Hanoi: A First-Timer's Guide to Vietnam's Old Quarter Capital

Three picks across the spectrum of how Hanoians actually eat — and remember, Hanoi is the home of pho, banh mi, and bun cha, so this matters.

For the iconic pho institution: Pho Thin at 13 Lo Duc Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi. Open since 1979 — the most-cited Hanoi pho specialist, distinctive for stir-frying the beef briefly before adding the broth (unlike the south Vietnamese-style sliced raw beef approach).

Walk-in only; the queue is fast-moving. Around 80,000 dong (USD $3) per bowl.

For the iconic bun cha pick: Bun Cha Huong Lien, at 24 Le Van Huu Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi.

Made internationally famous when Anthony Bourdain ate here with President Obama in 2016 — the original "Bun Cha Obama" combination of grilled pork patties, vermicelli noodles, herbs, and a sweet-sour fish sauce. The actual table they sat at is preserved.

For another iconic dish: Cha Ca La Vong, at 14 Cha Ca Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. The 130+-year-old restaurant serving only one dish — turmeric-marinated fish (cha ca) cooked tableside with dill, scallions, and peanuts. The street is literally named after the dish.

Around 200,000 dong (USD $8) per person.

Hanoi is inland (the closest sea is Halong Bay, 2.5 hours away), and Vietnamese cuisine doesn't have a strong tradition of pairing seafood with Western sparkling wines.

For Hanoi seafood with proper Champagne, the destination is the Le Beaulieu French restaurant at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, at 15 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

The colonial-era French restaurant inside Hanoi's most historic hotel — daily fresh seafood from the Halong Bay and Da Nang coasts, the iconic French Sunday brunch with unlimited Champagne service, and a proper Champagne and Burgundy white-wine list.

Among the most consistently top-rated formal dining settings in northern Vietnam.

For a contemporary alternative with seafood focus, La Verticale at 19 Ngo Van So Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi from chef Didier Corlou (the long-time Hanoi-based French chef who has elevated Vietnamese ingredients into French fine dining since the 1990s) is the gastronomy alternative.

For an old-world historical stay in Hanoi, the reference is Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, at 15 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi.

Opened in 1901 — Vietnam's most historically significant hotel and one of the most-loved Sofitel Legend properties globally. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard honeymooned here in 1936. Graham Greene wrote The Quiet American in residence here.

Joan Baez wrote her song Where Are You Now, My Son? while sheltering in the hotel's WWII air-raid bunker during the 1972 Hanoi Christmas bombings — the bunker (the "Path of History" tour) is now preserved and bookable for guests. Jane Fonda also stayed during her famous 1972 visit.

364 rooms across the original Historic Wing (with Bordeaux-shutter colonial-era exteriors and creaking timber floors) and the modern Opera Wing.

Pricing from around VND 8,000,000/night (USD $320). Bookings via the official site. For a smaller boutique alternative, La Siesta Premium Hang Be in the Old Quarter is the modern boutique heritage choice.

Vietnam does not recognise same-sex marriage, but homosexuality has not been criminalised since 1958 and the country has become more progressive (a 2015 law removed the explicit ban on same-sex weddings, though the unions are still not legally recognised).

Hanoi's LGBTQ+ scene is more discreet than Ho Chi Minh City's. VietPride Hanoi takes place annually in October-November.

The neighborhood: There is no defined gay quarter in Hanoi. LGBTQ+ venues are dispersed primarily across the Hoan Kiem District (the Old Quarter and around Hoan Kiem Lake).

The bars: GC Bar at 5 Bao Khanh Lane, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi (sometimes spelled "Bao Khanh Alley") is the long-running iconic gay bar — small, intimate, mixed local-and-expat crowd. Heaven Pub & Karaoke at Trang Thi Street is another long-established option for karaoke nights.

Note: Hanoi's LGBTQ+ scene operates more quietly than Ho Chi Minh City's — local venues are often unmarked and word-of-mouth.

Spas: Vietnamese massage spas (not LGBTQ+-specific but widely used by LGBTQ+ travellers) are widely available; the dedicated gay-context venues are more limited and discreet.

The famous-person small museum: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum, at 1 Hung Vuong Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

The 1975 mausoleum holding the embalmed remains of Vietnam's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh — adjacent to the Presidential Palace gardens where Ho's modest stilt house (where he lived 1958-1969, preferring it to the colonial palace) is preserved.

The adjacent Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street is among Southeast Asia's most important traditional art collections, housed in a restored 1937 French Indochinese colonial building.

The recent landmark: Hanoi Train Street (Ngõ Trần Phú, near Hoan Kiem) is the iconic Instagram destination where trains pass within inches of café terraces twice daily; the authorities have restricted access multiple times for safety reasons but the cafés on either side continue to operate.

For a more architecturally serious recent landmark, the Vietnam Military History Museum reopened in 2024 at a new location on Dai Lo Thang Long, Tay Mo, Nam Tu Liem District — Hanoi's largest new museum facility in decades, with the iconic Soviet-era hardware preserved on the new grounds.

1-3 day itinerary: Day 1 — Old Quarter walking morning (36 streets of the medieval guild quarter, Bach Ma Temple, lunch at Pho Thin, Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngoc Son Temple), evening water puppet show at Thang Long Theatre.

Day 2 — Ba Dinh District morning (Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and stilt house, Temple of Literature — Vietnam's first university from 1070, lunch in the French Quarter), dinner at the Metropole.

Day 3 — Day trip to Halong Bay (3 hours each way; an overnight Halong Bay cruise is the better option if time permits) or to the Perfume Pagoda complex.