Coming up soon: steamy noodles, a cafe-packed lakeside bike ride, and some of my favorite under-the-radar spots.
Presumably, you haven’t (yet) been to Hanoi. But I have—and a while back, I used to live there.
So in this guide, I’ve brought you the 30 best things to do in Hanoi.
Expect well-known attractions, things you haven’t heard of, and… a place to eat some snakes.
Grab your backpack and come join the fun!
1. Munch on Meals and Morsels
If you’re not getting your mouth around Hanoi’s best food, you’re not really in Hanoi.
… and as you’ll see when you arrive, there are dozens of street-food joints on every street—so trying to find the best stuff can be a bit of a lottery.
To munch on the best of it, a food tour is your top option. This small-group tour is the best of them all, giving you a food-loving English-speaking guide who knows all the best eats and treats.
You’ll sample a load of local delicacies, dodging all the touristy spots, and only getting the most authentic eats.
- Tour length: around 3 hours
- How many foods you’ll try: 5 or more
2. Scoot Around on a Motorbike Tour…
Hanoi is a city of scooters*.
Everywhere you go, you’ll see them zooming, you’ll hear them tooting, and you’ll learn to cross the street despite them.
And you should also ride around on one. On this tour, you can do that safely, by sitting on the back of a local’s bike. Each traveler gets their own driver, and you scoot around the city in a little herd.
You’ll be driven to landmarks, temples, busy streets, food spots, and plenty more. It’s a perfect way to get knee-deep in the real spirit of the city, and it’s one of the best things to do in Hanoi.
- Tour duration: 4 hours
- What you get: bike, helmet, a meal, a drink, a safe driver, and your tour. There are no hidden costs, but you might want to leave a cash tip
3. … or Rev Around on a Jeep Tour
This Hanoi city jeep tour is pretty similar to the scooter tour, but it’s a little longer, a little more detailed, and you spend some time in a jeep (and some time in a scooter).
Expect temples, tucked-away streets, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, some stretches of the Red River Delta (which feels way more remote and rural than inner-city Hanoi), and much more.
The guides are fun and friendly, and serve up a combo of info and laughs.
Massively fun, massively varied, and massively recommended.
- Tour length: around 4.5 hours
- What you get: everything is included, including some small snacks. There are no hidden charges, but carry cash to leave a small tip
4. Take a Cooking Class
For foodies, this is one of the best things to do in Hanoi.
There are various cooking classes on offer throughout the city. But of them all, this one is best, and includes a market visit (where you buy the stuff to cook with), a load of interesting information, and the cooking of 5(!) different dishes.
- Experience duration: around 3 hours and 15 minutes
- What you’ll cook: Pho bo (the nation’s mega-famous beef noodle soup), bun cha (a barbecued-pork soup with noodles, and my favorite Vietnamese dish), papaya salad, fried spring rolls, and the iconic Hanoi egg coffee
- What’s included: the price covers the guide, the entire experience, and all ingredients. There are zero extra costs
5. Watch Some Water Puppets
I know what you’re thinking:
‘Paul, surely this isn’t a bunch of small strange puppets dancing around on water to a traditional soundtrack of ancient Vietnamese music’
Well, no, that’s exactly what it is.
But although this is weird, it’s pretty interesting… and the concept is thought to be more than 1,000 years old. There are lots of water puppet theaters across Vietnam, but this particular Hanoi venue is thought to be the world’s best.
You can buy tickets at the venue. Or to save some hassle, you can buy skip-the-line tickets in advance.
- Show duration: 50 minutes
- Theater address: 57B Pho Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm
6. Visit Bat Trang Ceramics Village
One of the city’s most underrated adventures…
… and one of the best things to do in Hanoi if you want to get away from the bustle for a bit.
Bat Trang (despite its name) isn’t really a village. Instead, it’s just an outskirt area of Hanoi, and it’s famous for making pottery and ceramics.
During this tour, you’ll explore the ‘village,’ learn about some history, see the ceramics, and even have a go at playing with a pottery wheel.
- Tour duration: between 3.5 and 4 hours
7. Chug on a Load of Coffee…
Hanoi has some of the best coffee I’ve ever sipped and slurped on.
Vietnam treats coffee a bit differently to most other places. First of all, robusta beans are the traditional (and popular) choice here—so the coffee is way stronger, and tastes very different.
Second of all (although you can get lattes and cappuccinos and all that stuff in the westernized cafes), coffees are made a bit differently here.
Usually, Vietnamese coffee is served with a big fat gloop of condensed milk. Other varieties include creamy coffees made with egg (no, that’s not a typo) and coconut.
Some of the best cafes in the city include Giang Cafe, Kalina Cafe, and any of the Cong Caphe branches… but we’ve covered many more in our bumper guide to all the best cafes in Hanoi.
