Watch Haiphong turn red and gold in the week before Tet
The most rewarding days to be in Haiphong come before the holiday itself. From roughly late January through 5 February 2027, the city fills with the sights and smells of Tet preparation: kumquat trees and peach blossom loaded onto motorbikes, bundles of red and gold decorations, and flower markets running at full tilt. Northern Vietnam's Tet is defined by peach blossom (hoa đào) rather than the southern yellow apricot, and Haiphong sits firmly in that northern tradition. Walk the markets in the final days before the new year and you'll see families buying branches, wrapping gifts and stocking up. This is the period to be out on the streets with a camera and an appetite.
- Spend the pre-Tet week wandering flower markets and decoration stalls — the build-up is the most visually active stretch of the whole season.
- Watch for kumquat trees and peach branches being ferried by motorbike; it is the defining image of a northern Vietnamese new year.
- Note that many family shops and independent restaurants begin closing as the holiday approaches, so plan your meals around the days you have.
Join the city for Giao Thừa and the first three days of the new year
Tet Nguyên Đán 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February, opening the Year of the Goat. Tet Eve, Giao Thừa, is Friday 5 February — the night the city marks the transition into the new year. The three observed days run Saturday 6 to Monday 8 February (mùng 1–3). Understand the rhythm before you plan: mùng 1 is the quietest day of the year, reserved for immediate family; mùng 2 is for extended family and friends; mùng 3 is for teachers. Pagodas are packed throughout and are worth visiting — joining the crowds at a temple is one of the most authentic ways to spend the holiday. Expect hotels, convenience stores and international chains to stay open on reduced hours, while banks, government offices and most small operators close.
- Be out on Tet Eve, 5 February 2027, for the atmosphere of the transition into the new year.
- Visit a pagoda on mùng 1 or mùng 2 — they fill with locals making offerings and praying for the year ahead.
- Keep the quiet days quiet: don't schedule day trips or classes, which largely stop during the three observed days.
Eat bánh chưng and give lucky money the northern way
Haiphong's Tet table follows northern custom. Look for bánh chưng — the square sticky-rice cake wrapped in leaves — rather than the southern bánh tét. You'll find it in markets during the build-up and in family kitchens through the holiday. The weather will be cold, damp and grey, so pair long walks with warm, filling food. If you're invited into a home, arrive with the right manners: greet with "Chúc mừng năm mới," or "An khang thịnh vượng" (peace and prosperity) or "Chúc sức khỏe" (health). Lucky money — mừng tuổi in the north, lì xì in the south — goes in red envelopes with crisp new notes, given with both hands to children and elders, never to peers, and never opened in front of the giver.
- Seek out bánh chưng in the pre-Tet markets; it is the north's signature new-year food.
- On mùng 1, avoid sweeping floors, taking out rubbish, arguments, or dropping in unannounced — unless you've been chosen for the xông đất custom, in which case your visit sets the household's fortune for the year.
- Don't gift sharp objects or clocks, and avoid all-white or all-black dress, which reads as mourning.
Follow the festival season out of the city after the holiday
The three quiet days give way to a spring festival season across northern Vietnam that lasts through February and March. Two events are worth planning around. The Perfume Pagoda pilgrimage at Hương Sơn, south-west of Hanoi, opens on the 6th day of the first lunar month — Thursday 11 February 2027 — and runs across the three spring months. Pilgrims row along the Yến stream between limestone hills, then climb to the Hương Tích cave shrine; the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism records 5,000–6,000 pilgrims a day early in the season and over a million across it, heaviest in the second lunar month (March). The Lim Festival in Bắc Ninh, north-east of Hanoi, traditionally falls on the 12th–13th days of the first lunar month — pointing to 17–18 February 2027 — and centres on UNESCO-listed quan họ call-and-response folk singing, some of it performed from boats. Other northern pagodas run spring festivals through February and March, with exact dates confirmed by provincial committees each year.
- Time a Perfume Pagoda visit from 11 February 2027 onward; go early in the season to beat the March crowds.
- Catch the Lim Festival around 17–18 February 2027 for quan họ singing, including performances from boats.
- Check with provincial committees closer to the date for other pagoda festivals in the region.
Time your trip around the build-up, the lull and the reopening
The best structure for a Haiphong Tet trip is to arrive about a week before 6 February 2027 for the build-up, stay put for the three quiet days, then travel into the spring festival season as the country reopens. Book trains and domestic flights weeks ahead — this is the largest internal migration of the year and seats sell out. Note that Vietnam had not published its official 2027 public holiday schedule at the time of writing; the Labour Code guarantees five paid days for Lunar New Year, with the Prime Minister setting the arrangement yearly and the official decision expected around late October 2026. With mùng 1 falling on a Saturday, a shorter break than the nine-day 2026 schedule is likely. This is not a trip for tight budgets or densely packed itineraries — transport surges and small operators close.
- Arrive around late January 2027 to catch the pre-Tet markets at their liveliest.
- Reserve transport well in advance; trains and domestic flights sell out weeks ahead.
- Keep the three observed days (6–8 February) flexible rather than over-scheduled.
Start with the calendar: block out late January for the markets, hold 5–8 February for the holiday itself, and leave the second half of February open for the pagoda festivals and quan họ singing. Book your transport early, pack for cold and damp weather, and learn one greeting before you go. The rest — the blossom, the bánh chưng, the temple crowds — Haiphong will provide.