Things to do in Hanoi, by neighbourhood
On this page
- What should you do around Hoan Kiem and the Old Quarter?
- How much of this is walkable?
- What is in Ba Dinh, and when can you actually get in?
- What is worth your time in the French Quarter?
- Is West Lake worth going out for?
- Why is every building so narrow?
- What is worth getting up at five for?
- Which of these work in the rain?
- How should you split this across days?
- FAQ
Most lists of things to do in Hanoi are the same fourteen entries in a different order. This one is grouped by where things are, so a day does not become three taxi rides.
The city is walkable in a way that surprises people. Almost everything below sits within about two kilometres of Hoan Kiem lake, and the exception says so.
What should you do around Hoan Kiem and the Old Quarter?
Seven of the fourteen sit here, and they fill a day and a half on foot. Hoan Kiem lake is the centre of the map, and the Old Quarter's thirty-six trade-named lanes run north from it. This is the part of Hanoi you can wander without a plan and still land on things.
1. Walk the lake and cross to Ngoc Son Temple. The red Huc Bridge leads to a small temple on an island, and the loop around the water takes about half an hour at a stroll. Best early, when the lake belongs to people exercising rather than to visitors — the Hoan Kiem page covers the temple ticket and the weekend closure.
2. Time it for the weekend pedestrian zone. From 7pm on Friday until midnight on Sunday the streets around the lake close to traffic. Hanoi without engines is a different city. This is also the easiest thing here to plan around: pick your weekend evening and be at the lake for it.
3. Get lost in the thirty-six streets. The lanes are named for what they sold — Hang Bac for silver, Hang Ma for paper goods — and many still cluster by trade. An hour of aimless walking here is worth more than any specific address in it, and the Old Quarter page names the streets worth finding.
4. Dong Xuan Market. The Old Quarter's largest covered market, at the northern end. Go for the scale and the wholesale chaos rather than to buy anything; the souvenir floor is the least interesting part of the building.
5. The water puppet theatre. Thang Long's shows run about an hour and are performed in a pool with a live orchestra. The one indoor thing in the Old Quarter worth booking ahead, and the water puppets guide covers where the art came from and which theatre to pick.
6. Train Street, if it is open to you. A narrow lane where a working railway passes within arm's reach of the houses. Hanoi banned organised group tours in March 2025. Access now runs through the licensed cafes on the lane: you sit as a customer, and the train comes past your table. Rules here have changed repeatedly, and the train street page covers what they are now.
7. St Joseph's Cathedral. A neo-gothic front on a small square at the Old Quarter's southern edge, best in the late afternoon when the cafes opposite fill up.
How much of this is walkable?
Most of it. The Old Quarter's 36 streets sit inside about 1 square kilometre, and the path around Hoan Kiem lake is roughly 1.7 km.
The two exceptions are the Ba Dinh mausoleum quarter and the Museum of Ethnology, which need a car. Budget about an hour on foot from the Old Quarter to Ba Dinh, or 15 minutes and very little money in a Grab.
What is in Ba Dinh, and when can you actually get in?
Four things, in a district that keeps office hours. Ba Dinh is the ceremonial quarter west of the Old Quarter, about a twenty-minute walk or a short Grab ride away. It is the one part of the city where opening times decide your itinerary rather than your energy.
8. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ba Dinh Square. Open mornings only, and closed on Mondays and Fridays. Dress modestly and expect a queue that moves steadily.
9. The Presidential Palace grounds, the stilt house and the One Pillar Pagoda. All three sit within the same walk behind the mausoleum, which is why they belong to one visit rather than three.
10. The Temple of Literature. Founded in 1070 to honour Confucius, with Vietnam's first university added behind it in 1076. Five walled courtyards in sequence, each quieter than the last, and the most photographed gate in the city.
11. The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. Inscribed by UNESCO in July 2010 for thirteen centuries of continuous use as a seat of power. Less immediately picturesque than the Temple of Literature and considerably more interesting if you read the panels.
What is worth your time in the French Quarter?
Two, and they suit an afternoon rather than a morning. The French Quarter lies south and east of the lake, with wide pavements and a slower tempo than the Old Quarter's lanes.