8. … or Write a Cute Little Note to Someone
This cafe gets an entire entry of its own.
Note Coffee is one of the most touristy places in the city. If you like cute foreigner-magnets, you’ll think it’s one of the best things to do in Hanoi.
This 4-floored cafe hands out colorful post-it notes to its customers. When you get yours, you can write whatever you want on it, and stick it to the wall…
… and you can also read the rest of the notes. The entire cafe is covered in what must be hundreds of thousands of pretty little post-its. Some funny, some thought-provoking, some illegible, some apparent attempts at being profound.
The coffee is good, the views are better, and the staff are hyper-friendly.
- Address: 64 Pho Lương Văn Can, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm
- Opening hours: 8:30am until 10:30pm Monday to Thursday, 8am until 11pm on Fridays, and 7am until 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays
9. Wander Around Some Market Stalls
In some ways, Hanoi feels like someone took a tiny village, and inflated it to city-sized proportions. And when you’re wandering around its old-school traditional markets, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
To see the best city-center market stalls, go in and around Thanh Ha Street.
Head to Central Backpackers Hostel (one of the best places to stay in Hanoi). From here, turn right as if you’ve just left the building, before following the road and turning right at the T-junction. This market area is full of interesting stuff—as are the streets surrounding it.
Expect strange fruits, chopped-up snakes, mashed-worm cakes, fish flopping around in plastic tubs, turtles, other oddities, and some mundane stuff. Unmissable.
For similar thrills, here are the best markets in all of Vietnam.
10. Visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum
One of the most revered and respected places in the entire nation, this mausoleum has displayed the body of Ho Chi Minh (the former president of Vietnam) since 1975.
You walk in, you see the body, and you walk out. You’re not allowed to stop, as the on-site guards keep the queue continuously shuffling along.
The strange square exterior makes this the most striking and distinctive building in the city.
- Address: Hùng Vương, Điện Biên, Ba Đình
- Opening hours: usually from 7am until 5pm, 7 days a week
11. Tick off Some Temples…
Though Vietnam isn’t quite as religious as most of the nations surrounding it, it still has a load of great temples.
If you’re interested in religion, wandering in and around them is one of the best things to do in Hanoi. Some of the best include The Temple of Literature, the One Pillar Pagoda, and Tran Quoc Pagoda.
12. … But Don’t Skip the Cathedral
Vietnam has more Christians than most people expect—almost 9% of the nation considers themselves to be either Catholic or Protestant.
So you can find churches and cathedrals dotted throughout various parts of Vietnam. One of the most famous is Hanoi’s St. Joseph Cathedral, which looks like a mini version of Paris’ Notre Dame.
- Address: 40 Pho Nhà Chung, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm
- Opening hours: visit between 7am and 5pm (and only between 11pm and 1pm on Sundays)
13. Explore the Leafy Funfest of Banana Island
Although Banana Island is super close to the city center, not many people know about the place.
Sitting inside the Red River, it offers hidden bars, small pools, mini golf, a labyrinthine layout, and loads of banana plantations. You can walk around it, but the best way to explore the place is by hiring a bicycle.
Jump on a bike, get lost, see a different side to Hanoian life.
14. Ride Around Tay Ho…
‘Tay Ho’ translates to ‘West Lake’…
… and despite the place being the prettiest part of the city by far, pretty much zero tourists know about it.
‘Tay Ho’ is the name of both a lake and a neighborhood—and this neighborhood is where most of the city’s western expats live (so it’s also where I used to live).
The best way to see the entirety of Tay Ho is by renting a bicycle, and having a casual little ride around the place. The perimeter of the lake clocks in at around 11 miles (17.5km), and it’s full of fun. Expect cafes, little temples, photogenic spots, narrowly avoiding endless scooter collisions, and plenty more.
This is my top underrated adventure in Hanoi.
15. … and Slurp at Some of the Neighborhood’s Coffee Shops
When you’re riding your bike, you’ll want to stop off.
Lucky for you, there are endless coffee shops along the shores of Tay Ho Lake.
I recommend just having a drink at the ones you like the look of, but some of my favorites are Eastern and Oriental (great cakes and great views), Mystic Coffee (no frills but ridiculously loveable), and Ping Pong.
16. Follow Some Leafy Waterways By Bike
Another bicycle-ride entry, another of the best things to do in Hanoi.
Where the Red River borders the city to the north, there’s a very-thin river heading south (you’ll find it right beside Đình Chèm temple).
Known as Sông Nhue, this thin waterway meanders south, then breaks into some even-smaller rivers. Follow one or some of them for as long as you fancy, and see an authentic side to Hanoi, away from all the busy bustle and tourist sights.
