Vietnam Heritage Travel Company
would like to recommend Top 10 things to do in Hanoi, Vietnam
1. Hoan Kiem Lake (The Lake of
the Restored Sword)
Hoan Kiem Lake (Vietnamese: Hồ
Hoàn Kiếm, meaning “Lake of the Returned Sword” or “Lake of the Restored
Sword”, also known as Hồ Gươm – Sword Lake) is a lake in the historical center
of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. The lake is one of the major scenic
spots in the city and serves as a focal point for its public life.
2. Old Quarter
The Old Quarter, near Hoan Kiem
lake, has the original street layout and architecture of old Hanoi. At the
beginning of the 20th century the city consisted of only about 36 streets, most
of which are now part of the old quarter. Each street then had merchants and
households specialized in a particular trade, such as silk traders, jewellery,
etc. The street names nowadays still reflect these specializations, although
few of them remain exclusively in their original commerce. The area is famous
for its small artisans and merchants, including many silk shops. Local cuisine
specialties as well as several clubs and bars can be found here also. A night
market (near Đồng Xuân market) in the heart of the district opens for business
every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening with a variety of clothing,
souvenirs and food.
3. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
The Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum
(Vietnamese: Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh) is a large memorial to the Vietnamese
leader in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is located in the center of Ba Ðình Square, which
is the place where Ho read the Declaration of Independence on September 2,
1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
4. The Water Puppet Theater
Water puppetry (Vietnamese: Múa rối
nước, lit. “puppets that dance on water”) is a tradition that dates back as far
as the 11th century CE when it originated in the villages of the Red River
Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today’s Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique
variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.
The puppets are made out of wood
and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod
supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are
normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be
moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would
entertain each other using this form of puppet play.
Traditional legends and historical tales are
among the enchanting puppet plays performed at this popular theatre
5. Temple of Literature &
Ancient National University
It is a temple of Confucius in
Hanoi, Vietnam. Although several Văn Miếu can be found throughout Vietnam, the
most prominent and famous is that situated in the city of Hanoi, which also functioned
as Vietnam’s first university. It is featured on the back of the one hundred
thousand Vietnamese đồng banknote.
6. Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
(Vietnamese: Bảo tàng Dân tộc học Việt Nam) is a museum in Hanoi, Vietnam,
which focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam. It is
located on a 3.27-acre (13,200 m2) property in the Cầu Giấy District, about 8
km from the city center.
It is widely considered to be the
finest modern museum in Vietnam and a tourist attraction in Hanoi.
The proposal for the museum was
officially approved on December 14, 1987. Construction lasted from 1987 to
1995, and it was opened to the public on November 12, 1997.
The exhibition building was
designed by the architect Hà Đức Lịnh, a member of the Tày ethnic group, in the
shape of a Dong Son drum, and the interior architecture was designed by the
French architect Véronique Dollfus.
7. West Lake
Ho Tay is the largest of all the
lakes in Ha Noi. The lake is on the northwest part of the city. Long ago, the
lake was a branch of the Red river but later, as the river changed course, the
lake remained a body of water just west of the river. There are many legends
associated with West Lake. The most popular is the legend of the golden
buffalo.As the story goes, there once was a medicine man who was a giant. He is
well known in Vietnam for his medicine practice and the king often used him to
treat the royal family. His fame reached China and he was invited to China to
treat the king. He was successful where others have failed so the king was
going to reward him with great wealth. He refused offerings of gold and only
requested that the king give him all the black copper in the king’s vault. The
king agreed and the giant left for Vietnam with vast amounts of black copper.
In Vietnam the giant molded a giant bell of black copper. The giant rang the
bell and the sound resonated all the way to China. In the king’s vault there
was a golden buffalo. Upon hearing the sound of the bell, the buffalo came to
life (because he thought that his mother was calling him) and charged
southward. Upon reaching Ha Noi, the buffalo trampled the land in the area near
Red river. Over the years, this area filled with water and became Ho Tay or
West Lake.
8. Hoa Lo Prison
The Hoa Lo Prison (Vietnamese: Hỏa
Lò), later sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the “Hanoi
Hilton”, was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political
prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam
War.
9. Hanoi night market
This market spreading from Hang
Dao Street to Dong Xuan Market creates a busy and crowded walking street. on
weekend evenings, a lot of people come here to stroll or go shopping, which
becomes a habit.
As a commercial street, you can
find everything concerning clothes and recreation. Clothes, sweets, “o mai”
(salted dry fruit), decorations, toys, stationeries, sundry goods are
respectively sold on Hang Ngang, Hang Dao, Hang Buom, Hang Duong, Luong Van
Can, Hang Ma, Ngo Gach and Hang Ca Streets. All goods and facilities can be
found from Dong Xuan Market to Hang Giay Street.
People come here for shopping or
just strolling in the crowd to feel the atmosphere of the night market and the
habit of Hanoians. Children are excited about going shopping with their family,
sitting on their father’s shoulders, holding their mother’s hand, walking in a
stream of people, playing with sand pictures and painting statues. It is so
romantic to see lovers hand in hand walking on the street, smiling, taking
pictures, buying some pieces of clothes at weekends. There are lots of foreign
tourists who go sight-seeing or shopping. It is easy for them to find Hanoi or
Vietnamese style souvenirs at low prices.
Food stalls often sell “banh beo”
(bloating fern-shaped cake), bacon, grilled “nem chua”, sausages, Hai Phong
bread, Donner Kebap, cakes, sweet porridge of northern provinces or Hue city.
At the end of the night market street, next to Dong Xuan market, there is a
night eatery with a wide range of food, such as “lau”, grilled food, “banh
khuc” and steamed sticky rice.
10. Bat Trang Ceramic Village
Bat Trang, a small village in the
north of Vietnam, is about 13 kilometers south east of Hanoi center, on the
other side of Chuong Duong bridge. Why is its name popular to most tourists to
northern Vietnam? The answer is its ever famous ceramic and pottery products of
high quality. If you have known about Vietnam, you may not be surprised that
Bat Trang’s vases, bowls, dishes, and many other kinds of ceramic products have
been exported worldwide. Should you would like to contemplate workers making
ceramic products by hand, just come here! What’s more, you can also try it
yourself!
This article is written by Lan
Nguyen, from Vietnam Vacation. For original article and more information about
Vietnam Travel News, please visit
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