Vietnam Weather in December: Where to Go, City by City

Vietnam weather in December splits three ways. The north is dry and cool, with Hanoi at 21 degrees Celsius by day and 14 at night. The south is dry and hot, with Ho Chi Minh City at 32 degrees. The centre is still wet, with rain on about 19 days in Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An.

That makes December a good month for most of the country and a poor one for a beach holiday in the middle. The table gives the long-term averages for the 11 places people ask about most.

Vietnam weather in December by city

Sources and caveats are simple. Most rows are station averages. Sapa, Phong Nha and Nha Trang are drawn from several published datasets that disagree by a degree or two, so treat them as close estimates. The World Meteorological Organization publishes official city normals. For the forecast in any given week, use Vietnam's national hydro-meteorological centre.

North Vietnam in December: Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa

Hanoi gets about 20 mm of rain in the whole month, spread over five days. The surprise for most visitors is the cold. Fourteen degrees at night sounds mild until you learn that Hanoi houses, cafes and cheaper hotels have no heating, and a north-east wind can pull the daytime figure into the low teens for a few days at a time. Locals wear down jackets on their motorbikes. Bring one warm layer and you will use it.

Halong Bay is dry, at 22 degrees by day, and usually hazy. The limestone islands appear out of grey mist more often than against blue sky, which some people prefer. Cruises run normally and rarely cancel in December, because the storm season is normally over by then. Swimming and kayaking are possible, and the water is cold. If the choice is between a clear-sky photograph and a quiet bay, December gives the quiet bay.

The bay is dry in December, though days this clear are less common than hazy ones. Photo: Zoltán Gábor Drubina / Google Maps.

Sapa and the far north are properly cold: around 15 degrees by day and 6 at night in town, lower on the passes, with frost on some mornings. The rice terraces were harvested in September and October and are brown stubble now. People who go in December go for the cold, the cloud seas and the small chance of snow on Fansipan, which our guide to snow in Vietnam puts in proportion. Skip Sapa this month if green terraces are the point.

Central Vietnam in December: Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An

This is the stretch that catches people out. The centre has its rainy season from September to December, months after the rest of the country, and December is the tail of it. Da Nang averages 218 mm of rain over 19 days. Hue is wetter, at 350 mm over 20 days, and holds the title of rainiest city in Vietnam.

What that means on the ground is grey sky, showers most days, the odd full day of rain, and long dry gaps. The heavy flooding of October and November is usually over by the first week of the month. The second half is drier than the first, and Christmas week is often fine.

Wet paving and a white sky are the normal December look in Hue, which has rain on about 20 days. Photo: Aneta Angielczyk / Google Maps.

The sea is the real loss. From Da Nang to Nha Trang the north-east monsoon pushes a heavy swell onto the coast, red flags fly on most days and boat trips to offshore islands are cancelled. Hoi An's old town, the Hue citadel and the food are as good as ever, and both towns are far less crowded than in spring. Our month-by-month guide to the rainy season in Vietnam explains why the centre runs on a different calendar.

South Vietnam in December: Saigon, the Mekong and Phu Quoc

The south is at the start of its dry season, and December is one of its two best months. Ho Chi Minh City averages 32 degrees by day and 24 at night, with about 40 mm of rain on five days and 226 hours of sunshine. The air is drier than in the wet months, so the heat is easier to walk in than in April.

The Mekong Delta is dry and green, with the rivers still high from the wet season, which is the best combination for boat trips. Phu Quoc has calm, clear water on its west coast, 30-degree days and six days with any rain. It is also the busiest and dearest month on the island. Our Phu Quoc guide covers which beaches to choose.

Da Lat, in the southern highlands at 1,500 metres, is dry and sunny at 21 degrees with nights down to 13. Its flower festival, held every two years, runs from 19 to 31 December 2026.

The Da Lat Flower Festival fills the lakeside from 19 to 31 December 2026. Photo: Bum Min / Google Maps.

Where to go in Vietnam in December, and where to skip

A north-to-south route works well in December, because the weather improves as you go. Start in Hanoi and Ninh Binh, spend the middle of the trip in Phong Nha, Hue and Hoi An with a raincoat, and finish on a beach in the south. Our hub on the best time to visit Vietnam compares December with every other month.

Phong Nha in December

December is the month the caves come back to full strength. The rainy season in Phong Nha runs from mid-September to mid-December, and rainfall drops from over 500 mm in October to between 125 and 250 mm in December, falling mostly as drizzle. Days average 23 degrees and nights 18. The jungle is at its greenest, the rivers inside the caves are full, and the trails are muddy.

For our own tours it is a clean start. Bach Ma Discovery and the two Do Quyen Waterfall trips, the only tours we close for the wet months, reopen on 1 December, so the whole list is bookable for the first time since August. The day treks and the multi-day cave expeditions ran through the autumn and carry on. Water in the river caves is cool, so the swims are short and brisk.

By December the autumn floods are over and the wild caves are back on the schedule.

What can still go wrong is a late storm in the first week or two, which closes the river caves for a day or so until the water drops. Leave a spare day in the plan. The detail on what shuts, and when, is in our guide to Phong Nha in October, November and December.

Festivals and events in December 2026

• 3 to 6 December: the first Hoi An International Lantern Festival, announced by Da Nang city this year.
• 19 to 31 December: the Da Lat Flower Festival, with displays around Xuan Huong Lake.
• 22 December: the monthly lantern night in Hoi An, on the 14th day of the lunar month.
• 24 December: Christmas Eve. It is not a public holiday, and it is a huge night out. The streets around St Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi and Notre-Dame in Ho Chi Minh City fill with people.
• 31 December: New Year's Eve, with fireworks and countdown concerts in the big cities. 1 January is a public holiday.

The square in front of the cathedral is the centre of Christmas Eve in Hanoi. Photo: Denise Tian / Google Maps.

Tet, the lunar new year, is not in December. In 2027 it falls on 6 February, and trains and flights for that week start selling out before Christmas. If a trip runs into late January, read our Tet 2027 guide now.

Prices and crowds in December

December is two months in one. Until about the 19th it is a quiet shoulder period, with hotel prices close to autumn levels everywhere except Phu Quoc. From 20 December to 5 January, room rates in the popular places rise steeply, and flights into Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City climb week by week. Hue, Phong Nha and the central highlands barely change.

Book Christmas and New Year beds in Hoi An, Phu Quoc and Da Lat at least six weeks ahead. Everything else can be booked a few days out. For the months when the whole country is cheaper, see our guide to the cheapest time to visit Vietnam.

What to pack for Vietnam in December

Pack for two climates. The same bag has to cover 14-degree nights in Hanoi and 32-degree afternoons in Saigon.

• For the north: a fleece or light down jacket, long trousers, closed shoes. Add a hat and gloves for Sapa or Ha Giang.
• For the centre: a proper rain jacket, quick-drying clothes and sandals that can get wet. Cotton takes two days to dry in Hue in December.
• For the south: T-shirts, shorts, swimwear, sunscreen.
• For a trek or cave tour: long sleeves and trousers that dry fast, plus one warm layer for camp. Our jungle trek packing list has the rest.