When traveling in Hue, besides visiting beautiful tourist destinations, be sure to explore the bustling Dong Ba Market, one of the oldest places that showcases the rich culture of the city. A leisurely few hours spent navigating through narrow lanes lined with colorful shops here will bring you a wealth of exciting experiences.
Dong Ba Market is a valuable trading center of Hue City for the local people. For tourists, it is also an excellent place to buy delicious specialties as gifts. The stalls in the market are displayed and traded almost every day of the year.
1. General Information About Dong Ba Market
Opening time: 6:00 am – 6:00 pm
Location: 2 Tran Hung Dao Street, Phu Hoa Ward, Hue City
The map and location of Dong Ba Market on Google Maps:
2. Top Products Selling at Dong Ba Market
As the busiest trading center in Hue, a diverse range of products is available for you to choose from and purchase. The main building features a wide selection of clothes and bags on the second floor. In contrast, the first floor offers a variety of candies, Vietnamese hats, stationery, and souvenirs.
Hue local food at Dong Ba Market:
When you want to enjoy the flavorful cuisine of Hue at affordable prices, you can find many regional dishes, including Com Hen (clam rice), Bun Bo Hue, Banh Loc, and Banh Nam. However, for international tourists, please pay attention to hygiene when eating here and think twice before trying anything.
Hue sweet soup:
Sweet soup is a famous local dish made from beans, sugar, and various types of flour and fruits. The sweet soups in Hue come in multiple dishes, so shops often offer 10 to 20 types to sample. Please check out more about Hue Sweet Soup here!
Royal tea:
This tea was once a royal drink of the Nguyen kings. It is made from various herbs, resulting in a distinct flavor. Many people claim that royal tea is beneficial for sleep. Its price is from 50,000VND to 70,000VND per bag. One bag is separated to make many different cups of tea.
Conical hat:
This product is near the dried food area. Travelers can find many conical hats for sale here, especially Poem Hats (Nón Bài Thơ), which are traditional Vietnamese hats featuring poems and photographs of Hue between their two layers.
Shrimp sauce:
This popular dish is a favorite among Vietnamese tourists visiting Hue City, where it is often enjoyed with steamed pork, bean sprouts, and rice. The price ranges from 80,000 VND per 400g jar.
Dry food:
Walking around the dry food stalls on the first floor of the market is also enjoyable. If you want to buy food to bring back to the hotel or eat in the car, you can’t ignore the dry food stalls, which sell candies, dried fruits, cakes, dried squid, dried shrimp, and dried beef.
Fresh fish and vegetables:
Of course, these are the main products sold in almost all local markets in Vietnam, as well as Dong Ba Market. The fish section is located in the covered buildings along the rivers, as well as fresh vegetables along the roads on the backside of the market, also near the fish area. During the Hue Flavor Street Food Tour, you will come to this area to see and learn about the ingredients.
>> You may want to see more of the top things to buy in Hue City.
3. The Best Time to Visit Dong Ba Market
If you want to know the busiest time of day in Dong Ba Market, come in the morning, from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. This duration is an ideal time to purchase fresh food, including vegetables, fish, and meat, so most ladies prefer to carry plastic or rattan bags to go shopping, making the atmosphere more chaotic yet adding to the unique beauty of daily life.
If you’re planning to shop for souvenirs, clothes, or bags, it’s better to come after 3:00 pm. At this time, the store is less crowded than in the morning, and the weather is cooler. Another key reason is to avoid being the first customer on a new day. If the first person arrives and doesn’t make a purchase, it can negatively impact the store’s sales for the day.
4. Notes Before Visiting Dong Ba Market
- Many people think Dong Ba is a small market, but it spans 15,600 square meters. Thus, you can spend from a few hours to half days shopping at this site. You can find a wide range of goods for daily life and souvenirs.
- The unique features of the cuisine culture at this market draw many Vietnamese people to come and taste the local Hue food. However, as an international tourist, please consider its hygiene before trying it.
- To visit the market, it’s essential to start from the right place. Without clear directions, it’s easy to get lost due to the numerous stalls and narrow alleys. Please use the parking area or the main entrance as your starting point, and return there after shopping.
- The market here is quite crowded, so you must be more vigilant about your belongings.
- The market has two parking spaces, one on the right side and one on the left side. The right near the CoopMart is typically where tourist cars and buses stop.
Tips for shopping: Although Dong Ba is a vital market in Hue, and many products display their prices, sellers often quote very high prices for items, especially for bags, souvenirs, and clothing. Therefore, you need to bargain extensively when shopping here. How much can you negotiate? Depending on what they sell, most items are often bargained down by 20% to 30% to achieve the correct discounts. Also, most people avoid bargaining at the food court, where they sell food to eat immediately.
