Places to visit in Hanoi, Vietnam
28 places to visit in Hanoi, Vietnam, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Hanoi Train Street, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Hanoi volume.
1 UNESCO World Heritage site · 6 Famous places to visit · 21 Hidden gems
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Hanoi (1)
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Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
The seat of Vietnamese royal power for centuries, begun in 1010 under Emperor Ly Thai To. The French pulled most of it down, but its gates, old foundations and excavated palace remains in central Hanoi are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Famous places to visit in Hanoi (6)
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Hanoi Train Street
A narrow lane where a working railway line, laid by the French in 1902, runs within touching distance of the houses on either side. Several times a day the cafes along it pull in their stools as a train squeezes through.
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Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
A grey granite mausoleum at the centre of Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body lies in state. It stands on the spot where he read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945, and visitors file past in silence under an honour guard.
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Hoa Lo Prison
The surviving gatehouse of a prison used by the French colonial administration, now kept as a museum. It later held American prisoners of war, who nicknamed it the Hanoi Hilton, and its cells and exhibits cover both periods.
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Hoan Kiem Lake
A 12 hectare lake at the heart of old Hanoi, named for the legend of a magic sword returned to a golden turtle. Its shores fill with walkers and exercisers in the early morning, and the red Huc Bridge leads out to Ngoc Son Temple on its islet.
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St. Joseph's Cathedral
A late 19th century Gothic Revival church whose twin square towers rise over Nha Chung Street near Hoan Kiem Lake. It is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Hanoi, named for Saint Joseph, the patron saint of Vietnam.
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Temple of Literature
A temple to Confucius founded in 1070, which also housed the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university, from 1076 to 1779. Its walled courtyards lead past stone stelae mounted on tortoises, carved with the names of those who passed the royal exams.
Hidden gems in Hanoi (21)
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Ba Dinh Square
The broad square in front of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the Proclamation of Independence was read on 2 September 1945. It takes its name from the Ba Dinh uprising against the French in 1886 and 1887, and draws pilgrims and tourists in equal measure.
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Ba Vi National Park
A forested national park around the Ba Vi mountain range, about 48 kilometres west of Hanoi. Its peaks are often wrapped in cloud, and the ruins of a French hill station and a temple to the mountain spirit sit near the top.
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Bat Trang Pottery Village
A commune on the Red River southeast of central Hanoi, known for centuries for its pottery and ceramics. Its lanes are lined with kilns, workshops and ceramic shops, and visitors can try shaping a pot of their own.
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Co Loa Citadel
An ancient fortified city about 17 kilometres north of central Hanoi, possibly the first political centre of Vietnamese civilisation. Its concentric earthen walls coil like a snail's shell, and Bronze Age relics of the Dong Son culture have been found here.
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Dong Xuan Market
Hanoi's largest covered market, first built by the French in 1889 on the edge of the Old Quarter. Wholesale traders fill its floors with everything from clothes and fabric to household goods and dried foods, and food stalls crowd the lanes outside.
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Hanoi Flag Tower
A 33.4 metre brick tower that once formed part of the Hanoi Citadel and is now one of the symbols of the city. It rises from a stepped base to a lookout where the national flag flies, and it survived when most of the citadel around it was cleared.
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Hanoi Opera House
A French colonial opera house at the head of Trang Tien Street, modelled on the Palais Garnier in Paris and opened in 1911. It still stages opera, ballet and concerts on August Revolution Square.
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Ho Chi Minh Museum
A museum opened in 1990 beside the mausoleum grounds, telling the life of Ho Chi Minh and the country's long struggle against foreign powers. The white building is designed in the shape of a lotus flower.
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Long Bien Bridge
A long steel cantilever bridge across the Red River, built by the French and first named after Paul Doumer, Governor-General of Indochina. Trains, motorbikes and people on foot still share its narrow deck, with wide views over the river and its sandbanks.
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Ngoc Son Temple
A temple on a small islet in Hoan Kiem Lake, reached by the scarlet wooden Huc Bridge. Among those it honours is the general Tran Hung Dao, and one of its halls keeps a preserved giant turtle taken from the lake.
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One Pillar Pagoda
A small wooden shrine set on a single stone pillar rising from a lotus pond, meant to look like a lotus flower breaking the water. First built in 1049, it is dedicated to Guanyin and counted with the Perfume Pagoda as one of Vietnam's two best known temples.
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Perfume Pagoda
A sprawling complex of Buddhist temples and shrines set into the limestone Huong Tich mountains southwest of Hanoi. Pilgrims arrive by rowing boat along a stream, then climb or ride a cable car to the main shrine inside Huong Tich Cave, busiest during the spring festival.
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Presidential Palace
An ochre yellow colonial mansion built for the French Governor-General of Indochina, and today the official residence and office of Vietnam's president. Ho Chi Minh chose not to live inside, keeping to a modest stilt house in the grounds instead.
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Quan Thanh Temple
A Taoist temple near West Lake dating to the 11th century, one of the Four Sacred Temples of the old capital. It is dedicated to Tran Vu, the Taoist deity Xuan Wu, whose large bronze statue sits in the main hall.
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Tran Quoc Pagoda
The oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi, on a small island off the southeastern shore of West Lake, joined to the road by a short causeway. Its tall red tiered stupa is one of the city's favourite sights at sunset.
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Vietnam Military History Museum
One of Vietnam's seven national museums, set up on 17 July 1956 to tell the country's military history. Its large new home on the western side of Hanoi shows weapons, documents and aircraft, with tanks and artillery set out in the grounds.
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Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
A museum devoted to the 54 officially recognised ethnic groups of Vietnam, on a large site in Cau Giay about 8 kilometres from the centre. Behind the main building, an outdoor garden holds full size traditional houses from around the country, among them stilt houses and communal halls.
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Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts
The country's main art museum, showing Vietnamese art from many periods, from old sculpture to lacquer and silk painting. It stands across the street from the Temple of Literature.
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Vietnam National Museum of History
A national history museum in a building put up for the French School of the Far East during colonial rule. Taken over in 1958, its collections now run from prehistoric finds and Dong Son bronze drums to the Nguyen dynasty.
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Vietnamese Women's Museum
A four storey museum run by the Vietnam Women's Union, opened in 1995 a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake. Its galleries look at family life, dress and the part women have played in Vietnam's history.
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West Lake
Hanoi's largest lake, 500 hectares of water with a 17 kilometre shore northwest of the centre. Its banks are lined with gardens, cafes, temples and villas, and Thanh Nien road splits off the smaller Truc Bach Lake.
Collecting in Hanoi
What are the best places to visit in Hanoi?
LOQAH lists 28 places in Hanoi. The best known include Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Hanoi Train Street, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hoa Lo Prison and Hoan Kiem Lake. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Hanoi?
28, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Hanoi?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Hanoi before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Hanoi and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in Vietnam
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