90 Best Places to Shop in Vietnam

This is where locals come to do their shopping, and it's interesting simply to walk around. The market is tidily divided into areas for dry goods, fresh fruit, fish and meat, and clothing. Keen cooks can stock up on inexpensive fish paste and sauce, and there are a few stalls serving steaming bowls of pho and banh canh, a soup with thick noodles made from tapioca flour. All manner of fruit is available here, with some vendors selling sliced mangos ready to go in a plastic bag.

Wander through the labyrinth of vendors serving up freshly prepared Hoi An specialties including cao lau—a regional dish made with noodles, pork, and greens that can only be found in Hoi An—alongside a good range of other Vietnamese favorites like pho, banh zeo (savory pancakes), and bun bo hue. This is where the locals shop, so expect a lot of activity in some cramped quarters, especially if you arrive for early-bird specials. Once you've chosen your stall you are welcome to order dishes and fruit juices from other vendors who will bring them to your table. Prices are fixed and displayed, and the food vendors follow strict food hygiene rules, making this one of the best spots to sample a vast array of dishes normally only available on the street.

Wander past the vendors to find market stalls packed with local spices, coffee, the famous Quang Nam Chili jam, and cooking utensils, but be prepared to barter hard with the friendly yet business-savvy stallholders in this area of the market.

This is a permanent gallery featuring the work of French photographer Réhahn, who has been based in Hoi An since 2011. His award-winning photographs are mainly portraits, many featuring Vietnam's ethnic minorities.

This nonprofit organization benefits local artisans by selling their handmade crafts such as textiles, bags, scarfs, clothing, and trinkets at fair-market prices. Items are of high quality and prices are reasonable. The back room on the first floor has a designated section of handbags and silk purses.

This gallery regularly hosts exhibitions of painting, sculpture, and mixed media by emerging and mid-career Vietnamese artists.

One of Ho Chi Minh City's newest shopping complexes, Crescent Mall, in the Phu My Hung expat area, has just about everything you could want in one shopping experience: a supermarket, an eight-screen movie theater, fashion boutiques, specialty shops, restaurants and cafés, furniture and housewares, electronics, and a children's entertainment area.

Test your bartering skills at the local markets, where you can find everything from clothing and food to souvenirs and electronics. With its knockoff brands and cheap trinkets, Dam Market caters to tourists, while Xom Moi is more for locals who come for the fresh produce and dried goods, and makes for a great place to see local life in action. Xom Moi is at 49 Ngo Gia Tu. Dam Market is on the corner of Hai Ba Trung and Phan Boi Chau. Both are open daily 6–6.

One of the first modern department stores in town, Diamond Plaza has several floors of shopping as well as restaurants, a spa, and a mini-supermarket. The original building houses the department store, while two high-rise towers contain offices and serviced apartments.

Setting up just before sunset, the night market is an interesting place to explore and shop for souvenirs, such as shells, handicrafts, and wooden boats. Expect to bargain for souvenirs, but not for food. The jetty nearby and the Dinh Ba pagoda are popular spots for locals to watch the sunset.

Avoid the pearls; they're low-quality imports, not genuine Phu Quoc pearls.

Well-designed, modern home furnishings—linens, furniture, lamps, candles, and more—are for sale here. Simple, curved designs in wrought iron are a signature style, one you'll see in restaurants and hotels throughout town.

Quality handmade leather shoes and accessories combining Italian leather, European techniques, and Vietnamese craftsmanship make this boutique worth the drive out to the suburbs. While there is a selection of ready-to-wear shoes in more than 20 styles (mostly for men but with some for women), the real value is in having a pair custom-made in the color of your choice, with some accents inspired by Vietnam. Shoes start at around $200 a pair and can be pre-ordered online or measured in person and shipped to your home.

Hue's main market, Dong Ba, situated north of the Citadel just beyond the central Hue bus station, is the place to go for street food, souvenirs, clothing, and knockoff brands. It's enormous and packed to the rafters, so it can feel cramped and hot, especially near the food stalls in the center. Unlike many other local markets in the central region, this one comes alive as the sun goes down, when crowds descend for dinner and a line of bia hoi (beer) stalls set up parallel to the river. Bargaining is expected at the market stalls.

