Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the main starting point for traveling around the north of the country. If you are looking for what to see in Vietnam, this city will definitely not disappoint you.
Navigation:
- Hanoi Attractions
- Narrow Railway Street (Train Street)
- Hanoi Zoo
- Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
- Hoa Lo Prison Museum
- Temple of Literature
- Lake of the Restored Sword (Hoan Kiem)
- Water Puppet Theatre
- Where to Eat in Hanoi
- Hotels: Where to Stay
- Attractions on the Map
- Transport: How to Get There
Things to Do and What to See in Hanoi
We advise all tourists to use the Klook excursion aggregator in Asia. It is very convenient: it saves time and money, sometimes serves as a great source of new travel ideas, and helps discover interesting places to visit. You pay by card on the website—no need to stand in line at the ticket office. In many megacities, you can save money by buying combo tickets for major Hanoi attractions and tours.
The Famous Train Street
As always, I want to start with the most interesting part. For me, it turned out to be Hanoi’s narrow Train Street, where tourists in bars and cafes can watch a real train pass just a few inches away from them.
Many people believe that the railway in Hanoi runs along the slums, and accordingly, the place is known as the Hanoi slums. In fact, it has nothing to do with marginalized neighborhoods. There are ordinary houses here, ordinary people live here, just very close to the tracks. Apparently, land in Vietnam is very expensive, so locals use every patch of it. In both Vietnam and Thailand, the railway often runs right up against houses. So it’s just an Asian feature, and you shouldn’t think that disadvantaged people who want to rob you live here.
The railway runs right through the city, as the main station is located right in the center of Hanoi. In many places, the train passes very close to buildings, but only in the center have they turned it into a tourist attraction: setting up cafes and placing chairs just a few inches from the rails. And do not think that the train goes slowly—it rushes through here at a decent speed.
There are two most famous spots where tourists are offered a comfortable view of the passing trains:
Train Street very close to the center
Train Street slightly further from the center
The links will open Google Maps with pins. I’ll add that the first location looks more colorful due to the beautiful curve of the street.
Legend has it that a few years ago, a tourist died here while taking a selfie in front of an approaching train. Therefore, you cannot just walk onto the rails now: there are guards and a barrier at the entrances. But a local resident will immediately come out and guide you to any cafe. This is done for the safety of tourists. I absolutely loved that everything here is well-organized: there are about 20–30 establishments where you can grab a bite or a cold drink. Each cafe is decorated with graffiti and Chinese lanterns—the atmosphere is amazing.
Every bar has a train schedule, but in reality, it’s often not followed.
In 2023, the evening train consistently passed at 21:15 every day.
It’s best to ask the bar staff for the actual arrival time. They will tell you right away, keeping no secrets.
Hanoi Zoo
About 5 km west of central Hanoi, there are several interesting places perfectly located to visit in one day. Public transport is well developed in Hanoi, and Google Maps accurately shows bus numbers and fares to your destination. The only problem is that you can walk the 4 km distance in 40 minutes, or you can take the bus… also in 40 minutes. The narrow streets and very heavy traffic even in the middle of the day are to blame.
So, concentrated in the west of the city are: Hanoi Zoo, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, a cat cafe, and the Vincom mall, which has an H&M and an observation deck in the Lotte tower on the 65th floor.
I recommend starting with the zoo before it gets too hot outside. Next, visit the Museum of Ethnology, and plan to go up to the observation deck around 17:00 so you can enjoy the city panorama in the daylight, watch the sunset, and see the millions of lights of the night metropolis.
As for the zoo—it is painful and, frankly speaking, a disgrace. I am sure that such sad zoos are almost non-existent in any modern city in the world. Small, cramped, dirty cages, and the eyes of animals filled with loneliness and the meaninglessness of existence. I thought for a long time whether tourists should visit such places. On the one hand, you don’t want to sponsor such keeping conditions; on the other hand, without visitors’ money, the animals will get even less food, and their cages will be cleaned even less often. It’s strange, because the zoo in Ho Chi Minh City is super modern and doesn’t leave such a depressing impression (not to mention the gorgeous safari parks at Vinpearl).
Address: Hanoi Zoo (Thu Le Park)
Ticket prices: 30,000 VND for adults and 20,000 VND for children.
The park itself has a large and beautiful territory: green manicured lawns, a pond in the center, lots of flowers and trees. Locals come here for walks and morning jogs. You can ride simple amusement rides, eat ice cream, and drink coffee here.
But everything concerning the animals is in an extremely deplorable state. The cages are cramped, empty, and extremely small. Monkeys have no room to jump, some animals are sick (we saw a monkey with a huge ulcer on its body). You can’t really see the birds because the glass of the enclosures is covered with years of stains, from you know what.
