Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the political and cultural centre of the country's north, a city of roughly 8.5 million people built around a chain of lakes on the Red River delta. Its compact core layers a thousand-year-old market quarter, a French colonial grid of villas and boulevards, and the ceremonial state architecture of Ba Dinh Square within a few kilometres of one another.
Top attractions
The most popular and significant attractions in Hanoi.
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1
Hoan Kiem Lake (Ho Hoan Kiem)
The lake is the geographic and social centre of Hanoi, a 12-hectare body of water whose name means Lake of the Returned Sword, after the legend in which Emperor Le Loi gave back a magic blade to a golden turtle. A 1.7-kilometre paved path circles it, passing the red-lacquered Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple and the Turtle Tower on its small island. Residents use it for exercise at dawn and for strolling at night, and on weekends the ring road becomes a pedestrian zone with street games and live music.
Tip: Arrive between 05:30 and 07:00 to watch exercise groups and avoid the heat · Weekend evenings are busiest; the road closure runs 19:00 Friday to 24:00 Sunday · Cross roads slowly and steadily; motorbikes will flow around a predictable pedestrian · Nha Tho street and the streets north of the lake have cafes with lake views for a rest stop · Beware of unsolicited sellers offering to shine shoes or sell items and then demand payment; a firm no thank you is enough
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2
Ngoc Son Temple (Den Ngoc Son)
Reached across the scarlet Huc Bridge, this 19th-century temple honours the 13th-century general Tran Hung Dao, the scholar-deity Van Xuong and the healer La To. Its rear hall displays a preserved specimen of one of the giant Hoan Kiem softshell turtles that lived in the lake, the last of which died in 2016 and was central to the sword legend. The complex is small, so the appeal is as much the island setting and the bridge as the shrine buildings themselves.
Tip: Arrive at opening at 08:00 to avoid tour groups in the narrow halls · Cover shoulders and knees; the shrine is an active place of worship · Tickets cost 50,000 VND; children under 1.2 m enter free · Pair the visit with a lake loop and the water puppet theatre next door · The bridge is best photographed from the shore rather than from the crowded bridge itself
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3
Hanoi Old Quarter (36 Streets)
The Old Quarter grew up around the Thang Long citadel as a craft and trading settlement, and its streets still carry the names of the guilds that occupied them, with Hang Bac for silversmiths, Hang Ma for votive paper and Hang Thiec for tinsmiths. The tube houses are narrow at the front and deep behind, a response to frontage-based taxation, and many still combine a shopfront with family living space. Traffic is dense and constant, and the district doubles as Hanoi's main concentration of street food, budget hotels and backpacker bars around Ta Hien.
Tip: Go in the morning for working markets and cooler air · Cross streets slowly and steadily; do not stop or run · Keep phones and bags away from the road side to deter snatch theft · Agree the price before boarding a cyclo or taxi, or use a ride-hailing app · Carry small notes for street food, which often starts at 30,000 VND · Weekend night market runs 18:00-23:00 and is very crowded
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4
Temple of Literature (Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam)
Founded in 1070 as a temple to Confucius and expanded in 1076 into Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam's first national university, this walled complex of five successive courtyards trained mandarins for more than seven centuries. Its best-known feature is the set of 82 stone stelae mounted on tortoise backs, each inscribed with the names of doctoral graduates from examinations held between 1442 and 1779; UNESCO added them to the Memory of the World register in 2010. The rear courtyards hold the Confucian sanctuary and a reconstructed Thai Hoc hall honouring the scholars and emperors associated with the academy.
Tip: Arrive at opening to avoid school and tour groups · Tickets are 70,000 VND for adults and 35,000 VND for students; under 16 free · Do not touch the stelae, which are fragile; touching the tortoise heads is a local custom, but ask staff first · Dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered · Allow one to two hours and add the nearby Fine Arts Museum if time allows
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5
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body lies in a granite mausoleum completed in 1975, modelled loosely on Lenin's tomb in Moscow but faced with stone brought from across Vietnam. Visitors file past the glass sarcophagus in a single silent line with no stopping, a visit that takes two or three minutes once inside. Photography, bags, phones and cameras are prohibited and must be left at the deposit counter on Ngoc Ha street, shorts and sleeveless tops are refused, and military guards enforce both rules strictly.
Tip: Arrive by 07:15 to be near the front of the queue · Leave bags, phones and cameras at the deposit counter on Ngoc Ha Street · Wear long trousers or a skirt and covered shoulders; shorts and sleeveless tops are refused · Remain silent and keep hands out of pockets in the hall · Check for the autumn maintenance closure before planning · It is closed on Monday and Friday
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6
Ho Chi Minh Museum
Opened in 1990 for the centenary of Ho Chi Minh's birth, the museum occupies a white lotus-shaped modernist building designed with Soviet assistance. The upper galleries move chronologically through his years in France, the Soviet Union and China, his return to Vietnam and the founding of the Democratic Republic, using documents, photographs and personal effects. Several rooms are given over to surrealist symbolic installations rather than conventional display, which makes an English-speaking guide or the printed panels worth the extra time.
