Best Things to Do in Hanoi

The Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem, and how to actually use them

The Old Quarter is not a sight you tick off, it is where you stay and where the day starts and ends. The grid of trade streets still carries its guild names: Hang Bac was silver, Hang Ma is paper goods and votive offerings, Hang Thiec is tinsmiths, and several are still doing roughly the job the name says. Walk it from about 06:00, when the pavements are full of people eating breakfast and the motorbike volume has not yet peaked.

Hoan Kiem Lake is the pivot. Ngoc Son Temple on its island, reached by the red wooden bridge, takes a small separate ticket and about twenty minutes. The lake works better as a compass than as an attraction: almost everything a short visit wants sits within a twenty-minute walk of it.

The weekend walking streets are the thing to plan around. The Hoan Kiem pedestrian zone runs from 19:00 on Friday until midnight on Sunday, closing sixteen streets and squares around the lake to traffic, Dinh Tien Hoang, Le Thai To, Hang Khay, Trang Tien, Le Lai, Le Thach, Tran Nguyen Han, Dinh Le, Nguyen Xi, Lo Su, Hang Dau, Ho Hoan Kiem, Luong Van Can, Bao Khanh, Hang Bai and the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc square among them. You get street performers, food carts, children’s games chalked on the tarmac and the only chance in the week to cross central Hanoi without negotiating traffic. If your dates are flexible, include a Saturday.

One caveat on that. The city suspends the walking streets outright for national events, as it did for the week to 20 March 2026 around the National Assembly and People’s Council elections, and it extends them for public holidays. Both are announced only days ahead, so check locally rather than assuming the standard weekend.

Two practical notes. Crossing the road elsewhere works by walking at a slow, constant pace and letting the bikes flow around you; stopping suddenly is what causes problems. And the railway-track cafes have been closed by the authorities on safety grounds more than once, with access opening and shutting unpredictably, so do not build an afternoon around them.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum: closed until 3 November 2026

The mausoleum is shut right now. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Command, acting on Ministry of Defence instruction issued as Official Dispatch 1909/CV-BTL of 23 April 2026, suspended all visits from 4 September to 2 November 2026 for the periodic maintenance the embalmed body requires. Visits resume on 3 November 2026. This closure happens most years and it catches a lot of autumn visitors, so if you are in Hanoi before November, plan around it rather than turning up.

The rest of the complex stays open while the mausoleum does not. Ba Dinh Square, the Presidential Palace grounds, the stilt house and fish pond, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Ho Chi Minh Museum all continue to receive visitors through the maintenance period, so the morning is not wasted.

Hours when it is open. Mornings only, and never on Monday or Friday. From 1 April to 31 October the ceremony runs 07:30 to 10:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 07:30 to 11:00 at the weekend. From 1 November to 31 March it runs 08:00 to 11:00, extended by about half an hour at the weekend. The mausoleum opens on 19 May, 2 September and at Lunar New Year even when those dates fall on a normally closed day.

The dress code and the rules. Shoulders and knees must be covered. Shorts, vests and short skirts will get you turned away at the outer checkpoint, and there is no hire service. Beyond clothing: no photography inside, no talking, no hands in pockets, and bags and cameras go to a compulsory left-luggage counter before you join the line. You file past the body at a set pace and it takes a couple of minutes. Entry is free. Arrive at least half an hour before the stated opening, because the queue forms well ahead of it and is cut off before closing.

Temple of Literature, the Citadel, and which museums are worth the hours

The Temple of Literature, Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam, is the site of Vietnam’s first university and the one classical site in central Hanoi that repays a slow visit. Five walled courtyards run back to the Imperial Academy, with the 82 stone doctoral stelae on their turtle plinths in the third. Entry is 70,000 VND for an adult, open 08:00 to 17:00 daily. The 35,000 VND concession is for students holding a Vietnamese student card, so foreign visitors should expect to pay full price; entry is free for under-16s, for anyone aged 60 or over with ID, and for people with severe disabilities. An evening programme, Experience a Night at Van Mieu, runs 18:00 to 22:00 on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays on a separate ticket.

The Thang Long Imperial Citadel, a UNESCO site, is a short walk away and makes a better companion piece than a second museum: excavated foundations, the Doan Mon gate and the underground command bunker used during the American war.

On museums, three earn their place:

• Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the strongest museum in the city, covering all 54 recognised ethnic groups, with full-scale houses rebuilt in the garden behind. 40,000 VND adult and 20,000 VND for students, open 08:30 to 17:30, closed Mondays and at Lunar New Year, and out in Cau Giay, so allow travel time.
• Vietnamese Women’s Museum, listed at 40,000 VND, daily 08:00 to 17:00 with no closing day, and central. Two focused hours on marriage customs, street vendors and women in the wars.
• Hoa Lo Prison, 50,000 VND, open 08:00 to 17:00 every day of the week including public holidays and Tet. Under-16s go free and students, over-60s and people with severe disabilities pay half. The colonial French section is the substantial part; the American-war rooms are presented from one point of view and read accordingly.

