Tet is the biggest holiday of the year in Vietnam, and most of the country stops for it. For a traveller it cuts both ways. The streets fill with flowers and red lanterns in the weeks before, and the first days of the new year are quiet, warm and very family-centred. But millions of people head home at the same time, and a lot of the country simply shuts for a few days.
This guide covers what happened at Tet in 2026, the 2027 and 2028 dates, what happens day by day, what it means for getting around, and where to be if you want to see it.
What Tet is
Tet Nguyen Dan, usually just Tet, marks the first day of the lunar year. 2027 is the Year of the Goat. It's a time for going home, cleaning and decorating the house, settling debts, visiting relatives and honouring ancestors at the family altar.
A few things you'll see everywhere:
- Blossoms and trees. Peach blossom branches in the north, yellow apricot blossom in the south, and potted kumquat trees strapped to the backs of motorbikes.
- Banh chung and banh tet. Sticky rice cakes filled with mung bean and pork, wrapped in leaves and boiled for hours. Banh chung is the square northern version, banh tet the round southern one.
- Li xi. Lucky money in red envelopes, given to children and older relatives.
- First footing (xong dat). The first person to step into a house in the new year is believed to set its luck for the year, so families often choose who it will be.
- Pagoda visits. People go to pray for a good year in the first days of Tet, and the big pagodas get very busy.
What happened at Tet 2026
Tet 2026 began on Tuesday 17 February, the first day of the Year of the Horse. The government approved a nine-day public holiday, 14 to 22 February, made up of five statutory days off and four weekend days (Vietnam Law Magazine).
Vietnam's tourism authority estimated about 14 million tourist visits over those nine days, up 12% on the year before. Average hotel occupancy was around 60%, but it reached about 95% in Phu Quoc and 90 to 95% in Sa Pa (Viet Nam News). The same figures put foreign visitors at roughly 510,000 in Da Nang (up 32%), 217,000 in Hanoi (up 55%) and 170,000 in Ho Chi Minh City (up 51.7%).
At midnight on 17 February, Hanoi held fireworks at 33 locations, from 00:00 to 00:15, with tens of thousands of people around Hoan Kiem Lake and My Dinh stadium (Happy Vietnam).
Tet is worth seeing for its scale. A nine-day break sends millions of people back to their home towns and villages, which is why transport and prices peak and so many businesses close. The visit figures are official estimates, not a count of individual travellers, and we haven't found a final national total for international arrivals.
Dates for 2027 and 2028
| 2027 | 2028 | |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen Gods day (Ong Cong Ong Tao, 23rd day of the 12th lunar month) | Sat 30 January | A week before Tet |
| New Year's Eve (giao thua) | Fri 5 February, night | Tue 25 January, night |
| Tet, first day of the new year | Sat 6 February | Wed 26 January |
| Second and third days of Tet | Sun 7 and Mon 8 February | Thu 27 and Fri 28 January |
| Official public holiday | Not decided yet: 4 to 10 February or 5 to 14 February proposed | Not yet announced |
| Zodiac year | Goat | Monkey |
The official break is set by the Vietnamese government each year, usually in the autumn before. For 2027 the decision hadn't been published when we checked on 3 October 2026. In September, the Ministry of Home Affairs floated seven days off, 4 to 10 February, with a ten-day option also discussed (VnExpress). We'll update this table when the decision is published.
In practice the holiday feels longer than the official days. Many people leave the cities a few days early, and plenty of small family businesses stay closed until around the sixth day of the new year.
What happens during Tet
The weeks before
In the weeks before Tet, flower markets open, streets are strung with red lanterns and banners, and everyone seems to be carrying a peach branch or a kumquat tree on a scooter. In Hanoi, the old Hang Luoc flower market in the Old Quarter runs for the last two to three weeks before Tet. In 2026 it ran daily from 8am to 10pm. In Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Hue walking street becomes a flower street for the week of Tet.
On Kitchen Gods day, a week before Tet, families send the kitchen gods off to heaven to report on the household. You'll see people releasing carp into lakes and rivers.
New Year's Eve
The evening of 5 February 2027 is for family. People gather for dinner, make offerings at home, and many go out to a pagoda around midnight. Big cities hold official firework displays at midnight. The streets are busy right up to then and empty fast afterwards.
The first three days
A Vietnamese saying sums up the first three days: the first for your father's family, the second for your mother's, the third for your teachers. Cities go quiet, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, where many people come from the provinces and go home. Temples and pagodas are the busiest places in town.
What Tet means for travellers
Tet is a good time to be in Vietnam if you've planned for it and a hard time if you haven't.
- Transport sells out. Domestic flights, sleeper trains and long-distance buses are fullest in the days just before Tet, when everyone heads home, and again around the end of the break. Book well ahead, and avoid travelling the day before New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve itself if you can.
- Prices go up. Hotels, taxis and some restaurants add a Tet surcharge, and ride-hailing apps keep running but with surge pricing.
- Small places close. Family-run restaurants, street-food stalls, markets and local shops often close for three days or more. Hotels, bigger restaurants and places aimed at visitors mostly stay open.
- Sights are mixed. Most big sights stay open, but opening hours can change. Check before you go.
- Carry cash. ATMs in smaller towns can run dry over the holiday. Take out enough before Tet starts.
A good plan is to be somewhere you'd enjoy spending three quiet days, with your transport booked before and after.
Where to spend Tet
- Hanoi. The run-up is the best part: the flower market, the Old Quarter decked out in red, and the midnight fireworks. The first days are very quiet.
- Ho Chi Minh City. The Nguyen Hue flower street is the big draw, with displays that change every year. In 2026 it ran from 15 to 22 February.
- Hoi An. The old town is hung with lanterns all year and dressed up further for Tet. It's compact and walkable, which helps when transport is hard to find.
- Hue. The old imperial capital, where the pagodas fill with families in the first days of the year.
- The countryside. If you're invited to someone's home for Tet, say yes. It's the best way to see it. Take a small gift, such as fruit, sweets or tea.
If you're planning a longer trip, March and April suit a trip through the north and the centre better than Tet week. Our best time to visit Vietnam guide goes month by month.
How to be a good guest at Tet
- Say "Chuc mung nam moi" (Happy New Year) to people you meet.
- If you're invited into a home, take a small gift. Red envelopes with a little money for the children are a nice touch.
- Avoid arguments, sweeping the floor and talking about bad luck in the first days. Many families believe it sets the tone for the whole year.
- Dress neatly for pagodas: cover your shoulders and knees.
- Be patient. Service is slower, many staff are away, and the people who are working are missing time with their families.
Why "Tet" also means the Tet Offensive
If you search for Tet, you'll also find the Tet Offensive. It was a wave of attacks launched by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces on cities across South Vietnam on 30 and 31 January 1968, during the Tet holiday truce. Hue was one of the cities worst hit, and the fighting there lasted weeks. It became one of the turning points of the Vietnam War. Many war museums and sites in Hue and Ho Chi Minh City cover it if you want to learn more.
Travelling Vietnam around Tet with us
We don't run group trips over Tet week itself. Trains sell out, many homestays and restaurants close, and it's a time for our local partners to be with their families. From late February the country is back to normal, and March and April are among the best months for a trip through the north and the centre. We schedule our Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City trip to start after Tet has finished. The trip page lists current dates.