Our visit to the zoo took less than an hour. I think it would be a great city park for walking if the animals were removed from here. But for now, the picture is quite sad.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
I don’t understand why Hanoi has such a sad zoo, considering the museums in the city are absolutely super cool and modern. Each museum features a variety of unique exhibits, with explanations nearby in Vietnamese and English. There are also interactive zones where you can watch videos, touch objects, and try them out.
The first museum we visited was the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. It is located a 20-minute walk from the zoo, and I consider it a must-visit. Here you can explore in detail the life of the tribes that still live in Vietnam (mostly in the north of the country). The most popular way to see this flavor in person is to travel to Sapa. But to know what awaits you there in advance, it’s worth checking out this museum.
Address: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
Ticket price: 40,000 VND.
Also, a traditional water puppet theater takes place every day on the museum grounds. Performances run at 10:00, 11:00, 14:00, and 15:30. For only 50,000 VND, you can see this famous Vietnamese performance.
The museum is huge; a thoughtful exploration of all the exhibitions could take a whole day. We spent about 3 hours here but didn’t even manage to see everything. The complex consists of several parts. The main one is a large building where two floors detail the daily lives of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. It houses photographs of the tribes, household items, traditional clothing, and tools.
To the right of the main building is a new building dedicated to the cultures of all of Southeast Asia. But the most interesting part awaits you outside: in the courtyard, about 15 traditional dwellings have been recreated in full size. Well, not just recreated—people actually still live in such houses today! You can enter almost all the buildings, sit on the beds, or by the hearth. Note: many huts have no wooden floors (just dirt or bamboo). The village houses I later saw in Sapa were built exactly the same way, except some now feature washing machines and TVs.
Two structures seemed the most interesting to us: the communal house and the tomb. They alone make the visit worthwhile.
The Communal House (Rong house) was the center of every mountain village. They were always the largest, tallest, and most ornate structures, serving for village meetings, solving important issues, and performing rituals. Typically, village amulets and trophies (e.g., skulls of sacrificed buffaloes) were kept there. As a rule, women were strictly forbidden from entering this house.
Ritual Tomb
Such a structure serves to bury several people at once (a family crypt). Wooden sculptures symbolizing different stages of life are carved around it. Pottery, wooden models of tools, and household items are also left in the tomb so that the deceased want for nothing in the afterlife. After all rituals are completed, the tomb is no longer visited, left entirely to the forces of nature.
Hoa Lo Prison Museum
Another incredibly powerful museum in central Hanoi is the former Hoa Lo Prison. It was originally built by French colonists to hold Vietnamese political prisoners fighting for independence. Later, during the Vietnam War, captured American pilots were imprisoned here (which is why they ironically dubbed it the “Hanoi Hilton”).
The museum’s exhibition leaves a heavy impression—you need strong nerves to immerse yourself in this history. The atmosphere of that time is recreated with the help of realistic sculptures of prisoners, dim lighting, and gloomy background audio.
There are communal cells shown where men were kept in monstrous conditions, as well as a separate block for women with children. In one room, 30-40 people were crammed onto bunk beds. Walking was impossible: the prisoners’ legs were tightly shackled to concrete platforms. Those who “misbehaved” were sent to the dungeon—solitary confinement. There, people sat in narrow, pitch-black cells, unable even to stretch out on the bed. There were no toilets in the dungeons.
However, in the halls dedicated to American pilots (among whom was John McCain), the feeling of a terrifying prison somehow disappears. Photographs show POWs playing volleyball, reading books, celebrating Christmas, and receiving medical care. This creates a slight dissonance, making it seem like not entirely the whole truth.
But for Vietnamese patriots in colonial times, the living conditions and food were truly horrific. There were periods when 40 people a month died from disease and starvation.
Address: Hoa Lo Prison
Ticket price: 30,000 VND.
Opening hours: daily 8:00 – 17:00.
Temple of Literature
Address: Temple of Literature
Opening hours: 8:00 – 17:00
Located in the historical center of Hanoi is the famous Temple of Literature, dedicated to Confucius. It is not just a religious shrine, but Vietnam’s first national university, founded way back in 1070. The place is highly revered by anyone who studies, so there are almost always many schoolchildren, college students, and even kindergarten toddlers here.
For tourists, local calligraphy masters hold a special interest. You can ask a calligrapher to write a character in beautiful traditional script representing what is most important to you right now: health, love, luck, or wealth. During Tet (Vietnamese New Year), such masters can be found at many temples, but on normal days, they mainly sit here. It is believed that whatever is written will surely bring prosperity.
