Hanoi is the capital and one of the biggest city in Vietnam situated beside the red river . It has a long history of being capital from 11 th -18 th century and after independence . In 1010 emperor Ly thai to established the city Đại Việt which is the present day Hanoi . There were lots of places to visit in hanoi vietnam like Temple of Literacy , Imperial citadel of thang long , Tran quoc pagoda , Vietnam museum of ethnology , Hoan Kim Lake , Water puppet show , old quarter of Hanoi , Mausoleum of Ho chi minh and ect . Imperial palaces of Thang Lang is inscribed in UNESCO’s world heritage site .
I started my hanoi journey from the Hanoi railway station around 3 am in the morning . I boarded that train from the Hue City and it takes almost 17 hours to reach here . Vietnam Railway has soft seat ,hard wooden seat and sleeping cabins . I always choose the soft seating as this one is the cheapest one .
I booked a hostel near the railway station , so I started walking almost in the night . In the way I take some food like banh my . Some food stalls were opened in the night also . In hanoi the check in time for the hotels were around 12 pm so I rest in their lounge and sleep in their sofa .
In the next day morning I started exploring the city . I must say the city has very modern building and the public transport system has the reach to the every corner in the city . Winmart is present in the every part of the city for the grocessory shopping and BIG C(Price here are the cheapest among all stores ) and the Lotte Mart are the hypermarket inside the Hanoi .
Transport inside the Hanoi City :
Public transport in the Hanoi city is very efficient . There are city bus . metro , metered taxi , app taxi , bike taxi and the shuttle bus .
Inside Hanoi there is electric bus and the normal bus . For both the buses there is a fixed price upto 9000 VND in a specific route . Most of the buses has the printed ticket and it will stop in the dedicated bus stop . Doors are automatic and the buses are Air conditioned .
Rather than this metered taxi and the app taxi are the popular mode of transport but bike taxi are for the citizen as this are the most of the cheapest . Most of the citizen and the tourist prefer to use the bike taxi as this were fast and cheap . Vietnames cities were ruled by the bikes . There is heavy traffic inside all the cities , so beat this you need bike .
Metro is good but the reach is limited to only certain parts of the city .
As of the most of the capital city , this city is also crowded and has space scarcity . Here accommodation is expensive rather than other parts of Vietnam . Pho , banh my , hot pot foods are very popular among the young people . In the evening , in every corner you can see people gathered and eat food . In those corners sometimes loud music is played .
places to visit in hanoi vietnam :
Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum:
It is the final resting place of the Vietnam’s first president and freedom fighter Mr Ho chi Minh . He used to give independence day speech from this place . The Mausoleum is made by the black granite . It’s door is always guarded with two uniformed arm personal . There is a wide road in front of this Mausoleum and here is a big red National flag flying from a large pole .
Entry to this place is free but if you want to visit the Museum then there is a entry fees of 40000 VND .
Fine arts Museum :
The museum is the main art museum of paintings , sculpture and graphic arts . It has a collection of over 2000 paintings which are on different subject like Martyrdom , patriotism , military strategy , overcoming enemy incursion , pre history and classical antiquity . Most of the paintings are from the 20 th to 21 st century . The museum building was opened in the french colonial time and the museum was opened for the general public in 1966 .
The museum is opened between 8:30 am – 5 pm and entry fees is 40000 VND .
Saint Joseph Cathedral :
This European style church was first build in the year 1886 by the french . This catholic church is the headquarter of the archdiocese of all Catholics in Vietnam .
The twin tower is the special attraction of this church and it’s glass panels were made in the french . This church closely resembles to the Notre dame church in paris . It has very specific time of entry . Lots of tourists gathered here in the front of this church , as it becomes a tourist hotspot .
Temple of Literature :
This is the confucius temple and the oldest university of Vietnam , build by the king Lý Thánh Tông in the year 1070 .
It has all together five courteyard and a confucious temple at last . The different courtyards were used for the different stages of students and different purpose . This temple was build in traditional vietnames style .
In the second quarter signify great sucess and there is some ponds .
After that , third quarter is specialized for the stone pillar. In this pillar different important messages of History , philosophy and politics were written .
After this comes this fourth courtyard . In the face there is a temple and in the both side there is exhibition for the local and historical items .
Inside the temple there were statues of confuscious and different monks . Here you can see two golden dragon and golden turtle .
Entry fees : 30000 VND for per person .
Imperial Citadel of Thang Long :
This citadel has been the center of power for Vietnam for 800 years starting from 1010 to 1810 . It was established by the Ly Dynasty and later expanded by the subsequent dynasties . Now a days most of the palaces were the ruins but there is a picture of the glorious past of the Museum . Inside the museum there is different exhibition hall presenting this museum’s history and the contemporary vietnam history , art and culture .
Inside the museum there is simple pottery but the laser light rejuvenates it into a unique pottery .
Entry fees : 30000 VND for the single person entry .
Vietnam museum of Ethnology :
This museum is specially build in the year 1997 in the heart of the Hanoi city to represent the Ethenic group of Vietnam . In Vietnam there are all together 54 ethnicity . In the open area you can see different traditional houses made of timber and palm leave . Most of the houses bases are build little higher than the ground and the base was made by the bamboo or timber .
There are almost 6-7 traditional buildings in this museum . This traditional buildings were real buildings and have very unique shape and size and dedicated to some specific tribes . there are some unique wooden stairs curved out of a solid tree dew . This were positioned in front of the main door. Climbing this stairs is little tricky .
Inside this museum there is different artifacts , coins , dresses , replica of different items , musical instruments , pots and informative posters about the tribes in northen vietnam , specially sapa .
