Editor's picks
A local's shortlist — the places worth your time first, each with a tip.
Hoàn Kiếm Lake & the Old Quarter
Landmark · Central Hanoi
The lake with the turtle tower at the centre of the city, wrapped by thirty-six trade streets that still carry the names of the guilds that worked them.
Local tip: The streets around the lake close to traffic from Friday evening to Sunday night, which is when the Old Quarter is actually pleasant. The rest of the week it is a motorbike river and you should walk one block out to Hàng Bạc or Mã Mây for the good food.
West Lake (Hồ Tây)
Neighborhood · Tây Hồ, north of the centre
A five-kilometre lake ringed by Vietnam's densest concentration of foreign residents, lakeside cafés, international schools and the eleventh-century Trấn Quốc pagoda.
Local tip: The eastern shore around Quảng An is where the expat money is; the western side toward Nhật Tân is where the flower villages and the good, cheap seafood restaurants are, and rents drop by a third across that gap.
Temple of Literature
Culture · Đống Đa
Vietnam's first university, founded in 1070, with stone stelae recording the names of doctoral graduates going back to 1442.
Local tip: Go on a graduation weekend in May or June and it is full of students in áo dài being photographed by their families, which is the point of the place rather than an interruption to it.
Long Biên Bridge & the mid-river sandbanks
Hidden gemNature · Between Hoàn Kiếm and Long Biên
Eiffel-era steel bridge, bombed repeatedly and patched ever since, with farmland and banana groves on the sandbanks below it.
Local tip: Walk or cycle across at dawn when the freight trains and the market traffic share it, then drop down the ramp at Phúc Tân onto Bãi Giữa — an island of allotments and swimming spots in the middle of the Red River that most residents have never set foot on.
Train Street & Phùng Hưng
Neighborhood · Hoàn Kiếm / Ba Đình boundary
A working railway line running a metre from front doors, and a viaduct of painted arches beside it.
Local tip: The famous café stretch has been repeatedly closed and reopened by the authorities on safety grounds — check before making a trip of it. The Phùng Hưng arches and the Long Biên night market next door are open regardless and less staged.
Bia hơi corner, Tạ Hiện
Food · Old Quarter
The crossroads where four bia hơi joints meet and half the city's under-thirties end up on a Friday.
Local tip: Fresh beer is brewed and delivered daily and goes off within about 24 hours, which is why it is only ever sold by the glass and why the good places sell out by nine. Anywhere with a queue is fresher than anywhere with a menu in English.
Explore 65 places across Hanoi
Museums, landmarks, monuments, heritage sites and parks — mapped, with photos. The most notable spots first.
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Museums & galleries
(12)
MuseumHỏa Lò Prison
Prison in Hanoi used for political prisoners in colonial times and for prisoners of war during the Vietnam war
MuseumVietnam National Museum of Fine Arts
Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam, showcasing Vietnam's fine arts from every historical period
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
MuseumHouse number 48 Hang Ngang Street
Phường Hoàn Kiếm
Museum in Phường Hoàn Kiếm.
Bảo tàng Binh chủng Thông tin liên lạc
Museum.
Geological Museum
Hoàn Kiếm
Museum in Hoàn Kiếm.
Landmarks & architecture
(19)
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
Landmark
LandmarkDuong River Bridge
Bridge in Vietnam
LandmarkĐông Kinh Nghĩa Thục Square
Landmark in Hanoi.
LandmarkDong Tru Bridge
Bridge in Vietnam
LandmarkPaper Bridge
Bridge in Vietnam
LandmarkDaewoo overpass
Bridge in Vietnam
O Quan Chuong City Gate
Historic city gate, 1817.
Monuments & memorials
(9)
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
MonumentEmperor Lê Thái Tổ Monument
Monument complex of Hoàn Kiếm Ward
MonumentWell of Heavenly Clarity
Lake in Temple of Literature, Hanoi
Đài Tưởng Niệm Liệt Sĩ Cổ Nhuế
Memorial.
Xuân thu vườn
Public artwork.
Trụ Sở Của Xứ Uỷ Bắc Kì
Phường Ba Đình
Public artwork in Phường Ba Đình.
Places of worship
(12)
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
Religious
ReligiousVoi Phục Temple
Temple in Hanoi, Vietnam
ReligiousBach Ma temple
Religious in Hanoi.
ReligiousNoi temple
Lac Long Quan temple
ReligiousHanoi protestant church
Church building in Vietnam
Hai Bà Trưng Temple
Đồng Xuân
Place of worship in Đồng Xuân.
Lăng Cả
Thành phố Từ Sơn
Place of worship in Thành phố Từ Sơn.
Lăng Nguyên Phi Ỷ Lan
Thành phố Từ Sơn
Place of worship in Thành phố Từ Sơn.
Heritage & archaeology
(4)
ArchaeologicalDi Tích Lịch Sử Chùa Láng
Archaeological site.
Ô Thuỵ Chương
Historic ruins.
Đàn Xã Tắc
Archaeological site, 1048.
Parks & nature
(7)
ParkThống Nhất Park
Lakeside park of Kim Liên Ward
ParkHanoi Botanic Garden
Botanical garden in Hanoi, Vietnam
Park
ParkChí Linh Park
Park in Hanoi.
Đầm Đông
Garden.
Mai Xuan Thuong Garden
Public park.
Van Xuan Garden
Public park.
More to explore
(2)Cầu Mậu Lương
Visitor attraction.
Hanoi Weekend Night Market
Visitor attraction.
Data from Wikidata (CC0) & OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Images via Wikimedia Commons — see each credit. Listings are community-maintained and may be incomplete or out of date — verify hours and access before visiting.
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