Etiquette & CultureBy Clever Tourists · Published · Last updated
Tết 2027 (Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Goat) is Saturday 6 February 2027, and the schedule is final: the Ministry of Home Affairs set a 7-day holiday from Thursday 4 to Wednesday 10 February 2027 for civil servants, while private employers give 5 days split around the same dates. Expect many family-run shops and restaurants to close for several days around 6 February, and trains, buses and domestic flights to run full from late January to mid-February. Here is the official schedule, what typically closes, when transport tickets went on sale, a planning timeline, and how to plan a February trip around it. Checked 26 October 2026.
The schedule comes from Ministry of Home Affairs Notice 11483/TB-BNV of 9 October 2026, after the Government approved a 7-day break. Provincial government portals such as Hà Tĩnh's republished it the same day, and the state news agency VietnamPlus reported the private-sector options on 12 October. Earlier in 2026 the ministry had floated a longer 10-day option, so pages still describing a "proposed" schedule are out of date.
• Tết (mùng 1, first day of the lunar year): Saturday 6 February 2027
• New Year's Eve (giao thừa): the night of Friday 5 February. The last lunar month of the Bính Ngọ year has 29 days, so there is no "30 Tết" this time
• Civil servants and public bodies: 7 days off, Thursday 4 February (28th of the last lunar month) to Wednesday 10 February (5th of the first lunar month), made up of 5 Tết days plus 2 weekend days
• Private businesses: 5 days, with the employer choosing 1 day before New Year and 4 after, 2 and 3, or 3 and 2, and telling staff at least 30 days ahead. The ministry encourages them to match the public-sector dates
Lunar New Year starts on the day of the new moon in each country's own time zone. The February 2027 new moon falls at 15:56 UTC on 6 February, which is 22:56 in Hanoi (UTC+7) and 23:56 in Beijing and Hong Kong (UTC+8), so Vietnam, China and Hong Kong all start the year on 6 February. In Seoul (UTC+9) the same moment is 00:56 on 7 February, so Korea's new year falls a day later. See our Seollal 2027 guide if a February trip takes in both countries.
No government body publishes a closure list for shops and sights, so this is the usual pattern reported by travel and local sources, not an official rule. Check individual opening hours closer to the date.
• Banks, government offices and visa services: closed for the official holiday, 4–10 February. Withdraw cash early, because ATMs in smaller towns can run low
• Family-run restaurants, cafés and street food stalls: many close from about New Year's Eve for three to five days, and some longer. Hotel restaurants, chains and places in busy tourist areas are more likely to stay open, often with a holiday surcharge
• Markets and shops: very busy in the week before Tết as people buy flowers, food and gifts, then quiet for the first days of the year
• Museums and sights: some close for a few days; big outdoor sites such as Huế's Imperial City and Hội An's old town generally stay open because domestic tourists visit over the holiday
• Convenience stores and supermarket chains: mostly open, sometimes with shorter hours on the first day
Hanoi has traditionally held midnight fireworks on New Year's Eve, and Ho Chi Minh City sets up the Nguyễn Huệ flower street. The 2027 fireworks and flower street plans have not yet been announced (as of 21 October 2026).
The weeks around Tết are Vietnam's busiest travel period of the year, as millions of people travel from the cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, to their home towns and back again.
• Trains: Vietnam Railways opened Tết 2027 sales at 08:00 on 5 September 2026: about 300,000 tickets on 57 trains for travel from 23 January to 25 February 2027. Peak days run 29 January to 17 February, when refunds and changes on some trains carry a 30% fee. Buy through dsvn.vn, the official apps or a station counter, and carry ID. Our Reunification Express sleeper guide explains classes and booking
• Flights: Vietnam Airlines Group opened sales on 25 August 2026 with nearly 3.7 million seats and a peak period of 22 January to 20 February 2027. Vietjet announced 3.1 million Tết seats. The airlines say fares in the opposite direction to the main holiday flows start lower, for example from 888,000 VND (≈ $34) one way on Vietnam Airlines between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but popular dates sell out early
• Buses and ride-hailing: long-distance buses fill up and some operators raise fares for the holiday; Grab and taxis keep running but prices are often higher on the first days of the year
We traveled Vietnam from north to south, but not during Tết, so this is planning advice rather than a holiday diary. The trade-off is clear from the schedule: you see the decorations, the flower markets and the build-up, but you lose some restaurants and sights for several days and pay more for transport.
• Best plan: arrive before about 1 February, travel between cities before 3 February, then stay in one big city or a resort town from 4 to 10 February
• Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City: both empty out as residents go home, which makes the streets quieter but closes many local eateries. Hội An and the beach towns stay busier because they fill with domestic tourists
• Avoid: long intercity journeys on 4–5 February and around 9–14 February, when people head home and then back to work
• If your dates are flexible: late February or March gives you the same dry-season weather in the north and center without the closures
For a route that fits around the holiday, see our 2-week Vietnam itinerary from Hanoi to Saigon.
• Now (late October 2026): Tết train tickets have been on sale since 5 September and Vietnam Airlines' Tết flights since 25 August. If you need to move between cities from 29 January to 17 February, book now
• November to December 2026: book hotels for 4–10 February and ask whether they add a Tết surcharge and which nearby restaurants stay open
• By 1 February 2027: be in the country. Withdraw cash for the holiday week, because ATMs in smaller towns can run low
• 2 to 3 February: last comfortable days for intercity travel before the exodus
• 4 to 10 February: the official holiday. Stay in one place; Tết itself is Saturday 6 February, with New Year's Eve fireworks traditionally on the night of the 5th
• 11 to 17 February: people head back to the cities, so trains and flights stay full; most restaurants and shops reopen during this week
• From about 18 February: normal service, with the dry season still on in the north and centre
We haven't been in Vietnam for Tết. We were in Hội An over the 30 April and 1 May public holidays in 2023, though, and that gave us a taste of how Vietnamese holidays look from the street: on the morning of 30 April a dragon-and-lion dance troupe in red and yellow costumes was already gathering under the trees beside the road, their long dragon raised on poles, and flags and holiday banners were up on public buildings. Tết is the biggest and most family-centred holiday of the year, which is why travel and local sources describe tourist towns like Hội An staying busy with domestic visitors while city neighbourhoods empty out.
If you are planning around other Vietnamese holidays in 2027, the Hùng Kings' commemoration falls on Friday 16 April, Reunification Day and Labour Day on 30 April and 1 May, and the National Day break for civil servants runs 2 to 5 September. Our Asia festival and holiday calendar 2027 lists them alongside the other countries we visited.
Book a room early: hotels fill and prices rise in the days before Tet, and the Old Quarter is where the decorations and the New Year's Eve crowds are. Compare areas in where to stay in Hanoi, and see how many days in Hanoi.
Tết 2027 is on Saturday 6 February 2027, with New Year's Eve on the night of Friday 5 February.
Civil servants get 7 days, from Thursday 4 to Wednesday 10 February 2027, under Ministry of Home Affairs Notice 11483/TB-BNV. Private employers give 5 days split around New Year's Day.
Yes. Vietnam, China and Hong Kong all start the lunar year on 6 February 2027. Korea's Seollal is a day later, on 7 February, because Korea is in a later time zone.
It isn't a bad idea, but plan for it: many family-run restaurants close for several days, banks shut from 4 to 10 February, and trains and flights are busiest from late January to mid-February. Travel between cities before 3 February and stay put during the holiday week.
Yes. Vietnam Railways began selling Tết 2027 tickets on 5 September 2026 for travel from 23 January to 25 February 2027, through dsvn.vn, official apps and stations.
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