Top 5 Most Exciting Places to Visit During the 2022 Lunar New Year in Hanoi

If you're looking for a place to celebrate the 2022 Lunar New Year in Hanoi where you can have fun and party with your friends, Thien Duong Bao Son is an irresistible destination. True to its name, this park offers a mini paradise for leisure and entertainment with a variety of games, natural ecological areas, and delicious food. Whether you're visiting with family or friends, the activities here will help strengthen bonds and create many joyful memories during the New Year. At Thien Duong Bao Son, you can enjoy cultural, ecological, technological, entertainment, art, and culinary activities. One of the most popular attractions is the ecological paradise, featuring three main areas: a rare animal zoo, an ocean world, and an ecological zone. You can watch impressive dolphin and sea lion performances, immerse yourself in a miniature ocean world filled with fascinating fish species, and see rare animals up close.

It feels like stepping into a magical world filled with exotic animals that you usually only see on TV. Don't forget to check out the water games area, where you can enjoy thrilling rides to beat the heat. With so many exciting activities waiting for you, Thien Duong Bao Son is the perfect place to visit this Lunar New Year. On weekends and holidays, the park also hosts music and dance performances, DJ shows, and lively events to enhance the festive atmosphere. After a day of fun, head to the park's dining area, where you'll find a wide variety of dishes from the three regions of Vietnam—North, Central, and South. The food is affordable, but if you're visiting as a family, you can also bring your own meals to enjoy here.

Since ancient times, visiting temples and pagodas for New Year's prayers has been a cherished cultural tradition in Vietnam. Each Lunar New Year marks the beginning of a new year full of hopes and aspirations, making temple visits an essential activity during the holiday season.

Here are some of the most famous spots in Hanoi for this tradition:

• West Lake Shrine
• Tran Quoc Pagoda
• Ngoc Son Temple
• Quan Su Pagoda
• Phuc Khanh Pagoda...

In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, Hanoi’s streets become livelier than ever, with bustling crowds shopping for the holiday. During this time, the city is decorated with vibrant peach blossom branches, kumquat trees, lanterns, and orchids. Particularly, areas like Hang Ma, Hang Trong, Hang Luoc, and Dong Xuan markets are abuzz with the festive spirit, with vendors lining the streets selling a wide array of products. The sight of people hurrying about, purchasing their goods, adds to the energetic, colorful atmosphere of Hanoi’s traditional Tet market. The Old Quarter’s Tet market is livelier than ever, with flowers and holiday goods arriving in droves, attracting people to both shop and enjoy the festive ambiance.

The atmosphere at the Hanoi Old Quarter Traditional Tet Market is especially vibrant. The market runs all day, with stores displaying a variety of goods in bright colors, drawing in many customers. The streets around Hang Ma are often congested due to the high volume of people and products. The brisk pace of shoppers, combined with the cool weather, gives everyone a palpable sense that the Lunar New Year is approaching fast. On streets like Hang Dong, you’ll find antiques, ceramics, and bronze items for collectors, while the Phung Hung area specializes in fresh flowers, particularly peach blossoms. Many believe that expanding the Tet market is a natural response to the growing demand, and it also helps alleviate the pressure on popular streets like Hang Luoc and Hang Ma.

As is the tradition every year, Hoan Kiem Lake is always a prime location for fireworks displays in Hanoi. For the locals, Hoan Kiem is an iconic destination during the Lunar New Year celebrations. On the night before the new year, families and friends often gather to stroll around the pedestrian streets surrounding the lake, catching up and reflecting on the past year's events. Thousands of people converge on this area, turning the lake into a bustling and lively place, helping to alleviate the chill of the winter air. On New Year's Eve, people from all districts of Hanoi come to Hoan Kiem Lake to witness the sacred moment of the season’s change.

Thousands of lights illuminate the area, with the brilliant fireworks adding to the breathtaking atmosphere that leaves a lasting impression. However, if you’re not fond of the crowds and the chaos of the fireworks, consider booking a hotel in the Hoan Kiem district with a view of the lake for a more relaxed way to enjoy the show. During the New Year period, Hoan Kiem Lake is beautifully decorated with vibrant flowers, and the area also hosts lively music and dance performances to celebrate the arrival of the new year, which you won’t want to miss. The cool, late winter atmosphere adds a poetic and serene feeling to the lake, making it an ideal place to create unforgettable memories with friends and family on the first day of the year.

As Lunar New Year approaches, the Nhật Tân Peach Blossom Garden in Tay Ho District, Hanoi, becomes a bustling hub of activity. Workers are busy tending to the peach blossoms, selecting the most beautiful branches, and preparing them for sale to visitors who will take them home to decorate for the holiday. Peach trees are carefully pruned in the weeks leading up to Tet, ensuring they bloom just in time for the festivities. With the cold weather this year, the flowers are expected to bloom perfectly for Tet. At the entrance to the market in Quang An, where many of the peach trees are sold, people can be seen admiring and purchasing the peach blossoms, which fill the streets of Hanoi with their vibrant colors.

You can’t talk about Tet in Hanoi without mentioning the Nhật Tân Peach Blossom Garden, which is home to some of the most beautiful peach trees. The garden is also a popular spot for visitors, especially young people who come to take photos amidst the stunning peach blossoms. Each year, as Tet approaches, people flock to this famous spot to capture beautiful moments. Men and women dressed in traditional áo dài pose among the blossoms, capturing the essence of spring. The garden has long been a special place for both photo opportunities and leisure. While plum blossoms symbolize the Southern spring, peach blossoms are the embodiment of Northern Vietnam’s spring. Whether natural or artistically decorated, the pink peach flowers always bring a sense of freshness and renewal to the season.