Entry fees : 40000 VND for a single adult .
Vietnam’s Military History Museum :
This is the best place in hanoi to learn about the wars vietnam fought with China , France and United states . This museum was opened in 17 th july 1956 by vietnames government . Inside the museum by picture and models they tell their military history . In outside you can see a wreckage of a plane which was destroyed by vietnames . In this area you can see different planes , helicaptor , canon balls , artialiry , tanks and Landmines . Flag Tower is one of the special attraction in this area where vietnam’s flag is hosted .
The museum is opened between 8:00 am – 11:30 am and 1:30 pm – 4 :30 pm . Entry fees of this museum is 40000 VND .
Hanoi Opera House :
This opera house is a Landmark of Hanoi’s buildings . This building was build between the 1901 and 1911 . It was modelled by Palais Garnier resembling to the Paris’s opera house .
It holds mainly cultural and entertainment performances , bamboo cirque , contemporary dance , orchestra consert and government events . People also gathered here for it’s unique architectural structure .
Hoan Kiem Lake :
Hoan Kiem Lake is situated in the center of the city and this lake has both the religious and Historical significance . According to the vietnames mythology when Ming dynasty from china attacked vietnam . The dragon god gives the king a golden sword . According to the viet mythology turtle , dragon , unicorn and phoenix are the four sacred animals . Different animals were associated with this different gods .
After defeating the Ming emperor , one day when he was boating in this Lake suddenly , he saw a golden turtle(turtle god) asking him the golden sword what he has given before war . At that place there is a small temple to reminder the story .
Lots of local people walk around the Lake in the morning and the evening time . Weather and atmosphere of this place is very peaceful which will give you rest from the hustle and bustle of the city .This is also the gathering place of the local people .
This lake is free but there is a ticket for the monastery inside the lake . Ticket price 30000 VND .
Near to this place there are three paid attraction . This are Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum , Imperial citadel of thang long , water puppet theater(show in the evening ) .
Train street :
Train street is another unique attraction in Hanoi city . This is a narrow single train line which passes through a busy market and lots of food stalls and restaurant are just beside the track . There is no level crossing in this area and when the train passes they horn and people sort out furniture from the line . Tourist go back to the restaurant and finally the train passes .
Lots of tourist waited in those restaurant to see the passing trains .
This spot is totally free but if you rest in the restaurant you have to buy a drink or food .
Thang Long Water Pupet show :
This is one of the unique things to see in Hanoi and the theatre is situated just near to the Hoan Kiem Lake . This is a 1000 year old art performances practised in the villages of Vietnam . Inside the theatre there is a small pool in which the pupets perform , dance , fight , cultivate and tell stories of the village life . In this performances the villagers sing some traditional songs also . They used different musical instruments in the performances like Erhu , Flute , Zither , Monochord . In my experience the dragon fight is the most interesting in the pupet show when the dragons show fire from the face .
Ticket price of this show is 100000 , 150000 and 200000 VND . If you take language translation audio device then you have to pay 50000 extra for that . This show runs daily three to four times in a day .
Hanoi Old Quarter :
Hanoi old quarter is the place of shopping , eating and lots of ancient style building situated beside the Imperial palace of thong long . In this area you can also see lots of pubs , massage parlor and tourist office to book a tour of nearby tourist attraction like Ninh binh and Halong bay .
Here the lanes are short and the buildings were made of french architectural style . Night Market , Quang ba flower market , dong xuan Market and Hom market are some of the famous market in the OLD QUARTER . If you specially come to a fish and meat market , then you will be amazed by the varieties of items were present there .
Ta Hien Street or bear street :
This is specifically the tourist attractions for the youngsters . This streets have been full of bars , restaurant and lots of activity . In the Friday ,Saturday and Sunday nights the whole streets will be closed and people eats ,drinks alchol , smoke large hukka and enjoy the environment . There will be loud music in those bars . The environment is crazy and you can find people from different countries hang out there . In the weekend , whole streets are packed with people and there is barely any space to walk here .
You enjoy the environment , music , food and the drink but be aware of the brokers and the drug dealers . Avoid them at any cost . Police are everywhere and you don’t want to be in a unnecessary trouble in a foreign country .
Quan su Pagoda :
The story of establishing this pagoda is unique . In the 15 th century champ and laos kingdom send monks in kingdom of Le dynasty in vietnam . For their stay viet kingdom build it as a embassy but monks need temple so it becomes Pagoda . It was the headquarter of the buddhiest in Vietnam . In 1822 it was opened for the general public for visit .
Opening time of this pagoda is 7 :30 am – 11:30 am and 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm and it is free for the general public .
Tran Quoc Pagoda :
It is one of the oldest pagoda in the Hanoi city which was build in the time of Ly nam de dynasty in the earlier 6 th century . This is a temple of the confusion followers . The famous multistoried pagoda is the graveyard of the famous zen master Tinh tri Giac quon who spread the zen buddhism in Vietnam . In the year 580 a indian buddhist monk come here and preach for some years .
This pagoda is situated inside a huge lake and a bridge is connected with the road . So , when you are near to the gate you can see lots of sellers selling goldfish and different fish to release them inside the huge lake . It is one of the rituals in this pagoda . This pagoda is very tall and have multiple floor in it . Inside this pagoda complex , there is a temple of confusions believers .
Summary :
Hanoi is situated in the northern most part of Vietnam and is the capital city . It has been the vietnam’s capital for almost 800 years and lots of historical areas to visit . Public transport is very efficient in Hanoi . Buses , metro , shuttle bus has the reach to the every corner of this city . Imperial citadel of Thang Long is listed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage site situated inside this city .
