45 Best Sights in Hanoi, Vietnam

Magnificent and (especially on one of the frequent foggy days) moody, Ba Vi offers a convenient natural refuge from the bustle of Hanoi. The national park is dominated by the triple-peaked Ba Vi Mountain, once a French hill station. The reserve around the mountain, meanwhile, boasts plentiful plant and birdlife and is ideal for hiking. The most popular walk in the area is the climb to the mountain's summit, which is a strenuous ascent up 1,320 steps through the trees. A temple dedicated to Ho Chi Minh sits at the mountain's summit. Due to its proximity to the capital, Ba Vi is one of Vietnam's most visited protected areas and numbers can be high on weekends and during holiday periods.

For some in-your-face Vietnamese chaos, venture into Hanoi's lively Old Quarter, home to cheap eats, authentic cuisine, and the bia hoi corner, where fresh beer is less than 50 cents a pint. The hub of this brew haven is at the intersection of Luong Ngoc Quyen and Ta Hien Streets, where you pull up a mini plastic chair and sit to watch Hanoi in action.

Silk paintings, folk art, sculptures, artifacts, and lacquer works are among the works of art at this museum neighboring the Temple of Literature. You can see traditional paintings depicting village scenes as well as socialist-inspired works following the Vietnam War. The full collection of Cham and Buddhist art is housed in two separate buildings with signage in Vietnamese and English. Consider prearranging a tour with Sophie's Art Tour ( www.sophiesarttour.com) to understand the stories behind the pieces.

Here you can find delicate paper replicas of material possessions made to be burned in tribute to one's ancestors. Expect traditional offerings, like paper money and gold (currency of the afterlife), but also modern objects, such as replica iPhones, laptops, air-conditioning units, and karaoke machines. Hang Ma is also where Hanoians go to buy decorations, so it routinely erupts in the colors of the approaching holiday: red and gold before Tet; orange and black before halloween; and red and green before Christmas.

One of colonial Hanoi's most iconic edifices, the Hanoi Opera House was built by the French in the first decade of the 20th century as an Indochinese twin to Paris's largest opera house. Today it hosts traditional and modern performances by Vietnamese and international musicians and dancers and is home to the Vietnamese National Opera and Ballet. Public tours are not offered—only ticket-holding guests can enjoy the ornate architecture inside. You'll find an English-language performance schedule here: www.ticketvn.com. Shows begin at 8 pm, and tickets generally start at around 200,000d.

Ho Chi Minh may have opposed the idea of being preserved and displayed in state after his death, but his wishes to be cremated were ignored for this Vietnamese interpretation of Lenin's mausoleum. The structure's choice of location on Ba Dinh Square was a natural one—it was here where Ho declared the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945. Visits to the mausoleum are expected to be quiet and respectful—skirts and shorts are forbidden, as is photography. Checking and claiming bags at the entrance can be slow, so pack lightly if possible. Lines can wind up to 2 km (a mile) long, so be prepared to wait. Hours are limited to 8 am–11 am, so arrive before 10 am to ensure entry.

Just beyond Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum is the modest wooden home where the revolutionary leader chose to live during his reign, from 1954 until his death in 1969. The lovely parklike setting offers a glimpse into the humble existence of this former ruler. Well-manicured gardens lead to a small pond where Ho Chi Minh used to clap his hands to beckon the fish for feeding time. A simple clap is enough to make these carp go wild in anticipation. Bordering the pond is the simple residence on stilts where Ho Chi Minh lived. Several rooms and his three classic cars are sectioned off for viewing. To get here, you must buy tickets next to the opulent Presidential Palace at the site's entrance. The palace can only be viewed from the exterior; it now operates as a government building. The bomb shelter to the right of Ho Chi Minh's home is also closed to the public.

Originally built by French colonizers to house Vietnamese political prisoners, Hoa Lo prison later held American prisoners of war and was called the "Hanoi Hilton," a name given in sarcasm because the conditions were actually quite miserable. In the 1990s more than half of the prison was demolished; the gatehouse was converted into a museum that highlights the cruelty of the occupying French but whitewashes prisoner treatment during the American War, as the Vietnam War is known locally. The prison is an important historical relic and the guidebook gives information that the placards in the museum do not.

This lake is linked to the legend of Emperor Le Loi, who is believed to have received a magical sword from the gods, which he in turn used to repel Chinese invaders. Afterward a giant turtle reclaimed the sword for the gods from Le Loi as he boated on Hoan Kiem Lake, which derives its name ("returned sword") from the story. The sword-lifting turtle is commemorated by the lake's distinctive Turtle Tower. Ngoc Son Temple on the island at the lake's north end is a tribute to Vietnam's defeat of Mongolian forces in the 13th century. The temple can be reached by way of a lovely red bridge. History aside, the park serves as an important part of daily life for locals in the Old Quarter and is a pleasant place for people-watching, especially at dawn, or taking a break from exploring the city. Bordering the water are park benches, small cafés, and a 30-minute walking trail that loops the lake.

