Nha Trang night market

The night market sits on Trần Phú, in the central hotel strip, and runs 17:00 to 23:00. An after-the-beach errand rather than a day out. A lit arch reading "welcome" marks the entrance, and inside are two rows of stalls selling bags, hats, shoes, souvenirs and dried seafood, plus a food section. Walking the whole thing takes about forty minutes if you do not stop.

The first thing worth saying is that this market disappoints a great many of the people who go, and the reason that recurs is price: nothing is labelled, the opening figure quoted to a foreign visitor is often a multiple of the real one, and not haggling almost guarantees paying it. This is not a market to shop quickly; it is a market to bargain in.

Haggling here is straightforward: ask the price, offer half to two thirds, and meet in the middle; if the first number you say is accepted immediately, you are still paying over. Two things help more than any trick: ask at two or three stalls before buying at any of them, because most of the market carries the same goods; and go around 21:00–22:30, near closing, when a seller would rather move stock than hold a price.

Some things are worth buying here and some are not. Worth it: small souvenirs, hats, woven bags, beach things, t-shirts. What you buy because it is cheap and fun rather than because it is good. Not worth it: anything you are taking home as a speciality. For the same box of glazed squid or bird's nest, the speciality shops post fixed prices and charge less, and Đầm market is cheaper still if you can bargain. For the same item, the night market is the dearest of the three.

The food section sells grilled seafood, snails, rice paper and sugarcane juice. Usable, but on tourist prices too. If you eat here, ask the price of each dish before ordering, especially seafood sold by the kilo. For better value, the snail places and evening street food are both within walking distance. The market sits beside the Trầm Hương tower and Trần Phú beach, so the three fold into one evening.