Ho Chi Minh City's flower market is a vibrant and colorful affair. Busiest early in the morning when the bulk of the wholesale trade is conducted, the market continues to trade until midafternoon. The area is also home to a Khmer community, so break up your wandering with some Cambodian specialties like soup laced with the pungent prahok (fermented fish paste).

If it's custom shoes you're after, this is Hoi An's top destination for leather boots and sandals. After you select your design and material, the staff will take your measurements and have the item tailored within 24–72 hours. Then they will deliver it to your hotel or ship it directly to your home. Their motto is "No Like. No Pay," which they back up with a 180-day money-back guarantee, as well as a generous warranty of six months for shoes and one year for bags.

Ginkgo is one of Vietnam's most respected clothing brands. The emphasis is on print T-shirts, some made with organic cotton, that showcase eclectic aspects of Vietnamese culture.

This gallery sells works from some of Vietnam's biggest names in lacquer and oil painting, including Nguyen Thanh Chuong, Le Thanh Son, and Hong Viet Dung. The owner was an art critic in a previous life and is very reputable.

Located right in the center of the city, this sprawling multi-story local Vietnamese market is a good place to head if you want to sample some good old-fashioned Danang specialties. It’s very much like a miniature version of Ben Tanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City. There's an indoor food court near the meat section that offers the freshest and tastiest dishes. Worth trying are mi quang (noodles with pork, shrimp, and a light broth) or com hen (baby clams and rice). Venture upstairs for fabric, clothes, cosmetics, and housewares.

A haven for tea lovers seeking the best Vietnamese brews, Hatvala offers tastings showcasing poetically named teas such as Mountain Mist White Tea, Fish Hook Green Tea, and Autumn Jade Jasmine Tea, which are available for purchase. All the teas are grown in Vietnam's misty and mountainous north, mostly by hill tribes who process the leaves using traditional methods.

This is one of the biggest, busiest, and most atmospheric markets in town. It specializes in fabric, but there's a broad range of other items on sale, from candles to underwear.

This funky little traders house on Nguyen Thai Hoc stocks a truly Hoi An–inspired collection of casual resort- and swimwear. Each fashion-forward piece is professionally printed and stitched in Vietnam. Hot Chili focuses on producing apparel, swimwear, and accessories made from a fusion between handmade art and screen printing technology.

Finely crafted Vietnamese lacquerware in traditional and modern designs, as well as a range of wooden products, are all made at Nga's factory in District 9.

The beautifully embellished handbags here, which are sold at high-end boutiques around the world, are considered by some to be the ultimate style souvenir from Vietnam.

There's a little something for every size and taste here, though the large selection of embroidered handbags are particularly eye-catching. Other products available include dresses, skirts, knitwear, swimwear, shoes, wallets, and bags.

One of Vietnam's best-known clothing stores and designer labels, Kelly Bui specializes in daring and contemporary creations for women.

While the city at large has garnered a reputation for its custom-made suits, Lana Tailor stands out among Hoi An's dozens of tailors because of its stylish selections and satisfaction guarantee (you won't be asked to pay until you see the finished product and are happy with it). Choose from a showroom of in-vogue dresses, suits, jackets, and skirts, and if you don't find what you're looking for, just show them a photo of it online and they'll make it within 24 hours. Choose from fabrics including leather, cotton, cashmere, and wool. Tailored dresses range from $45 to $85 in U.S. dollars, while suits cost between $79 and $200. Items can be shipped internationally for an additional fee.

Long Bien Market really kicks off at around 3 to 4 am and is worth seeing after a late night on the town. All of the produce from north of Hanoi lands here before being distributed throughout the city. Just follow the crowds on the streets adjacent to the bridge ramp to witness the intense buying and selling of the freshest produce in town.

Choose from a stunning range of high-quality jewelry designs, handcrafted locally by Quang Nam's finest artisans. Take your pick from a selection of intricate Vietnam-inspired pendants, earrings, bracelets, and rings, or tailor your own personal design from a selection of jade, turquoise, opal, amethyst, citrine, blue topaz, or freshwater pearls.

They can also reset and remold jewelry brought from home.

Lucky Plaza spans an entire city block, with entrances in Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi Streets, and is stuffed full of stalls selling clothing, shoes, handbags, lacquerware, watches, DVDs, jewelry, sunglasses, and souvenirs.