This beautiful shaded avenue leads past sprawling French villas and Chinese mandarin mansions (many occupied by long-serving party members) as well as the gracious North Door Cathedral (Nha Tho Cua Bac), at the corner of Phan Dinh Phung and Nguyen Bieu Streets. The large wheel of stained glass at the cathedral is reminiscent of Renaissance-era artwork in Europe and is enchanting from the inside; try the large front doors or ask around for a caretaker to let you in. Another option is to come on Sunday at 10 am for an English-language service. On the right side of the street stand the tall ramparts of the citadel, the military compound that once protected the Imperial Palace of Thang Long. In a surprising move, army officials in 1999 opened to the public Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, which runs straight through this once secretive space.

The Temple of Literature, or Van Mieu, is a treasure trove of Vietnamese architecture and a monument to the importance of education and Confucianism to Vietnam's national identity. Loosely modeled on the temple at Confucius's hometown in China, the nearly 1,000-year-old compound features five manicured courtyards surrounded by the Lake of Literature. Highlights of the Temple of Literature include giant stone turtles, the Constellation of Literature pavilion (a symbol of modern Hanoi), and the Imperial Academy—Vietnam's first university—which was founded in 1076. It is tradition for students to touch the stone turtles for luck, so don't be surprised to find this place packed with graduates in traditional dress. Go with a tour guide since few signs are in English.

Hanoi's oldest pagoda dates from the 6th century, when King Ly Nam De had a pagoda, named Khai Quoc, built on the bank of the Red River. More than a thousand years later excessive erosion of the riverbank caused King Le Kinh Tong to move the pagoda to Goldfish Islet (Ca Vang) on West Lake and rename it Tran Quoc. This modest pagoda is noted for its stelae dating from 1639, which recount the history of the building and its move from the Red River. There are also lovely brick stupas adjacent to the main temple. Tran Quoc is an active monastery where resident monks in brown robes hold daily services. Architecturally distinct from other Hanoi pagodas, Tran Quoc maintains a visitor's hall in front and various statues, including a gilded wooden depiction of Shakyamuni Buddha. In the main courtyard is a giant pink-and-green planter holding a bodhi tree, purportedly a cutting from the original bodhi tree beneath which the Buddha reached his enlightenment. The bodhi was a gift from former Indian president Razendia Prasat, who visited the pagoda in 1959.

Showcasing the cultural heritage of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, this museum has an indoor exhibition with a large collection of photographs and artifacts, including clothing, jewelry, tools, weapons, instruments, and items related to religious beliefs and wedding and funeral ceremonies. Behind the main building is an outdoor exhibit space with winding pathways that lead to 18 replicas of life-size tombs, boats, and traditional Vietnamese homes, including the impressive Nha Rong Bana Communal House reachable by a log ladder with chiseled steps. A free water-puppet show is presented several times daily (check the times as soon as you arrive). This is one of Vietnam's very best museums, and it's especially worth visiting if you're going to or coming from the ethnically diverse northern mountains.

This stately prayer house once served the many ambassadors who called on the Le kings. A hall named Quan Su was built in the 15th century to receive these guests, mostly Buddhists, and a pagoda was built for them in which they could comfortably worship. The hall burned to the ground, but the pagoda was saved. The Ambassador's Pagoda escaped destruction a second time, as it was the only pagoda not burned or ransacked in the final chaotic days of the Le dynasty. This pagoda sees more action than most in town, as it serves as headquarters for the Vietnam Buddhist Association. Government elites often make official visits to the pagoda, and people commonly hold "send-off" ceremonies here for the souls of family members who have recently died. The pagoda is also in part dedicated to a monk who is said to have saved King Ly Than Tong from his deathbed, so many older women come here to pray for good health. Dozens of young monks reside on the south side of the complex and study in the classrooms directly behind the pagoda.

Dien Bien Phu Street comes to an end at the minimally landscaped Ba Dinh Square, in the center of which flutters Hanoi's largest Vietnamese flag. This is where half a million northern Vietnamese gathered to hear Uncle Ho's Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945, and where, after Ho's death in 1969 (also on September 2), another 100,000 Hanoians gathered to pay homage. On the west side of the square is the mausoleum itself, a cold and squat cubicle that's nonetheless arresting in its simplicity and grandeur.

Across the square from the mausoleum and slightly to the left is the Ba Dinh Meeting Hall, the four-story headquarters of the Communist Party and the site where the National Assembly convenes. Across the square and to the right, where Dien Bien Phu Street meets the square, stands the huge and graceful Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Directly opposite the mausoleum and at the end of short Bac Son Road is the monument to Vietnam's revolutionary martyrs. A palm- and willow-shaded mansion to the right of the monument is the family home of former minister of defense General Vo Nguyen Giap, who orchestrated the siege at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. General Giap passed away in 2013.

