Top 4 Best Markets in Hue and Extra Shopping Tips

1. Dong Ba Market

Location: 2 Tran Hung Dao Street, Phu Hoa District, Hue, Vietnam

Opening hours: 6AM – 6PM

Type: Mega retail market, attract thousands of visitors in a day

Products:

Traditional Hue’s souvenirs and food: Hue royal tea, sesame candy, palm-leaf conical hat (non la), etc.

Multiple types of delicious food: Hue’s dumplings; Tapioca Dumpling (bánh bột lọc); Water fern cake (bánh bèo);

 Flat Rice Dumpling (bánh nậm); Steamed Rice Sheet (bánh ướt); Beef Rice Vermicelli (bún bò); Mussel Rice (cơm hến)….

Suitable for: everyone, especially tourist who want to try local food and buy gifts for their family.

Tips: Bargain a lot! Since Dong Ba Market is popular to foreign visitors, some sellers usually charge double the price to them. You should try to bargain to half the price, and take a look at currency exchange before shopping at the market.

Dong Ba is the symbol of Hue City – a must-see destination when you visit this city and are eager to try the authentic taste of the local foods which can’t be found anywhere but Hue.

2. Ben Ngu Market

Location: Phan Boi Chau, Vinh Ninh Ward, Hue, Vietnam

Opening hours: 24/24 all day

Type: Big market for local people

Products: As this is the place that most locals go to everyday, you can find everything essential for life here: fresh food, groceries,

 clothes and fabric, fruits, flowers and even living animals (fish, ducks, chicken,.. ). Ben Ngu Market offers the freshest food and ingredients to cook, so in case you want to cook something yourself, this would be a good place to shop.

Suitable for: everyone, especially people who are looking for fresh ingredients to cook.

Tips: The market provides fresh food and ingredients as well as living animals, so there may be some people who can’t stand the smell here. You can bring a mask while visiting the market – don’t worry about being judged, wearing a mask is a culture in Vietnam and Asia generally.

3. Tay Loc Market

Location: 209 Nguyen Trai Street, Tay Loc district, Hue city, Vietnam

Opening hours: 6AM – 6PM

Type: Big flea market

Products: Flea market is an unofficial market where people can just come, take a seat and start

 selling. Inside Tay Loc market, you can find pretty much everything like in Ben Ngu Market, but the price is a bit cheaper and stays reasonable all year round without any fluctuation.

Suitable for: People who want to experience the Vietnamese flea market and who want to get a good deal of souvenirs and food.

Tips: Tay Loc Market is a busy market – usually it would be packed with people and visitors at the end of the year. Therefore you should not bring too many valuable belongings or too much money when you come to this market to avoid unfortunate robbery.

4. Phu Hau Market

Location: Phu Hiep, Hue, Vietnam

Opening hours: 24/24 all day

Type: Wholesale market

Products: A wholesale market is where other sellers would come and take goods for retail, therefore the products here are usually very cheap and diverse. You can find a lot of things here like fruits, seafood, accessories and household appliances… with the best price.

Suitable for: everyone

Tips: Since it is a wholesale market and distributes goods for every seller in the city, Phu Hau market opens from very early in the morning, and everything is quickly sold out. Therefore if you want to get something from this market, you might have to wait since the last night.