Hello 500 brothers and sisters, Cuồng is back and seems more powerful than ever before, and today Cuồng will bring you a “light” guide when visiting the night market in Nha Trang. Let’s step into a bustling “underground” world together!!!
Where is this place?
As Cuồng knows and has researched, currently, there are 4 areas of the Nha Trang night market that are active, and those 4 areas are:
- Pedestrian street and night market, 46 Trần Phú, belonging to Yến Sào Khánh Hòa company, so it is also called the Yến Sào Nha Trang night market.
- Yasaka 9 market, also located on Trần Phú street, belonging to Yasaka Sài Gòn Nha Trang hotel.
- Nha Trang market, at the intersection of Tuệ Tĩnh and Trần Quang Khải streets.
- Tropicana Shopping, located within the Hải Yến hotel premises, so it is also called the Hải Yến Nha Trang night market.
Among the 4 night market areas mentioned above, the Pedestrian street and night market in Nha Trang at 46 Trần Phú or also known as Nguyễn Thi street is the most bustling. Therefore, when talking about the Nha Trang night market, locals often refer to this market area first. However, Cuồng will still introduce you to the other 3 night market areas in Nha Trang before getting to this famous one.
Yasaka 9 market night market.
Located on over 500m2 in the area between Yasaka-Saigon-Nhatrang Hotel and Nha Trang Center commercial area on Tran Phu Street, the Nha Trang Yasaka 9 Market night market is very conveniently located for local residents and tourists to visit and shop at night. When you come to Yasaka 9 Market, you can find a variety of items from handicrafts, souvenirs, local specialties, fashion items, to high-end products such as pearls, silk, and more. In addition, Yasaka 9 Market also has food stalls with a variety of Asian and European dishes that Cuong believes will make you crave for more. Despite being crowded, when night falls, the inviting atmosphere and communication between sellers and buyers are still very friendly. Everything takes place in a civilized and polite atmosphere that Cuong did not expect. Whenever foreign visitors come to buy, many shop owners remind customers to be careful not to be pickpocketed. And in return for such kind gestures from the shop owners, Cuong always sees foreign tourists nodding their heads in gratitude.
Nha Trang market.
Nha Trang Market was established in 2014 and is located at the intersection of Tue Tinh and Tran Quang Khai streets. Thanks to its proximity to the Nguyen Thien Thuat – Hung Vuong Western Quarter and the night market area with a familiar image of Vietnamese countryside with colorful stalls. Nha Trang Market night market not only attracts many foreign tourists but is also a reliable address for distant guests. The vendors are busy arranging their products, and when a customer arrives, they warmly welcome them. Let Cuong tell you the most typical example. That is Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao working at Ninh Khuong shop. When Cuong met her, she pointed to her shop and said, “We only sell high-quality Vietnamese products here. Although the prices are a bit high, all our clothes are hand-embroidered, no two products are alike. Buying here, you won’t worry about buying the same thing.” Even though Cuong didn’t buy anything, she still smiled very friendly.
Tropicana Shopping
Tropicana Shopping is located within the premises of Hai Yen Hotel, so it is also called Hai Yen Nha Trang night market. At Hai Yen Nha Trang night market, tourists will have the opportunity to choose the best seafood at stalls specializing in local products as this night market focuses on seafood products. Although there are many dried seafood products from Nha Trang, the salespeople and shop owners here are determined that “Selling local products is still a sustainable criterion. Souvenir stalls all look the same, those from China will eventually fail. These are products that only first-time visitors to Vietnam buy, Vietnamese people are not very interested. Many foreign customers have bought Nha Trang seafood products here and they are extremely pleased.” And it’s true, Cuong bought some dried seafood here to bring back as gifts for friends, and everyone loved it, saying it was delicious. Cuong still remembers that day when everyone asked Cuong to show them where he bought it so that when they have the opportunity to travel to Nha Trang, they can buy some as gifts too.
Pedestrian Street and Night Market, 46 Tran Phu, owned by Yen Sao Khanh Hoa Company, is also known as the Yen Sao Nha Trang night market.
