Public holidays are the days that governmental offices and banks in Vietnam are closed. Some holidays are based on the Gregorian calendar and some based on the lunar calendar which means that they are not the same every year on the Western calendar. It is useful you know these dates as they may affect your travel in Vietnam.
In 2024, the public holidays in Vietnam are as follows:
+ Weekend: All Saturdays and Sundays.
+ New Year: 1-January-2024 (Monday ).
+ Lunar New Year (Tet): 10-Feb-2024 (Saturday), (Observed holidays: 08 through 14-February-2024).
+ Hung Kings' Death Anniversary: Thursday, 18-April-2024.
+ Re-Unification Day (30-April, Tuesday) and International Labor Day (1-May, Wednesday): 30-April-2024, 01-May-2024.
+ National Day: 2-September (Monday), (Observed holidays: 31-August through 03-September-2024).
As the holiday in Vietnam for the International New Year in 2024 is for three consecutive days (including weekend), the Vietnamese may stay in the cities or may travel to nearby tourist destinations: Theme parks, restaurants, traffic, tourist attractions… in cities are likely to get crowded. Farther destinations within driving distance are also likely to be crowded during this occasion.
It is necessary to know that the Lunar New Year (Tet) official holidays are as listed above, but traffic may be very chaotic a month before and after Tet which may result in overbooked flights, trains...The country normally comes to a halt in the first three days of the lunar new year: restaurants, tourist spots,... are closed. If you take flights during Tet holidays in 2024, make sure you book the services including air tickets, train tickets, airport transfers… far in advance.
If you plan a trip in the far-northern mountains of Vietnam, then it is advisable you take the trip 15 days or more after the Lunar New Year. People in the mountains tend to have longer holidays than in the lowlands and cities.
The holiday for Hung Kings’ Death Anniversary in 2024 is not combined with those for Re-unification and Labor Day Holidays, the Vietnamese do not tend to travel far. Tourist attractions and traffic in cities are more likely to be busy and far-flung destinations are less likely to be crowded. Remember that the Vietnamese make roughly 90 million trips each year!
Be extremely careful and allow for plenty of time if you have to take a flight on the first day and last day of a long public holiday in Vietnam as traffic is expected to be extremely busy on these days. It has happened that people had to stay overnight on the road for the trip from the Mekong Delta to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)!
