Xuân · Hạ · Thu · Đông
Hanoi is cool and grey in winter, hot and wet in summer, and has the in-between seasons most of Vietnam does not. Each hangs here as one panel of a four-panel set.
Grey and damp, with light rain on many days. A good season for indoor mornings, and for the flower villages before Tết.
Smells: Peach blossom before Tết, wet stone, incense. Peach branches are sold in the weeks before 6 February 2027.
Tastes: Phở, which does not care about the season, and a hot egg coffee on a grey morning.
Hot and wet. Go at dawn, when the lake is the only cool place, and spend the afternoon indoors.
Smells: Lotus in June and July, hot tarmac after rain.
Tastes: Iced phin coffee, and bia hơi, which is brewed for this weather and gone by night.
The season most visitors are advised to choose: drier by November, with highs near 27°C.
Smells: Milk flowers, hoa sữa, from about October into November: a smell you know before you see the tree.
Tastes: Bún chả off a charcoal grill, and the first evenings cool enough for egg coffee.
Cool, grey and dry, with the lowest rainfall of the year. Bring a layer: dawn is near 14°C.
Smells: Charcoal smoke, wet wool, the lake in mist.
Tastes: Phở at dawn and a hot egg coffee. Everything here is eaten hot.
Months are grouped here as spring February to April, summer May to August, autumn September to November and winter December and January. Sources draw the lines in different places.
| Month | High °C | Low °C | Rain mm | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20.2 | 14.1 | 19.8 | 10.3 |
| February | 21.7 | 16.4 | 20.2 | 12.4 |
| March | 25.9 | 20.5 | 35.8 | 15.9 |
| April | 28.5 | 22.4 | 103.7 | 14.1 |
| May | 32.8 | 25 | 165.3 | 14.2 |
| June | 34.9 | 26.6 | 264.4 | 14.7 |
| July | 33.7 | 26.5 | 253.9 | 15.7 |
| August | 33.2 | 25.8 | 273.7 | 17.2 |
| September | 31.9 | 25 | 228.3 | 13.9 |
| October | 30.4 | 22.8 | 155.1 | 11.2 |
| November | 26.7 | 20 | 60.7 | 8.1 |
| December | 21.3 | 13.8 | 19.5 | 5.1 |
Tết (Lunar New Year) falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. Public employees have 4 to 10 February off, and many shops, stalls and restaurants close for several days.
Book walks around it early, or come the week after, when the peach blossom is still out. We run fewer walks over the break.
Last verified 29 October 2026
