Shopping in Hanoi: An Honest Guide and Navigator to the Best Places Without Tourist Markups

What Shopping in Hanoi is Like and Its Features

Hanoi is a huge trading platform; here everyone sells and buys something, and shops stretch endlessly along the streets. And at first glance, it may seem like a real shopping paradise where tourists can buy lots of inexpensive useful things and souvenirs for next to nothing. However, in reality, it's not that simple, and shopping in Hanoi has some nuances worth knowing about.

For example, the famous world guidebook Lonely Planet does not recommend shopping in Hanoi, advising to do it in other major cities of the country. This is partly true because a feature of the capital is very high prices for all goods that might attract tourists' attention. And it's not at all because life here is expensive per se, but due to the attitude of capital residents towards tourists: everyone tries to sell goods at inflated prices, sometimes dozens of times higher, and are very reluctant to bargain. Even at markets, we encountered a complete unwillingness of some sellers to communicate with tourists and bargain: when asked about the price, they might simply name an inflated price and turn away, indicating they won't bargain, or even dismissively wave a hand and remain silent in response.

However, it's not all bad, and with skillful communication, you can haggle the price down quite well. Bargaining here is customary to do with a smile and not aggressively. Sometimes sellers' willingness to agree to your offered price only arises after you supposedly lose interest in the purchase and leave the store. And also, if you are looking for something specific, never ask about the price of that item first; it's better to first inquire about the price of something else, and then gradually move on to what you need.

Also, low fixed prices can be found in supermarkets and large shopping malls. Keep in mind that you can bargain even in stores with price tags, in hotels, travel agencies, except for chain supermarkets and grocery stores.

We'll tell you more details below, but if you don't want to read a lot, you can watch this video about shopping in Hanoi:

Prices for Popular Goods and Services for Tourists in Hanoi (in VND):

• Beer in a supermarket can 0.33l. - from 10000 dong (approx. 0.38 USD)
• Beer in a supermarket plastic bottle 1 liter - 22 000 (approx. 0.84 USD)
• Beer in a cafe can 0.33l. – from 20 000 (approx. 0.76 USD)
• Water 1.5l. – from 9 000 (approx. 0.34 USD)
• Carbonated drink 0.6l. (cola, sprite, etc.) – from 8000 (approx. 0.3 USD)
• Ice cream (in a supermarket or on the street) – from 6000 (approx. 0.23 USD)
• Vietnamese ground coffee 1 kg. – from 200 000 (approx. 7.6 USD)
• One main dish in an inexpensive local cafe (rice with vegetables or egg, Pho soup) – from 60 000 (approx. 2.28 USD)
• Souvenir Magnet – from 20 000 (approx. 0.76 USD)
• City bus fare – from 10 000 (approx. 0.38 USD)
• Taxi fare by meter within the Old Quarter (tourist area) – from 30 000 (approx. 1.14 USD)
• Taxi fare from/to the airport - from 300 000 (approx. 11.41 USD)
• Cheap hotel room for two – from 400 000 (approx. 15.21 USD)
• Good hotel room for two – from 800 000 (approx. 30.42 USD)
• Hostel bed – from 300 000 (approx. 11.41 USD)

Where to Go Shopping in Hanoi

• Supermarkets and Shopping Malls

  Hanoi has large modern shopping malls, hypermarkets, and chain supermarkets with groceries and general merchandise where you can buy anything at the lowest prices. Personally, we prefer to shop in them when we need to buy gifts and souvenirs to take home. But, unfortunately, they are all located far from Hanoi's tourist area. You'll have to take a taxi or bus to get to them.

  Directly in the tourist area, there are only a couple of small supermarkets like Circle K, K-Mart, WinMart and the like, where at best you can buy water, soft drinks, beer, and various snacks at reasonable prices. The only more or less serious supermarket where you can buy something from fruits, exotic products, coffee, and tea is BRG Market.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  It's most convenient to search for the nearest supermarkets and shopping malls using Google Maps. Here is a list of some of them that we have checked and visited during trips to Hanoi:

  • BRG Supermarket (formerly Intimex). Not a very large supermarket, but it is located in the tourist area near Hoan Kiem Lake (BRG on map). There is another one in the north of the area towards Long Bien. In our opinion, this is the most convenient option for buying cheap drinks, beer, vodka, ready-made food, Vietnamese coffee, and rice. Prices for beer and soft drinks are noticeably lower than in shops in the tourist area. Only here we found beer in 1-liter plastic bottles for 22,000 dong (0.84 USD, )see Vietnamese currency and exchange rate), a standard can of beer from 11,000. Coffee prices are acceptable but still a bit higher than in Go (Big-C), Coop, or WinMart hypermarkets. UnionPay cards are not accepted here.