Located on Nguyen Thi Street, a pedestrian street connecting these two roads. According to Google’s guidance for Cuong, the pedestrian street and night market in Nha Trang have been operating since before the lunar new year in 2010 to serve the shopping and dining needs of locals and tourists. After a long period of development, this Nha Trang night market now has about 100 stalls, including 16 food stalls. Despite its relatively small scale, you will be surprised by the richness and variety of items and dishes on the menu. Around 7 pm every day, the number of people coming to the Nha Trang night market is bustling and lively. Here, Vietnamese tourists admire tiny starfish keychains, while foreign tourists bargain for handwoven tablecloths made from bamboo, or groups of young friends walk around the street, chatting and occasionally daring each other to try different dishes. The pedestrian street of this Nha Trang night market area, although only about 140m long, recreates the familiar Vietnamese countryside scene with horse-drawn carriages, banana trees, climbing vines, bamboo bridges over the canal, and more, all illuminated under decorative lights and adorned with beautiful hanging lanterns.
When visiting the Nha Trang night market, you will have the opportunity to find a wide variety of items for sale, from clothing, jewelry, souvenirs, handicrafts, to seafood, snacks, drinks, and even “artists” practicing calligraphy, carving paintings on the spot, drawing portraits that will surely captivate you when watching their performances right at the Nha Trang night market. In addition, you can also choose to buy authentic agarwood products, Khanh Hoa bird’s nest, and more. What’s special for tourists when visiting the Nha Trang night market is that there is no aggressive selling or competition for customers, you can leisurely stroll around, look and choose the items you like. The stall owners here are all cheerful and very friendly. It can be said that the Nha Trang night market creates a cozy atmosphere reminiscent of traditional rural markets, enriching the nightlife entertainment services for tourists visiting Nha Trang.
As Cuong mentioned above, the pedestrian street and night market at 46 Tran Phu, located on Nguyen Thi Street, is the most famous and bustling night market in the city visiting Nha Trang. Therefore, when talking about the Nha Trang night market, locals often refer to this market first. So today, Cuong will guide you to visit the Nha Trang night market at 46 Tran Phu, located on Nguyen Thi Street.
Some information about the Nha Trang night market
Every evening, this Nha Trang night market attracts thousands of tourists, mostly foreign tourists on Nha Trang tours ranging from 2 days 1 night to 4 days 3 nights. According to statistics, there are three main international tourist groups coming to Nha Trang, the largest being from China, South Korea, and Russia. At the night market on Nguyen Thi Street, most visitors are from these three countries. Due to the large number of international visitors, many people compare this Nha Trang night market to a market abroad. It’s a place where the sellers are locals, and the buyers are foreign tourists.
Structure of the Nha Trang night market
The Nha Trang night market is divided into stalls along both sides of the street, with an average area of about 3 m2 per stall. The stalls are rented out by the authorities for residents to do business, and households needing a larger area can rent 2-3 stalls together. The rental price is around 3-5 million VND per month. Although the rent is cheap, the transfer price of the stall rental rights can reach tens of millions of VND, not cheap at all.
The goods sold at the Nha Trang night market are mainly fashion items, cosmetics, and souvenirs. Many traditional Vietnamese souvenirs are sold here, such as ceramics, lacquer paintings, and woven bamboo products. Various types of preserved fruits, dried fruits, coffee, pepper, and more are also widely available at this night market. Chinese tourists especially prefer these Vietnamese specialties and often buy them in large quantities as gifts, so if you want to buy, you should do it quickly before they run out. The Nha Trang night market, like other night markets across the country, also has a food area. From traditional Vietnamese dishes, seafood to dishes cooked in Chinese and Korean styles are served. Moreover, to better serve customers, the menus at the food stalls are available in Vietnamese, Chinese, and some even have signs in Russian. Not only that, to sell products and facilitate transactions with international customers, many shop owners also know how to speak Russian, Chinese, and Korean. According to Cuong’s observation, the prices of the items sold at the night market are not too expensive, but bargaining is common, so you should survey the prices and negotiate before making a purchase.
