To Get around Hanoi is part of the experience itself, but choosing the right way to move through the city can make a real difference to how much of it you actually enjoy. From ride-hailing apps and metered taxis to the growing metro system and simply walking through the Old Quarter, each option comes with…
If you are building a Hanoi food guide for your trip, Bún Bò Nam Bộ Hanoi deserves a spot near the top. Despite the name, which translates loosely to “southern style beef noodles,” this dish is actually a proud creation of Hanoi itself, and it remains one of the most satisfying examples of Vietnamese street…
If you are putting together a Hanoi food guide, Chả Cá Lã Vọng deserves a place at the very top of the list. This is not just a dish, it is a century-old ritual: chunks of turmeric-marinated freshwater fish sizzled tableside in a pan of hot oil with dill and spring onion, then folded into…
There are landmarks that photograph well, and then there are landmarks that mean something. The Hanoi Flag Tower, known in Vietnamese as Cot Co Ha Noi, one of Hanoi attractions, belongs firmly in the second category. Standing at 41 meters from base to tip of flagpole, this three-tiered stone tower has risen above the western…
There are places in Hanoi that tell you about history, and then there is the Ho Chi Minh Museum, which tells you about the man who made it. More than a conventional collection of artifacts behind glass, this is one of the most conceptually ambitious museum experiences in Southeast Asia, built around the life of…
Most travelers arrive in Hanoi thinking about beef pho. They leave thinking about chicken. Pho ga Hanoi, the chicken noodle soup that has been a fixture of Hanoi’s morning streets since the mid-20th century, is quieter than its beef counterpart, less dramatic in color and aroma, and considerably easier to underestimate. It is also, for…
There is a saying many foreign visitors use to describe bun dau mam tom Hanoi: it smells terrifying but tastes like heaven. That line sounds like an exaggeration, but it is almost exactly right. Among all the dishes that make up Hanoi street food, bun dau mam tom is the one that makes the most…
Few structures in Vietnam carry as much weight, quite literally and figuratively, as Long Bien Bridge Hanoi. Stretching across the Red River on the edge of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, this century old steel bridge has survived colonial rule, two wars, countless floods, and decades of relentless traffic, and it is still standing, still rusted, still…
Some dishes are inseparable from the city that created them. For Hanoi, that dish is bun cha. Among the endless options that define Hanoi street food, bun cha holds a special place. It is humble, refined in its own quiet way, and powerful enough to charm even the most discerning visitors, including a sitting president…
Quick Facts Official Name St. Joseph’s Cathedral (Nha Tho Lon Ha Noi) Also Known as The Notre Dame of Hanoi Address 40 Nha Chung Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Architectural Style Gothic Revival (Neo-Gothic) Year Completed December 1886 Entrance Fee Free Exterior Viewing Open 24 hours, 7 days a week Interior Visitor Hours 8:00 AM…