  • FujiMart. This is another good supermarket within walking distance from the tourist area, but still quite far to go every day (FujiMart on map). This is a chain of Vietnamese-Japanese supermarkets; the products are basically the same as in other stores. And the selection of coffee and tea here is not very rich. But you can eat very well here: there is a dining area inside and a huge selection of ready-made meals and unusual drinks.

  • CoopMart Supermarket. This is the largest supermarket closest to the tourist area, located in the Long Bien district across the bridge from the tourist area in the Mipec Long Bien shopping center (Mipec Long Bien on map), but you still need to take a bus or taxi; it's too far to walk with shopping bags. The shopping center itself is not very interesting apart from CoopMart.

  • Aeon Mall. This is the newest and most modern shopping center with many stores and boutiques, restaurants, a cinema, and a large supermarket. But it is located very far on the outskirts of the Long Bien district (Aeon Mall on map).

  • VincomMegaMall. A very large, even huge and very modern shopping center. Besides the supermarket, there is a great store MR.DIY where you can buy various knick-knacks and gifts. You can combine a visit here with the new Museum of Military History, which is across the road. Located very far from the tourist area (VincomMegaMall on map), but you can get there by bus from 10,000 dong.

  • Vincom Center. This is a chain of shopping centers, you could say the younger brother of VincomMegaMall. There are about a dozen of them in Hanoi, and the nearest one is a couple of kilometers from the lake and the tourist area (Vincom Center on map). Not very large in scale, so we wouldn't say it's worth going there specifically. But if there is such a shopping center near you, it will be a pretty good option for shopping. It has a WinMart supermarket, cinema, game room, food court and chain cafes, brand stores.

  • Trang Tien Plaza. This is not just a shopping center, but also an architectural and historical landmark, one of the oldest shopping centers in the capital. Located very conveniently right next to the lake and the tourist area (Trang Tien Plaza on map). It houses stores of global fashion brands, prices are accordingly very high. If you're after expensive shopping, then go straight here, but it's unlikely to be suitable for buying simple souvenirs and gifts.

  • Go (Big-C) Supermarkets. There are at least 6 stores of this supermarket chain in Hanoi. Prices are among the lowest; even street vendors come here to buy in bulk. There is a large selection of ready-made food and semi-finished products, coffee, drinks, rice. Many goods with yellow price tags are sold at good discounts, including coffee. The only downside is that all Go (Big-C) stores in Hanoi are located very far from the tourist area, so it's worth going there only for a really large volume of purchases.

• Markets

  You can buy anything at Hanoi's markets, but realistically only souvenirs and some non-brand everyday or sportswear will be of interest. The problem is that prices at markets are usually initially quoted much higher for tourists than in shopping malls, and by mistake you can seriously overpay. So be careful with this. For example, from our own experience, at Dong Xuan Market they tried to sell us a pack of coffee from a supermarket costing 94,000 dong for 230,000 dong!!! But if you know the prices and know how to bargain, it's quite possible to buy a good thing even cheaper than in stores.

  

  

  

  

  

  • Dong Xuan Covered Market. This is the largest covered market in Hanoi and a historical landmark, and it is also located in the tourist area on its northern side. Inside, mass-produced goods (clothing, fabrics, shoes) are sold, which are unlikely to interest you, but on the ground floor from the entrance on Dong Xuan Street, there is a huge selection of souvenirs that cost many times more in shops on the street. But even if they quote you low prices at first, you can bargain down to even lower prices.

  • Night Markets. On Dong Xuan and Hang Duong streets on weekends after dark (after 18:00), a night market starts operating. Mostly mass-produced goods are sold as in the covered market, but you can find souvenirs and just about anything.

  • Local Long Bien Market. Located on the outskirts of the tourist area. A dirty and foul-smelling (seafood) place, but you can find very cheap fruit here. In general, wholesalers from different cities in northern Vietnam shop here, and it is one of the largest wholesale markets in the country. For example, a kilogram of mango here costs from 10,000 dong (0.38 USD), while in the tourist area you can't buy it for less than 35,000 (1.33 USD). Besides buying fruit, there's nothing to do here.

• Small Shops and Stores

  Everywhere along the streets in Hanoi's tourist area (the old quarter near Hoan Kiem Lake) there are endless small shops and stores. Moreover, the streets here are also conditionally divided by categories: shoe street, clothing, souvenirs, etc. Although, of course, overall everything is mixed, and on any street you can find anything.

  You can buy anything in them, but the main assortment for tourists is souvenirs, clothing, wallets, bags, coffee. Don't expect to buy something worthwhile; at the very least, it's very difficult to find normal clothing and even replicas of branded clothing, and the assortment is the same as at the market. In our opinion, only small stores under the sign "Made in Vietnam," which sell sports and hiking footwear, might be of interest. But more on that below.

  Despite the indication of a fixed price in some stores, bargaining is possible and necessary.