Lake of the Restored Sword (Hoan Kiem) and Temple of the Jade Mountain
Perhaps this is the most recognizable and popular location in Hanoi. Probably because it is physically impossible to walk past it: wandering through the noisy labyrinths of the Old Quarter, any tourist will inevitably come out to the picturesque shores of the Lake of the Restored Sword (Hoan Kiem).
It is best to come here at dawn when hundreds of locals do their morning exercises, jog, and practice tai chi, or after sunset. In the evening, when most places are closing, life on the promenade is just boiling: young people dance, street vendors put out tiny plastic chairs pouring tea and coffee, and the bridge leading to the temple is magically illuminated in red.
The lake gets its name from a beautiful legend: a giant golden turtle that lived in these waters granted a magical sword to Emperor Le Loi (Le Thai To) in the 15th century so that he could drive out Chinese invaders. Having won the victory, the emperor held a celebration on the lake, the turtle swam to the surface and took the sword back to the bottom.
In the northern part of the lake, on a tiny island, is the Temple of the Jade Mountain (Ngoc Son). To get there, you need to cross the famous red wooden Bridge of the Rising Sun.
The island itself is quite small; at a leisurely pace, you can walk around it in half an hour. Inside the temple, the embalmed bodies of two giant turtles that actually lived in Hoan Kiem Lake are displayed. One of them died in 1967, the second (which many believed to be the legendary turtle itself) in 2016. I was also surprised by the special ovens installed for the ritual burning of fake money (offerings to ancestors).
Operating hours of the Temple of the Jade Mountain:
Monday — Thursday: 7:00 – 19:00
Friday — Sunday: 7:00 – 22:00
Entrance fee: 30,000 VND. Children under 15 — free.
Water Puppet Theatre (Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre)
Of course, after a walk along the lake, it is a sin not to stop by the puppet theater and watch a traditional performance on the water. The theater building is located right on the Hoan Kiem promenade.
In one of the episodes of the travel show “Oryol i Reshka”, the host Andrey Bednyakov visited a similar theater in Ho Chi Minh City and almost fell asleep. Partly because of this, we didn’t go to this show in southern Vietnam. But in Hanoi, we decided to give the art a chance and were very pleased! The performance lasts only 50 minutes—the ideal timing so you don’t get tired. You can rent an audio guide (although it’s not available in Russian). But to be honest, the plot is extremely clear even without translation.
The play consists of 15 short musical skits from the lives of ordinary Vietnamese peasants: sowing work, fishing, village holidays, and a vibrant dragon, lion, and phoenix dance. They also definitely show the legend of the turtle returning the sword. The first half hour flew by in one breath; towards the end, the focus scattered a little, but overall the impressions were excellent.
Ticket prices vary from 100,000 to 200,000 VND, depending on the proximity to the pool stage. We, as always, bought online on Klook with a good discount.
Klook.com
Where to Eat in Hanoi: Cafes and Restaurants
There is absolutely no problem with food in Hanoi. From many travelers, I heard the stereotype that eating here in decent establishments is expensive, and tourists often have to look for tiny street plastic chairs for a budget snack. I didn’t get that impression at all. In the Old Quarter, there is a cafe in literally every house: they are all different, stylish, with cozy details and cool interiors for any budget.
Indian Restaurant MAAZI Old Quarter
This beautiful restaurant with a minimalist design can be found near Train Street. MAAZI Old Quarter specializes in Indian cuisine. It was very tasty, but unrealistically spicy (even though we asked for “no spicy”). But they have a great selection of craft beer here, which saves the situation! And every time I am amazed: how do Indians manage to cook the simplest rice so deliciously? Despite the nice interior, the prices here are very affordable. For comparison: in many noisy street eateries on plastic chairs, a portion will cost you even more.
S’Patisserie Cafe-Bakery near the Lake of the Restored Sword
Walking along the lake promenade, we got caught in a downpour and cheerfully danced in the rain together with local women, so we no longer wanted to drink cheap street coffee. As soon as we noticed this cute French coffee shop, there was no doubt—we urgently wanted desserts!
Address of S’Patisserie: 17 P. Hàng Khay, Tràng Tiền, Hoàn Kiếm.
For 2 macarons, a portion of tiramisu, and a signature milk drink, I paid about 250,000 VND. This is quite expensive for Vietnam, but the pastries were truly delicious. Besides, it was our first day in the capital, so the saving mode had not yet been activated.
