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CITY GUIDE / 21 discovery ideas
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Hanoi.
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Search this city by topic →Old Quarter 36 Streets Wander
Lose yourself in the Old Quarter's 36 guild streets — silk on Hang Gai, tin on Hang Thiec, altars on Hang Ma — under tangled power lines and tube houses — and photograph it.
Train Street Coffee
Sip a robusta coffee centimetres from the rails on Hanoi's Train Street as laundry flutters overhead and cafe owners wave you back before the train squeezes through — and photograph it.
Egg Coffee at Its Birthplace
Climb the narrow alley staircase to Cafe Giang and stir the 1946 original ca phe trung — whipped egg yolk cream floating on dark robusta — and photograph it.
Ngoc Son Temple and the Red Bridge
Cross the scarlet Thê Húc Bridge arching over Hoan Kiem Lake to Ngoc Son Temple and find the preserved giant turtle inside — and photograph it.
Temple of Literature Courtyards
Walk the five courtyards of Vietnam's first university, founded in 1070, past stone stelae riding giant turtles and students in ao dai posing for graduation — and photograph it.
Bun Cha Charcoal Alley Lunch
Follow the charcoal smoke into a lunchtime alley for bun cha — grilled pork patties in fish-sauce broth with herbs and cold noodles, Hanoi's midday ritual — and photograph it.
Thang Long Water Puppets
Watch lacquered dragons and rice farmers dance on water at the Thang Long theatre, a thousand-year-old Red River Delta art with live dan bau music — and photograph it.
Ba Dinh Square and the Mausoleum
Stand on Ba Dinh Square where independence was declared in 1945, watch the white-uniformed guard march before Ho Chi Minh's granite mausoleum — and photograph it.
Tran Quoc Pagoda on West Lake
Walk the causeway to Hanoi's oldest pagoda, 1,500 years old, and watch its red eleven-story stupa mirror itself in West Lake at golden hour — and photograph it.
Weekend Walking Streets Night Market
Join the Friday-to-Sunday crowds when the lakeside streets go car-free — skipping-rope circles, folk singers and the night market stretching to Dong Xuan — and photograph it.
Hoan Kiem Lake at Dawn
Walk to Ngoc Son Temple on its red bridge over Hoan Kiem Lake and photograph it.
St Joseph Cathedral and Lemon Tea Corner
Face the soot-gray neo-Gothic towers of St Joseph's Cathedral from a plastic stool on the square, iced lemon tea in hand like the local teens — and photograph it.
Long Bien Bridge Walk
Walk the rusted 1902 Long Bien Bridge — built by Eiffel's company, bombed and rebuilt — over the Red River's banana groves as mopeds rattle past — and photograph it.
West Lake Sunset Loop
Rent a bike or scooter and ride the 17 km shore of West Lake past lotus ponds and lakeside cafes as the sky turns tangerine over the water — and photograph it.
Hoa Lo Prison Museum
Step through the gate of Hoa Lo — the colonial "Hanoi Hilton" — past the preserved cells and the guillotine room that tell a century of hard history — and photograph it.
One Pillar Pagoda
Find the tiny 1049 pagoda balanced on a single stone pillar above a lotus pond, built to resemble a lotus blossom rising from the water — and photograph it.
Dong Xuan Market Depths
Dive into Dong Xuan, Hanoi's century-old covered market, from fabric mountains upstairs to the sizzling snail-noodle stalls in the wet market behind — and photograph it.
Bat Trang Pottery Wheel
Ride out to Bat Trang, the 700-year-old ceramic village on the Red River, throw your own bowl on a spinning wheel and carry the muddy result home — and photograph it.
Hanoi Opera House Facade
Stand before the 1911 Hanoi Opera House at blue hour, a petit Palais Garnier glowing gold above the traffic swirl of August Revolution Square — and photograph it.
Ceramic Mosaic Road
Walk a stretch of the 4 km ceramic mosaic mural along the Red River dyke — a Guinness-record ribbon of dragons, lotuses and village scenes in tile — and photograph it.
Quang Ba Dawn Flower Market
Arrive at Quang Ba before sunrise when motorbikes vanish under mountains of roses and lotus buds at Hanoi's wholesale night flower market — and photograph it.
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