Did I take advantage of the VND, or did the VND take advantage of me…
Famous last words by many tourists in Vietnam, and for good reason. The shopping scene here is insane. While Hanoi has retained much of its old world charm as compared to Ho Chi Minh City, it has plenty to offer.
Beyond the boring souvenir keychains, we’ve scoured high and low for the best places to shop — including artisanal coffee beans, matcha powders and chawan, and even highly-sought-after vintage apparels.
1. Max Coffee
The ultimate place in Hanoi if you’re planning to shop for coffee beans.
Freshly roasted beans, robusta, arabica and moka, starts from VND 150,000. Of course, their huge repertoire includes various flavours of instant coffee.
For matcha lovers, I wouldn’t recommend the matcha powder here. But their whisk is only VND 180,000 ($6).
Their Flower Teas, starting from VND 100,000 also makes for a good souvenir.
Location: Too many outlets in Hanoi
Opening hours: 9am-11pm
2. Trung Coffee
The two things they have that Max Coffee doesn’t — Freeze-dried Coffee (VND 160,000) and Weasel Drip Bag (VND 190,000).
Location: Multiple locations
Opening hours: 9am-11pm
3. Son Hai The Coffee & Tea House
For matcha lovers, this is where you can stock up on matcha powder in Hanoi.
VND 200,000 for 100g of barista-grade (presumably) Matcha Powder, and VND 130,000 for 100g of Hojicha Powder.
Location: 17 P. Hàng Bông, Hàng Gai, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Opening hours: 9am-9pm
4. Gom Phu Quy
Gom Phu Quy offers locally crafted ceramics from Bat Trang Ceramics Village, a popular tourist attraction in Hanoi. However, there’s more to that.
They offer expensive designs that aren’t commonly found in the village. The village focuses more on traditional products such as tea pots and tea cups, while Gom Phu Quy caters more to western ceramics, such as mugs plates, and matcha chawans.
Location: 14 P. Hàng Bè, Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 000084, Vietnam
Opening hours:
Mon-Thu: 9am-10:30pm
Fri-Sun: 9am-11pm
5. Bat Trang Ceramic Village
The place to be if you want to shop till you drop cheap ceramics — we spent three hours here.
This village, which is located beside Ancient Quarters and Bat Trang Pottery Museum, offers a wide variety of locally made ceramics, mainly tea pots and tea cups, but some extend to vases, plates, decors and drinking cups.
Location: Bát Tràng, Gia Lâm, Hanoi 12423
Opening hours: 8.30am-6pm
6. Hang Dong Gia 10k
While not technically located inside Bat Trang Ceramic Village (it’s just outside the entrance), Hang Dong Gia 10k is actually the best place to buy pottery.
“Flawed” goods start from VND 10,000, and flawed is in quotation marks because for most of them, you can barely tell.
I’m no pottery expert, but the goods here feel just as great as the ones inside the village, but those are at least 5x more expensive. The downside of shopping here is that most of the ceramics are definitely dustier, and the shop is a less taken care off. But rest assured, every piece is still handmade and in great condition.
Don’t believe us? Just check it out yourself before entering the village!
Location: Outside Bat Trang Ceramic Village (1 street on the left while facing the entrance)
7. Better World
What if you shopped for non-Vietnamese things while you’re on a trip in Vietnam?
If you’re interested in anything Central Asia — books, fragrances, jewellery and even home and living items, consider shopping at Better World, a Central Asia-centric store along West Lake.
Better World is located right beside Nagocha, a matcha cafe, and Eastern and Oriental Tea House and Coffee Parlour, famous for their Central Asian cakes.
Location: 8 Đ. Xuân Diệu, Tứ Liên, Tây Hồ, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Opening hours:
Monday:
Tue-Sun: 10am-7pm
8. Thanh An Art Souvenir
So many “local handcrafted stores in Hanoi’s Old Quarters, but Thanh A stands out with the most unique creations — and this is coming from someone who has browsed through over 20 similar stores.
Their standout product is their intricate hand-embroidered notebooks, for less than $10 per book.
Location: Gác 2, 29 P. Hàng Cân, Hàng Bồ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Opening hours: 8am-10pm
9. Cho Hang Thung Dong Tac
The one-stop shop for cheap secondhand apparel in Hanoi.
Prices start from VND 10,000, but those belong in the floor pile that you have to literally climb in and dig. Otherwise, more fashionable pieces typically start from VND
50,000, and can go up to VND 180,000, which is not pricey per say, but hardcore thrifters would know that this is slightly pricier for a “flea market-esque” thrift store.
Location: Unnamed Road, 101 P. Đông Tác, Kim Liên, Đống Đa, Hà Nội
Opening hours: 8am-10pm
10. Lon Xon
This is one of the most unique thrift stores we’ve shopped at in Hanoi. You’ll be able to find reworked apparel here — most are patchwork and cropped.
This is located on the second floor of The Twenty Seven Klub Thrift Store.
Location: 34 P. Đào Duy Từ, Hàng Buồm, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Opening hours: 10am-10pm
11. CSCB Vintage Eyewear
They’re not kidding when they call themselves a vintage eyewear shop… You can look forward to crazy finds here, but of course, be ready to spend a lot more here.
It’s located on the second floor, accessible via Hanoi Fresh Cut
Location: alley 50/P. Đào Duy Từ/no.14 and no.16, st, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Opening hours: 9am-9pm
12. House of Vintage Jewellery
Honestly, a rather overpriced vintage thrift store in Hanoi. I mean VND 1,000,000 for some unbranded (and unauthenticated) jewellery seems crazy, but to each its own.
The home decor pieces seem to be more value-for-money. Regardless, It is still a great place to window-shop.
Location: 13 P. Chân Cầm, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Opening hours: 9am-9pm
13. Carpe Diem
Candles from VND 230,000. Scents are pretty mellow, perfect for those who want fragrances lighter on the nose.
The most unique part about Carpe Diem’s candles are that it comes in a reusable cement cup.
Location: 50A P. Đào Duy Từ, Hàng Buồm, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Opening hours: 9am-10pm
14. TiredCity
Postcards, embroidery patches, magnets, pins, t-shirts and more designed by local artists!
Cute postcards that are great for souvenir costs VND 55,000.
Location: 2D P. Lý Quốc Sư, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Opening hours: 8:30am-10:30pm
15. Fake shoes at Hanoi Old Quarters
16. Fake perfumes at Hanoi Night Market
On the weekends, the Hanoi Night Market comes to life. In addition to the brick and mortar stores, pop-up tents will occupy the main road, where you can browse through countless perfume dupes — there literally at least 20 pop-ups.
You’ll be able to find popular fragrances such as Maison Margiela, Le Labo, Versace, Dior, Chanel, and more.
Location: 104 P. Hàng Đào, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
17. Fake Smiskis & POPMART at Hanoi Night Market
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to find 1-2 stores that sell blind box dupes — we’ve walked the entire stretch and only saw two.
You’ll be able to find dupes of Smiskis, POPMART, LABUBU, Sonny Angels, and more, at an average price of VND 100,000.
18. Do Choi Thong Minh
If you’re planning to shop for affordable 3D puzzles and figurines of your favourite animes (One Piece, Naruto, Pokemon, etc.) — head down to this store.
While we’re not entirely sure of the store name, as we believe they’re sharing it with an electronics store, you can just search for this exact location on Google Maps.
Location: 1 P. Hàng Quạt, Hàng Gai, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Opening hours: TBC
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