Market is among Vietnam’s most attractions. The travelers can gain a lot of experiences including Vietnamese local culture, people, specialties, and so forth if they get to visit the Vietnam markets. If you want to buy something as the souvenirs at a reasonable price for your family and friends, getting to markets is highly recommended. Especially, you can buy fresh and healthy food if you get to the markets in the early morning. Besides, most of the famous markets in Vietnam have a long history, you can learn a huge knowledge about Vietnamese culture through visiting these markets. In this article, we will give you a comprehensive view of top 7 famous markets in Vietnam. We hope this article will help you a lot when traveling in Vietnam.
1. Dong Xuan Market – The Biggest Market in Vietnam
Opening hours: 06.00 – 19.00
Address: Dong Xuan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
As one of the earliest French-built buildings in Hanoi, the Dong Xuan Market is still the largest trading center of Hanoi. On April 6th, 1888, the government signed a decision to establish a new market. The Dong Xuan Market was built by the French contractor Poinsard Veyret. In the official document, the French called market as “Les Halls centers” or “Grand Marché”, but the local people still took Dong Xuan as the name of the market. Because of its long history, the Dong Xuan Market contains many cultural values of local people. This is the reason why many travelers choose Dong Xuan Market as a destination when they visit Hanoi.
When you get to Dong Xuan market, you will have the opportunity to visit and buy various items including food, souvenirs, and clothing. However, because most of the booths sell with the wholesale price, it will be cheaper if you buy a dozen units or more. If you are a tourist and come here to visit, you can buy some local souvenirs and learn about a large market in Hanoi.
On Saturday evening, in front of the Dong Xuan Market, at the foot of the Hanoi Memorial, there is a group of singers who sing Xam – a type of Vietnamese folk music which is popular in Northern religion perform for visitors. This kind of music is quite strange to the travelers especially the foreign travelers. But if you want to explore the Vietnamese local culture, you should get there on Saturday evening.
2. Hanoi Night Market – The Most Dynamic Market Among Vietnam Markets
Opening hours: Friday – Sunday
Address: Hang Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Hanoi Night market is a combination of ancient features as timeless colored roofs, mossy walls, and busy bustling atmosphere. Everything creates a special charm that cannot be found anywhere else.
You can freely choose a various type of food.
Vietnamese dishes such as snails, noodle, grilled noodles, grilled meat, etc.
Korean dishes such as rice rolls or Tokbokki, and of course, the presence of snacks such as tuna potatoes, fried potatoes Asian-European dishes.
Tea or fruit juices will be the ideal choice for strolling and sipping.
In addition to delicious foods, Hanoi’s Old Quarter also attracts visitors with many items including the phone cases, the meticulously designed card, the clothes, shoes, bags, belts, souvenirs, etc. Each item has a popular price that most of the travelers can afford.
In some special circumstances, the travelers can see the traditional Vietnamese music performances such as Xam, Quan Ho, Ca Tru, and so forth. If you want to explore the local people lifestyle, the Hanoi night market is highly recommended.
3. Dong Ba Market – The Symbol Of Vietnam Markets
Opening hours: 05.00 – 19.00
Address: Tran Hung Dao Street, Hue
Dong Ba Market which is a large commercial center of Hue city serves residents in the city and visitors. Locating on an area of 22,742 m2, over 2,700 commodities ranging from luxury goods to the regular items. Every day the number of visitors and buyers to the market reaches over 5,000-7,000 people. Today, Dong Ba Market plays an important role in the national economy. In addition to the task of providing food for the city, Dong Ba Market also creates jobs for thousands of unemployed and pay tens of billions of dollars of tax to the state budget every year.
The essence culture of Thua Thien Hue which has been preserved can be found in Dong Ba Market such as Phu Cam conical hats, Hien Luong cutlery, Ke Go jewelry, Tuan tea, Huong Can tea, Lai Bang tea, dried shrimp, paper village, etc. and traditional dishes such as mussels, beef noodles, shrimp, and so forth. Dong Ba Market has become the main resource for providing seafood for international restaurants and hotels.
4. Da Lat Market – The Unique Specialities Among Vietnam Markets
Opening hours: 7.00 – 18.00
Address: 4 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province.
Da Lat Market sells a lot of goods of various types. We would like to introduce some special items from Da Lat market.
Vegetable: Cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi, strawberry, tea, artichoke, etc. Those are produced in Lam Dong.
Wool goods: There are many types and designs such as sweaters, socks, boots, gloves and woolen hats.
Fresh flowers: There are many kinds of flowers from very cheap to high-grade flowers. You will have opportunities to immerse in the romantic scene with thousands of flowers. Today, the local people have imported many foreign flowers to serve the resident as well as travelers.
Fruit: The fruit here is very delicious and fresh such as Avocado, strawberry, plum, peach, banana LaBa, and so forth. All of the fruits were grown by organic methods so you can believe in food hygiene and safety here.
