kids, the whole festive texture of it. It feels nothing like a standard sightseeing trip.

The caveat is flexibility. If your idea of a good holiday is everything running exactly on schedule, the peak Tet days will test your patience. Go in expecting some closures and a slower rhythm, and you'll get far more out of it.

Tet as part of a bigger Southeast Asia trip

Tet also slots nicely into wider regional routes. Plenty of travellers fold Vietnam together with its neighbours via vietnam cambodia and thailand tours, which lets you sample three quite different cultures in one trip and catching the Vietnam leg over Tet adds something the brochures can't.

If you'd rather not wrestle with holiday logistics yourself, Luxury Vietnam tours are worth a look during this period specifically: private transport and pre-arranged schedules take the sting out of the busiest travel days of the year. And honestly, this is the one time of year where leaning on a good Vietnam travel agency earns its keep local know-how is what gets you the booked-out train seat, the hotel that's actually open, and a route that works around the closures rather than into them.

Practical tips for traveling over Tet

• Book hotels and flights early top places sell out two to three months ahead, and prices climb as the date nears.
• Confirm transport schedules before you travel; domestic demand spikes hard.
• Carry some cash, since smaller businesses may not take cards and some banks close.
• Stay flexible on plans and opening hours.
• Most of all, lean into it. Tet is one of the most meaningful cultural events in the country, and seeing it up close can end up being the thing you remember most.

FAQ

What is Tet?

Tet (Tet Nguyen Dan) is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year  the country's most important annual celebration, centred on family, ancestors and welcoming the new year.

When is Tet 2027?

Tet 2027 falls on February 6, 2027, the first day of the Lunar New Year and the start of the Year of the Horse, with the official holiday running roughly February 3–11.

What activities take place during Tet?

Popular activities in tet holiday periods include flower festivals, temple and pagoda visits, fireworks, lion dances, family gatherings and traditional performances.

Is Tet the best time to visit Vietnam?

It depends on your priorities. For culture, Tet offers something you can't get any other week — though if you're chasing the best time to visit vietnam purely for ease and predictability, the peak days come with closures and crowds.

Are businesses closed during Tet?

Some local and family-run businesses close for several days, but many hotels, tourist services and major attractions keep running, especially in the bigger cities.

Should I check Vietnam public holidays before traveling?

Yes. Reviewing the vietnam public holidays 2026 (or public holidays 2026 vietnam) calendar helps you plan transport, accommodation and sightseeing around the dates that matter.

Is Tet included in Vietnam tour packages?

Often. Many Luxury Vietnam tours and itineraries run by a good Vietnam travel agency can be built around Tet for travellers after a deeper cultural experience.

Can I combine Vietnam with other countries during Tet?

Yes. vietnam cambodia and thailand tours are a common way to take in several destinations in one journey while still catching the festive atmosphere of Vietnam's Lunar New Year.