Plan Your Trip
Shopping & Souvenirs in Hanoi
Hanoi's shopping ranges from mass-produced tourist trinkets to genuinely well-made local crafts — knowing the difference, and how to bargain respectfully, makes a real difference.
What's actually worth buying
- Silk and tailoring — Hang Gai street ('Silk Street') in the Old Quarter has been a tailoring hub for generations; a made-to-measure item is a genuinely good souvenir if you have time for a fitting.
- Lacquerware — bowls, trays and boxes using traditional Vietnamese lacquer techniques, widely sold and often good value.
- Ceramics from Bat Trang — a village just outside Hanoi known for pottery for centuries; pieces are sold throughout the city, though visiting the village itself gets you better prices and more choice.
- Vietnamese coffee — beans or ground, including robusta blends used for egg coffee, pack well and make a genuinely useful gift.
- Conical hats and woven goods — inexpensive, packable, and more distinctly Vietnamese than generic keychains.
Where to shop
The Old Quarter remains the default for most souvenir shopping, particularly Hang Gai for silk and Hang Bac for silver. Dong Xuan Market is a working local market rather than a curated souvenir stop (see our dedicated guide), while weekend night markets around Hoan Kiem Lake lean more tourist-oriented.
How bargaining actually works
- Bargaining is expected at markets and with independent street vendors, but not at fixed-price shops, malls, or anywhere displaying clear price tags — check first rather than assuming everywhere negotiates.
- Keep it friendly. A polite counter-offer and a smile go further than an aggressive haggle — this is a normal part of daily commerce here, not a confrontation.
- Have a rough target price in mind before you start, based on what similar items have cost elsewhere in your trip, rather than negotiating blind.
- It's fine to walk away if you can't agree on a price — vendors used to tourists won't take this personally, and sometimes it results in a better offer as you leave.
Good to know: If a specific opening price seems very high, it's completely normal to counter significantly lower and meet somewhere in the middle — this is expected, not rude, at markets and with independent vendors.