Best Walking Tours in Hanoi — Trip Planner

What's actually worth your time in Hanoi

The Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university from 1070, charges 70,000 dong and opens 8am to 5pm, with a separately ticketed lit night programme on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum is free but shuts Mondays and Fridays and closes for weeks of embalming maintenance. Train Street has been officially barricaded since 2019 and the cafes there trade against orders. Roads around Hoan Kiem go car-free each weekend.

What first-timers get wrong in Hanoi

Count the zeros, because a 500,000 note and a 50,000 note are similar in colour and the mistake is routine. Book Grab or Xanh SM rather than flagging cars, since unbranded taxis with rigged meters still work the Old Quarter. A friendly man offering to fix your shoe will take it and then set a price. Ha Long Bay is a long drive each way even on the expressway, leaving only a couple of hours afloat.

What to eat in Hanoi

Pho began in the north and is served here with a few plain herbs rather than the southern basket of sprouts and hoisin. Bun cha, grilled pork dropped into a bowl of dipping broth, is a lunch dish that vanishes by two. Egg coffee, yolk whipped with condensed milk, was invented at Cafe Giang in 1946 and is still poured there. Cha ca, turmeric fish with dill, has a street named after it.

Hanoi's museums, and which one to pick

The Museum of Ethnology out in Cau Giay is the one worth the taxi: fifty-four ethnic groups documented indoors, with full-scale stilt houses and a towering Bahnar communal roof rebuilt in the garden. Hoa Lo Prison, the Hanoi Hilton to American pilots, presents itself mainly as a French colonial jail. The Vietnam Military History Museum moved in late 2024 to a vast new building out on the Thang Long boulevard.

Hanoi after dark

Bia hoi is the point: fresh unpasteurised draught poured into plastic cups on plastic stools, among the cheapest beer on earth, and the junction of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen is where it happens. A midnight closing rule exists and is enforced unpredictably. From Friday to Sunday evening the streets around Hoan Kiem shut to traffic and fill with children playing skipping games.

When to go to Hanoi

The month to avoid is July — around 33°C (91°F) with roughly 21 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: December is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.