Unusual Ramen: 01 -wan- Tantan Ramen
Between the zoo and the Museum of Ethnology hides a tiny but very stylish restaurant, the menu of which has only 5 types of Japanese ramen. We love ramen, but here it turned out to be completely non-standard: ours, for example, was cooked on a thick, rich nut broth. If you are looking for new gastronomic experiences in Vietnam, you must stop by. The interior is luxurious, but the bill is not far behind. Our bowl cost about 200,000 VND.
Address: 01 -wan- Tantan Ramen
Cat Cafe Oleoleo Coffee & Cats
Animal cafes are incredibly popular all over Asia. In Nha Trang, we went to a dog cafe, but it left mixed feelings. But in Hanoi, we chose a cat cafe near the zoo and were absolutely delighted. Only 4 cats live here permanently: three of them lazily sleep in their beds, but one—the main chubby cat—simply loves attention! You buy a coffee and can endlessly pet this fluffy boss.
Address: Oleoleo Coffee & Cats
Hanoi Hotels: Where to Stay
Hanoi is a huge Asian metropolis, but practically all significant attractions (just like in Ho Chi Minh City) are concentrated in the historical center. It is quite logical to choose a hotel no further than 2 km from Hoan Kiem Lake. There are thousands of options here for every taste and budget.
Out of habit, we booked one of the most budget-friendly rooms in the center with breakfast included and a private bathroom.
Diamond Nostalgia Hotel & Spa is a very nice option. Pluses: the room has a full bathtub, and you can always grab free tea, coffee, or juice at the reception.
From the significant minuses: the hotel is located in the very heart of the Old Quarter, so it is surrounded by a dense ring of noisy bars and clubs. At night, the bed vibrates slightly from the bass.
For our next trip to Hanoi, we decided we would look for accommodation slightly away from the party epicenter of the Old Town—for example, in the quiet French Quarter, near the railway, or closer to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.
Attractions of Hanoi on the Map
Transport: How to Get to Hanoi
You can travel to the capital of Vietnam in any convenient way: by plane, intercity sleeper bus, or train. Of course, domestic flights are the fastest and most comfortable option. The cheapest air tickets around the country start at $50 (and this is the standard, not promotional price). Surprisingly, on the official website of the low-cost airline VietJet, tickets are often a couple of dollars more expensive than on aggregators like Trip.com. Aviasales also shows excellent options if you have a foreign bank card to pay.
Tickets for intercity buses across Vietnam are easiest to find on the local aggregator site Vexere.com. Just to understand the scale: the journey from the resort town of Nha Trang to Hanoi by bus will take about 25 hours! The minimum ticket price for such a trip is about 1,000,000 VND (almost as much as a flight). A similar price applies to the railway.
From Noi Bai Airport to central Hanoi, various public transport runs around the clock. A taxi ride via the Grab app will cost about 300,000 VND. It is much cheaper to take the comfortable express bus No. 86—the ticket costs only 45,000 VND, travel time is about 55-60 minutes. If you go outside the terminal to the regular city bus stop (5 local routes stop there), you can get to the desired area for a symbolic 9,000 VND.
Where to Go Next: Sapa, Ninh Binh, and Halong Bay
Virtually no one comes to Hanoi just to see the city itself. The vast majority of tourists (and we were no exception) after 2-3 days of transit in the capital set off to explore the incredible north of Vietnam: the rice terraces of Sapa, the karst landscapes of Ninh Binh, and cruises in the famous Halong Bay.
While Halong or Ninh Binh can be comfortably visited in one day with a guided tour from Hanoi, it is better to travel to the mountainous Sapa on your own and allocate at least 2-3 days for it.
How to Get from Hanoi to Ninh Binh
Getting to “Halong on land” is a piece of cake. The most budget-friendly way is the Vietnamese train. The journey takes slightly less than 2 hours. There will be no stunning scenery out the window, but the seats are quite comfortable even in the cheapest seating carriage. The alternative is tourist minivans-limousines and buses: they cost a little more, but they travel faster and often pick you up directly from your hotel.
What to see in Ninh Binh: a large guide to locations
How to Get from Hanoi to Sapa
To see the Martian landscapes of Sapa, you can buy tickets for the overnight sleeper train from Hanoi to the border station of Lao Cai, and from there transfer to a winding minibus to the village itself.
Or choose a direct sleeper bus from Hanoi straight to the center of Sapa. Flight schedules are always available on Vexere, but this time we booked bus tickets through the Klook aggregator. We liked the convenient timing: you leave at 7 am and by lunchtime you are checking into a hotel among the mountains.
And, of course, don’t forget to compare offers on 12go.asia—prices for the same route on different platforms can vary.
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