Hanoi

Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum

The city down south may have his name, but only Hanoi has the man himself, entombed in distinctly Lenin-esque fashion. Against his wishes, but that's how it goes. No talking, revealing clothing (shorts should be knee length and no exposed shoulders), or other signs of disrespect allowed while viewing; photos are allowed only from outside, in the grand Ba Dinh Square. Purses are allowed into the tomb, but expect them to be searched by several bored soldiers along the way. Left luggage is handled in a complicated scheme: there is an office near the street for large bags, with separate windows for Vietnamese and foreigners, and a further office for cameras, which will be transported to a third office right outside the exit of the mausoleum. Items checked in at the first office, however, will stay there. The mausoleum is closed for a couple months around the end of the year, when the body is taken abroad for maintenance. It is closed in the afternoons for maintenance.

Tue-Thu 06:30–10:30 Sat Sun 07:30-11:30 · Free

Hỏa Lò Prison

Hanoi Hilton

This prison was built by the French at the turn of the 20th century, in classical French prison design. Two thirds of the prison was torn down to make way for the Hanoi Towers, and the rest was converted into a museum. This is where the French imprisoned and executed Vietnamese freedom fighters. The museum exhibits the plight of jailed political revolutionaries under the French colonial regime and the struggle of the Vietnamese people against imperialism in chilling detail. Later, during the America-Vietnam War, the prison held US prisoners of war that sarcastically referred to it as the "Hanoi Hilton". This period is not emphasized, except to present the official narrative of how humanely the POWs were treated, such as showing photos only of prisoners being treated well and playing basketball and playing chess. The museum claims to have the flight suit of John McCain, the most notable POW held here, from when his plane was shot down. Most of the exhibits have detailed English information, but you can also get an audioguide for 50,000 dong.

Daily 08:30-12:00, 14:00-16:30 (Mon & Fri from 08:00) · 50,000 dong · Heritage listed

Hồ Chí Minh Museum

This gleaming white museum and its gloriously ham-handed iconography is the perfect chaser to the solemnity of the mausoleum. The building, completed in 1990, is intended to evoke a white lotus. Some photos and old letters are on display on the second floor, but the main exhibition space is on the third floor. It includes cars crashing through walls to represent the chaos of post-war American capitalism, soldiers charging around with bombs that looked like electric plugs, a cave hideout re-imagined as the inside of Ho Chi Minh's brain, and several other postmodern confections integrated with the detailed main story of the man's life and his country's struggle. There are plenty of photographs, prison documents and newspaper cuttings tracing his life along the way. The tour ends with a burnt bridge signifying the separation of Vietnam, followed by a reconstructed bridge showing the unification of Vietnam after the war. One of the more informative museums in Vietnam. Free guides are available in English, French, Chinese and Russian. The displays are labelled in English and French.

Daily 08:00-11:30, and Tue-Thu Sat Sun 14:00-16:00 · 40,000 dong · Wheelchair accessible · Entry 40000 VND

Fine Arts Museum

Bảo Tàng Mỹ Thuật

Only party-approved art is shown here with information in English and Vietnamese. On three floors of a colonial building, with another three galleries in the west wing. Pieces include soldiers on boats depicted on prehistoric bronze drums, Buddhist art, and revolutionary art of the 20th century wars. Also some interesting lacquer and silk paintings.

Daily 08:30-17:00 · Adult 40,000 dong · Entry 40000 VND

Vietnamese Women's Museum

Bảo Tàng Phụ nữ Việt Nam

This often overlooked museum has benefited from an extensive renovation of its permanent exhibitions. The modernised interior is well laid out with information in Vietnamese, English and French, and contains a huge amount of information on the fearsome female heroines of Vietnamese history. There are also exhibitions on the rituals and traditions surrounding women in family, as well as a beautifully presented collection of intricate hand-made ethnic costumes. A highlight is the regularly updated special exhibitions on a diverse range of subjects, from contemporary issues such as single mothers and street vendors to traditional medicine and Mother Goddess worship. English language tours are available on request.

