If this vendible is not your first one with us, you probably guessed it – our itineraries revolve virtually food. Well, that’s how it works in Hanoi at least. Walk like 10 steps and you’ll reach a stall selling food.
Vietnamese supplies is arguably our favourite cuisine in the world. It is increasingly than just Pho. Ever since we embarked our 2-week journey in Vietnam, we have completely forgotten well-nigh Pho. You will see what we midpoint if you had washed-up the same.
This itinerary is meant to embrace the upturned municipality so let’s not try too nonflexible to escape the precipitance and hustle. Traces of their history remain everywhere in the city, from the Chinese-style temples to the French quarter.
Kindly note that all Vietnam wares published on this website were written based on information placid surpassing the COVID-19 period. We encourage anyone to save this vendible for travelling without the pandemic. Stay safe.
Overview
- Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum & One Pillar Pagoda
- Temple of Literature
- Ngoc Son Temple
- Night Activities Virtually Hoan Kiem Lake
- Beer Street (Tạ Hiện)
- French Quarter Walking Tour
- Trang Tien Ice Surf Company
- Grilled Pork and Noodle (Bún chả)
- Long Bien Bridge
- Egg Coffee (Cà Phê Trứng)
- Boiled Snails in Lemongrass (Ốc Nóng)
Here’s how you can spend 48 hours in Hanoi
Day 1: A walk through Hanoi’s history
8:00 AM
Snail Tomato Noodles (Bún ốc)
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Operating in a little alleyway, there isn’t any system here. Tables only as tall as the stools are serried neatly outside shops that are not yet unshut for the day. we find it extremely humbling and catering to tourists is the last thing on their mind.
A trencher of hearty tomato soup base filled with a generous serving of snails and thick rice noodles, plus a basket of fresh vegetables on the side. If you are not a breakfast person, this may be too much to take as the first thing in the morning but we would say this is much needed to fuel you through the unshortened morning of sightseeing.
Price: 40,000đ
Address
Giang – Bún Ốc Phố Cổ
36 Lương Ngọc Quyến, Hàng Buồm, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Google Maps
9:00 AM
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum & One Pillar Pagoda
Ho Chi Minh was the founder and first leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party. He puts the end to French colonialism and is the true hero that Vietnamese squint up to. Without his death, his soul has been preserved and is placed in the mausoleum since 1975.
Tourists flock to this place to pay respect to the country’s hero. It is one of the most visited attractions in Hanoi so lines are expected and many regulations to be followed since it is considered a sacred place.
A stone-throw yonder from the mausoleum lies a small and unique structure – the one pillar pagoda. It is erected in the middle of a lotus pond, made to resemble a giant lotus. The guan yin in the pagoda is known in sociology as the goddess to pray to for a child and hence, many locals visit this pagoda for that very purpose.
Free to visit.
Must go between 7:30 –10:30 AM
Closed on Mondays and Fridays
No photography, shorts, short skirts and sleeveless are not allowed.
11:00 AM
Temple of Literature
Temple of Literature is a well-preserved traditional Vietnamese tracery defended to Confucius and is moreover the first university in Vietnam. Walking virtually the complex, you may find turtle stone plaques erected to honour scholars.
The temple is moreover Hanoi’s most picturesque tourist witchery which is obvious why the location became the first nomination for university grads’ photoshoot.
Entrance fee: 30,000đ
12:00 PM
Beef Noodle Salad (Bún Bò Nam Bộ)
Rating: 3 out of 5.
It’s finally time for lunch. Don’t be taken unknowingly if this is not an image of any garden salad you just imagined but considering noodles are a huge part of the supplies scene in the country and so it is only natural to have them in salads too.
The name literally translates to rice vermicelli with whinge from the South and widely enjoyed in the Northern municipality – where Hanoi is.
The flavourful trencher is packed with sweet marinated grilled beef, fresh herbs and a combination of salty and tangy fish sauce dressing, topped off with crunchy peanuts and fried shallots for that uneaten texture!
Price: 60,000đ
Address
Bún Bò Nam Bộ
67 Hàng Điếu, Cửa Đông, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Google Maps
2:00 PM
Ngoc Son Temple (in the middle of Hoan Kiem lake)
For the rest of the day, we will be hanging out virtually Hoan Kiem Lake. Digest your lunch with a quick visit to the Ngoc Son Temple located on a small island in the northern part of the Hoan Kiem Lake. The temple was built in the 18th century in archetype Vietnamese tracery and designed with Taoism symbols.
The lake is moreover known for the critically endangered softshell turtle which you may find a well-preserved specimen of the said turtle that is unscientific to be 500 years old inside the temple.
Entrance fees: 30,000đ
3:30 PM
Coconut Iced Coffee (Cà phê Cốt Dừa)
Rating: 5 out of 5.