This 50-acre park behind the Presidential Palace was designed by French landscape engineers in 1890. After defeating the French in Hanoi in late 1954, the state rebuilt the gardens and opened the grounds and its extensive network of trails to the public. Athletes in search of exercise congregate here for pickup soccer games, badminton, tai chi, and jogging. Lovers looking for seclusion head to the sculpture garden on the east side of the park, or cross the bridge to an island in the middle of the tree-shaded, preternaturally green lake. Unfortunately, the park doesn't have a great reputation with tourists due to its caged birds and monkeys, but it is a spot to get away from the crowds.

The first fortified citadel in Vietnamese history (dating back to the 3rd century) and a onetime capital of the country, Co Loa is worth visiting for those with an interest in the nation's history. Only three of the original earthen ramparts are extant today. You can explore the site of the ancient imperial palace and nearby, under an old banyan tree, is the Ba Chua temple. A large and colorful festival on the sixth day of Tet, the lunar new year, celebrates King An Vuong Duong, now considered the guardian spirit of Co Loa. This is a popular destination for school groups, which can sometimes transform the normally serene temples into playgrounds reverberating with the laughter and chatting of hundreds of children.

Never one to downplay its influence, the Soviet Union assisted with the design and construction of this "workers' cultural palace," formerly known as the Vietnam Xo Cultural Palace. Inaugurated September 1, 1985, the rigid 120-room white colossus stretches from Yet Kieu Street to Tran Binh Trong Road. The palace actually consists of three structures: the performance building houses a 1,200-seat concert hall, and the study and technology buildings contain a library, conference hall, and observatory. At the various clubs hosted here, Hanoians gather to share ideas on everything from biochemistry and chess to billboard usage in the Old Quarter. The Vietnam Trade Union headquarters is just across the street, next to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication. The broad open space here known as May 1 Square is conducive to commemorating the past and present glories of the Communist Party, and you'll invariably see propaganda posters and waves of dangling street lights consisting of blinking yellow stars and red hammers and sickles. On the square's northeast corner is a beautiful Chinese-style meeting hall.

This 11th-century pagoda from the Ly dynasty houses Vietnam's two most famous mummies. In 1639 the Buddhist monks Vu Khac Minh and Vu Khac Truong locked themselves in a private room to meditate, instructing their disciples not to disturb them for 100 days. On the 100th day, their disciples entered the room to find both monks seated in a lotus position, perfectly preserved in death. The monks' bodies were covered in a thin but durable red lacquer. What makes these mummies unique is that they still have all their bones and organs.

Dau Pagoda contains several other noteworthy artifacts, including a giant bronze bell built in 1801, a bronze book detailing the pagoda's construction, several stone stelae dating to the 17th century, and six altars for the worship of 18 arhats (enlightened monks). The pagoda, which was partially destroyed by French forces in 1947, consists of five halls, an accessible (just barely) bell tower, and a small walking garden full of jackfruit and longan trees, birds of paradise, and a temple dedicated to local deities. Rice fields and ponds surround the pagoda, and you'll pass duck farmers and lotus vendors near the grove-shaded road that leads to the entrance.

The pagoda is less than an hour's ride south of Hanoi. Take a taxi or hire a private car to get here, and keep an eye peeled for a sign directing you to turn right off Highway 1 toward the pagoda.

Once conveniently accessible by riverboat, this market, the oldest and largest in the city, has seen trading with the whole of Southeast Asia. The huge structure was destroyed by a massive fire in 1994. The fire displaced 3,000 workers, caused millions of dollars in damage and losses, and took five human lives, not to mention the lives of thousands of endangered animals. The market reopened in December 1996 and today looks more like a concrete shopping mall, but continues to sell all manner of local and foreign goods. In truth, the standard of what's on offer is variable. Clothes and other miscellanea are of poor quality. Nevertheless, the atmosphere is buzzing and very much local, making this an authentic market experience.

Hang Bac means "Street of Silver," which explains why silversmiths, jewelry shops, and money changers have dominated this strip for centuries. The Dong Cac jewelers' guild was established here in 1428, and it later erected a temple (now gone) in tribute to three 6th-century brothers whose skills, learned from the Chinese, made them the patron saints of Vietnamese jewelry.

The Street of Hemp now sells a variety of goods, including ready-made silk, lovely embroidery, and silver products. With plenty of art galleries, crafts stores, and souvenirs, this is a popular spot for tourists. Many trendy boutiques also line Hang Trong, which runs perpendicular to Hang Gai.