Daily 08:00-17:00 · 40,000 dong (80,000 dong with audioguide)

National Museum of Vietnamese History

Bảo tàng Cách mạng Việt Nam

Actually two museums: one covers Vietnam from prehistoric times to 1945 and the other covers 1945 to present. This museum gives a very informed and detailed account of the Vietnamese struggle against first the French (starting in 1858—on the first floor), then against the US, ending on 30 Apr 1975 (on the ground floor). It is housed in a colonial French building which was completed in 1932. The building, designed by the architect Ernest Hébrard is considered as a successful blend between the colonial French architecture and traditional Vietnamese architecture, called Indochina architecture. He created double-walls and balconies for a natural ventilation system and protection from sunshine.

Daily 08:00-12:00 and 13:30-17:00, except first Mon of month · 40,000 dong for both

One-Pillar Pagoda

Visitors find this either charming and lovely or utterly pointless, depending on how many tour groups are crammed into the small grounds at the time of their visit. It has a long history attached to it. Regarded as one of Vietnam's iconic temples, it was built by Emperor Lý Thái Tông. The emperor was childless and dreamt that he met the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who handed him a baby son while seated on a lotus flower. He then married a peasant girl that he had met and she bore him a son. The emperor constructed the temple in gratitude for this in 1049 having been told by a monk to build the temple, by erecting a pillar in the middle of a lotus pond, similar to the one he saw in the dream. Before the pagoda was opened, prayers were held for the longevity of the monarch. The temple is built of wood on a single stone pillar 1.25 m in diameter, and it is designed to resemble a lotus blossom, which is a Buddhist symbol of purity, since a lotus blossoms in a muddy pond. In 1954, the French Union forces destroyed the pagoda before withdrawing from Vietnam after the First Indochina War, it was rebuilt afterwards.

Free · Built 1049 · Heritage listed

Presidential Palace

Completed in 1906 as the residence of the French Governor-General of Indochina. It became the official residence of the President of North Vietnam following independence in 1954, and later of the President of Vietnam following reunification in 1975. Ho Chi Minh was said to have refused to live in the palace for symbolic reasons, though he used it to receive state guests. The building is not open to the public, but you can view it from the outside and take photographs.

Quán Thánh Temple

Đền Quán Thánh

The northern temple, dedicated to the Taoist god Xuanwu, known in Vietnamese as Trấn Vũ, with a large bronze statue of him at the main altar.

Ngọc Sơn Temple

玉山寺

Located on a small island in the Hoan Kiem Lake, connected with the mainland by a bridge. With small but attractive grounds, the temple displays on Vietnamese history and, more memorably, displays on the giant turtles, including a mummified specimen (who died in 1968). The two on-site gift shops vend a variety of souvenirs, many of them turtle-themed. Entry fee: 50.000 Dong

Kim Liên Shrine

Đền Kim Liên

The southern temple, dedicated to Cao Sơn Đại Vương, a Vietnamese mountain god who is said to be a son of King Lạc Long Quân of the ancient Hồng Bàng dynasty and his wife, the immortal mountain snow goddess Âu Cơ.

Museum of Ethnology

Bảo tàng Dân tộc học Việt Nam

Exhibitions cover mainly the culture and ritual practices of the various ethnic groups in the whole of Vietnam. One of the key attractions of the museum is the open-air exhibition, which has reconstructions of traditional houses from multiple ethnic groups, which even comes with inhabitants in costumes. The museum features actual explanations of the exhibits in Vietnamese, French and English. There is an excellent café on the premises.

Tue-Sun 08:30-17:30 · 40,000 dong for foreigners, extra 50,000 dong for photography.

St. Joseph's Cathedral

A late 19th-century Gothic Revival church that serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hanoi. Built by the French in 1886, the exterior is gaunt and grey, but the interior is light and peaceful. Mass is held several times a day, and for Sunday evening mass at 18:00 the crowds are huge: the service is broadcast to those outside who can't get in. Major renovation works to maintain the cathedral's structural integrity and restore its exterior paintwork were completed in 2022.

