- Overview
- Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Sightseeing
- Transport
- Travel Tips
The capital of Vietnam sits in the country’s northern region in a scenic setting on the right bank of the Red River. First-timers to the city may find it a bustling destination, but the constant hustle is in fact part of Hanoi’s inherent charm. Throw a rich selection of aesthetic and cultural sights and a steadily growing visitor infrastructure into the mix, and it’s not difficult to see how Hanoi has become one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destinations.
More »
Below is a list of some of the popular street foods offered in Hanoi. You may find that once you start your street food adventure you will not want to stop and will happily skip on the western seats and air conditioned rooms for quick and tasty meals served on the sides of busy roads.
Phở: If there is one dish that defines the culinary culture of this remarkable city it would have to be the flat noodle soup phở. This simple dish of noodles and either beef or chicken is forever popular with locals and foreigners alike and can be found throughout the city.
Bún is another admired noodle dish in Hanoi. Bún, a round rice noodle is used to make a variety of dishes. Some of the more popular bún dishes are with beef, pork, crab, snail, or tofu (although mind the tofu version as it is accompanied with mắm tôm, a fermented shrimp sauce with a taste and smell not for the faint hearted!). The cooked rice noodle dish is served with whichever meat you have picked (the most popular being chả: grilled pork) and a plate of herbs, mint and sliced green papaya.
Bánh cuốn is a light but tasty Vietnamese meal that is filled with minced pork and mushrooms and wrapped in a delicate pancake type roll. The dish will typically be served with a side of Vietnamese pork sausage and some bean sprouts. Despite being a usual breakfast meal you can get bánh cuốn at various times throughout the day.
Lẩu is the Vietnamese hotpot and is another famous dish in Hanoi. Sharing a delicious hotpot with friends is a great way to spend an evening. There are meat, seafood and vegetarian options making this a great choice for all tastes. Once you have made your pick, a large cooking pot is brought to your table, filled with delicious boiling broth. You are given various plates of raw vegetables, noodles and your choice of meat. From then you are the chef, and you can throw in what you want when you want, and add all the spices or lemon you like into the broth. The hotpot experience will have you loosening your belt by meals end.
Chè: If you are looking for something on the sweat side then a glass of chè is a reasonable suggestion. You can mix and match your choice but in a nutshell chè is a sweat slurpy mess with coconut, crushed ice, jelly, beans and whatever else tickles your fancy. You can have it served hot to warm the belly in those colder months of the year.
Street food as a whole is extremely inexpensive. Most dishes will not cost more than a few dollars. The hotpot and BBQ can cost a little more however with a few friends you won’t be paying much at all.
More »
I'm not generally a fussy eater. Indeed, as a rule, I enjoy nothing better than sampling the local cuisine in far flung places. Hence, having been posted to work in Hanoi, I was delighted to be invited to share a meal with a new-found Vietnamese friend, Liem, and honoured when he enthused the meal was to be an official boys night out whereby we would eat, drink beer and talk politics. No doubt, I anticipated, while smacking each other heartily on the back between courses in a gesture of cross-cultural male bonding.
What Liem had failed to mention, however, became all too apparent as we approached the restaurant, a stilt house on Hanoi's Nghi Tam Avenue, just north of the city's Old Quarter. For, as we dismounted from our motorbikes hungrily, we were greeted by the unmistakable yelps of dogs being slaughtered. And, all too suddenly, it became clear to me that the highlight of a boy's night out Viet style was not the beer nor the jovial banter, but the chance to savour fresh dog meat (thit cho).
There were dozens of stilt house restaurants to choose from and as, due to Vietnam's lack of copyright laws, they had all copied each others names ("An Thu" was the most popular), we just chose the one which looked the busiest. As Liem explained, perhaps catching a flash of doubt in my eyes, "When visiting dignitaries come from Saigon, they always eat in this area. Traditionally, we sit on the floor with a view of the countryside. But don't worry, these are wild dogs, not pets. Pet dogs are our friends."
