The year in Da Nang

Tet, and why it matters more than you think

Tet is Vietnamese New Year. It is the one thing on this calendar that catches people out. It moves every year because it follows the lunar calendar.

Checked 2026-08-02

This is not a festival you watch. It is the entire country going home to their families at the same time.

• Most small restaurants, cafes, laundries and shops close. Including yours. Including the one you go to every day.
• Prices go up beforehand. Flights and buses book out weeks ahead.
• Grab drivers are scarce and fares rise.
• The city empties of people who came here to work, and fills with families.
• The first two or three days are very quiet. Then it gets loud and wonderful.

• Buy food before it starts. Enough for several days. This is the most useful thing on this page.
• Get cash out. Some places are shut and some machines run empty.
• Book any travel weeks ahead, not days.
• Do not plan anything that needs an office to be open. Banks and government offices close.
• Do not let your visa run out over Tet. If your stay ends anywhere near early February, sort it in January.

And then enjoy it. If you are invited to someone's home during Tet, go. It is the warmest thing that happens here all year, and being invited means something.

The rainy months

Roughly late August through November. On paper October is wettest. People who live here often say November is the one that drags on. Some days it rains the way you have never seen rain, then the sun comes back and the streets are dry within the hour.

Rain is not a problem here, it is the point. It is what makes everything grow, in a place where a lot of what you eat came out of the ground nearby. And there is something to be said for a wet afternoon indoors with nowhere you have to be. If you have come from somewhere that spends nine months a year grey, a Da Nang November is not the hardship you are bracing for.

• Take the forecasts seriously when they come. They are usually right.
• Booking flights in October, leave yourself a spare day. Cancellations run about a fifth higher in storm season.
• Keep some cash at home. If the power goes, card machines go with it.
• Leave the bike at home on the bad days and take a Grab car.
• Buy a good umbrella in your first week. Everyone here owns one.

Checked 2026-08-02