How to get there? (Directions)
For the convenience of guiding the way, Cuong would like to provide directions for everyone to get to the Nha Trang night market from Nha Trang Center because Nha Trang Center is a very famous tourist, shopping, and travel destination in the city center of Nha Trang. From Nha Trang Center, you can walk down Tran Phu Street towards the south, heading towards the Tram Huong Tower of the city Nha Trang tourism. After passing the Tram Huong Tower about 50m, you will see Nguyen Thi Street, also known as 46 Tran Phu, on your right. To make it easier to imagine, this Nha Trang night market is located opposite Nha Trang Square, so Cuong assures you that it is very easy to find.
How to get there?
Since this Nha Trang night market is located right in the city center, close to the Tram Huong Tower, there are many transportation options available for you to get here.
Firstly, you can walk if you are staying at a hotel in the Hung Vuong or Nguyen Thien Thuat Street area, as it is easy to walk here. Not to mention that these two streets are full of grocery stores, restaurants, eateries, and street food and drink stalls. Cuong feels that if you choose to walk to the night market, you will enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by delicious food and drinks calling out to you from all directions. Perhaps this is a legendary feast, but instead of mythical spiders, it’s food calling out to you!!!
The second option is to take a motorbike or taxi. This choice is entirely reasonable for those who are tired or families with young children who cannot walk long distances. However, Cuong personally believes that if you go by motorbike or taxi, you will not fully experience the excitement of being overwhelmed by the food scene here, but the choice is still yours.
What’s at the Nha Trang night market?
Fashion items
Traveling through the night market on a street that is only about 140m long, you will come across stalls selling clothes and fashion accessories at the beginning of the market with a wide variety of styles for you to choose from. Since Nha Trang is a coastal city, the clothes sold at the night market are made of breathable cotton, spacious and easy to wear, with a wide range of colors and sizes that attract many tourists. Despite that, the prices range from only 100k – 200k VND, so it’s quite affordable for everyone. According to the experience of Nha Trang tourism not only from many tourists who have been to the night market but also from Cuong, besides clothes, there are also many fashion accessories sold at the stalls such as hats, shoes, handbags that are very suitable for beach fashion, so they are loved by fashion enthusiasts like Cuong. The wide-brimmed straw hats for sun protection, flip-flops for beach walks, handbags for phones and essential items are all sold at affordable prices at the Nha Trang night market, so when you come here, you can freely choose.
Eating in the night market area
Walking around the night market, not only you but also Cuong will truly worry about their weight because of the diverse cuisine here, from traditional and familiar dishes like grilled pork with noodles, fish cake, mini pancakes to seafood dishes such as crispy fried squid, fragrant crispy fried shrimp. In addition, there are also delicious snacks for young people such as ice cream, various types of sweet soups like pomelo sweet soup, sương sa hạt lựu sweet soup, sâm sweet soup, green bean sweet soup, floating dessert or lotus seed sweet soup, all sold here at slightly higher prices than usual. However, what could be better than enjoying new and unique traditional dishes in the bustling and lively Nha Trang night market. Being immersed in the wonderful culinary melodies amidst the lively crowd is truly the best. Furthermore, at the end of the Nha Trang night market on Hùng Vương street, there are many food stalls and Cuong guarantees that you can find something to eat at night like sweet soups, ice cream, or fruit juice, which are very good for health and also help you quench your thirst and relieve tired feet after wandering around the stalls at this night market in Nha Trang, right? However, one regrettable thing is that all the food stalls in the middle of the Nha Trang night market have been removed and now only the sweet soup stalls remain at the end of the night market.
