10 Famous Places In Hanoi

As a capital of Vietnam with more than 1000 years of history, Hanoi has many cultural and historic sites that attract a lot of tourists nationwide. Vietwind Travel is pleased to recommend foreign tourists with 10 must - see tourist destinations in Hanoi.

1. Tran Quoc Pagoda

This is one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam on the eastern shore of West Lake .The current structures are very impressive and date back to 1842. The pagoda is just off the road that divides West Lake and Truc Bach Lake. Tran Quoc Pagoda is the foremost symbol of Buddhism in the country. The landmark is beautiful offering good ambience and nice photos.

Tran Quoc Pagoda

2. West Lake

To the north of the old quarter is the enormous Ho Tay. This lake is the largest in Hanoi with a shore length of around 17km (10.6 miles) and is a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas.

3. Hoa Lo Prison

The Hoa Lo Prison 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 when it was sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton". The prison was demolished during the 1990s, though the gatehouse remains as a museum.

4. National Museum of Fine Arts

For a singular glimpse into Vietnamese culture, the Country’s National Museum of Fine Arts is the best place to visit. The museum showcasing Vietnam's fine arts from every historical period. The facility contains a vast collection of art, sculpture, crafts and artifacts from every period in Vietnam’s history.

5. The Presidential Palace

Although Hochiminh President passed away but The Presidential Palace in Hanoi is a remarkable landmark. The palace was built between 1900 and 1906 to house the French Governor-General of Indochina. The Presidential Palace complex is open every day from 7:30am to 4pm, with a lunch break from 11am to 1:30pm.

6. Hoan Kiem Lake

Hanoi is a city of lakes and Hoan Kiem is one of the most popular with visitors. Superbly scenic and serene, the lake provides a habitat for soft-shell turtles and contains many picturesque pagodas and small bridges.

Hoan Kiem Lake

7. One Pillar Pagoda

The Buddhist One Pillar Pagoda is almost peerless in Vietnam, with a history that dates back a full millenium. The iconic landmark was badly defaced by French troops in 1954 but was rebuilt decades later.

8. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

One of the most conspicuous mausoleums in the world, the massive tribute to the most famous leader in Vietnam provides Hanoi with a landmark on par with Lenin’s tomb in Moscow. Open since 1975, the mausoleum site also contains a museum on Ho Chi Minh.

9. Grand Opera House

Hanoi Opera House is located on the August Revolution Square, the center of Hanoi, near Hoan Kiem Lake and the Vietnam History Museum. The theatre, designed and overseen by the French, was constructed from 1901 and was finished in 1911. It marks a significant period in the history of architectural development in Vietnam under the French at the end of nineteenth century to early twentieth century. It is a historical witness of the Revolution of Hanoi.

The Hanoi Opera House is not only a venue for art performances, but also a place for visitors to enjoy an almost 100 year old historical architecture.

10. Temple of Literature

Temple of Literature is located on Van Mieu Street, 2km west of Hoan Kiem Lake. Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam is a famous historical and cultural relic consisting of the Temple of Literature and Vietnam is first university. The temple was built in 1070 in honor of Confucius, his followers and Chu Van An, a moral figure in Vietnamese education.

Temple Of Literature

Chả Cá (Grilled Chopped Fish)

Almost all foreigners who come to Hà Nội look for Cha Ca Street to taste this specialty. In the past, in this street were sold various types of Vietnamese lacquer, and it was known as Hàng Sơn (Lacquer) Street.

At the end of the 19th century, the Đoàn family residing at No. 14 came up with a new dish of grilled fish served with vermicelli and some spices. As the dish was liked by their friends, the family opened a shop to sell it. It was called chả cá Lã Vọng as at the door of the shop was placed the statue of La Vong (a famous Chinese figure) holding a fishing rod in one hand and a string of fish in the other.

This food was gradually accepted by Hanoians and its reputation spread all over the City. Later, the traditional street was re-named Cha Ca.

Chả Cá (Grilled Chopped Fish)

The shopkeeper places on the table in front of his customers a small earth stove with hot charcoal on which there is a small frying pan with boiling fat. Then the ingredients and spices are displayed: mắm tôm (shrimp paste), lemon, chili, roasted peanuts, bánh đa (a kind of cake made of ground rice), different kinds of herbs particularly fennel and spring onion.