The routes are easy to find (you’re just following some water), and they’re all flat and rideable.
17. Wander Around Hoan Kiem Lake
Hanoi has loads of lakes. And Hoan Kiem is the most famous by far.
Right inside the Old Quarter, you can walk around the lake in around 30 minutes. It’s surrounded by cafes, street food, groups of locals, and groups of tourists—and inside the lake, there’s a mega-famous temple.
Visit at night, and you’ll fall in love with the place, just like everyone else does.
18. Spend a Night on Beer Corner
For people-watchers (and anyone who likes soaking up the atmosphere of a city), this is one of the best things to do in Hanoi.
You don’t have to drink beer at this busy crossroad area—you can drink anything you want (and most people also come here to eat food).
But it’s usually referred to as ‘Beer Corner’ (occasionally ‘Beer Street’), so that’s what we’ll all have to call it too.
A laid-back mainly-outdoor area where a bunch of plastic-chaired eating and drinking venues meet, you’ll want to sit here for hours. Come at night; it’s rarely busy during daytime hours.
19. Munch on Some Snake
If you’re looking for weird food-based experiences, this is absolutely one of the best things to do in Hanoi.
Just over the river from the city center, you’ll find the Hung Snake Restaurant. It sits in a famous-for-catching-snakes part of the city, where locals hunt down the creatures, then use them to make various food and drinks.
Call them in advance on +84989331012 to tell them you’ll be coming.
They rarely have on-site snakes, so it’s best to make a booking. They speak English—and when you call, they’ll ask exactly how much snake you want to eat, and how many people you’ll be eating with.
They’ll then prepare it in various ways, and tell you about what you’re eating. Weird, but recommended.
20. Buy Some Flowers
I wouldn’t normally recommend something as mundane as a flower market. But Hanoi’s Quảng Bá Flower Market is pretty unique.
Busy, noisy, and super colorful, it’s one of the biggest flower markets in Vietnam.
But here’s the weird part: it starts getting busy around 1am. Never shopped for flowers at night before? You can now.
- Address: 236 Đ. Âu Cơ, Quảng An, Tây Hồ
21. See the Hanoi Hilton
Bear with me here: I’m not actually taking you to a hotel.
Instead, I’m taking you to Hoa Lo Prison Museum, one of the most bleak and depressing attractions in all of the city.
Previously used to house both political prisoners and prisoners of war (US prisoners of war gave the place its sarcastic ‘Hanoi Hilton’ name), most of the original building has since been torn down. But what now remains houses the museum.
It’s pretty gruesome and gory, with shocking pictures and artifacts. Expect photos, torture devices, and some pretty horrible stories.
If you’re interested in history, it’s one of the best things to do in Hanoi.
- Address: 1 Pho Hoả Lò, Trần Hưng Đạo, Hoàn Kiếm
- Opening hours: 8am until 5pm, 7 days a week
22. Float Around on Truc Bach
Remember Tay Ho lake?
Well, at the southern side of it, you’ll find the neighborhood of Truc Bach… and this small part of the lake is separated from the rest of Tay Ho lake by a boat.
Here, you can hire swan-shaped pedalos, for paddling around on the lake. It’s fun, the views are nice, and there are loads of nearby coffee shops.
To find the pedalos, head to the southern shore of the lake, at 1 Pho Trấn Vũ, Quán Thánh, Ba Đình.
23. Hanoi Ancient Heritage House
This old-fashioned home looks pretty much like it did 140 years ago.
Expect old-school decor, retro household wares, and friendly tours. You can turn up anytime (during opening hours), and you’ll be shown around the place.
A tour currently costs 10,000VND (less than $0.50USD).
- Address: 87 Pho Mã Mây, Hàng Buồm, Hoàn Kiếm
- Opening hours: 8:30am until 5pm, 7 days a week. Also open from 7:30pm until 10pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
24. Get a Cheap Massage
Alright, Vietnamese massages aren’t quite as cheap (or as good) as Thai massages…
… but they’re still really really cheap (and really really good).
You can find a good massage for between $5 and $10USD per hour, and the quality is always pretty consistent, no matter where you go.
I don’t recommend anywhere in particular, cos I always just wander to any random spot. To get the best prices and the quickest service (without having to wait or book an appointment), choose any of the places in or around the Hoan Kiem area.
25. See The City From Above
If you go west of the Old Quarter, you’ll see the massive Lotte Tower, home to shops, offices, and loads more boring stuff.
But it’s not all boring. On its top floor (the 65th, in case you’re looking for specifics), there’s an observation deck. And from here, you can get the best possible panoramas of the city. You’ll find floor-to-ceiling windows, a glass floor, and some gimmicky equipment and photo areas.
