Nearby getaways from Hanoi during Tet Holiday

Vietnam’s Lunar New Year is the country’s biggest spring festival. It draws comparisons to similar celebrations across Asian countries, yet it carries a character that is entirely its own.

For travellers already in Hanoi during Lunar New Year, the city’s festive atmosphere is worth soaking up for a day or two. But once the fireworks fade, the surrounding region opens up. Within a few hours of the capital, you’ll find craft villages, sacred mountain pagodas, misty hill towns, and UNESCO-listed waterways, all carrying their own Tet magic.

Here are four nearby getaways that make the most of the season.

1. Bat Trang Ceramic Village: Step Inside a Living Craft Tradition

Distance from Hanoi: ~13 km southeast, 30 to 40 minutes by taxi or local bus

Bat Trang Ceramic Village sits just outside the city, making it one of the easiest day trips from Hanoi during Tet Holiday. For over 700 years, artisans here have shaped clay into pottery, tiles, and decorative ware sold across Vietnam and beyond.

During the Tet holiday, the village shifts into full festive production. Kilns run hot around the clock as workshops turn out special-edition pieces in red and gold. The market fills with hand-painted vases, tea sets, and figurines crafted specifically for the Lunar New Year season.

Browsing the stalls is enjoyable, but getting hands-on is the real highlight. Many studios open their doors to drop-in pottery classes. Skilled artisans, some from families who have worked these wheels for generations, guide visitors through the process with patience and good humour.

The village is compact and easy to navigate on foot. A riverside walk offers calm views that contrast pleasantly with Hanoi’s usual pace. Pick up a handmade piece as a keepsake. It will carry far more meaning than anything from a souvenir shop.

Traveller tips:

• Visit on the second or third day of Tet when most stalls have reopened.
• Haggling is fine at market stalls, just keep the tone light and friendly.
• Pack fragile purchases carefully. Ceramics are heavy and do not travel well unwrapped.

2. Perfume Pagoda: Follow the Path of Pilgrims into the Sacred Mountains

Distance from Hanoi: ~60 km southwest, 2 to 2.5 hours by road

No pilgrimage site within reach of Hanoi carries more spiritual weight during Lunar New Year than Chùa Hương, known in English as the Perfume Pagoda. Tucked into the Hương Tích mountains of Hà Tây Province, this ancient complex of Buddhist temples and cave shrines draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year between the first and third months of the lunar calendar, a window that falls squarely within the Tet holiday season.

Getting there is part of the experience. From the town of Mỹ Đức, visitors board flat-bottomed rowing boats and glide along the Suối Yên river. Karst limestone peaks rise on both sides, draped in thick jungle. After roughly four kilometres on the water, the Thiên Trù complex, Heaven’s Kitchen, comes into view. From there, a mountain trail climbs toward the main cave shrine: Hương Tích grotto.

Inside the cave, incense smoke curls past centuries-old stone carvings of the Goddess of Mercy. The sound of chanted prayers fills the chamber. During the Tet holiday, pilgrims in traditional ao dai make offerings of flowers and rice cakes. Families light incense together and pray for good fortune, health, and prosperity in the new year.

It is a profoundly moving scene, one that connects the present to more than a thousand years of Vietnamese spiritual life.

Traveller tips:

• Arrive early. Tet brings enormous pilgrimage crowds to the boat launch.
• Wear sturdy shoes. The trail to the grotto involves a steep three-kilometre climb.
• The cable car offers an easier alternative for those who prefer to skip the hike.

3. Tam Dao: Breathe Fresh Mountain Air Above the Lunar New Year Crowd

Distance from Hanoi: ~85 km northwest, approximately 2 hours by road

When Hanoi during Tet Holiday grows loud and smoky with firecrackers, Tam Dao provides a genuine escape. This former French colonial hill station sits at around 900 metres in Vĩnh Phúc Province. Mornings here arrive cool and misty. The streets smell of damp earth and pine rather than incense and exhaust.

