14 of the best · Hanoi, Vietnam
The Imperial Citadel and the Temple of Literature, Hoàn Kiếm Lake and the Ngọc Sơn Temple, the cathedral, the Opera House façade, Long Biên Bridge and the pagodas of West Lake.
Our 14 favourites, listed A–Z · Updated October 2026
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Three Hanoi moments we keep going back to: the Temple of Literature at eight in the morning, a bowl of phở on Bát Đàn, and a drink in the Metropole’s Bamboo Bar at dusk.
UNESCO, 2010
Thirteen centuries of the city’s seat of power: the Đoan Môn gate, the dragon steps of the Kính Thiên palace and the excavated layers on Hoàng Diệu.
19C Hoàng Diệu, Ba Đình, HanoiExplore View on map
Hanoi’s first university
Five courtyards of lawns, ponds and gateways, the Khuê Văn Các pavilion and the stone stelae of the doctors, carried on the backs of tortoises.
58 Quốc Tử Giám, Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám Ward, HanoiExplore View on map
The heart of Hanoi
The lake at the centre of the city, the red Thê Húc bridge to the Ngọc Sơn Temple on its island, and the Turtle Tower in the water.
The citadel, the Temple of Literature and the lakes: a thousand years of Thăng Long.
The back story
The Imperial Citadel, the Temple of Literature, the red bridge to the Ngọc Sơn Temple, the One Pillar Pagoda and Trấn Quốc on West Lake: how to read the city that was once called Thăng Long.
A thousand years of Thăng Long.
Official visiting hours only
The great square of Ba Đình and the Mausoleum complex beside it, a historic site with strict visiting rules.
UNESCO, 2010
Thirteen centuries of the city’s seat of power: the Đoan Môn gate, the dragon steps of the Kính Thiên palace and the excavated layers on Hoàng Diệu.
19C Hoàng Diệu, Ba Đình, HanoiExplore View on map
A lotus on a pillar
A small wooden pagoda raised on a single stone pillar in a lotus pond, near Ba Đình Square.
Hanoi’s first university
Five courtyards of lawns, ponds and gateways, the Khuê Văn Các pavilion and the stone stelae of the doctors, carried on the backs of tortoises.
58 Quốc Tử Giám, Văn Miếu – Quốc Tử Giám Ward, HanoiExplore View on map
The heart of the city.
A historic prison
The surviving gatehouse and cells of the prison built in the French colonial period, now a museum.
1 Hỏa Lò, Cửa Nam Ward, HanoiExplore View on map
The heart of Hanoi
The lake at the centre of the city, the red Thê Húc bridge to the Ngọc Sơn Temple on its island, and the Turtle Tower in the water.
Steel over the Red River
The long iron bridge of the French period across the Red River, still crossed by trains, motorbikes and people on foot.
Neo-Gothic towers
Twin grey neo-Gothic towers over a small square, with cafés all round.
Closed for restoration
The cream-and-white opera house at the end of Tràng Tiền, closed for a long restoration since January 2026: admire it from the square.
1 Tràng Tiền, Cửa Nam Ward, HanoiExplore View on map
Temples and the market.
The great covered market
The big covered market at the north end of the Old Quarter: fabric, household goods and food stalls.
Guardian of the north
A Taoist temple by Trúc Bạch Lake, one of the four temples that guarded the old city.
The pagoda on the water.
On West Lake
A tall brick-red stupa on a spit of land in West Lake, beside the Thanh Niên causeway.