I didn't want to cause offence and I figured I had no right to pass judgement on the Vietnamese penchant to feast on man's best friend before I had even given it a go. Besides, if it was good enough for the Vietnamese cabinet, then it was good enough for me. I duly tucked in.
Hanoi has a fantastic selection of cheap and tasty street food but, as well as traditional favourites bun cha (small barbecued pork burgers served with a bowl of rice noodle vermicelli) and the Hanoi staple, pho (rice noodle soup), goat, dog, snake and rat are also common treats. Some travellers may find this ethically disturbing but the eating of such animals is deeply entrenched in Vietnamese culture and an invitation to share in a feast of Hanoi's unusual street eats is to be considered a rare honour.
The favourite leftfield eatery amongst tour parties is the Le Mat snake village, 4km over Chuong Duong bridge in Hanoi's Gia Lam district. Le Mat is home to a slew of snake meat restaurants (and assorted other animals come to mention it) which play up to the tourist dollar with elaborate histrionics. As such, the restaurants of Le Mat are, in relative terms, quite pricey; the Vu Thanh Hai, owned by the survivor of a snake attack with a gnarled hand to prove it, is probably pick of the bunch. But, if you are elected guest of honour, beware. After the waiter has split and drained the blood from the snake, you will be expected to swallow the still pumping heart. Local Vietnamese swear by its alleged amphetamine properties.
Another unusual eatery, albeit one frequented more by locals than tourists, is Khoa where the speciality du jour is tiet canh ngan (frozen goose blood served with liver, peanuts and lemon juice) swiftly followed by bun ngan (goose bottom with noodles). Geese are hung with freshly-cut throats from 6am and the drained blood kept fresh in the fridge until the lunchtime rush arrives. Goose blood is also apparently considered a delicacy for couples on first dates. Any self-respecting Vietnamese girl is, I was reliably informed, desperate for a night of goose blood followed by a lift home on the souped-up Honda Dream of a genuine tro lai, a biker gang leader.
Back at the stilt house restaurant, Liem was busy explaining that dog is a traditional feast in Northern Vietnam, eaten mostly in winter towards the end of the lunar calendar month and on special festival days - the Vietnamese equivalent of a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas goose. According to popular Vietnamese mythology, he told me, it's believed the dog meat is warming, will bring good luck and is eaten when old friends are reunited.
Meanwhile, a seemingly never-ending series of courses arrived: steamed and sliced dog pate (luoc), grilled dog meat hunks (cha nuong), dog meat served with green banana and tofu (rua man). It kept on coming and, with each mouthful, I found it harder to drown my doubts with glasses of the local brew, bia hoi. The taste, the texture and the sounds of Fido being skinned as we chewed on his cousin were all too much. I needed air. Fast.
Liem and I never returned to the dog restaurant, instead feasting on pho at bustling street kitchens and once sampling rice-paddy fed rat (surprisingly like chicken and really quite palatable). During my stay, I found that Vietnam has some of the world's best, cheapest and most unusual street food, but vowed that, if dog is the taste of Vietnamese celebration, I'd be out of town for the next big festival. For me, an aversion to eating dog is for life, not just for Christmas.
by: travelintelligence
More »
By Air
Hanoi has fewer direct international flights than HCMC, but with a change of aircraft in Hong Kong or Bangkok you can get to almost anywhere.
Vietnam Airlines: Hanoi to destinations throughout Vietnam. Popular routes include Hanoi to Danang, Dien Bien Phu, HCMC, Hué and Nha Trang, all served daily.
Pacific Airlines has daily flights to Danang and HCMC
From Noi Bai International Airport, you can reach Hanoi by taxi, public buses and shuttle buses.
- Taxis to downtown Hanoi from airport, the journey will be between 35-70 minutes, depending on traffic. At the airport, you will come across taxi drivers who may want to deliver you to a hotel of their choice to collect a commission, but if you insist, they usually give in. Otherwise, take another taxi. It is cheaper if you pay in dong, and the exchange rate won't work to your advantage.
