Hanoi has the typical weather of tropical monsoon type with four season times in the year, making Hanoi so charming and mysterious, attracting so many travelers coming to Hanoi annually. Hanoi is considered as all year round destination for travelers, but which time (season) is best for you? We have some suggestions based on the weather, events and tastes by season to help you choose your most favorite time to travel Hanoi.
Spring (February to April)
Spring time may be the most memorable time in Hanoi because spring is the sign of upcoming Tet holiday. If you arrive in Hanoi this time, you will see how Hanoi people eager to prepare the Tet holiday – the biggest holiday and festival of Vietnam every year. The weather in spring is much warmer, humid and has drizzling rains, suitable for the plants to grow and flowers to blossom. On the road, people sell and buy peach-blossom, especially Nhat Tan peach and “kumquat” tree. Or you can choose to go to the market flowers to choose more kinds of flower there. You will have wonderful time to participate in Hung King festival or Perfume Pagoda and many others interesting places.
Summer (May to August)
Although Hanoi’s summer is very hot in day times indeed with the average temperature of 32 degree (sometimes the temperature outside can reach 40°C in peak heat), and July is usually the hottest month of a year, but the night in Hanoi this time is great. If you go out at night, you will see a lot of people pouring to night market or street tea shops. Heavy rain is one feature of Hanoi’s summer, along with high humidity. Based on the uncomfortable weather conditions, summer seems to be the hardest season for tourists to travel to Hanoi. If you decided to choose to arrive at Hanoi this time, remember to bring raincoat or umbrella whenever go out. And, do not forget to enjoy many kinds of flowers such as white Madonna lily on April, red flamboyant and violet Lagerstroemia speciosa (Bang Lang flower) on May, and West Lake lotus on June will attract people to take photos. Summer is a season of variety of fruits in the north of Vietnam. And you can taste them in the capital of Hanoi, such as: grapefruit, litchi, mango, watermelon, pineapple…
Autumn (September to November)
Autumn is considered as the most beautiful and romantic time for travelers to visit Hanoi. This season is quite short, typically from middle of September to the end of November. With the average temperature is 25 degree, Hanoi’s autumn is so charming with warm sunlight, cool breeze and dry atmosphere. If you love seeing the leaves change color, enjoying some local autumn specialties such as young green rice, living slowly for a to appreciate the beauty of your life, you definitely should come to Hanoi in autumn. Remember to wear a light overcoat or a cardigan when go out. Hanoi in autumn is truly romantic and peaceful. It is also good time to enjoy the mid autumn festival (Trung Thu), one of the biggest festivals each year in Vietnam celebrated on the lunar August, 15th. Besides milk flowers with special smell, daisy is an autumn’s specific flower, along with Cốm (green sticky rice) – a specialty of Hanoi in this season.
Winter (December to February)
The winter of Hanoi starts from December and may last until the February, with the average temperature of 15-17°C. Sometimes it drops to below 10°C and the high humidity will make the weather a little bit colder. Remember to bring warm clothes if you don’t want to get a cold here. Winter often brings a sad feeling, because the sky is often dark and gloomy. However, Hanoi seems to have its busiest days of the year and streets are more crowded than usual during working hours as people are in rush to complete all the remaining works and prepare for their Tet holiday. However, enjoy the tasty hot food like hotpot or grill dishes in winter are very delicious.
And now, you will find out that the autumn and spring are two best seasons to travel Hanoi when the weather is pleasant with milder temperatures. Let’s plan your journey soon cause the autumn is coming. If you also plan to visit Da Nang, see our suggestions for the best time to travel Da Nang.