Hanoi is the harder of Vietnam's two big cities and the one most visitors end up preferring. It is older, denser, cooler in winter, and organised around a lake and a tangle of trading streets that have been doing the same jobs for centuries. Three days is enough to stop feeling lost.
How the city is laid out
Hoan Kiem Lake is the centre of gravity and the thing to orient yourself by. North of it is the Old Quarter, a dense grid of narrow streets historically organised by trade — one street for tin, one for silk, one for votive paper — and still partly organised that way. South and east is the French Quarter, with wider boulevards, the Opera House and the grander hotels.
West of that sits Ba Dinh, the political district, where the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex and the embassies are. Further northwest, around West Lake, is Tay Ho, a leafier expat-and-cafe neighbourhood that is genuinely pleasant and genuinely far from everything else.
The first thing to understand
Distances look walkable on a map and are, but the pavements are frequently parked solid with motorbikes, so pedestrians walk in the road. That is ordinary here rather than reckless, and traffic generally flows around people who move predictably — though it is a technique for improving your odds, not a guarantee. Give yourself a day to acquire the rhythm.
Three days, loosely
Day one: walk. Hoan Kiem at six in the morning, when the lakeside fills with exercise classes and badminton, is a different city from Hoan Kiem at noon. Then the Old Quarter on foot with no particular destination. Egg coffee somewhere with a balcony.
Day two: the Ho Chi Minh complex in the morning, because the mausoleum keeps short hours and closes for a period each year — check the current schedule before going, as the rest of the complex does not always follow it. Then the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, founded in 1070 and the calmest half-hour in the city.
Day three: one museum and one escape. The Vietnamese Women's Museum is the best-curated in the city. Hoa Lo Prison, the so-called Hanoi Hilton, presents its American POW period from the Vietnamese side, and going in knowing that is part of why it is worth seeing.
Eating
Hanoi's food is its real argument. Pho here is the plainer northern original — clear broth, no basil plate, no hoisin — and it is a breakfast dish eaten at shops that sell nothing else. Bun cha, grilled pork in a bowl of dressed broth with cold noodles, is the lunchtime dish and the one Hanoi is proudest of.
Beyond those: cha ca, turmeric-and-dill fish cooked at your table; banh cuon, steamed rice rolls; and egg coffee, a Hanoi invention that is far better than it sounds. Eat where there is a queue of locals and high turnover.
Practicalities
Grab is the default for any distance, and a GrabBike through traffic is both the fastest way across the city and the most memorable. The metro exists but serves commuter corridors rather than the sights. Carry cash: street food, markets and small cafes are cash-only.