Shops along the Street of Fans sell a stunning selection of religious paraphernalia, including beautiful funeral and festival flags, porcelain Buddhas, and lacquered Chinese poem boards. Giant plane trees shade the street, which is bookended by Berry Temple (Den Dau) and a traditional wooden house honoring Vietnamese soldiers (Nha Tuong Niem Liet Si). Shooting off the street is To Tich, an alley bursting with bright, lacquered water puppets, rattan and bamboo baskets, porcelain and ceramics. If you can pull your attention away from all the eye-grabbing street-level sights, above you'll discover the timeworn facades of several French colonial teahouses.

On the southern edge of the Old Quarter's Street of Rattan stands a Chinese-style house built at the end of the 19th century. A rich dark-wood facade fronts a sparsely decorated interior. Exquisitely carved chairs, bureaus, and tea tables decorate the second floor, where a balcony overlooks a courtyard festooned with Chinese lanterns. A Chinese family that sold traditional medicines on the ground floor originally occupied this house until they resettled in 1954 in southern Vietnam, along with many other Chinese living in the Old Quarter. It's hard to imagine that from 1954 until 1999, when a cooperative venture between the local government and a group of architects from Toulouse, France, turned the house into a museum, five families shared this small space.

With English commentary on the propagandistic and occasionally bizarre exhibits, this museum is a must-see on the Uncle Ho circuit. A collection of manifestos, military orders, correspondence, and photographs from the Communist Party's early days to the present are mixed with historical exhibits covering Vietnam's revolutionary history, the fight against fascism, Ho's revolutionary world movement, and Vietnam's struggle against imperialism.

The elaborate network of paths of the Ho Chi Minh Trail was used by North Vietnam to transport supplies to Vietcong strongholds in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum (Bao Tang Duong Mon Ho Chi Minh) provides color on the trail, one of the war's most riveting symbols of dedication and perseverance. Renovated in 2017, the museum is decidedly more modern. Displays are heavy on photojournalism from the period. There's also an extensive collection of captured American ordnance and military equipment as well as personal artifacts such as helmets, IDs, and uniforms. This museum lies some distance outside of Hanoi's Old Quarter and can be hard to find, so it's best if you hire a taxi or car and driver.

This small memorial between West Lake and Truc Bach Lake marks the capture of one of the Vietnam War's most famous American POWs. On October 26, 1967, Navy lieutenant commander John McCain's jet fighter was shot down, sending him parachuting into Truc Bach Lake. Suffering from badly broken bones and severe beatings, he was imprisoned in the "Hanoi Hilton" and other North Vietnamese prisons for more than five years. He went on to become an Arizona senator and a vocal advocate of reconciliation between the United States and his former captors, and was a presidential candidate in 2008. The underwhelming red-sandstone memorial features a bound and suspended prisoner with his head hanging low and the letters U.S.A.F. (the memorial is incorrectly labeled, as McCain belonged to the navy and not the air force).

While Hanoi is famous for its ancient architecture, there are modern high-rises joining the scene as well. If you are looking for a way to take in all of Hanoi at once, head to the Lotte Center’s 64th floor at sunset. There are two glass skydecks; one comes with an official photographer that will snap photos of you for a fee, but feel free to take your own. Entry to the rooftop cocktail bar is free, while the observation deck costs 230,000d.

Built in 1926 to house the French tax office, this cavernous museum opened its doors in 1959 and now has 29 halls, individual rooms that focus on specific events or periods in Vietnam's arduous road to independence. The focus naturally lands on the country's efforts against French colonialism, Japanese fascism, and American imperialism. The photographs from the 1945 August Revolution are particularly interesting. History buffs may do better here than at the National Museum of Vietnamese History just across the street: almost all of the exhibits here have English and French commentary, so a few hours of exploration can be a great learning experience.

Opened in 1932 by the French, this building has served in its present capacity since 1958, when it was turned it over to Hanoi authorities. The ground floor houses treasures from early history, particularly Vietnam's Bronze Age. Of special interest are the Ngoc Lu bronze drums, vestiges of this period some 3,000 years ago that have become enduring national Vietnamese symbols. Tools from the Paleolithic Age are on display, as are ceramics from the Ly and Tran dynasties. Painstakingly elaborate but somewhat corny dioramas depict various Vietnamese victories over hostile invaders. Upstairs, exhibits focus on more recent Vietnamese history. Standouts include 18th- to 20th-century bronze bells and khanh gongs (crescent-shape, decorative gongs); Nguyen-dynasty lacquered thrones, altars, and "parallel sentence" boards (Chinese calligraphy on lacquered wood carved into shapes of cucumbers, melons, and banana leaves); and an entire wing devoted to 7th- to 13th-century Champa stone carvings.

As you explore the museum, be sure to consult the English-language brochure you are given with the purchase of your entrance ticket, as the information it contains about the exhibits is nearly the only information on hand. Displays provide little explanatory text, even in Vietnamese, and English-language translation is lacking. It's possible to arrange English-speaking museum guides in advance.