Tran Quoc Pagoda

During your supposed time in Hanoi, it is highly suggested that the beautiful Tran Quoc pagoda – the oldest one among others in Hanoi, be added to your visiting list. Tran Quoc Pagoda is located beside the dazzling West Lake, on Thanh Nien Road, Hanoi. Particularly, it is seated on an island linked by a bridge to the causeway between the two most romantic lakes of Hanoi: West Lake and Truc Bach [...]

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Van Phuc Silk Village

During their stay in Hanoi, most tourists insist on a trip to Van Phuc Silk Village, the famous silk village of Hanoi to contemplate the genuine traditional silk-making industry. Van Phuc Silk Village is situated on the banks of Nhue Thi River, Nguyen Trai Road, near Ha Dong city, 8 km southwest of Ha Noi. It takes you only 30 minutes by motorbike to go there from the centre of Hanoi. The village [...]

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Hanoi Flag Tower

Hanoi Flag Tower, also called Cot Co, is one of the rare architectural works in Hanoi that was fortunate enough to not be destroyed by the French administration between 1894 and 1897. It was used by French troops as an observation tower and communication station between command headquarters and adjacent military posts. It was built in 1812 and is composed of three platforms and a tower. The [...]

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Ho Chi Minh Museum

The Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi is a dedicated museum. It was built in memory of a great man whose name is written in golden alphabets in the history of Vietnam. The special person was a great revolutionary and statesman and went on to become first the Prime Minister and then the President of North Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi is the preserver of everything memorable related [...]

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Ho Chi Minh’s Residence

Refusing to live in the Presidential palace, President Ho Chi Minh lived in a normal electrician’s house nearby. The Government had a simple and nature-oriented environment constructed for him to live and work. Walking around, visitors can feel his simple and pure lifestyle in an wooden tiled house on stilt (of the Ethnic minority group’s style), surrounded by a gardens full of fruit trees [...]

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Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum

After two years of construction, the mausoleum of President Ho Chi Minh was officially inaugurated on August 29,1975. The facade of the mausoleum faces the historic Ba Dinh Square. The mausoleum is divided into three layers with a combined height of 21.6 meters. The lowest layer forms a terraced stand exclusively used for the presidium of grand meetings organized at the grassy Ba Dinh Square. [...]

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Duong Lam ancient village

After the recognition of Hoi An ancient town, Hanoi old quarter, Duong Lam village in Son Tay Town (some 60km to the west of Hanoi Capital) is the first ancient village recognised as a national relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.   Two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in Duong Lam, giving the village its prestige. Both men led resistance [...]

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Ngoc Son Temple

Ngoc Son Temple is on Hoan Kiem Lake, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Hoan Kiem Lake was already considered the most beautiful lake in Hanoi when Ngoc Son Temple was built on an island in the 19th century. Initially, the temple was called Ngoc Son Pagoda and was later renamed Ngoc Son Temple, since temples are dedicated to saints. Saint Van Xuong, considered to be one of the brightest stars in [...]

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Hoa Lo Prison

Known widely by the nickname"Hanoi Hilton" given to it by the Americans during the Second Indochina War, Hoa Lo Prison was originally established by the French colonial government in 1896 for the purpose of detaining political prisoners and formed part of a northern network of "unjust and cruel prisons" which included Cao Bang, Son La, Lai Chau and Hai Phong.   The French called the prison Maison [...]

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Bat Trang ceramic village

Bat Trang, a small village in the north of Viet Nam, is about 13 kilometers southeast of Ha Noi center, on the other side of the Red River. The village is famous for ceramic and pottery products of high quality. If you have known about Việt Nam, you may not be surprised that Bat Trang’s vases, bowls, dishes, and many other kinds of ceramic products have been exported worldwide. Bat Trang [...]

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Hanoi Opera House

The Hanoi Opera House is situated on Le Thanh Tong St., Hanoi; near the Red River and several hundreds meters east of Hoan Kiem Lake. It is an old theatre with French architecture and typical Gothic and Mosaic characters reflected on the door domes and the glassed room respectively. For a long time, the Hanoi Opera House has been a rendezvous for those who love theatrical performance and traditional [...]

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Quan Thanh Temple in Hanoi Vietnam

Legend has it that the Temple existed in the south of the To Lich River in the period of Cao Bien, a proconsul of the Chinese Tang Dynasty who built the citadel of Dai La (around 866).Quan Thanh temple in Hanoi, located at a corner of old Co Ngu Road, present-day Thanh Nien Road and Quan Thanh Street, near Hanoi’s West and Truc Bach Lakes, Quan Thanh Temple with its spacious and charming landscape [...]

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One Pillar Pagoda

The legend has it that on Ly Dynasty, Emperor Ly Thai To had no children so he used to go to pagodas to pray the Buddha for a son. One night, he dreamt that he was granted a private audience to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who was seated on a great lotus flower in a square-shaped lotus pond on the western side of Thang Long Citadel. He gave the King a baby boy. Months later, when the Queen gave [...]

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Vietnamese Water Puppets

Originally, the puppetry was always performed on a stage built in ponds. Wires were strung between stakes and as many as 200 scenes about village life and legends could be acted out. Today a show usually only incorporates about twenty five scenes. Some of the stages were permanent, but most were temporary wooden or bamboo structures in the shape of a temple which would be put up on special occasions. The art [...]

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Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

In its planning for the future, the Museum intends to present the cultures and civilisations of other countries of South-East Asia as well as in the region.Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is both a research centre and a public museum exhibiting the ethnic groups of Vietnam. The mission of the Museum is scientific research, collection, documentation, conservation, exhibition and preserving the cultural [...]

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Temple of Literature (Van Mieu)

Temple of Literature is located on Van Mieu Street, 2km west of Hoan Kiem Lake. Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam is a famous historical and cultural relic consisting of the Temple of Literature and Vietnam is first university. The Temple of Literature was built in 1070 in honour of Confucius, his followers and Chu Van An, a moral figure in Vietnamese education. Quoc Tu Giam, or Vietnam's first university, [...]

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Hoan Kiem Lake

When Vietnam was occupied by forces of the Chinese Ming in the 15th century, Le Loi, a resistance leader, netted a magnificent sword while fishing on the Lake. The power of the sword led Le Loi to victory and the expulsion of the Chinese. Later, as Emperor Le Thai To, he rowed out on the lake once more to return the sword from whence it came in gratitude for his success.  A sudden clap of [...]

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The 36 Streets

Hang Bac Street A majority of the street names in the Old Quarter start with the word hang. Hang means merchandise or shop. The guild streets were named for their product, service or location. Hang Bac, one of the oldest streets in Vietnam, dates from at least the 13th century. Bac means silver, and appropriately, this street started as a silver ingot factory under the reign of Le Thanh Tong (1469-1497). Village [...]

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