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 Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Vietnam
Get the best advice on shopping in Vietnam. You may read about shopping malls, souvenir items and best buys in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Central Vietnam city guide,
Halong Bay city guide,
Hanoi city guide,
Ho Chi Minh city guide,
Phan Thiet city guide,
and Hoi An city guide.
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| N Jacobs |
18 March 2003 |
Stayed at Hoi An Riverside Resort - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
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Hoi An has become quite crowded and overrun with people trying to get you into their friend's tailor or shoe shop. It can be a bit overwhelming and I would personally suggest waiting to get to Hanoi or Saigon to actually have anything made. The tailoring is ok but the fabrics are dicey - be very careful because "Vietnamese" silk has many different grades. I prefer the beach side of Hoi An.
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| R Asahi |
16 March 2003 |
Stayed at Kimdo Royal City Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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I go around the city near hotel, and shopping. Go to Saigon river. And electric market street behind hotel.
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| H Aladwani |
13 March 2003 |
Stayed at Sofitel Plaza Hanoi - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Ate at Bobby Chins, nice atmosphere, good food, friendly service.
Got around by any taxi flagged down in the street. Very convenient.
Took a tour to Ninh Binh which included a small boat ride (2 per boat) down a river. At the end of the river locals were very adamant that you purchase 2 drinks and a small bag of munchies for your oars people. I disliked this immensely. First of all they sell these 3 items for $3 which is a lot of money for those items. Secondly I have read that often the oars people do not eat or drink the items and simply return them at the end of the trip to the vendors for a fee, therewith taking the tourists "for a ride". Nobody liked this feeling and was extremely irritated by it. It would be much better if we simply gave the oarsmen $2 at the end of the trip.
Also we stopped at a Tourist Shop along the way. There were some girls doing the stiching. These girls get only $10 per month! for working a whole day, while the work they do in one day gets sold for $4. I think that is total exploitation! Again, everyone was shocked at this. The tourist shop of course charged much more money than outside, no problem, but as long as it passes on some of the money to the girls - which at $10 a month it obviously didn't do. I can guarantee you that you will lose much tourist business as a result of such exploitation because it will come out on the internet eventually.
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| C Makino |
02 March 2003 |
Stayed at Omni Saigon Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Vietnam is a shopping and food paradise. Careful when booking your car/driver in HCM - during our tour we were taken to some remote restaurant and charged 10 times what we were charged for the exactly the same thing the day before. The dollar amount was only $18 but we couldn't argue it since we were in the middle of nowhere. Also remember shopping is a game - be pleasant when you are bargaining - don't get ugly.
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| K Starke |
24 February 2003 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Hanoi was a complete surprise after Hoi An and Hue. It is more sophisticated and apparently more wealthy. The restaurants are excellent value and very good. We dined at Cay Cau, Emperor [sensational ambience] and Hoa Sua [3 times]which is a great project training street kids in the hospitality industry.
Halong Bay trip brilliant [Handspan]. Walking and taxis no problem unless you get killed which is highly probable.
Temple of Literature outstanding although ironically sells book fakes in the govt bookshop. Shopping excellent. Why didn't we listen to Uncle Ho?
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| H Phan |
19 February 2003 |
Stayed at Que Huong - Liberty 3 - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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I went to restaurants NGON, NAM AN, DAI THONG on Nguyen Hue Street at Kink Do shopping center. I enjoyed the food a lot. I didn't take any tour this time. Just shopping.
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| B Rehak |
16 February 2003 |
Stayed at Empress Hotel Ho Chi Minh City - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Vietnam is a fascinating and beautiful country with very friendly people. My 15 day trip included Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi with day trips to Cu Chi tunnels and Cao Dai Temple, My Son, and two 2-day trips to Halong Bay and the Mekong Delta.
The trips were excellent value for money, and were well organised by Kim Travel, Sinh Cafe and Mr Happy Travel Agent (in Hoi An) whose service was really tops. I travelled by express train from Ho Chi Minh City to Danang in an air con soft sleeper (you would not notice it was air conditioned if you did not see it on the ticket).
The bus trip from Hoi An to Hue was very pleasant and scenic, and the plane trip from Hue to Hanoi was OK, even if the plane was more than 1 hour late. I think that on my next trip to Vietnam I will use planes more.
Ho Chi Minh City is a good introduction to the chaotic Vietnamese motorbike traffic - just cross the street at a steady rate, without stopping or running and the bikes will miss you (not by much, but they will miss you !).
Bargaining is quite enjoyable in Vietnam - in most cases, if you pay half the asking price, you are being ripped off.
I hired a cyclo for two hours (40,000 Dongs) in all the cities I visited, including Can Tho. It is a cheap and convenient way to get an overview of the town.
One of the "must see" places in HCMC is the War Remnants Museum (the cyclos still call it by the old name - The American War Crimes Museum.) The Cu Chi tunnels are billed as the No.1 tourist attraction and are just that - a fairly recently constructed tourist trap (like the Chinese Wall at Badaling). On the other hand, Halong Bay and Mekong Delta are just fantastic. I think a trip to Vietnam should be at least three, and preferably four weeks. Ted Rehak, Australia.
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| T Skalak/ astrid gössler |
12 February 2003 |
Stayed at Hoi An Riverside Resort - Quang Nam, Vietnam.
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Perfect trips to My Son temple grounds, marble mountains and to lakes, interesting is the market in the city and the old town itself. Helpful is the free of charge shuttle bus of the hotel.
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| D Lancaster |
03 February 2003 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Fabulous place. Very laid back. Go there to shop, drink coffee, shop, have lunch, shop...Art very cheap compared to Hong Kong, lacquer work very cheerful and very very cheap.
Go to Perfume Pagoda, Water Puppets Show, Temple of Literature and museums. The Press Club served best (but most expensive food) with wonderful atmosphere, we walked out of Seasons of Hanoi (appalling service atmosphere not good), Mocca coffee shop (next to cathedral) great for coffee and people watching in between shopping. Dragon Gallery excellant (cheaper than Apricot, nicer stuff). People lovely, wonderfully friendly. Cyclo drivers amazing - tip them.
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| S Lim |
24 January 2003 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Hanoi has grown about over the past two years since I was there for the first time. The shops are better decorated (even a few posh shopping centres in the city) and the people are just as busy as ever. It is a great place for tourists and it still has an unspoilt charm about the place. Go now before it gets too crowded after a few more years..
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