# Hanoi: map, what to do and when to go

In Hanoi, people cook, eat, and park on the sidewalk, and each street dish has its own hour of the day. Capital of Vietnam since 1010, in the Red River delta, it brings together the imperial citadel, the guild quarter, and the French street layout within a five-kilometer radius.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Hanoi: From the airport to the center: bus 86 or an app?** Express bus 86 runs from the terminal to Hanoi's railway station past Hoàn Kiếm Lake, for 45,000 VND; the regular lines 7, 17, and 90 cost less and take longer.
- **Hanoi: money?** The currency is the dong (VND), and it comes with a lot of zeros: about 26,000 VND to the US dollar and 4,500 to 5,000 VND to the Brazilian real in 2026, with the rate changing day to day.
- **Hanoi: when?** Hanoi has four real seasons, unlike the south of the country, and the best window is October and November: 22 to 28°C and little rain, with October as the most stable month with the clearest skies, and November already starting to see the air quality worsen.

## The lake, the Old Quarter and the bia hơi corner
Start at 7am with a bowl of phở at a stall on Bát Đàn or Lý Quốc Sư street, followed by a cà phê nâu đá.
- Hoàn Kiếm Lake and Ngọc Sơn Temple

## Ba Đình, the citadel and official history
Arrive at Ba Đình Square before 8am for the mausoleum line; shoulders and knees covered, no photos inside.
- Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long
- Temple of Literature
- Ba Đình Complex
- Hỏa Lò Prison

## West Lake, the river and a slower day
Head out early to the Trấn Quốc pagoda and the Quán Thánh temple, at the southern tip of West Lake.
- Long Biên Bridge
- West Lake, Trấn Quốc and Quán Thánh
- Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

## Hoàn Kiếm Lake and Ngọc Sơn Temple
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-lago-hoan-kiem
Hanói
A 12-hectare lake in the center, with the Turtle Tower on a small island and the 19th-century Ngọc Sơn Temple, reached by the red Thê Húc bridge. The streets around it close to vehicles from Friday night to Sunday night.
Check access

## Old Quarter
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-bairro-antigo
Hanói
About 36 guild streets formed from the 15th century on. Note the narrow, deep tube houses, the result of a colonial tax charged per meter of façade; the one at 87 Mã Mây street is restored and open to visitors.
Check access

## Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-cidadela-imperial-de-thang-long
Hanói
UNESCO World Heritage site since 2010. It brings together the Đoan Môn gate, the 1812 flag tower and, at 18 Hoàng Diệu street, excavations opened in 2002 that revealed thirteen centuries of overlapping foundations, plus bunker D67, the wartime military command post.
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## Temple of Literature
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-templo-da-literatura
Hanói
Founded in 1070 and expanded in 1076 with the Quốc Tử Giám, Vietnam's first university. It holds 82 stone stelae on turtles bearing the names of doctors who graduated between 1442 and 1779, inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.
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## Ba Đình Complex
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-complexo-ba-inh
Điện Biên
The square where independence was declared in 1945, Hồ Chí Minh's mausoleum (1975), the One Pillar Pagoda (1049, rebuilt in 1955) and the stilt house where he lived from 1958 to 1969. The mausoleum opens only in the morning, Tuesday to Thursday and on weekends, with strict rules on dress and silence.
Check access

## Hỏa Lò Prison
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-prisao-hoa-lo
Hanói · Up to half an hour
Built by the French in 1896 as the Maison Centrale and used until 1993; today it's a museum. Most of the exhibit covers Vietnamese political prisoners of the colonial period, with a smaller room on the American pilots held there from 1964 on.
Check access

## Long Biên Bridge
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-ponte-long-bien
Hanói · Up to half an hour
A rail and road bridge from 1902, with nearly 1.7 km of truss spans designed by the firm Daydé & Pillé. Repeatedly bombed between 1967 and 1972, it was never fully rebuilt; repair work was completed in May 2026.
Check access

## West Lake, Trấn Quốc and Quán Thánh
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-lago-oeste-tran-quoc
Hanói
The city's largest lake, about 500 hectares and 17 km around. On the south shore stand the Trấn Quốc pagoda, dating from the 6th century and moved to the small island in 1615, and the Taoist Quán Thánh temple, with a four-ton bronze statue of Trấn Vũ, cast in 1677.
Check access

## Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-museu-de-etnologia-do-vietna
Hanói · One to two hours
Opened in 1997, in the west of the city, it documents the country's 54 recognized ethnic groups. In the garden, traditional houses are reassembled at full scale, including the Bahnar communal house, about 19 meters tall.
Check access

## Opera House and St. Joseph's Cathedral
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/hanoi/#g-lugar-opera
Tràng Tiền · Up to half an hour
The 1911 Opera House reproduces the layout of the Palais Garnier at reduced scale and still functions as a theater. The neo-Gothic cathedral of 1886 was built on the site of the 11th-century Báo Thiên pagoda and is the most photographed landmark of the French grid.
Check access

**Hanoi: From the airport to the center: bus 86 or an app?**
Express bus 86 runs from the terminal to Hanoi's railway station past Hoàn Kiếm Lake, for 45,000 VND; the regular lines 7, 17, and 90 cost less and take longer. The apps (Grab, Be, and Xanh SM, for electric taxis) have marked pickup points at terminals T1 and T2 and charge around 200,000 to 300,000 VND to the Old Quarter.

**Hanoi: money?**
The currency is the dong (VND), and it comes with a lot of zeros: about 26,000 VND to the US dollar and 4,500 to 5,000 VND to the Brazilian real in 2026, with the rate changing day to day.

**Hanoi: when?**
Hanoi has four real seasons, unlike the south of the country, and the best window is October and November: 22 to 28°C and little rain, with October as the most stable month with the clearest skies, and November already starting to see the air quality worsen.

**Hanoi: Taking off your shoes?**
In private homes, in many temples, and in restaurants with a raised wooden platform, shoes stay at the door.

**Hanoi: safety?**
Hanoi has a low rate of violent crime, and walking downtown at night is common, including alone.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 2 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/hanoi/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/hanoi/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/hanoi.md