"Hanoi" Hanoi by stedeb

Hanoi Travel Guide: 2,675 reviews and 5,718 photos

Hanoi is a wonderful city but not to be compared with the big cities of the world ie Sydney, London or Bangkok. Hanoi is quaint especially the old quarter you can walk around the 36 streets peering into shops that sell just about anything anyone could possibly want.
It can be a little difficult walking around all the motor bikes that are parked up on the foot paths but that is part of the charm of this city.

city gate in old quarter

We stayed in the old quarter which we thoroughly enjoyed. The people are out and about very early cleaning the streets and selling food the bread is delicious with some cheese or banana makes a great cheap breakfast.
Tak a walk around the lake it is so peaceful tio sit and watch the people go about their daily business. We had a lot of local people stop and ask where we were from and they weren't all out to sell us postcards etc.
There are so many interesting sights to see as you walk around we came across this old city gate just by chance

water puppets

I would recomend anyone to go and see the water puppets at a cost of 40,000 (US$2.50) for VIP seats including the music tape and a fan. Even if you don't like that sort of thing it is only about 90 mins in air conditioned theatre we enjoyed it.
There are loads of internet cafes ilocated in the old quarter unfortunately we found most to be quite slow. There are also many many travel agents we stuck with Sihn Cafe who organised our whole trip over the internet before we left so wehn we arrived we just picked up all our tickets for all the trips, accom and transport can't recomend this service highly enough. Many of the travel agents advertise Sihn Cafe but many people we spoke to soon discovered they were not the real Sinh Cafe be careful we met many confused people.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Old quarter is great for shopping
Cons:Many Sinh Cafes
In a nutshell:A great city that should be enjoyed on foot

Last visit to Hanoi: Sep 2003
Intro Written Oct 16, 2003
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Reviews (4)

Water Puppets Nightlife (1)

I realise water puppet theatre may not be everyone's cup of tea mine included!!! We paid 40,000 VND included in the... more travel advice

one of the many Sinh Cafe buses we used - Hanoi

Sinh Cafe Transportation (1)

We used Sinh Cafe for all our transport and found them to be excellent. Some of the mini buses used in the north were a... more travel advice

In the centre of Hanoi's old quarter Hotels (1)

We spent 6 night at the Classic 1 which was very clean, comfortable & friendly. Breakfast was included in the cost with... more travel advice

Madam want postcards??? Tourist Traps (1)

There are many people selling postcards on the streets a lot of them are disabled in some way and yes it is hard to not... more travel advice

Comments (5)

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Tattugran Jan 2, 2006 at 2:01 AM

Great information....thank you Vicky
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mypriority Oct 9, 2005 at 8:04 PM

You have a good shot on the water puppet. I was fascinated by the show, but I couldn't get as nice shot as you did!!!!
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aussiedoug Jul 29, 2004 at 5:31 AM

Vietnam is on my wish list to see one day. Thanks for these helpful tips on Hanoi. Think I'd prefer to start off here & work my way down to the hustle & bustle of Ho Chi Minh city.
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pmarshuk Nov 28, 2003 at 3:48 AM

Followed your tip about the Classic 1 hotel and also had a great time there. Very friendly staff Thanks
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SPW Nov 11, 2003 at 3:46 PM

A great place. More please.