Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in Hanoi, on its island in West Lake

Tran Quoc Pagoda is the oldest pagoda in Hanoi, and it stands on a scrap of island in West Lake joined to the road by a short causeway. The red stupa is the most photographed shape in the city after the Huc bridge. Inside, it is still a place where people come to pray.

How old is Tran Quoc Pagoda?

Tran Quoc Pagoda has a history of about 1,500 years, which makes it the oldest pagoda in Hanoi. It was founded in the sixth century on the bank of the Red River. When the bank began washing away, the pagoda was moved to its present island in West Lake in the early seventeenth century.

Nothing standing today dates from the sixth century. The halls have been rebuilt many times, and the stupa is modern. What the age means is the continuity of the site, which is how Vietnamese visitors think about it.

What is inside the pagoda grounds?

The pagoda grounds hold three things worth a slow look. The first is the stupa: eleven storeys of red brick, built in 1998, with a small white Buddha statue set into each arched niche on every level. It stands about fifteen metres tall and carries a lotus of stone at the top.

The second is the main hall behind it, dark, lacquered and gilded, with a large reclining Buddha among the statues. The third is a bodhi tree in the courtyard, grown from a cutting of the tree at Bodh Gaya. The Indian president gave it to Hanoi on a state visit in 1959.

The whole site takes half an hour. The pagodas guide explains what the halls, altars and statues are for.

What should you wear to Tran Quoc?

Wear clothes that cover shoulders and knees. Attendants at the gate turn away visitors in shorts, short skirts and sleeveless tops, and a wrap is sometimes lent at the entrance but should not be counted on. Take hats off inside the halls, and keep voices low.

Photography is fine in the courtyard and around the stupa. Inside the halls, avoid pointing a camera at people who are praying. The etiquette guide covers the rest of what a pagoda expects.

When is the best time to visit Tran Quoc?

The best time to visit Tran Quoc is late afternoon on an ordinary weekday. The light over West Lake turns gold in the last hour before sunset, and the tour groups that fill the causeway in the morning have gone.

The first and fifteenth days of each lunar month are different. Worshippers arrive in large numbers with offerings and incense, the courtyard fills with smoke, and the pagoda is at its most alive. Go on one of those days to see a working pagoda, and on another day to photograph an empty one.

How do you get to Tran Quoc Pagoda?

Tran Quoc Pagoda sits on Thanh Nien road, the causeway between West Lake and the smaller Truc Bach lake. It is about three kilometres north of Hoan Kiem, ten to fifteen minutes by Grab from the Old Quarter or about forty minutes on foot.

The walk along Thanh Nien is pleasant in the evening, with the big lake on one side and the small one on the other. A small monument near the causeway marks where the American pilot John McCain came down in Truc Bach lake in 1967.

What else is on West Lake?

West Lake is where Hanoi goes for space, and an evening there works best after the pagoda. The road around the shore is about fifteen kilometres, lined with cafes, seafood restaurants and hotels, and it is a popular loop by bicycle.

Truc Bach, across the causeway, is quieter and is known for pho cuon, the rolled rice noodle sheets served on the streets of the little island neighbourhood of Ngu Xa. The Hanoi things to do page puts the pagoda and the lake road together as one evening, and the where to stay guide covers sleeping by the lake.