The elevator takes a measly 50 seconds to zoom up all 65 floors. Impressive.
Overall, this is good for people with kids, and even better for couples. An oddly-futuristic attraction in a not-so-futuristic city.
- Address: Lotte Building, 54 Lieu Giai Street, Ba Dinh
- Opening hours: 9am until midnight, 7 days a week
- Price: 230,000 VND (around $10 USD) for adults and 170,000 VND (around $7 USD) for kids. It’s a little cheaper for Vietnamese citizens
26. Wander Around Horrible Dong Xuan Market
I hate this place. But I also hate shopping for clothes.
So if you like shopping for clothes, you’ll love it. Inside, you’ll find all the garments you could possibly ever imagine, piled in big heaps that shoppers seem to inexplicably love scouring through.
You’ll find ultra-cheap bargains (think clothes and shoes for less than $5 or $10 USD). But be prepared to haggle. And be prepared to be patient.
When you get tired of it all, you’ll find loads of nice street food on the streets surrounding the market. So at least that’s something to look forward to.
- Address: 15 Cau Dong, Dong Xuan Street, Hoan Kiem
- Opening Hours: between 6am and 6pm, 7 days a week
27. Play Some Board Games
Not necessarily a standard suggestion, but one of my favorite venues in the city…
… and one of the best things to do in Hanoi with kids (or with groups of friends).
This cafe has hundreds of different board games, and an English-speaking on-site manager who loves offering bespoke recommendations (and who knows all the rules). Perfect for a relaxed afternoon away from all the tourist stuff.
- Address: 3 Ng. 133 – Thái Hà, Trung Liệt, Đống Đa
- Opening Hours: 9am until 11pm, 7 days a week
28. Head to Tay Ho Waterpark
Not one of the best water parks on the planet…
… but still one of the best things to do in Hanoi if you’re traveling with kids (or just if you behave like one).
It’s a bit rugged and rusty, but it offers slides, waves, a zip-line, flumes, themed areas, and on-site food. It’s bigger than most people expect, and it’s a good half-day of fun.
- Address: 614 Đ. Lạc Long Quân, Nhật Tân, Tây Hồ
- Opening hours: 8:30am until 8pm, 7 days a week
- Prices: around 150,000 VND ($6.50USD) for adults, and 120,000 VND ($5USD) for kids
29. Eat Where Obama Has
Remember bun cha, the barbecued-pork soup I mentioned earlier?
Well, Barack Obama famously chowed down at a bun cha spot just south of the Old Quarter. Head here, eat where he ate, and enjoy some of the best bun cha in the city.
Although it’s famous, it’s still super cheap—it’s basically the same price as any other bun cha spot in this part of the city.
- Address: 24 Pho Lê Văn Hưu, Phan Chu Trinh, Hai Bà Trưng
- Opening hours: 8am until 8:30pm, 7 days a week
30. Take a Day Trip Outside of the City
There’s loads of stuff surrounding Hanoi… and much of it is massively different to what you find inside of Hanoi. You have a hefty number of options, but the most popular day trips include:
- Halong Bay: the most well-known tourist attraction in all of northern Vietnam, the world-famous boat trips here take you to tiny islands, crooked limestone karsts, and some of the best views you’ve ever seen. This bay has featured in a load of films—you’ll soon see why.
- Ninh Binh: my favorite part of northern Vietnam. Sort of like Halong Bay on land, but with fewer tourists. Expect caves, motorbike trips, some UNESCO stuff, and one of the best boat trips I’ve ever been on. With this tour, you can build your own itinerary, to see only the stuff you’re most interested in.
- Sapa: okay, this is a two-day trip. But it takes you to a mountainous rice-field region. You overnight in a village, you go on a short hike, and you learn all about local culture. This is one of the prettiest mountainous areas in all of Vietnam.
These adventures are a great way to stuff loads of highlights into your Hanoi trip without having to waste any time (or do any planning).
Other places you can visit from Hanoi include Ho Chi Minh City, the Ha Giang Loop, and various rice fields and waterfalls. But few of these are possible as day trips (and many take way longer).
For more options, don’t miss my in-depth guide on the best day trips from Hanoi worth taking.
Before You Go
Okay boys and girls, that’s us done here—they’re the 30 best things to do in Hanoi.
If you only have time for two or three, I recommend the guided motorbike trip, the bicycle ride around Tay Ho, and the Old Quarter food tour.
Thanks for reading, thanks for choosing Travelness, and enjoy exploring the rest of our stuff. Say hello to Hanoi for us!
For more information on exploring Vietnam, here are Vietnam’s best cities, and the top 23 things to do in the nation.