Mon-Sat 08:00-11:00, 14:00-17:00; Sun 07:00-10:30, 15:00-21:00

Temple of Literature

Văn Miếu / 文庙

The Temple was founded in 1070 and became the country's first university six years later. The overall design is somewhat similar to the "original" Confucian Temple in Qufu, with 5 courtyards. Most of the architecture is named with titles indicating reverence to literature and language. The showpiece of the complex is the third courtyard with eighty-odd stone tablets, each mounted on the back of a tortoise (known as bixi in Chinese), inscribed with the names of graduates. Another courtyard is full of gift shops, which also sell stamps, coins, and books. A reduced-size replica of the famous giant softshell turtle (the original being at the Ngoc Son Temple at the Lake of the Returned Sword) can be seen in one of the pavilions as well; it was made by Vietnamese artisans out of ceramic, and gold-plated. The fourth courtyard contains a temple and statues devoted to Confucius and his four disciples. Chinese history buffs should look out for the 萬世師表 plaque, which was presented to the temple by Emperor Kangxi of China in 1693. The fifth and last courtyard, which was destroyed by the French in 1946 and rebuilt in 2000, contains a mini-museum showcasing information on Emperor Lý Thánh Tông and his successors who built and renovated the temple. You may find a Vietnamese band playing local instrumental music in front of this museum. There are explanatory wall-hangings in English and French all along the way, and you don't need a guide.

Daily 08:00-18:00 · Adult 30,000 dong; student, senior or disabled person 15,000 dong; child under 15 free

Vietnam Military History Museum

Bảo tàng Lịch sử Quân sự Việt Nam

Originally a modest museum located next to the Flag Tower, the Military History Museum and all its 150,000 artifacts has been relocated in 2024 to an enormous 39-hectare compound in the city's outskirts, 12 km from its original location. Now the largest and most modern museum in all of Vietnam, the imposing main building covers the country's military history extending back some two millennia. All museum exhibits and videos are captioned in Vietnamese and English. The vast courtyard houses dozens of military vehicles, aircraft and artillery; many of which are French, American and South Vietnamese assets captured in the Indochina wars. Extremely popular with locals, the museum is usually completely packed on weekends, with dozens of tour buses ferrying out-of-town visitors to the site. Peak queuing times can exceed an hour as a result, so try to visit early on a weekday if possible; give the museum a call beforehand to check how busy it is.

Tue-Thu Sat Sun 08:00-11:30 & 13:00-16:30; closed Mon Fri · Entry fee 40,000 dong; free for under-16s, over-80s, soldiers, veterans, military academy cadets and contributors to the Revolution

Hanoi Train Street

Buildings press up nearly to the railroad ties of the railway through central Hanoi, creating a narrow corridor for trains to pass through. Two stretches of rail corridor, just to the north and the south of Hanoi Station, are lined by restaurants and cafes. Several times a day, trains quickly pass close to the cafe seating. You'll have to buy a coffee, juice or a beer, but prices are reasonable. Safety concerns prompt occasional closures.

Ba Dinh Square

Ba Đình Square (Vietnamese: Quảng trường Ba Đình) is the name of a square in Hanoi where president Ho Chi Minh read the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. It is named after the Ba Đình Uprising, an anti-French rebellion that occurred in Vietnam in 1886–1887 as part of the Cần Vương movement. When Ho Chi Minh died, the granite Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum was built here to display his embalmed body.

Hồ Chí Minh's Vestige in the Presidential Palace Area

The exit from the mausoleum takes you right into the grounds of the, uh, vestige, where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1954 until his death in 1969. The nicely landscaped complex includes Ho Chi Minh's two homes (one a small one-story house, the other a traditional stilt house), kept shiny and "as he left them" by the authorities, as well as a garage with two of Ho's presidential cars and a carp-filled pond. You also get to see Ho Chi Minh's work room and Politburo meeting room. The Presidential Palace is nearby, but it's not open to visitors. Pamphlets are available in English, Chinese, French and Korean. Guided tours are usually available if you wait.