12. Hoa Lo Prison. The colonial prison later known to American pilots as the Hanoi Hilton, now a museum covering both. Indoor, well presented, and the most sobering hour in the city. The Fine Arts Museum a few streets from Ba Dinh holds the other documentary record of the same decades, in painted posters.
13. The Opera House. A 1911 building modelled on the Paris opera. The interior opens only for performances, so most visitors see the facade — genuinely the point of it — and the cafes around the square. What else from that period survives, in this quarter and elsewhere, is in the colonial architecture guide.
Is West Lake worth going out for?
Yes, for an evening rather than a detour. West Lake sits about four kilometres north of Hoan Kiem, which makes it the one entry here you do not walk to.
14. Tran Quoc Pagoda and the lake road. Hanoi's oldest pagoda stands on a causeway on the eastern shore. The road around the water is where the city goes to eat when it wants space. Come late in the day and stay for dinner rather than making a morning trip of it.
Why is every building so narrow?
Because frontage was what got taxed and allocated, and the shape stuck. The Old Quarter is the best place in the country to look at tube houses, some under two metres wide, and one at 87 Ma May is preserved and open.
What is worth getting up at five for?
The lake. Hoan Kiem fills with exercise groups, badminton and da cau from about half past five, and the full circuit is busy before the traffic starts — the Vietnamese morning explains what you are looking at and where the southern equivalent is.
Which of these work in the rain?
Four are fine, four are ruined, and the rest are merely damp. Hanoi takes its rain between May and October, and an afternoon downpour is common enough to plan around rather than hope past.
| Entry | Area | In the rain |
|---|---|---|
| Water puppet theatre | Old Quarter | Fine — indoors, an hour |
| Hoa Lo Prison | French Quarter | Fine — indoors |
| Dong Xuan Market | Old Quarter | Fine — covered |
| Temple of Literature | Ba Dinh | Fine — courtyards have covered walkways |
| Imperial Citadel | Ba Dinh | Damp — mostly outdoors, still readable |
| The thirty-six streets | Old Quarter | Damp — awnings help, pavements do not |
| Hoan Kiem lake walk | Old Quarter | Skip — the whole point is the loop |
| Train Street | Old Quarter | Skip — you are sitting outside by a rail |
| Ba Dinh Square | Ba Dinh | Skip — open ground, no shelter |
| West Lake evening | Tay Ho | Skip — it is a view and a walk |
The pattern holds for planning: keep the indoor four in reserve rather than spending them on a clear morning. Our guide on when to visit Vietnam covers which months make that reserve necessary.
How should you split this across days?
Two days if you have them, three if the trip allows. Day one is Hoan Kiem, the lanes and the market, ending at the water puppets or Train Street. Day two is Ba Dinh in the morning, when the mausoleum is open, and the French Quarter in the afternoon.
A third day is where West Lake goes, along with whichever of the indoor four the weather has not already forced you into. On a ten-day route through the country, Hanoi gets two of those days and the third belongs to Ha Long.
None of this needs booking except the water puppets. Everything else absorbs however much of a morning you give it.
FAQ
How many days do you need in Hanoi?
Two full days covers the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem and Ba Dinh at a walking pace. A third day buys West Lake or a museum morning without rushing anything, and is the day most people wish they had kept.
What is the best area to base yourself in Hanoi?
The Old Quarter or the streets immediately south of Hoan Kiem lake. Almost everything in this guide except West Lake is then within a 30-minute walk, which matters more in Hanoi than in most cities because short taxi hops through the old lanes are slower than walking.
Is Hanoi Train Street still open?
Yes, with restrictions. Hanoi banned organised group tours from the lane in March 2025, and access now runs through the licensed cafes along it — you are a customer of a cafe rather than a visitor to a street. The rules have changed several times, so check before building an evening around it.
When is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum open?
Mornings only, and it closes on Mondays and Fridays. Ba Dinh is the one part of Hanoi where turning up on the wrong day costs you the visit rather than the queue, so put it first in the week rather than last.
What is there to do in Hanoi when it rains?
The water puppet theatre, Hoa Lo Prison, the [Temple of Literature](/things-to-do/temple-of-literature/) and the museums. The lake walk, the market lanes and Train Street are the four that turn miserable, and all four are better moved to a dry afternoon than endured.