Tip: Visit straight after the mausoleum when queues have cleared · Adults pay 40,000 VND, students 20,000 VND · Check hours; it is closed on Mondays and Friday afternoons · Consider an English-speaking guide for the symbolic installations · Dress modestly, as elsewhere in the complex
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7
Presidential Palace Grounds and Ho Chi Minh's Stilt House
The mustard-yellow Presidential Palace was built between 1900 and 1906 as the residence of the French Governor-General of Indochina, and Ho Chi Minh declined to live in it after 1954. He occupied first an electrician's cottage in the grounds and then, from 1958, a two-room teak stilt house beside a carp pond, which remains furnished as he left it with a desk, a field telephone and a bookcase. The palace interior is not open, but the gardens, garage of his official cars and the stilt house are all included in the ticket.
Tip: Combine with the mausoleum and museum in one morning · Adults pay 40,000 VND; children under 16 enter free · The palace interior is closed; the stilt house is viewed from the walkway · Spring is the best season for the mango avenue · Note the lunch closure between 11:00 and 13:30
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8
One Pillar Pagoda (Chua Mot Cot)
Emperor Ly Thai Tong founded this pagoda in 1049 after a dream in which the bodhisattva Quan Am handed him a son while seated on a lotus, and the shrine was built to resemble a lotus rising from the water on a single stone pillar. French forces destroyed the structure as they withdrew in 1954 and it was rebuilt the following year to the original design, now on a concrete pillar. The wooden shrine above is small enough that the visit is brief, but it is among the most reproduced images of Vietnam.
Tip: Visit early morning for quiet and soft light · Entry is free and hours are 07:00-18:00 · Shoot from the low wall on the southern side of the pond · Dress modestly and keep voices down · Lotus blooms are best in summer
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9
Hoa Lo Prison Museum (Maison Centrale)
The French colonial authorities built this prison in 1896 to hold Vietnamese political prisoners, and the surviving south-east corner preserves the shackle rooms, the death-row cells and the guillotine used until the 1950s. A later section covers the period from 1964 to 1973 when captured American pilots, including John McCain and Douglas Peterson, were held here and sardonically named it the Hanoi Hilton; the display presents that era from the Vietnamese state's perspective. Most of the original site was demolished in the 1990s for the Hanoi Towers office block that now stands behind it.
Tip: Arrive at opening or after 15:00 to avoid tour groups · Adults pay 50,000 VND; students and over-60s get half price · An audio guide costs 50,000 VND · Book Sacred Night evening tours ahead · Treat the Vietnam War section as the official Vietnamese account
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10
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
Inscribed by UNESCO in 2010, the citadel occupies the political centre of Vietnam from the 11th century Ly dynasty onward, and excavations at 18 Hoang Dieu have exposed foundations, wells and ceramics spanning thirteen centuries. Above ground, the surviving elements include the Doan Mon south gate, the Kinh Thien palace steps with their carved dragon balustrades, and the Hanoi Flag Tower of 1812. The site also holds Bunker D67, the concrete command post from which the North Vietnamese high command directed the war between 1968 and 1975, preserved with its maps and telephones.
Tip: Go in the morning; there is little shade · Bring water, a hat and sun protection · Adults pay 100,000 VND; students and over-60s 50,000 VND · Consider a guide or audio guide to interpret the excavated layers · It is closed on Mondays · Pair with the mausoleum area, a 10-minute walk away
Attractions by category
Explore by your interests.
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Practical information
What you need to know before you go.
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- Admission is almost always paid in cash at the gate; carry small notes, as 500,000 VND (~$19.23) bills are often hard to change, Student discounts of roughly 50% apply at most museums on presentation of a valid student card, and children under 16 are free at the Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison and the Imperial Citadel, English signage is good at the Museum of Ethnology, Hoa Lo Prison and the Imperial Citadel, and patchy elsewhere; audio guides cost about 50,000-100,000 VND (~$1.92-3.85) where offered, The Hoan Kiem Lake area closes to traffic from 19:00 Friday to 24:00 Sunday, which is the easiest time to walk between the lake, the Old Quarter and the cathedral, Photography is permitted at most sites but banned inside the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where bags, cameras and phones must be left at the deposit counter
Tips for visiting attractions
Make the most of your sightseeing time.
Visit popular attractions early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid crowds and harsh midday light.
Book tickets online in advance for major attractions to skip long queues and sometimes save money.
Many cities offer multi-attraction passes that include public transport. Calculate whether they save you money based on your itinerary.
Frequently asked questions
How many days are needed to see Hanoi's main attractions?
Three days cover the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake, the Temple of Literature, the Ho Chi Minh complex, Hoa Lo Prison and the Imperial Citadel at a comfortable pace. A fourth and fifth day allow the Museum of Ethnology, West Lake, Bat Trang and a day trip to Ninh Binh or Ha Long Bay.
Is there a combined sightseeing pass for Hanoi?
No single city pass covers Hanoi's museums. Individual admissions are low enough that a full day of sightseeing rarely exceeds 200,000 VND (~$7.69) in entrance fees, so tickets are bought site by site.
Can the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum be visited year-round?
No. Beyond its Monday and Friday closures, the mausoleum shuts for around two months of embalming maintenance most years, typically from early September to the start of November. The surrounding Ba Dinh Square, Presidential Palace grounds, stilt house and One Pillar Pagoda stay open during that period.