- Pho Bat Dan or Pho Thin (Lo Duc) for the definitive Hanoi pho.
- Bun Cha Huong Lien (where Obama and Bourdain ate) or Bun Cha Dac Kim on Hang Quat.
- Ca phe trung at Cafe Giang (invented 1946) or Cafe Dinh.
- Cha ca La Vong: turmeric fish with dill, cooked at the table.
Hanoi City Guide
The main gate of the Temple of Literature, Hanoi. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Hanoi is Vietnam's thousand-year-old capital: a city of lakes, French colonial boulevards and the organised chaos of the Old Quarter, where each street still carries the name of the guild that worked it. It is calmer than Saigon, older than everything around it, and the country's undisputed food capital.
The essentials: the Old Quarter's 36 streets, the Temple of Literature, Hoan Kiem Lake at dawn, and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex. Eat constantly: pho, bun cha, egg coffee and the street-grill smoke of the evening bia hoi corners.
What to do in Hanoi
The old city
- 1
Old Quarter The 36 guild streets: Hang Bac, Hang Ma, Ta Hien beer corner. - 2
Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple The lake at the city's heart; the red Huc Bridge to the island temple. - 3
Temple of Literature Van Mieu, Vietnam's first university (1070): five courtyards of stelae. - 4
Train Street The narrow lane where trains pass inches from the cafes, twice a day.
History and culture
- 1
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum The granite mausoleum and the stilt house behind the Presidential Palace. - 2
Hoa Lo Prison The 'Hanoi Hilton': French colonial prison turned museum. - 3
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology The country's 54 ethnic groups, indoors and in a garden of stilt houses. - 4
Thang Long Imperial Citadel UNESCO-listed citadel: the D67 wartime bunker and archaeological digs. - 5
Water Puppet Theatre The thousand-year-old art of mua roi nuoc, at the Thang Long Theatre.
Hanoi Hotel Guide
How to choose the best places to stay in Hanoi. Verified properties below; for the full list, search live availability on Booking.com.
Luxury
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
The 1901 grand hotel: colonial suites, the Metropole Wing and wartime history.
View on Booking.com
Luxury
Hilton Hanoi Opera
Five-star across from the Opera House, at the edge of the Old Quarter.
View on Booking.com
Mid-range
La Siesta Classic Ma May
The Old Quarter boutique with the famous rooftop and spa.
View on Booking.com
Budget-friendly
Little Charm Hanoi Hostel
The well-run Old Quarter hostel, dorms and private rooms.
View on Booking.comWhere to eat
Getting there and around
Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) is 45 minutes from the Old Quarter by taxi or the public bus 86. Hanoi Station anchors the north-south railway; sleeper trains run to Lao Cai (for Sapa) and Ha Long. My Dinh and Giap Bat are the long-distance bus terminals.
Eating in Hanoi
Fledge Food has a full guide to how Hanoi eats: its defining dishes and how to order them, street food decoded, the markets, and the neighborhoods to eat in.