Shopping in Hanoi immediately brings images of bustling markets and colonial-style shop houses but thanks to the city’s recent modernization, it now sees shopping malls and boutiques around every other corner. Indoor and outdoor traditional markets can be seen throughout the city with the vendors selling household supplies, street food, and Vietnamese coffee beans at reasonable prices.

The place to shop for international brands in the shopping malls in Hanoi. They are also a great escape from the screeching heat and also to catch the latest Hollywood flicks.

There can be dozens of options to choose from when deciding where to shop in Hanoi.

1. Hang Dai Street

Hang Dai Street or the Silk Street is a one-stop-shop for all your silk items like dresses, home furnishings, apparel, and other fashion stuff. This 300-meter long street is lined up with fashion stores, boutiques, and tailors and is the best place in Hanoi to buy some high-quality fashionable silk stuff.   

2. Weekend Night Market

The Weekend Night market at Hang Dao Street, Old Quarter is one of the liveliest markets of Hanoi attracting crowds in hordes. The market comes alive every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday beginning at seven every evening. It is best to buy souvenirs lined up in the stalls around as the fashion items won’t be very attractive. The food vendors selling exotic Vietnamese delicacies add to the fun. A common feature of the market is haggling.

3. Dong Xuan Market

A rough-and-ready market, Dong Xuan Market, has four floors filled with products on sale. It is a Soviet-style building, located at the Northern edge of the Old Quarter and is the largest market in Hanoi. You can find cheap tees, luggage stalls, bolts of fabric and much more at affordable rates.

4. Lotte Centre Hanoi

With a wide range of about 250 lifestyle and fashion brands, Lotte Centre Hanoi is the new rage among shopaholics. The 65-story building is accessible via the Hoan Kiem Lake and offers a plethora of dining and entertainment options that can take up more than half of your day. The high rise also houses restaurants, a gym, residential apartments, a hotel, hypermarket, and the most important, the finest observation deck in the city.

5. Hang Bac Street

If you are looking to buy jewelry in Hanoi, then head to the Hang Bac Street. ‘Bac’ is synonymous with silver and this street has sold jewels for hundreds of years. There are still many small shops of jewelers that sell necklaces, rings, and many other items of inexpensive jewelry. You can wander around from store to store, jewelers or handicraft shops, dotted throughout the street.

6. Hang Dau Street

A fetish for shoes will take you to Hang Dau Street which might seem incredible in the first instance as the street is dotted with many shops, all selling the same item- shoes! The street is located Northeast of the Hoan Kiem Lake, near the Lo Su intersection. It is lined up with hundreds of shoe-sellers which gives you a wider than the wide range to choose from. A drawback is that larger western male might not find anything that would fit their size. However, the place remains ready as ever for the females. The products are mostly seconds made at Vietnamese factories. Though branded, they tend to get rejected for a small imperfection but still, make a great purchase option. You can also find reproduction bags’ knock-offs at the intersection of Lo Su and Hang Dau Street.