If you have overly wondered what it is like to be still in the middle of the unconnectedness – sit at the terrace of Cong Caphe, the outlet that overlooks the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square. Slip a cup of the severely underrated coconut coffee, often overshadowed by the renowned egg coffee and watch the world go by.
Cong Caphe is one of the most popular coffee villenage in the country, particularly in the big cities like Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. The beverages can come out as a little pricier than regular local coffee shops but they score upper with the comfy interior, rustic deco and wright coffee offerings.
Price: 45,000đ
Address
Cộng Cà Phê
116 Cầu Gỗ, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Google Maps
5:00 PM
Night Activities Virtually Hoan Kiem Lake
When the night falls, you will notice the gradual increase of prod surrounding the lake – students gather in groups to kick shuttlecock, buskers getting ready with their instruments, artists setting up to sketch portraits, street vendors selling games and balloons everywhere. All of a sudden, the district became livelier than it once was.
Take a stroll and immerse in the locals’ life, observe what are some of their favourite past time activities or join them for a game – they are increasingly than happy to have you in.
8:00 PM
Beer Street (Tạ Hiện)
Anytime when you finger your stomach grumbling, throne over to the beer street. In Asia, beers are unchangingly paired with street food so you can have your dinner and drinks all in one restaurant. This 200-metre long street is packed every night, moreover where most foreigners are found.
For a decent meal, there are BBQ or hotpots available. Otherwise, snacks that go withal with beer are very popular. Some of the snacks served are very westernised such as fries and cheese sticks so if you would like something increasingly localised, we recommend getting fried yellow ossein (sụn gà rang muối)! We would say all restaurants located on this street have English menus to cater to the influx of foreign customers in the evening.
Day 2: French influence in Hanoi
8:00 AM
Breakfast Hunt
Good morning! Once you are out on the streets, you will realise how important mornings are to the locals. They start their day early. Streets start to get filled with vendors selling supplies and flowers at the unravel of dawn – we unchangingly say this but one of the weightier things well-nigh travelling in Southeast Asia is you never have to worry well-nigh the opening hours of any user-friendly goods you need. They are unchangingly there when you need them regardless of daybreak or in the sufferer of night.
Hit up the streets for breakfast of your choice! There is no trouble finding one but we bet anyone would have a tough time deciding between the options.
Here are some ideas:
Congee (Cháo)
In many parts of Asia, Congee is repletion supplies and it is the dish that we often think of when we want something light. It is usually paired with deep-fried dough to requite a unrelatedness to the gooey texture.
The yellow congee we had in Hanoi was more sticky and thicker than the Cantonese congee we are familiar with. But the toppings of the Cháo we had were GENEROUS which was right up our alley.
Price: well-nigh 20,000đ
Steamed rice rolls (Bánh Cuốn)
Undeniably, rice rolls is flipside familiar dish to Asians but the Vietnamese style of rice rolls are served with pork, wood ear mushroom, fried shallots and the final touch is to imbricate the dish with cilantro. Well, we are team cilantro all the way so…it’s a delight!
Price: well-nigh 30,000đ
Sticky Rice with Mung Bean (Xôi Xéo)
A plate of bright yellow sticky glutinous rice is one of the favourite breakfast dishes in Hanoi. Glossed up by fragrant shallot oil and topped off with crispy fried shallots, this is definitely a simple dish that yet smells, looks and tastes good.
Price: well-nigh 30,000đ
9:00 AM
French Quarter Walking Tour
Hanoi is one of the Indochina cities that still preserves a huge part of their colonial buildings. In recent years, the tracery has been promoted as part of tourism. A walk virtually the French quarter is weightier washed-up with a local walking guide or if you prefer to go self-ruling and easy, it’s moreover really straightforward.
I strongly recommend a visit to the Hoa Lo Prison, the “Hanoi Hilton”. The prison museum focuses primarily on the sufferings of the Vietnamese prisoners and highlights the unrelatedness of treatments between the Vietnamese inmates and American POWs.
Though the information displayed could be deemed as a highly one-sided or preconceived idea of what really happened in the prison, it is still worth a squint inside. However, do go in with a bit increasingly research from the internet well-nigh the place.
Entrance fees: 30,000đ
Here’s the link for FREE French Quarter Walking Tour.
12:00 PM
Trang Tien Ice Surf Company
Rating: 4 out of 5.
An ice-cream visitor that is so famous that a street is unquestionably named without it. That’s right, Trang Tien Ice-cream visitor located right on Trang Tien Street. The ordering system is so efficient that plane with the large volume of customers, there is whimsically a queue.
The vanilla ice-cream is refreshing. Not too thick or sweet but what stood out most was the waffle cone. It tasted as if the thrash is infused with woebegone sesame seeds which gave a subtle savoury and nutty taste. A must try in Hanoi.