- Public buses from airport to Hanoi take about an hour. Bus #07 crosses the Thang Long bridge and goes to the Daewoo Hotel on the western part of Hanoi. Bus #17 crosses the Chuong Duong bridge and goes close to the old quarter.
- Vietnam Airlines provide shuttle minibus from the airport to the Vietnam Airlines office in Hanoi and vice versa. The shuttle service will often offer to take you direct to your hotel for an extra dollar once they reach the Vietnam Airlines office.
By Train
The main Hanoi train station is at the western end of Pho Tran Hung Dao; trains from here go to destinations south. Foreigners can buy tickets for southbound trains at counter 2, where the staff speak English. It’s often best to buy tickets at least one day before departure to ensure a seat or sleeper.
To the right of the main entrance of the train station is a separate ticket office for northbound trains to Lao Cai (for Sapa) and China. Tickets to China must be bought from counter 13.
To make things even more complicated, some northbound (Lao Cai and Lang Son included) and eastbound (Haiphong) trains depart from Gia Lam on the eastern side of the Song Hong (Red River), and Long Bien on the western (city) side of the river. Be sure to ask just where you need to go to catch your train. Tickets can be bought at the main station until about two hours before departure; if it’s any closer to the departure time, go to the relevant station and buy tickets there.
Tickets for all destinations are sold in the main station, though there are two counter halls, north and south, serving the respective destinations.
By bus
Most of the "open-tour" bus itineraries either begin or end in Hanoi, with Hue the next (or previous) stop and from there to Hoi An, Nha Trang, Dalat, Mui Ne, Ho Chi Minh City, and other cities in Vietnam, depending on the bus company.
By taxi
Taxis are the best way to travel long distances. Taxi fares are not always consistent, and the rates for each taxi company have not been standardized.
The recommendation is to only use the reputable and reliable taxi companies. These are Hanoi Taxi (Tel (04) 38 535353), Taxi CP (Tel. (04) 38 262626), Mai Linh Taxi (Tel. (04) 38 616161).
Most taxi drivers speak limited English, so it's a good practice to get your hotel to write the name and address of you destination in Vietnamese to show the taxi driver, and get your hotel's business card in case you get lost.
By Motorbike driver & Cyclo
For lone travelers, rides on the back of motorbikes (actually low-powered scooters) are popular too (known as xe om, literally meaning motorbike-hug), but the cyclos, or pedicabs, are a cheap way to make shorter trips.
Motorbike drivers and Cyclo can be found on virtually every corner, especially in the Old Quarter. Expect to be offered a ride every half-block (or more). You should negotiate a fare in advance. Many drivers will accept US dollars as well.
Car & Motorcycle Rental
To hire a car with a driver, contact a hotel, travellers café or travel agency. The main roads in the northeast are generally OK, but in parts of the northwest they can be dire in the wet season and only suitable for a 4 wheel drive.
Motorcycles can be arranged by most hotels. This is good for making lots of trips around the city for individuals or duos, but be careful: Hanoi traffic is very difficult place to sharpen motorbike skills. Park on the sidewalk with other bikes, and be sure to lock the front wheel. Locals will help arrange the bikes near their stores. Many shops that have bike attendants will give you a ticket in exchange for parking your bike. The ticket will either have your license plate number written on it, or the ticket itself will be numbered, with that number subsequently chalked somewhere on your bike. In such cases (where you've been given a ticket), the attendants may ask that you NOT lock the steering column or front wheel of your bike so that they can rearrange the bikes as customers come and go.
More »
Hanoi is not a dangerous city and most visitors enjoy holidays in the city free from any unfortunate incidents. A certain degree of petty crime is present and some basic steps should be taken to minimise the risk of being targeted by thieves. Wallets and purses are easy pickings in crowded places so keep them in hard to reach places and keep cash in a money belt if possible. Bags also are common targets, both for snatchers and thieves looking to help themselves to their contents in busy public places, so make sure you wear them securely about your person and keep them within visual range at all times.More »