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Hanoi and around

Click on the photos below to read stories, guides and itineraries. The articles are free to read unless the publisher has a paywall.

Vietnam Coracle •

Đoài Homestay | Đường Lâm Village

Đoài Tour & Homestay is set within a cluster of tasteful contemporary buildings nestled in Đường Lâm, which tour guides might tell you is the oldest village in Northern Vietnam (whatever that means). The property, designed by Hanoi architect Khuất Văn Thắng and consisting of just a handful of rooms, is imbued with boutique vibes that are hard to come by outside of Vietnam’s major tourist hotspots. Note that although the staff are especially hos...
Vietnam Coracle •

Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi

Formerly occupying a cramped corner of the Imperial Citadel in central Hanoi, the Vietnam Military History Museum moved to Nam Từ Liêm towards the end of 2024. The move meant abandoning a prime location in downtown Ba Đình District – mere steps from the Old Quarter – but also a substantial upgrade in the museum’s facilities. Financed by the Ministry of Defence, the new museum is reported to have cost 2.5 trillion VNĐ (just shy of $10 m...
Tripadvisor •

2 Days in Hanoi: The Perfect Itinerary

Hanoi may be more than 1,000 years old, but it has a buzz that you’ll pick up on right away. From the crack of dawn, locals are out practicing tai chi and laughter yoga (yes, it's really a thing) around the lakes. Throughout the day they chat over iced coffee with milk at sidewalk cafes, and after the sun goes down they drink locally brewed beer at their favorite watering holes. Hanoians take pride in their legendary food scene, so they devote a great deal of time to slurping noodles in street k
MICHELIN Guide •

Where to Eat and Stay in Hanoi's French Quarter

The French designed the French Quarter’s street plan over a century ago, but the Vietnamese have since made it their own. Motorbikes course through the streets, coffee shops spill onto the pavements, and parasite architecture abounds, adding a textured aesthetic to the orderly European blueprint.


The French Quarter is also a culinary hub. Of the 48 restaurants listed in the MICHELIN Guide Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 2023, around a third in Hanoi are in this part of the city. In recent years, t
Morning Calm (Korean Air) •

Where East and West Collide

Central Hanoi is a patchwork of historic neighborhoods, each with its own personality. Quaint charm is on full display in the Old Quarter and around Hoan Kiem Lake, where much of the city’s accommodation is located. Ba Dinh is home to a thriving diplomatic quarter, grand museums and Ho Chi Minh’s iconic mausoleum. West Lake, once a col- lection of rural villages, is now a hub for Hanoi’s burgeon- ing cosmopolitan community, with sky-high apartment buildings that sit next to lakeside temples and pagodas. But the French Quarter, which stretches east from the banks of Hoán Kiem Lake, is different.
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