Every official Vietnam Public Holidays 2026 — the exact dates, what closes, when prices spike, and how far ahead to book. Plus the answer clients keep asking: is Vietnam closed for Easter?
Ask a client when they want to visit Vietnam and they’ll give you a month. What they won’t tell you — because they don’t know — is that landing on the wrong week can mean a half-shuttered city, a fully booked train, or a beach resort charging triple. Vietnam’s public holidays don’t just dot the calendar; they reshape it.
Get the dates right and you build smarter itineraries, set honest expectations and protect your margins. Get them wrong and your client spends day three of their dream trip staring at a closed museum. Here’s the complete 2026 public holiday calendar, written for agents.
Vietnam Public Holidays 2026 at a Glance
| Holiday | 2026 Dates | Time off | What it means for your clients |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Year’s Day | 1 January (Thu) | 1 day | Minor. A long weekend to 4 Jan; lively countdowns in Hanoi, Da Nang and HCMC. |
| Tet – Lunar New Year | 14–22 February | 9 days | The big one. Mass closures, packed transport, prices up 2–3x. Day 1 is 17 Feb — Year of the Horse. |
| Hung Kings’ Day | 25–27 April | 3-day weekend | Falls Sun 26 Apr with a Mon make-up day. Domestic travel rises; temples in Phu Tho get busy. |
| Reunification Day | 30 April (Thu) | merges below | Marks the 1975 reunification. Opens the big spring travel cluster. |
| Labour Day | 1 May (Fri) | 30 Apr–3 May = 4 days | Vietnam’s 2nd-biggest domestic peak. Beaches and highways fill; resort prices climb. |
| National Day | 1–2 September | 2 days | Marks the 1945 declaration of independence. Parades and crowds in Hanoi and HCMC. |
| Vietnam Culture Day | 24 November | 1 day (NEW) | Brand-new for 2026 — the first edition. One to watch as details firm up. |
A quick note on how it works: when an official holiday falls on a weekend, the day off usually shifts to the following Monday, and several holidays sit close enough together to merge into longer breaks. That’s why the practical time off is often longer than the statutory count.
The Three Windows That Actually Move the Needle
Vietnam has seven official public holidays, but for trip planning only three create real, itinerary-shaping pressure.
1. Tet — Lunar New Year (14–22 February)
This is the big one. Tet is Vietnam’s most important holiday — a nine-day national break in 2026, with New Year’s Day itself landing on 17 February, the Year of the Horse. In the days before, millions travel home and domestic transport runs at capacity. During the holiday, major cities go quiet, many local restaurants and shops close, and banks and government offices shut for several days. Flights and hotels can run two to three times normal price. The advice for agents is simple: either build the trip around Tet six or more weeks ahead and give your clients an unrepeatable cultural moment — or steer them away from this window entirely.
| Tet is either the trip of a lifetime or a logistical trap. The only wrong move is booking into it by accident. |
2. The Spring Cluster — Hung Kings’ to Labour Day (25 April – 3 May)
This is the period your clients are quietly googling. Late April into early May is dense with holidays: Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day creates a three-day weekend (25–27 April), then Reunification Day (30 April) and International Labour Day (1 May) combine with the weekend into a four-day break running 30 April to 3 May. Only the 28th and 29th are normal working days in between. The result is Vietnam’s second-biggest domestic travel peak: beaches at Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc fill up, highways jam, and resort prices climb. Wonderful energy if your client wants it — a booking headache if you haven’t planned ahead.
3. National Day (1–2 September)
Vietnam’s National Day on 2 September marks the country’s 1945 declaration of independence, and with an adjacent day off it anchors a busy late-summer break. Expect parades and large gatherings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, packed central districts, and another domestic-tourism surge. A strong window for clients who want to see modern Vietnam celebrating itself — provided you’ve secured city hotels early.
| ⚑ Agent Insight: What Tet actually closes Between roughly 16 and 20 February, expect banks, government offices and many independent restaurants and shops to be closed — especially outside the main tourist districts. International hotels, airports and major attractions keep running, usually with reduced services.Crucially for your clients’ paperwork: embassies and visa-processing offices close over Tet and typically reopen around 23 February, so any visa or document timing needs to clear well before mid-February. Book transport and accommodation at least six weeks ahead, or expect limited availability and peak pricing. |
Does Vietnam Close for Easter or Christmas?
This is one of the most common questions agents field, so here’s the clear answer: no. Easter (5 April in 2026) is not a public holiday in Vietnam, and neither is Christmas. Banks, government offices, shops, restaurants and tourist attractions all operate normally on both. You’ll see festive decorations and lively Christmas celebrations in the big cities — Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 in particular — but it’s business as usual. Clients travelling over Easter or Christmas can plan a completely standard itinerary with no holiday closures to work around.
| 7 Official public holidays | 9 days Longest break (Tet) | 4 days Spring cluster, 30 Apr–3 May | 6+ wks Tet booking lead time |
How to Use This Calendar When You Plan
Three habits separate the agents who use the holiday calendar well:
- Decide: avoid or leverage. For each client, the big breaks are either a feature (cultural immersion, festive energy) or a trap (crowds, closures, cost). Choose deliberately — and tell the client which one they’re getting.
- Book the peak windows early. For Tet and the spring cluster, lock flights, hotels and domestic transport six-plus weeks out. Availability and price both punish latecomers.
- Pair the dates with the culture. Keep our Vietnam festivals 2026 calendar alongside this one for the cultural events, and our best time to visit Vietnam guide for the weather layer.
Planning a 2026 Trip Around the Calendar?
This is exactly where a local partner earns its keep. VietOne has spent 33 years navigating Vietnam’s holiday peaks — securing rooms and transport when everyone else is sold out, and timing itineraries so clients catch the magic without the chaos. Browse our travel packages, or get in touch with our Saigon team to build a 2026 trip around the dates that matter.
Building a 2026 Vietnam itinerary? Don’t let a holiday peak catch your client off guard.