Fish used to make this food can be bagarius, carnero, mussel but the best is dwarf catfish cut into pieces then mixed with lemongrass and pepper. When chả cá is brought to the table, the guest puts some spring onion and some fish pieces into the pan with boiling oil.

Chả Cá (Grilled Chopped Fish)

Then he takes bún (vermicelli), onion, coriander, fennel and roasted peanuts along with one or two pieces of chả cá and dip them into the shrimp paste with lemon juice, chili and sometime, some belostomatid essence.

Delicious! While tasting the specialty, take a glance over the dim room full of blue smoke spiraling upwards. The air is impregnated with good smells.

Bánh Cuốn (Rolled Cake)

In Ha Noi, bánh cuốn was first made in Thanh Trì, a suburban village. Thanh Trì lies to the south-east of Hà Nội on the bank of the Red River. The inhabitants here are skilled in making the original rolled cake, as thin as paper, as clear as porcelain glaze and having a nice flavor. The flour is soft and elastic. In the past, every morning, Thanh Trì girls brought bánh cuốn to the inner area and sold it in the streets.

They carried a bamboo basket covered with a flat basket on their heads and when customers called them, they would put it down. In it there were a bottle of fish sauce, vinegar, chili, some bowls, and dishes, a dozen or so pairs of chopsticks and layers of bánh cuốn arranged over one another. Each layer of bánh cuốn had been covered with a little fat and fried pieces of onion.

Bánh Cuốn (Rolled Cake)

The huckster slowly took out each layer, rolled it and placed it on a dish to serve her customer. Banh cuon taken with hot sour sauce is really a delicious and popular food. When urban people have more sophisticated tastes, they take bánh cuốn together with giò bò (beef paste), giò lụa (lean pork pie) or chả lợn (fried pork pie). In each way, they can enjoy a special flavor. Though there are now new types of bánh cuốn, that made in Thanh Trì is still flavored by many Hanoians.

Half a century ago, a number of improved bánh cuốn stalls came into being on Ha Noi streets. They still used Thanh Trì bánh cuốn but added fillings of half-lean-half-fat port and fresh chopped shelled shrimp, fragrant mushrooms, and jelly fungus soaked in warm water and cut into small pieces with onions, fish sauce and pepper. All those ingredients are fried then put into the rolled cake which will be steamed before being .served to the customer. In the bowl of prepared fish sauce, some drops of belostomatid essence are added to give the food a flavor.

Today, at bánh cuốn stalls in Ha Noi Old Quarter, the cake. And the fillings inside the cake are made at the same time. Customers have to wait for each dish of cake and enjoy the warm and fragrant smoke, particularly on cold days. Unfortunately, belostomatid species have gradually been subjected to extinction and almost all stalls use chemical belostomatid essence. Nevertheless, the bánh cuốn stall at No. 17 Cha Ca Street still serves customers with the real belostomatid essence.

Chí Linh Park (Or Indira Gandhi Park)

Surrounded by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Lê Lai, Lê Thạch and Ngô Quyền Streets, this park was originally part of the compound of an ancient pagoda named Phổ Giác or Tàu in Hậu Lâu village. In 1883, the French colonialists moved this pagoda to the garden of the Institute of Royal Physicians and built the Mayor’s Office, Treasury, Post Office and a park in the former’s place.

In 1886 when Resident General Paul Bert died, the French named this garden after him. A year later, a statue of Paul Bert was set up here followed by a great inauguration ceremony. This statue was placed on a stone pedestal where the present round flower basin stands, looking out to Sword Lake. Behind the statue was an eight-sided house where the military orchestra played every Saturday evening. This statue was removed in 1945.

Lý Thái Tổ

After the August 1945 Revolution, the park was renamed Chí Linh. Chí Linh is a mountain area west of Thanh Hóa province which was the base of the uprising led by Lê Lợi in the 15th century. The park’s name is apparently associated with the Lake of the Restored Sword and the legend of King Lê Lợi returning his sword to the Turtle God.