When you visit the Nha Trang night market, you will find a variety of street food that is very enticing, such as the Hoi An ice cream stick priced at only 5,000 VND per piece. This type of ice cream is easy to eat, visually appealing, affordable, and especially when you buy it, you will witness the processing right there. A small pink box inside is large enough to hold 100 ice cream sticks. Each stick is placed in a long sharp iron tube. The prepared liquid ice cream is poured into the iron tubes, shaken, rotated, and covered. Just about 10 minutes later, the seller takes out the frozen, soft, and fresh ice cream sticks. Cuong was mesmerized watching because he didn’t understand how that small pink box could perform such magical wonders. It turns out it contains only stones inside. Large ice trays are placed at the bottom, then a bag of salt is added, stirred evenly. Next, the seller pours the prepared ice cream water into the iron tubes, rotates, shakes, and covers the pink ice box, and a few minutes later, the liquid ice turns into ice cream. Because it is handmade, the ice cream sticks are very easy to melt, so when eating, you have to eat quickly and every time you hold the ice cream, you have to turn the tip down to avoid dripping water, dirtying your hands and clothes. Especially, there is a more luxurious type of ice cream that is very popular in Nha Trang, sold on various streets, which is the delicious Thai Rolled Ice Cream priced at only 35,000 VND – 40,000 VND per piece. Cuong still remembers the time when this Thai Rolled Ice Cream was a sensation all over social media. Although it is not as popular now, it is still loved by customers, especially those who are traveling in Nha Trang and strolling around the streets and night market of Nha Trang.
Don’t forget at the end of the road there is a dessert shop called “Chè 3 Chàng” at the end of the market on Hùng Vương street, which features the flavors of the three regions of North, Central, and South. When talking about this, you might wonder why this dessert shop is named “Chè 3 Chàng.” Cuong also found it strange, so he met with Mr. Bùi Trọng Hoàng, the owner of this dessert shop, to inquire about the truth. He explained, “The name ‘Chè 3 Chàng’ appeared as fate. I used to be a water music technician at Vinpearl Land. My music group was known as the 3 Chàng Ngự Lâm Quân. I noticed that Nha Trang had many delicious dishes, but there were hardly any dessert shops with a unique taste representing the three regions of North, Central, and South. From this reality, combined with my innate cooking talent, I had the idea to open a dessert shop. When discussing with my two close friends (one is a sound and light expert and the other is a bartender), they really liked this idea, and the name ‘Chè 3 Chàng’ originated from there.” To carry out this “project,” they continuously researched and learned how to cook from books, newspapers, and the internet; combined with practical experiments to enhance their knowledge. Mr. Nhân and his two friends traveled from South to North, seeking out unique dessert shops to add to their menu. With careful selection, the menu of “Chè 3 Chàng” now offers 12 types of desserts with distinct characteristics of the three regions, such as: pomelo dessert, sticky rice and taro dessert, sương sa hạt lựu dessert, mixed dessert, mung bean dessert, mung bean and lotus seed dessert, mung bean dessert, quail egg dessert, ginseng and longan dessert… Among them, pomelo dessert, sticky rice and taro dessert, and sương sa hạt lựu dessert have become the signature dishes of the shop and are loved by many customers, including Cuong with the sương sa hạt lựu dessert. All the ingredients are homemade from mung beans, sương sa, and bánh lọt; the dessert shop has many regular customers who feel at home when dining there. Not to mention the chewy bánh lọt with a fragrant aroma from pandan leaves, the crunchy sương sa hạt lựu, and especially the sweet and refreshing coconut milk that is not too strong. Just thinking about it makes Cuong crave it again!!!
At the end of the night market, there is a very famous dessert shop called “Chè hạt đác”. This dessert shop is crowded with tourists in the evening enjoying the “Hạt đác” dessert, as the dessert here is mixed with sugar, various flavors, giving a crunchy, chewy, and delicious taste. Located at the end of the night market and with a display of fruits that are quite eye-catching, Cuồng thinks that the main customers here are tourists, as there are signs in both Chinese and Russian. I heard the name of the dessert “Chè hạt đác” sounded interesting, so I decided to try it. For me, the dessert was quite delicious, the fruits were fresh, and the prices were not too high, ranging from only 30k-50k, so I think this would be a suitable place for you to visit, have a date, and enjoy a cup of tea to relax after wandering around this Nha Trang night market, don’t you think?
