Hanoi
Old Quarter lanes, lakes and pagodas, with Ha Long Bay a drive away.
Hanoi is Vietnam's thousand-year-old capital, a city of lakes, French villas, temples and the tight grid of the Old Quarter, where each street was once a guild. Motorbikes fill the roads, pho fills the pavements, and the karst bays and valleys of the north — Ha Long, Ninh Binh, Sapa — are all within reach.
Why go
For a capital that has kept its texture: the Old Quarter's tube houses and street kitchens, Hoan Kiem lake at dawn with the tai chi groups, the Temple of Literature's courtyards, the opera house and the tree-lined boulevards of the French quarter.
And as the base for the north: an overnight on a boat in Ha Long or Lan Ha Bay, a day among the limestone towers and rice paddies of Ninh Binh, and the terraced hills of Sapa for those with more time.
Highlights
What people go for, in no particular order.
01The Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem
Thirty-six streets of trades, temples and street food around the lake with its Turtle Tower and the red Húc bridge to the Ngoc Son temple. Early morning and after dark are the hours to walk it.
02Ha Long Bay
Limestone islands in an emerald sea, seen from the deck of a boat over a night or two, with kayaking into caves and lagoons. Lan Ha Bay next door is the quieter version.
03Ninh Binh
The 'Ha Long on land': rowing boats through caves and between karst towers at Tam Coc and Trang An, and the stair up Hang Mua for the view over the paddies.
04The Temple of Literature and the Ho Chi Minh quarter
The Confucian academy with its courtyards and stelae, and the mausoleum, stilt house and One Pillar Pagoda in the leafy quarter of ministries beside it.
05The train street and the food
Cafés a hand's breadth from the tracks, bun cha in an alley, egg coffee above the lake, banh mi from a cart. The food of Hanoi is the reason many come back.
06The French quarter and the museums
The opera house, the cathedral and the boulevards of villas south of the lake, and the ethnology, fine arts and women's museums that explain the country.
07Sapa and the hills
Rice terraces and hill-tribe villages in the mountains near the Chinese border, reached by overnight train or a long road, for treks between homestays.
Areas
Where to base yourself, and what each area is like.
The Old Quarter
In the middle of everything, in small hotels on lanes full of life. Noisy, atmospheric and walkable.
Hoan Kiem and the French quarter
The lake, the opera house and the grand hotels along quieter, wider streets.
Tay Ho, the West Lake
The expatriate lakeside district with cafés, restaurants and a calmer pace, a taxi ride from the centre.
When to go: Hanoi
- AutumnSeptember – November
- Dry, mild and clear: good weeks in Hanoi and on the bay, October especially.
- SpringMarch and April
- Warming up, with some drizzle and mist, and the Tet holiday having passed. Good for the north.
- SummerMay – August
- Hot, humid and stormy, with heavy showers that pass. The bay can be hazy; Sapa is at its greenest.
- WinterDecember – February
- Cool and grey with a fine drizzle, sometimes cold. Tet, the lunar new year, falls in this period and closes much of the city for days.
Getting there
Airports
One airport in our search serves Hanoi. Distances are measured in a straight line.
- HANNoi Bai International
Distance from
- SINSingapore2,200 km
- BOMMumbai3,450 km
- DXBDubai5,150 km
- SYDSydney7,770 km
- CDGParis9,180 km
- LHRLondon9,260 km
- JNBJohannesburg9,870 km
- JFKNew York13,160 km
Getting around: Hanoi
The Old Quarter is walked, with care crossing the motorbike streams. Ride-hailing on cars and motorbikes is everywhere; taxis are metered; two metro lines run, and more are being built.
Ha Long and Ninh Binh are around two to three hours by road, usually with a tour or driver; the overnight train reaches Lao Cai for Sapa. Domestic flights link Da Nang and the south.
Practical facts
The country, its currency and languages, the time zone and the time there now.
- Country
- Vietnam
- Currency
- VND · Vietnamese Dong
- Languages
- Vietnamese
- Time zone
- Indochina Time
- Local time now
- Calling code
- +84
The atlas
Hanoi in figures
The figures under this guide: the climate on modelled 2001–2020 averages, how far it is from the UAE, and the places around it.
Climate
The weather in Hanoi, month by month
- Jan20°
- Feb23°
- Mar27°
- Apr30°
- May32°
- Jun32°
- Jul32°
- Aug31°
- Sept30°
- Oct28°
- Nov25°
- Dec21°
- Mild to warm and dry
- Mild to warm, humid or showery
- Hot
- Cool
- Wet
- Cold
Good for going, on these averages: October to April.
Mean highs run from 20°C in January to 32°C in June, with about 1,607 mm of rain in a year.
These are modelled averages for 2001–2020; the seasons described above are our own reading of a typical year.
Month-by-month climate for HanoiModelled averages for an area about 50 km across, not a weather station's record: NASA POWER climatology, 2001–2020.
Airports
How far it is from the UAE
From DXBHanoi
5,150 km
6 hrs 50 mins · Estimate
From AUHHanoi
5,240 km
6 hrs 55 mins · Estimate
The great-circle distance, and a rough flying time: the distance at an average 850 km/h plus 45 minutes for take-off and landing. Real flights follow airways, meet headwinds and wait for traffic, so schedules differ.
On the map
Places near Hanoi
Plan this trip: Hanoi
Open the trip builder with Hanoi already filled in. Flights, stays and everything else are priced together in one quote, prepared by a person on our team.