On the lake’s west bank there is a temple and a statue dedicated to the King. Around the lake, apart from Lê Thái Tổ (Lê Lợi) Street, there are streets named after this King’s generals: Lê Thạch, Lê Lai, Nguyễn Xí and Trần Nguyên Hãn.

In order to strengthen the Indo-Việt Nam friend-ship, since 1984, the park has been named after the late Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.

Hà Nội’s Ancient Quarter And Old Streets (Part I)

Since 1954, many new residential quarters have been built in the inner part of Hà Nội: Nguvễn Công Trứ, Kim Liên, Trung Tự, Kim Giang, Thanh Xuân, Nghĩa Đô, Thủ Lệ, Ngọc Khánh, Giảng Võ, I lào Nam, Thành Công, Yên Lãng, Vĩnh Hồ, Bách Khoa, Trương Định, etc.
However, these new buildings are different from the ancient quarter and the old streets in the center of Hà Nội, the pride of Hanoians.
Ancient Quarter

Hà Nội and Hội An are the only cities in Việt Nam that still keep their ancient quarters. The cur-rent ancient quarter in Hà Nội has an appearance that dates back to the end of the 19th century because climate, war and other factors had eroded many architectural peculiarities of the previous times. However, according to historical sources, this ancient quarter was the heart of the Thang Long Capital when it was established a thousand years ago.

Hà Nội’s ancient quarter has the shape of an isosceles triangle with its top being Hàng Than Street; its east side is the Red River’s dyke, the west side is Hàng Cót, Hàng Điếu and Hàng Da Streets, and its base is Hàng Bông, Hàng Gai and Cầu Gỗ Streets. Prior to the French occupation, this ancient section was laid out in an order similar to a chess board and with its streets bearing the names of the goods manufactured there, for instance, Hàng Đường (Sugar) Street, Hàng Bạc (Silver) Street, Hàng Bồ (Bamboo Basket) Street, etc. All the hous-es in this section of the City have the same shape, which are called “tube houses”.

Hanoi French Quarter

They have naưovv widths and deep lengths, and sometimes open into other lanes or streets. The houses have similar dispositions, with the front rooms serving as the places where goods are manufactured or sold. Next to it is a small open courtyard to let in light (on the courtyard there are usually ornamental water pools with goldfish, miniature decorative mountains, ornamental plants and flowers). Behind this yard comes one back rooms used as bed room and dining room. Most of these houses have only one storey, roofed with small tiles. Two side walls (gables) grow higher than the roof. At the front side of the roof are two graceful pillars. At some houses, a low second storey is added sometimes with a very small win-dow. (In the past, common people were not allowed to look at the King’s face, especially looking down-ward, when the King traveled along the street).

Hà Nội’s Ancient Quarter And Old Streets (Part I)

“Tube houses” in Hà Nội, thus, are small and simple. They can be used as “factories” for making handicraft products, shops and living rooms. The ancient quarter is always crowded and bustling. The houses stand side by side, supporting one another and thus creating the attractiveness of the quarter.

Scattered among the ancient “tube houses” are a number of pagodas, temples and other places of worship. They were primarily the halls of worship of the past villages and guilds. The temple at No. 38 Hàng Đường Street was that of Đức Môn village through which Hàng Đường Street ran; Huyền Thiên Pagoda at No.54 Hàng Khoai belonged to the village with the same name which is now around Hàng Khoai Street.

These constructions testify to the origins of the first inhabitants, a considerable number of whom came from other provinces. Hoa Lộc Temple, at No.90 Hàng Đào Street, was founded by the people from Đan Loan dying village, Hải Dương province; Tú Đình Thị Temple, at No. 2 A Yên Thái Lane, was built by the people from Quất Động embroidery village, Hà Tây province. On the other hand, the existence of these pagodas and temples attests to the spiritual life of the old Hanoians, who always sought to integrate themselves into the spiritual world of the nation. The ancient quarter is where the present and the past intermingle to create its attractiveness.

Today, after many historical ups and downs, Ha Noi’s ancient quarter remains virtually unchanged from their original look. We can still see there many small “tube houses”, crowded streets, curved- roofed pagodas and temples and rows of green trees. All of these are “souvenirs” of the past for the generations to come to discover.

Hà Nội authority is currently studying some projects to protect and promote this treasure of the City.