Buying souvenirs for family and friends
At the Nha Trang night market, there are many handcrafted items, handicrafts, clothes, bags, sunglasses, and backpacks just like any other market. When you visit this night market in Nha Trang, besides enjoying the food, you can also choose to buy necklaces, bracelets, or cute keychains as gifts for your girlfriend, loved ones, friends, and family. Cuong recommends that you still go to this market around 7 pm to enjoy a variety of delicious dishes and fill your empty stomach, then you will still have plenty of time to choose souvenir items. Among the items you can buy as gifts at the Nha Trang night market, foreign tourists especially appreciate the handcrafted handicrafts made by Vietnamese artisans. In addition, coffee is a popular choice to buy as a gift for your loved ones, friends after a trip to Nha Trang, which is full of interesting things because Vietnamese coffee is rated as the second best coffee in the world, so it is highly regarded by foreign tourists.
Legendary painting
When visiting the Nha Trang night market, besides eating, playing, and shopping, you also have the opportunity to have your portrait drawn by artists right at this famous night market in Nha Trang. The artists will quickly sketch your portrait in a short amount of time, but it will still be beautiful and authentic. If you travel and receive a portrait to take home as a souvenir, it will be a truly memorable and enjoyable experience, right? Apart from portrait drawing, you can also choose other art forms such as calligraphy, carving, and more.
Tips for enjoying your visit here
Nha Trang night market is crowded and bustling, full of various services and goods that can overwhelm and immerse visitors in the vibrant activities here. However, there are some things to keep in mind to make your trip more memorable and enjoyable.
First is the issue of overpricing:
Overpricing is still a problem in the night market, and the aggressive attitude of sellers towards customers can be off-putting. Foreign visitors are the most vulnerable to overpricing as sellers often assume they are unaware of prices and may have limited Vietnamese language skills. However, it’s not just foreign visitors who are overcharged, local customers also face this issue. Customers are often displeased with the high prices, sometimes 2-3 times higher than other places. This situation makes many people fearful and reluctant to make purchases. Therefore, remember to inquire about prices thoroughly before buying and compare prices at different stalls to avoid overpaying. It’s advisable to only buy from stalls with clearly marked prices. One thing Cuong likes at the Nha Trang night market is the delicious and affordable fruits, such as mangoes. If you can’t find anything else to buy, you can always get some mangoes, but make sure it’s the right season.
Second is the issue of pickpocketing at the Nha Trang night market:
As a popular tourist spot, the Nha Trang night market is prone to overcrowding, congestion, and various hidden dangers, including pickpocketing and theft. Pickpocketing and theft are still prevalent in this market area. If you are not careful or are too distracted, you may encounter this unwanted situation. Therefore, Cuong advises you to keep your wallet, phone, and valuable items securely. Also, pay close attention to your belongings to avoid thieves taking advantage and stealing from you. Remember, prevention is better than cure.
Third is to choose to buy from stalls in the middle or end of the market:
When visiting Nha Trang night market, you should note that usually the stalls at the beginning of the market will have higher prices than usual. This is because the front stalls are in a convenient location for customers, so the stalls here also sell at higher prices than usual. However, this is just an experience when going to Nha Trang night market, depending on the situation, you can apply it reasonably! Stalls at the end of the market usually have lower prices.
Wednesday is Opening Hours 6pm-11pm daily.
Since the opening hours are quite early until 11 pm, you can easily schedule your time after visiting and exploring other tourist attractions on your Nha Trang tour to visit Nha Trang night market. Also, you can visit the night market late to find some snacks for yourself when night falls.
Thursday is Bargaining Day.
Before buying, you should carefully survey the prices and you can bargain to get a discount. According to Cuồng’s experience in Nha Trang night market, to buy cheap items, you should negotiate the price down from 10,000 VND to 20,000 VND for each item. Small items like souvenirs, keychains, etc., priced at 15,000 VND to 20,000 VND should not be bargained, only bargain for items priced at 150,000 VND or more.
Although Nha Trang night market is facing more and more issues, it cannot be denied that this destination for Nha Trang tourism is still one of the famous Nha Trang tourist spots, not only for foreign tourists but also for domestic ones. Therefore, Cuồng hopes that through this guide to visiting Nha Trang night market, you will be prepared before entering this vibrant “underground” world.