Summer 07:30-11:00, 14:00-16:00; Winter 08:00-11:00, 13:30-16:00, closed Mon Fri afternoons · 40,000 dong

Imperial Citadel of Thang Long

The Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long (Vietnamese: Hoàng thành Thăng Long; chữ Hán: 皇城昇龍) is a complex of historic buildings associated with the history of Vietnam located in the centre of Hanoi, Vietnam. Its construction began in 1010 and was completed in early 1011 under the reign of Emperor Lý Thái Tổ of the Lý dynasty. Most of the existing structure is dated to the extensive reconstruction of the old Imperial Citadel ordered by Gia Long in 1805, but the Citadel (except for the North Gate and the Flag Tower) was largely demolished by the French to allow more land for offices and barracks.

Tu-Su 08:00-17:00

Air Force Museum

Bảo Tàng Không Quân

There's a UH-1 helicopter, Soviet-built MiG fighters, a huge Mi-6 helicopter and other aircraft. Unfortunately they've been exposed to the elements for some time and local children climb over them.

B-52 Lake

Huu Tiep Lake

Until 19 Dec 1972, this was just a small brackish pond just off Hoàng Hoa Thám St., about 1 km west of the mausoleum. On that day, in a twisted retelling of the Hoan Kiem legend, Vietnamese anti-aircraft missiles blasted the enemy's eight-engine, 100-ton aircraft and sent it to the shallow bottom of the lake, where it remains.

Bạch Mã Temple

Đền Bạch Mã

The eastern temple, dedicated to Long Đỗ, the thành hoàng (city god) of Thăng Long (now Hà Nội), and represented in the temple as a white horse (Bạch Mã in Vietnamese, hence its name).

Canton Assembly Hall

Hội Quán Quảng Đông / 粵東會館

Former assembly hall of the Chinese from Guangdong province. It was converted to a kindergarten after the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, but was restored to its former glory in 2021, and is now an exhibition space open to the public.

Downed Aircraft Memorial

A stone plaque commemorating the shooting down of a US Navy (not "USAF" as depicted) aircraft in 1967. Read the Vietnamese script and you can pick out the name of John McCain, the late U.S. senator, one of the airmen.

Fujian Assembly Hall

Hội Quán Phúc Kiến / 福建會館

Former assembly hall of the Chinese from Fujian province. It was converted to a primary school after the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War, but was restored to its former glory in 2015, and is used for some public functions.

Hanoi Citadel

Built as a residence for the Vietnamese king, the citadel was mostly destroyed by the French, used as a military headquarters during the Vietnam War. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Hanoi".

Hanoi Train Street (North)

Because of stupid tourists posing for selfies in front of oncoming trains, there are now police posted at the entrance to order people away. Cafe owners can bring you in through passageways nearby, however, so wander around to look for an invitation. Trains pass around 15:00 and 19:00 daily.

Hanoi Train Street (South)

Trains pass several times daily, typically around 10:30, 15:00, and 19:00.

Hoàn Kiếm Lake

A pleasant park in the centre of town, an easy walk from anywhere in the Old Quarter. This is the locals' favorite leisure spot; especially during weekends, when the lakeside streets are closed to traffic and becomes a pedestrian-only area. A great place to watch people practising tai chi in the morning or to sit and read in the afternoon. At weekends the park becomes even more popular as the normally busy road around it is pedestrianised, and instead filled with children driving electric cars or riding hoverboards. Hoàn Kiếm means "returned sword", and the name comes from a legend in which King Lê Lợi was given a magical sword by the gods, which he used to drive out the invading Chinese. Later, while boating on the lake, he encountered a giant turtle, which grabbed the sword and carried it down to its depths, returning it to the gods from whom it had come. (You can see a version of the legend at the Water Puppet Theatre.) The giant soft-shell turtles, whom Vietnamese biologists assigned to a separate species, Rafetus leloii, resided in the lake until the early 21st century. One of them, who died in 1968, has been preserved by the wonders of taxidermy, and can be viewed in a glass box (sarcophagus?) in a pavilion adjacent to Ngọc Sơn Temple on the island in the lake.

Park is free; 30,000 dong admission to the island temple (玉山祠).

Hồ Tây

West Lake

Mostly a residential hub of the well-to-do. The InterContinental West Lake, Sheraton Hanoi and Pan Pacific Hanoi are on this lake front.