The Tet holiday gives Tam Dao a quietly romantic quality. Mist clings to the ridgeline and wraps around the stone French-era villas and hilltop Catholic church. Temperatures stay low enough for long walks through Tam Dao National Park without the heat that typically makes trekking uncomfortable in northern Vietnam. The park shelters rare primates, unusual bird species, and dense forest that has remained largely undisturbed for decades.

The town itself has grown steadily as a domestic travel destination. Comfortable guesthouses, warm restaurants, and weekend markets all cater to the Vietnamese families who make Tam Dao one of their first Tet getaways each year. Try thắng cố, a rich mountain stew, or fresh grilled stream fish from one of the roadside eateries near the market.

Tam Dao offers something that can be hard to find during the lunar new year festival in bigger cities: genuine quiet, clean air, and space to reflect.

Traveller tips:

• Book accommodation well in advance. Tet is the busiest time of year for this town.
• Pack warm layers. Temperatures drop sharply after dark at this elevation.
• Head into the national park early in the morning for the best chance of spotting wildlife.

4. Ninh Binh (Trang An – Bai Dinh): Where Natural Wonder Meets Spiritual Grandeur

Distance from Hanoi: ~95 km south, 1.5 to 2 hours by road or train

If you only have time for one overnight trip from Hanoi during Lunar New Year, make it Ninh Binh. This UNESCO World Heritage region is one of Vietnam’s most dramatic landscapes. Locals often call it “Ha Long Bay on land.” It pairs extraordinary natural scenery with some of the country’s most important Buddhist and historical sites, a combination that feels especially resonant during the Tet holiday.

Trang An Landscape Complex

Trang An is the centrepiece of any Ninh Binh visit. Visitors explore the landscape entirely by rowing boat, moving through a network of cave tunnels and open waterways while limestone peaks rise on all sides. Ancient temples and shrines sit inside the grottoes, some of them active for over 2,000 years.

During the lunar new year festival, the waterways take on a ceremonial atmosphere. Boats carry families dressed in their finest clothes. Incense burns at each shrine stop. The sound of prayer and the smell of flowers drift across the water. It is one of the most beautiful expressions of traditional Tet that you can experience anywhere in northern Vietnam.

Bai Dinh Pagoda Complex

A short drive from Trang An stands Bai Dinh, the largest Buddhist temple complex in Vietnam. The scale is staggering. The main hall houses an 80-tonne bronze Buddha. A long corridor flanks him on both sides with 500 Arhat statues, each one distinct, each one carved with its own expression.

During the Tet holiday, Bai Dinh fills with candlelight and the murmur of prayer. Vietnamese people travel from across the country, from Hanoi, from Ho Chi Minh City, from every province in between, to make offerings and ask for good fortune in the year ahead. The energy inside the complex during this season is unlike anything you will encounter at other times of year.

Traveller tips:

• Combine Trang An and Bai Dinh in a single day using a hired driver.
• Dress modestly for all temple visits. Cover shoulders and knees.
• Stay overnight in Ninh Binh town to experience the landscape at dawn before the crowds arrive.
• Add a visit to Hoa Lu, the ancient Vietnamese capital, just minutes from Trang An.

5. Planning Your Trip: What to Know Before You Leave Hanoi

The Tet holiday requires a bit more planning than a standard weekend escape. On the first and second days of Tet, most businesses close, transport runs on reduced schedules, and roads fill with families heading home to their provinces. By day three, tourist-facing services reopen and the lunar new year festival atmosphere carries on for the full 15-day cycle.

A few things to sort before you go:

• Book early. All four destinations see a spike in domestic visitors during Tet. Rooms in Tam Dao and Ninh Binh sell out weeks in advance.
• Hire a private car. Public buses run infrequently during the holiday. A private driver is flexible, comfortable, and affordable when shared across a small group.
• Carry cash. Boat operators, village vendors, and roadside food stalls rarely accept cards during the spring festival period.
• Slow down. If a lion dance blocks your road, or a temple is overflowing with worshippers, step back and watch. These are the moments that make Hanoi during Tet Holiday worth the trip.

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