All three cost less than a cocktail, so the real question is how many hours indoors you want, not the ticket price.

Day trips: Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay and Lan Ha Bay

Ninh Binh is the best day trip from Hanoi and the only one that genuinely works in a single day. It is 90 to 95 km south, about 90 minutes by car on the tolled CT01 expressway or two to two and a half hours by train from Hanoi station. The draw is the karst landscape at Trang An and Tam Coc from a small rowing boat, the tenth-century capital at Hoa Lu, and the climb up Hang Mua for the view over the valley. Leave by 07:00 and you get all of it.

Ha Long Bay is about 165 km east, two and a half to three hours each way using the Hanoi to Hai Phong expressway. That is doable as a day trip, but it buys you roughly four hours on the water on a busy day boat in the most crowded part of the bay. An overnight cruise is a different experience for not much more money, and if the bay is the reason you came north, take the night.

Lan Ha Bay, immediately south of Ha Long and reached through Hai Phong and Cat Ba, is the alternative most repeat visitors prefer: the same drowned karst, far fewer boats, and swimming that is actually pleasant. It is further, around 200 km and four hours or so door to door, which effectively rules out a day trip and points you at one or two nights.

Sapa gets sold as a day trip and is not one. It needs at least one night, realistically two.

When to go: the humid summer and the cold, damp winter

Hanoi has four real seasons, which surprises people who expect tropical Vietnam. Long-term averages put the annual mean near 24 C with humidity around 79 percent, and the two extremes are more demanding than those numbers suggest.

Summer, May to September, is hot and heavy. June is the warmest month at close to 28.9 C, August humidity averages around 85 percent, and more than 250 mm of rain falls in each month from June to September, with August the wettest at about 320 mm. Rain arrives as short violent downpours rather than all-day drizzle, so it rarely cancels a day, but heat plus moisture makes long walking sessions tiring. Typhoon season for the north runs from late July to mid-October, with September the likeliest month for a storm or its remnants. That mainly matters for bay cruises, which are cancelled on the port authority’s instruction rather than the operator’s.

Winter, November to February, is cool and dry on paper: averages of 16 to 23 C and generally under 50 mm of rain a month, with January the coldest at about 16.2 C. What the figures hide is mua phun, the fine cold drizzle that can sit over the city for days under a flat grey sky. It is not much rain, but it is persistent, and buildings are rarely heated, so it feels colder indoors than the number suggests. Pack a layer.

The best windows are October to early December and March to April: dry enough, warm enough to sit outside in the evening, and clear enough for the bays. Note that October also falls inside this year’s mausoleum closure, so an October trip should be built around the rest of the Ba Dinh complex.

At a glance

Frequently asked questions

Is the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum open right now?

No. It is closed from 4 September to 2 November 2026 for periodic maintenance and reopens on 3 November 2026, under an order the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Command issued as Official Dispatch 1909/CV-BTL on 23 April 2026. Ba Dinh Square, the stilt house, the One Pillar Pagoda and the Ho Chi Minh Museum stay open through the closure. A maintenance closure of this kind happens most years, so check the current announcement before an autumn trip.

What are the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum opening hours, and what should you wear?

Mornings only, and never on a Monday or a Friday. From 1 April to 31 October it is 07:30 to 10:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 07:30 to 11:00 at the weekend; from 1 November to 31 March it is 08:00 to 11:00, about half an hour longer at the weekend. It also opens on 19 May, 2 September and at Lunar New Year even when those fall on a closed day. Cover shoulders and knees, leave bags and cameras at the counter, and join the queue well before opening. Entry is free.

How many days do you need in Hanoi?

Three days covers the city properly: one for the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem, one for the Ba Dinh complex, the Temple of Literature and the Citadel, and one for a museum plus food. Add a fourth for Ninh Binh, which is the only day trip that truly works as a day trip, and a fifth and sixth if you want an overnight in Ha Long or Lan Ha Bay.

Can you do Ha Long Bay as a day trip from Hanoi?

You can, but it is a poor trade. The drive is two and a half to three hours each way using the Hanoi to Hai Phong expressway, so a day trip leaves you about four hours on a busy boat in the most visited stretch of water. An overnight cruise costs relatively little more and is a different trip. Lan Ha Bay, quieter and further at around 200 km, needs a night.

When do the Hanoi weekend walking streets run?

The Hoan Kiem pedestrian zone runs from 19:00 on Friday to midnight on Sunday, closing sixteen streets and squares around the lake to traffic. The city suspends it for national events, as it did for the week to 20 March 2026 around the National Assembly and People’s Council elections, and extends it for public holidays. Both changes are announced only days ahead.

What is the best time of year to visit Hanoi?

October to early December, then March to April. Summer from May to September is hot and very humid, with over 250 mm of rain a month from June to September and typhoons possible from late July to mid-October. Winter is dry but cool, averaging 16 to 23 C, with a persistent fine drizzle called mua phun and unheated buildings, so bring a warm layer.