Top 10
Hanoi
Ten unmissable wonders of the ancient capital
Hanoi is a city that seduces slowly — ancient temples rise beside bubbling street-food stalls, jade lakes reflect crimson pagodas, and thousand-year-old alleyways buzz with the rumble of motorbikes. Here are ten things you simply cannot miss.
Hoan Kiem Lake
The beating heart of Hanoi. According to legend, a magical turtle reclaimed Emperor Lê Lợi's divine sword in these very waters. Today the misty jade lake is a meditative retreat at dawn — locals practise tai chi on its banks, couples stroll its tree-lined shores, and the iconic crimson Thê Húc Bridge leads to the serene Ngọc Sơn Temple on a tiny island. Come at sunrise or late evening when the city lights shimmer on the water.
★ Free to walk — start hereThe 36 Streets
A UNESCO-recognised maze of narrow "tube houses" where each street was historically named after the guild that traded there — Silk Street, Paper Street, Tin Street. Today it's a sensory overload of lanterns, street food, bánh mì carts, and the constant chorus of motorbike horns. Get wonderfully lost, duck into a courtyard café, and look up — the architecture tells centuries of stories. Friday and Saturday nights see the quarter pedestrianised and alive with performances.
★ Best explored on footTemple of Literature
Vietnam's first national university, founded in 1070, is a masterpiece of classical Vietnamese architecture set across five tranquil courtyards. Towering stone stele carry the names of graduates from dynasties past, and blossom-draped pavilions frame a lotus pond at its centre. Scholars still come here to pray before exams. Visit on a weekday morning to experience the calm beauty of one of Hanoi's most spiritually charged spaces without the crowds.
★ Must-see for history loversImperial Citadel
A UNESCO World Heritage Site that was the political heart of Vietnam for over a millennium. Layers of history — from the 11th-century Lý dynasty to the French colonial period and the Vietnamese-American War — are revealed through excavated ruins, royal artefacts, and underground bunkers where General Giáp once commanded his troops. The Dragon Monument gate and the iconic Flag Tower are especially powerful at golden hour when the stone glows amber.
★ UNESCO World Heritage SiteĐồng Xuân Market
Hanoi's largest covered market is a wonderfully chaotic celebration of Vietnamese commerce. The French-colonial-era iron building houses three cavernous floors of wholesale goods — silk, spices, dried seafood, ceramics, and mountains of street snacks. The surrounding lanes are where the real food magic happens: bowls of bún bò Nam Bộ, freshly fried bánh rán, and cups of the sweet, treacly trà đá (iced tea) handed over by vendors who have worked the same patch for decades.
★ Go hungryOne Pillar Pagoda
One of Vietnam's most iconic structures — a single wooden lotus-shaped chapel rising from the centre of a square pond on a solitary stone pillar. Emperor Lý Thái Tông built it in 1049 after dreaming that the Bodhisattva Quan Âm seated him on a lotus flower. Though the current structure is a 1955 reconstruction (the French destroyed the original before their retreat), it remains a profoundly beautiful emblem of Buddhist faith and Vietnamese identity.
★ Iconic photo stopHỏa Lò Prison
Originally built by French colonists in the 1890s to hold Vietnamese political prisoners, Hỏa Lò became darkly famous during the Vietnam War as the prison where US POWs — including Senator John McCain — were held. The museum presents both narratives with powerful artefacts: French guillotines, prisoner testimonies, and photographs that confront the brutal realities of colonialism and war. It's sombre and essential — one of the most thought-provoking hours you will spend in the city.
★ Deeply moving — allow 1–2 hoursWater Puppet Theatre
A 1,000-year-old art form born in the Red River Delta — puppets carved from fig wood perform scenes of village life, dragon battles, and legends of Hoan Kiem Lake on a waist-deep pool stage. The puppeteers stand waist-deep behind a bamboo screen, manipulating figures with submerged rods, accompanied by live traditional music. The Thăng Long Water Puppet Theatre near the lake is the city's finest venue. Book ahead — this is the one performance in Hanoi you cannot miss.
★ Book tickets in advanceWest Lake & Tây Hồ
Swap the Old Quarter's intensity for the languid, breezy shores of West Lake — 17 kilometres of cycling paths, boutique cafés, and the magnificent Trấn Quốc Pagoda, Hanoi's oldest Buddhist temple dating to 541 AD, sitting on a tiny peninsula in the water. The Tây Hồ neighbourhood around the lake is home to Hanoi's creative class: design studios, espresso bars, and rooftop restaurants where you can watch the sun set over the water in golden silence.
★ Best at sunset by bicycleA Phở Breakfast
No list of Hanoi's unmissables is complete without its most famous export. Hanoi phở is distinct from its southern cousin — a clear, deeply fragrant broth simmered for hours with charred ginger and star anise, poured over silken rice noodles and paper-thin slices of beef. Find a plastic stool at Phở Thìn on Đinh Tiên Hoàng or Phở Bát Đàn on Bát Đàn Street before 8am, when the broth is freshest. It costs next to nothing and tastes like the soul of the city.
★ Hanoi's greatest gift to the worldHanoi stays
with you forever
A thousand-year-old capital that refuses to slow down — ancient, electric, and utterly unforgettable. Come with an open stomach and an open mind.