  

• Made in Vietnam Sportswear and Outdoor Clothing Stores

  In small stores under the sign "Made in Vietnam," decent replicas of sportswear under the North Face brand are sold. Don't believe the sellers that these are originals, as this brand, although produced here, is prohibited from sale in Vietnam. Also, sellers have a version that these are special batches from Vietnamese factories for the local market, but it seems more like these are either defective products illegally taken out of the factory or goods sewn in underground workshops.

  Their main assortment is trekking boots, multi-layer jackets with Gore-Tex membrane and windbreakers, hiking pants, thermal underwear, synthetic T-shirts. Less often you can find other tourist equipment, such as dry bags, trekking poles, etc.

  Prices in these stores vary for the same item depending on the store, so it's better to visit several and compare prices, and then bargain. There are especially many such stores on Hang Thung, Hang Manh streets.

  

Where and What to Buy in Hanoi

If you need a specific category of goods in Hanoi, the following recommendations will help you find them at good prices:

• Where to Buy Souvenirs

  You can buy souvenirs everywhere in Hanoi, but the lowest prices on "mass-produced" souvenirs were found by us at the Dong Xuan Covered Market after a little bargaining. In principle, you can buy all the same things there as in souvenir shops on the streets of the tourist area, but at a price 2-3 times lower after bargaining. However, don't forget that you can also bargain in small shops and get a good price. So if you need to buy a couple of magnets and keychains, you don't necessarily have to go to the market; you can just buy them at the nearest store, but be sure to ask for a "discount." The more items you buy in one place, the bigger the discount. And, of course, when they quote you a price after the discount, you can name your price and bargain until you're satisfied.

  

• Where to Buy Fruit

  You can buy fruit on the street, but prices quoted to tourists are very high, sometimes exotic fruits even cost more than in Russia. Prices for fruit in supermarkets are a bit lower. Well, the lowest prices are at the wholesale Long Bien Market.

  

• Where to Buy Food

  If you prefer to save money and not eat in cafes, you can buy groceries in supermarkets. We already mentioned two good supermarkets near the tourist area above. Everything there, from beer to coffee, costs 10-30% less than on the street and in small shops. You can also find ready-made meals on plastic trays there, which are sold still hot or you can ask to heat them up. And many supermarkets even have a dining area with tables, water, and a microwave.

  

• Where to Buy Coffee

  Vietnamese coffee is sold both at markets, in specialized stores, and in supermarkets. We compared prices and it turned out that the cheapest can be bought in Go (Big-C) and Auchan supermarkets, a bit more expensive in Intimex and VinMart, and really expensive in specialized stores and markets. The price difference for the same brand of coffee can sometimes reach up to two times.

  The only downside in supermarkets is the small selection of coffee beans and loose coffee. You can also read our detailed guide, what coffee is like in Vietnam, prices, how and where to buy here.

  

• Where to Buy a Motorcycle

  Hanoi is a very convenient place to buy a motorcycle and travel on it across the rest of Vietnam. Therefore, the business of selling used motorcycles to tourists is very well developed here. You can additionally read our guide, how to travel across Vietnam on a purchased motorcycle)

  Many motorcycles are sold in the tourist area, especially on Pho Ma May street. A good used motorcycle store with a selection of several models is not far from the Old Quarter at Ham Tu Quan, 95. Outside the tourist area, you can buy motorbikes cheaper, but the markets and stores there are more oriented towards locals, and there will be problems with the language barrier. For example, you can try visiting a large used motorcycle showroom at Chua Ha, Dich Vong,76.

  

• Where to Buy Russian Products in Hanoi

  Unfortunately, we don't know of a place in Hanoi where a large specialized store of Russian products operates. Not far from the lake in the tourist area on 70 P. Hang Bong street, there is a small private shop with Russian products and cosmetics, but the selection there is small. Also, products from the Russian Federation have started appearing in Vietnamese supermarkets across the country, including in Hanoi, but these are mainly cooking products, such as sunflower and other oils. If you know of a store with Russian products in Hanoi – share in the comments.

  

  

• Where to Buy Electronics in Hanoi

  If you urgently need to buy something electronic, for example, to replace a broken smartphone or buy an additional memory card, you can go to the chain electronics supermarket Dien may XANH (Green Machine). There are many such stores in the capital; you can find them on Google Maps. The familiar-to-Russians chain Media Mart also operates here.

  Besides this, the streets are full of all kinds of small family stores and shops selling any electronics, from SIM cards to expensive DSLR cameras and lenses. However, we advise against getting carried away with purchases here: we compared prices, and they are the same here, or often even higher than in the Russian Federation for the same models, and you'll also be left without a warranty.

  

This concludes our guide to shopping in Hanoi. But the city's possibilities don't end here!

To plan the perfect holiday, read our other materials from the guide: where to go, what to see, how to get there, and so on.