Working hours:
A normal working day in Vietnam starts from 7am to 8.30am and finish between 4pm to 6pm, from Monday to Friday and until noon on Saturday, leave the afternoon (most) and Sunday off.
Lunch is taken very seriously and virtually. Everything shuts down between noon and 1.30pm.Government workers tend to take longer breaks, so figure on getting nothing done between 11.30am and 2pm.
Post offices keep longer, from 6.30am to 9pm.
Banks open from 8am to 4pm and Saturday’s morning.
Museums also open in the weekend for visitors but close on Monday.
Temples and pagodas open every day, from around 5am to 9pm.
Markets open at 7am and close at 5pm, except Night market (from Hang Dao Str. to Dong Xuan market – walking streets, in the evening of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 8pm to 3am)
Super-markets (mini-marts) open from 8am to 8pm or 9pm.
Most private shops, restaurants and street stalls stay open seven days a week, often until late at night.
Bars and night clubs generally open in the afternoon and to midnight (official closing time) but always till 1pm or 2pm (most)
Public Holidays:
|
01 January |
New Year’s Day (Tet Duong Lich) |
|
January or February (3 days) |
Tet (Vietnamese New Year – Tet Am Lich) |
|
10th March (lunar calendar) |
The festival of Hung King who founded Vietnam 4000 years ago. |
|
30 April |
Liberation Day (The day on which Saigon surrendered – 1945) |
|
01 May |
International Labour’s Day (Quoc te Lao Dong) |
|
02 September |
National Day (1945) |