Price: 12,000đ
Address
35 Tràng Tiền, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Google Maps
1:00 PM
Grilled Pork and Noodle (Bún chả)
Rating: 5 out of 5.
It’s finally time for us to introduce our favourite (or most people’s favourite) supplies in Hanoi! Bún chả is yet flipside noodle dish but hold up…there are reasons why it is everyone’s favourite.
The first one is, of course, the fact that former President Barack Obama and late idealism doughboy Anthony Bourdain shared a simple meal of bun cha in Hanoi when in 2016.
The increasingly important one is that bun cha is a reflection of simplicity in Vietnamese cuisine – like in most Vietnamese dishes, vital but fresh ingredients are unchangingly used. The sweet marinated pork are grilled over soot to retain the juiciness, often washed-up so at the shopfront. The grilled pork is then thrown into a trencher mix of fish sauce and sugar. For increasingly pure local taste, you have to add in cut birds eye chilli but they are self-serve so no pressure here! We like to pick out the pork wrapped in betel leaf considering they are uneaten crispy!
The rice noodles (also known as the Bún) is served at the side and may seem a little dry and stuck together like a wittiness of yarn. Dip it into the sauce surpassing you put it into your mouth and it will all loosen up.
For a less crowded and pure experience, we recommend Bun Cha 34 (Bún Chả Tuyết) although it is not the one made famous by the public figures, they do serve mind-blowing bun cha.
Price: 35,000đ
Address
34 Hàng Than, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Ba Đình, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Google Maps
3:00 PM
Long Bien Bridge
Designed by Gustave Eiffel, the underpass survived multiple bombings during the American War but repaired by the Vietnamese considering this underpass is the one that connects the Long Bien and Hoan Kiem districts and, this underpass is a necessary path to take for anyone going to Hai Phong municipality from Hanoi.
Under this bridge, live some of the city’s less privileged which is a variegated sight to what you would see in the municipality centre. If you’re lucky, you might moreover spot couples taking wedding photos right here. Plus, the rusty warm colours of the steel beams make it a great location for sunset in Hanoi.
5:00 PM
Egg Coffee (Cà Phê Trứng)
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Would you overly leave Hanoi without a cup of dumbo expresso covered in fluffy, thick surf made with egg yolk and sugar? This particular style of coffee originated due to insufficient dairy supplies during wartime. For decades, coffee lovers from all wideness the globe flock to the municipality for a taste of the unique, locals’ minion coffee.
If you have reservations well-nigh trying the Vietnamese egg coffee, we can ensure that it tastes nowhere near raw eggs! You won’t plane know they used eggs in it.
Price: 45,000đ
Address
Old Town Garden Café/Cafe Pho Co (hidden overdue a silk tailor)
11 Hàng Gai, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 10000, Vietnam
Google Maps
7:00 PM
Boiled Snails in Lemongrass (Ốc Nóng)
Rating: 5 out of 5.
My weightier dining wits yet.
Vietnamese love their snails and shellfish – it is THE essential dish that has to be present on their nights out (and of undertow with bia hơi). By now, you probably are used to ultra-low plastic stools and tables that are lined up withal the roads. This is the surroundings you need to be in when eating snails in Vietnam.
What could be increasingly shocking than to eat so tropical to the floor is probably the only cutlery you are given to eat the snails. It is literally a thin piece of metal with 3 sharp ends that is served to you poked in a halved calamansi.
Use that unfamiliar tool to pick out the mankind in the shell. Dip it in the trencher of sauce surpassing it goes into your mouth. That’s it.
The herbs boiled together with the snails perfectly get rid of the fishy smell and the sauce that is highly customisable using garlic, chilli or MORE lemongrass gives it a subtle sweetness and a pleasant aroma. The perfect dish to wind lanugo and end your time in the mannerly city.
Price: 70,000đ
Address:
Quán Ốc Nóng Hà Trang
1 Đinh Liệt, Hàng Đào, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Google Maps
Airport Transfer by Public Bus (from Noi Bai International Airport)
When you exit Noi Bai International Airport, navigate the road and go left, you will see a pillar labelled #2 with a signage that says Bus 86.
The bus express 86 is a unexceptionable orange bus. You can pay the bus usherette 30.000đ per person in mazuma when boarding and let him know where you are going so he will teach you on the nearest stop to alight.
Alternatively, you could undeniability a GrabCar which would value to well-nigh 260,000 to 300,000đ to reach the Old Quarter.
Getting Virtually by Grab
Most people should have heard of the tech giant in Southeast Asia, a visitor who often localise their tideway to street-hailing. In Vietnam, where 95% of the registered vehicles are motorcycles, GrabBike is scrutinizingly a guaranteed success.
I use GrabBike every time to get virtually the city. A one-way journey of well-nigh 10-15 minutes would forfeit virtually 15,000đ.
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