Besides, Da Lat Market has the specialties which you can buy as a meaningful gift for your family or friends. You can consider some goods as follows:
Da Lat wine: The wine is made from fresh fruits, especially grapes or plums.
Da Lat jam: Jams in Da Lat made very delicious such as plum jam, potato jam, rosemary jam
Da Lat Tea: Also known as Atiso Tea, this tea is packaged or bagged tea, this tea is famous for the treatment of some diseases such as the diuretic. Atiso is made by stem, roots, leaves.
Da Lat Strawberry: Coming to Da Lat, everyone knows that strawberry is a specialty. Strawberries have a lot of vitamins such as Vitamin A, B1, B2 and especially vitamin C.
5. Dam Nha Trang Market
Opening hours: 4.00 – 18.00
Address: Ben Cho Street, Van Thanh Ward, Nha Trang
Nha Trang Dam Market which is Nha Trang’s major trading center is located at 19B, Building B, Nha Trang City. With such a large area, Dam Market can accommodate 3,000 customers.
According to a survey, in the peak tourist season, on average every day, Dam Market welcomes nearly 1000 visitors to visit and shopping. The travelers will be comfortable when choosing the goods with enthusiastic, friendly pieces of advice from the sellers. In addition, prices are posted publicly. As such, you can believe in the seller here.
Dam Nha Trang has a lot of goods with various types from regular to luxury including dried squid, dried fish, mango rice paper, and so forth. The market is divided into 3 parts including the left part, right part, and center part.
In the left part, you can buy dried or fresh seafood as the souvenirs. In the center part, you can buy clothes, toys, some useful houseware equipment for your family, etc. In the right part, you can buy some Nha Trang specialties such as rice paper, allspice, fish noodle, nem, etc. You should try it at least one time. I believe that you will have interesting experiences.
6. Ben Thanh Market – The Most Alluring Market Among Vietnam Markets
Opening hours: 6.00 – 24.00
Address: Ben Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City
The original market is located along the Ben Nghe River, at a wharf nearby Quy (Gia Dinh). As such, the market is called Ben Thanh. In 1911, the French colonial government decided to move the market to the present location. The Ben Thanh Market was built from 1912 to the end of March 1914 and has operated continuously until now. The market has four gates, each gate faces the main streets such as North Gate overlooking Le Thanh Ton Street, South Gate overlooking Le Loi Street, East Gate overlooking Phan Boi Chau Street, West Gate overlooking Phan Chu Trinh Street. With an area of over 13,000 m2, the market sells a lot of goods including clothes, fabrics, footwear, handicrafts, fresh foods, fruits, and fresh flowers. Besides, if you visit here, you should try some street foods such as Sai Gon rice paper, tea, and so forth.
7. Binh Tay Market – The Honored Among Vietnam Markets
Opening hours: 07.00 – 18.00
Address: 57A Thap Muoi Street, 6 District, Ho Chi Minh City
The same with Ben Thanh market, Binh Tay Market is one of the oldest markets in Sai Gon. But the goods price here is considered better than the Ben Thanh market. Despite having a competition among supermarket systems, Binh Tay Market still maintains the high position in the national economy. Because of the long history, Binh Tay Market has become a new potential tourist destination of Ho Chi Minh City. At present, the market has more than 2,300 booths with various types of goods including clothes, souvenirs, foods, and so forth. There are 5 main parts as follows:
The ground floor: porcelain, incense, nails, spices, nylon – raincoat, shoes, bags fiber, plastic, hats, etc.
The second floor: clothes, department store, confectionery, etc.
Tran Binh area- The new area: high-quality seafood, fresh fruits, and flowers.
Le Tan Ke area: dried shrimp, fish, oil, Da Lat vegetables, noodle, eggs, spices, etc.
Phan Van Khoi area: food, pork, beef, fish, roasted pork, tofu, etc.
Every year, over 120,000 foreign travelers get to the market to visit and buy goods. This is a unique opportunity for travelers, you can admire the ancient architecture, learn the history of this market and go shopping at a reasonable price.
Must-Know Tips If You Want To Buy or Visit Vietnam Markets
– Learning Vietnamese is a key point in making your trip become easier.
– If you get to the market by bus, you should ask the sale-man clearly where you want to go.
– If you get to the market by taxi, you should negotiate about the price with the driver to make sure that you will not be tricked after getting in.
– If you want to buy fresh food, you should get to the market as early as possible.
– You should try and do your bargaining skills to get lower prices.
The Brief Summary About Vietnam Markets
The Vietnam markets are the places that you should visit if you travel to Vietnam. For each market, it will have a unique and different point, you should choose the suitable one depending on your interest. You will have more opportunities to explore the local culture as well as your adventurous ambition. Besides, you can buy a lot of things like the meaning souvenirs for your families and friends. We believe that traveling in the Vietnam markets will give you numerous interesting experiences. We hope that this article can help you a lot when traveling in Vietnam.