Located at the North and South ends, Ho Chi Minh City and the capital Hanoi possess many unique cultural features and experiences, attracting tens of millions of visitors each year. In addition to many activities taking place during the day, night tourism is also something that tourists choose to understand the destination more deeply.
Discovering cuisine, sitting in a cafe, going to a bar, having fun on the walking street..., are common experiences of tourists when going out at night in big cities. At first it sounds similar, however, the differences in geography, culture, history, people... make night tourism in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have many unique features.
Night tour
The capital Hanoi owns a series of unique cultural and historical relics. To meet the needs of entertainment and enhance the experience of tourists, Hanoi continuously introduces many night tourism products such as the "Sacred Night" tour at Hoa Lo Prison Relics from 7-9pm, "Experience the night of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam" from 7-10pm with the highlight being the 3D mapping show "The Quintessence of Confucianism", "Decoding the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long" operating from 7pm, night market food tours and the "Ngoc Son - Mysterious Night" tour which have just been put into service for tourists since the end of January this year.
In general, tours often have cultural and historical themes, operating hours are still limited, taking place quite early, from 6-10pm.
Meanwhile, there are fewer night tours in Ho Chi Minh City, such as "District 1 - Night Colors" with a variety of activities taking place from 6-12pm, "War Zone Moon" tour from 6-8:40pm at Cu Chi Tunnels, Saigon River Sightseeing.
In particular, "Sleepless Saigon" is a tour to explore the city's iconic structures on the world's first overnight double-decker bus in Ho Chi Minh City.
Night tourism products at the southern end of the bridge are mostly sightseeing, combined with activities of enjoying art, cuisine, and shopping. The tours take place quite late, from 6-12pm, even overnight, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the unique beauty of the city that never sleeps.
Nighttime eating
In Hanoi, when talking about late-night eating, we have to mention the food stalls on Tong Duy Tan food street, Ta Hien, Dong Xuan night market... Here, we sell a variety of dishes such as cartilage porridge, fried spring rolls, boiled snails, rice rolls, vermicelli with snails, pho... The stalls in the capital close quite early, most of them only operate until 11pm, midnight, only a few stalls serve until 2am.
Coming to Ho Chi Minh City, there are many night streets and food streets with many delicious dishes, operating until midnight. If you are hungry at 2-3 am, visitors can also find many shops with lights on, accepting customers on Ha Ton Quyen "dumpling" street, Vinh Khanh food street, many night dishes on Hai Ba Trung street, Le Van Tam park...
Sitting drinking coffee and iced tea all night
Young people in the capital often gather to drink iced tea and lemon tea in front of the Opera House, stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake, Long Bien Bridge... However, these activities end quite early, usually starting from 7pm until around midnight.
A few coffee shops open all night on Tong Duy Tan Street are ideal hangouts for young people. At the shops, groups of customers often chat and confide until dawn.
In contrast to Hanoi, coffee shops open all night in Ho Chi Minh City include both indoor and outdoor spaces, and become more crowded as the night goes on.
24/7 coffee brands, sidewalk cafes along Bach Dang Wharf, sidewalk cafes near Notre Dame Cathedral, filter coffee... are all crowded with customers coming to drink, chat, even work and study all night. The peak hours are from 10pm to 3am, many young people even sit until the sun rises.
Besides, you can easily see the difference in the walking streets and Western streets at night. If in Hanoi there is Ta Hien Western Street, in Ho Chi Minh City there is Bui Vien Street.
Ta Hien Street is located in a small alley, tables and chairs are placed on the street to serve diners, passersby weave through the remaining small alleys. On Bui Vien, the street is wider, night-time visitors will sit in the shop or at tables placed close to the sidewalk, watching the crowded flow of people passing by.
While Hoan Kiem Lake walking street is usually crowded with people from 8-10pm, after midnight, the street begins to become sparse and deserted, on the contrary, after 10pm is the time when Nguyen Hue street attracts a lot of people. Singing, dancing, rollerblading, chatting over iced tea... Nguyen Hue walking street becomes a place for all-night entertainment in the heart of the city.
In addition, some accommodations in Hanoi’s Old Quarter have closing hours instead of being open 24/7. Visitors can take note of these differences to have a more complete experience when traveling at night in these cities.
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