What to buy in Vietnam: souvenirs worth bringing home

The best things to bring back from Vietnam are things people there actually use: coffee, tea, a hat, a tailored áo dài. Here is what to look for, and where.

Food and drink

• Coffee

  Vietnam is one of the world’s largest coffee producers, and most of its coffee is robusta from the Central Highlands around Buon Ma Thuot. Buy it ground, with a phin, the small metal filter used to brew it. Flosa sells Shin Coffee, from a Saigon specialty roaster: ground beans, phin filters and gift boxes, delivered to your hotel.

• Chocolate

  Vietnam grows its own cacao in the Mekong Delta and the south-east. Maison Marou makes bean-to-bar chocolate in Ho Chi Minh City, with bars named after the province the beans come from; they pack flat and travel well. See Marou chocolate.

• Biscuits and boxed cakes

  Givral, a Saigon bakery name since 1950, sells butter cookies and cat’s-tongue biscuits (bánh lưỡi mèo) in gift boxes that survive a suitcase; cream cakes are for eating on the spot. See Givral cakes, delivered to your hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

• Tea

  Lotus tea from Hanoi’s West Lake, green tea from Thai Nguyen, artichoke tea from Da Lat.

• Dried fruit and snacks

  Dried mango, jackfruit chips, coconut candy from Ben Tre, cashew nuts.

Clothes and crafts

• An áo dài

  The national dress, made to measure in a day or two by the tailors of Hoi An, Hanoi and Saigon. See the áo dài and other symbols of Vietnam.

• A conical hat (nón lá)

  The palm-leaf hat. Hue’s “poem hat” (nón bài thơ) hides verses and pictures that appear when you hold it up to the light.

• Lacquerware (sơn mài)

  Trays, bowls and boxes, painted by hand and polished in many layers.

• Ceramics

  From Bat Trang, a pottery village on the edge of Hanoi.

• Silk

  From Van Phuc village in Hanoi, or from Bao Loc in the Central Highlands.

• Textiles from the mountains

  Indigo-dyed and embroidered fabrics made by the Hmong and other ethnic groups around Sa Pa.

• Flowers that keep

  Fresh flowers do not travel, but scented soap flowers do: light, long-lasting and no watering. See soap flowers.

Where to shop

Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi for a bit of everything, the Old Quarter in Hanoi for crafts, and Hoi An’s night market for lanterns and small gifts. At markets, bargaining is normal; in shops with price tags, it usually is not.

What to leave behind

• Anything made from wildlife

  Ivory, tortoiseshell, rhino horn, or “traditional medicine” made from animals: illegal to buy, and to bring into most countries.

• Antiques without paperwork

  Antiques need export papers; without them they can be confiscated at the airport.

• Fresh fruit

  Most countries will not let it in: see our guide to Vietnamese fruits.

The one gift you cannot pack

Flowers do not travel. If you want to thank your hosts, or send something to a Vietnamese friend after you get home, we deliver flowers and fruit baskets across Vietnam, ordered from abroad, and can add a box of Marou chocolate or Shin coffee to the order.

More Vietnam guides

• Map of Vietnam’s 34 provinces

  Tap any of the 34 provinces for its sights, food, flower seasons and best months, and see which province Hoi An or Sa Pa belongs to now.

• When to visit Vietnam: weather by region and month

  Three climates, three rainy seasons: which months suit the north, the centre and the south, and what is in bloom.

• Vietnamese fruits: what to try, and when

  Dragon fruit, mangosteen, lychee, durian and more: the season for each, how to eat it, and what you can take home.

• The ao dai and other symbols of Vietnam

  The long silk tunic, the conical hat, the lotus, the dragon: what Vietnam’s symbols mean and where you will see them.

• Golf in Vietnam: the best courses, when to play and how to book

  About a hundred courses from Ha Long Bay to Ho Tram: the regions, the best months, caddies and tee times.

• Nightlife and bars in Vietnam: where to go, how to book and what to know

  Rooftops in Saigon, beer corners in Hanoi, how to toast, and the two rules to remember: 18 and never drive.

• Vietnam travel guide
• Arriving in Vietnam: visa and airports
• Living in Vietnam

From a florist in Ho Chi Minh City

These guides are written by Flosa, a flower shop in Ho Chi Minh City. Celebrating something while you travel, such as a birthday, an anniversary or a proposal? We deliver flowers to hotels across Vietnam. Want to thank someone in Vietnam after you get home? You can send flowers to Vietnam from abroad.