Below is all useful information that you should know and do when you decide to visit Hanoi.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is a fascinating blend of East and West, with Chinese influence from centuries of dominance, and French design from its colonial past. It is largely unspoiled by modern architecture of the 1970s and 80s, and is now going through a modernization that is making it a rising star in Southeast Asia.

Understand

Invading forces from every direction agree: Hanoi makes a fine capital. It has held that title for more than a thousand years, through several invasions, occupations, restorations, and name changes. The Chinese conquered the imperial city of of Ðai La in 1408 and renamed it Tong Bình. Le Loi repelled the invaders in 1428 and applied the name of ; for his efforts, he received the crown and a slew of legends about his heroic exploits, many centered around the Hoan Kiem Lake in the Old Quarter. The Nguyen Dynasty gave the city its modern name of Ha Noi in 1831, but they had transferred power to Hue by then; it remained there until 1887, when the French made Hanoi the capital of all Indochina. It changed hands again in 1954, when it was ceded to Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh after almost a decade of fighting, and it became the capital of North Vietnam; upon reunification in 1975, it assumed that title for the entire country.

The first Western-style

universities in Vietnam were founded in Hanoi, and today, it is the leading center of scientific study and research in the country. Hanoi retains much of its older colonial charm, despite the battles that have raged over it; conflict had the side effect of making it largely oblivious to modern architecture, and as a result, few buildings in the city center area are higher than five stories. The Old Quarter is second only to Hoi An for uninterrupted stretches of colonial and pre-colonial architecture, well-preserved on dense warrens of narrow, wonderfully atmospheric streets. It trades the commercial boom and sprawl of Ho Chi Minh City in the South for a more understated charm, worth enjoying for an extra day or two, and with countless transport options and travel agents, it makes a perfect base for exploration of the North.

Museums

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (Open mornings only, 8-11am; closed afternoons, Mondays, and Fridays. Admission free.) The city down south may have his name, but only Hanoi has the man himself, entombed in distinctly Lenin-esque fashion - against his wishes, but that's how it goes. No talking, short pants, or other signs of disrespect allowed while viewing; photos are allowed only from outside, in the grand Ba Dinh Square. Purses are allowed into the tomb, but expect them to be searched by several bored soldiers along the way. Left luggage is handled in a complicated scheme: there is an office near the street for large bags, with separate windows for Vietnamese and foreigners, and a further office for cameras, which will be transported to a third office right outside the exit of the mausoleum. Items checked in at the first office, however, will stay there. Note that the mausoleum is closed for a couple months around the end of the year, when the body is taken abroad for maintenance.

Right around the corner, this gleaming white museum and its gloriously ham-handed iconography are the perfect chaser to the solemnity of the mausoleum. The building, completed in 1990, is intended to evoke a white lotus. Some photos and old letters are on display on the second floor, but the main exhibition space is on the third floor. Guards won't allow photos of the giant bronze Ho Chi Minh statue at the top of the stairs, but tend not to care about photos of the rest of the exhibits, which include cars crashing through walls to represent the chaos of post-war American capitalism, soldiers charging around with electric plugs, and a cave hideout re-imagined as the inside of Ho Chi Minh's brain. Guides are available in English, French, Chinese and Russian, but don't bother; the displays are labeled in English and French, and it's hard to imagine the guides doing much other than belaboring the point.

Ho Chi Minh's Vestige In The Presidential Palace Area (No.1 Bach Thao, Ba Dinh, Hanoi. Open

7:30-11am, 2-4pm in the summer, and 8-11am, 1:30-4pm in the winter. Closed Monday and Friday afternoons. The exit from the mausoleum takes you right into the grounds of the, uh, vestige, where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked from 1954 until his death in 1969. The nicely landscaped complex includes two of Ho Chi Minh's houses, kept shiny and "as he left them" by the authorities, as well as a garage with two of Ho's cars and a carp-filled pond. The Presidential Palace is also nearby, but it's not always open to visitors. Pamphlets are available in English, Chinese, French, and Korean. Guided tours are usually available if you wait. 

 One-Pillar Pagoda . Tucked away between the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum. Travelers find the One-Pillar Pagoda either charming and lovely or utterly pointless, depending on how many tour groups are crammed into the small grounds at the time of their visit. Either way, it's free.

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (Address: Nguyen Van Huyen Road, Cau Giay District) 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 and historic patrimony of the nation’s different ethnic groups. The museum also serves to guide research, conservation, and technology that are specific to the work of an ethnographic museum. 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 Fine Arts Museum is located in 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street of Hanoi. The Museum is attracting a great number of domestic and foreign visitors thanks to not only the exhibition content but also the artistic architecture of the building. It was an old structure, built in the 1930s by the French, reserved for the French colonial rulers’ daughters throughout the Indochina who came to Hanoi to study. In 1962, the government requested the Ministry of Culture to transform the building from the western architecture into a Vietnamese appearance with ornamental details from the traditional architecture of communal house and fit for exhibiting works of fine arts. So only on June 26, 1966 was Vietnam Fine Arts Museum officially inaugurated with the total area of 4200 square meters which 1200 square meters for exhibition. From 1997 to 1999, the total area was increased to 4737 square meters. In addition to the Museum in Nguyen Thai Hoc street, the second branch at Hoang Cau street of Hanoi also has an excellent atmosphere with a system of large room and sufficient equipment reserved for art work conservation store, restoration lab, conferences and meetings.

Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) (On Quoc Tu Giam St., south of the Mausoleum. The Temple of Literature was founded in 1070 and established as the country's first university six years later. The courtyard features numerous stone tablets, each mounted on the back of a tortoise, with the names of graduates.

Army Museum - Dien Bien Phu Street

Vietnam's military history extends back some two millennia, and this museum covers it on four buildings wiht interested pieces. Legends on Vietinamese, french and english. On display outside are the ubiquitous MiG-21 jet fighter, T-54 tank and many bombs and articles captured on Indochina and Vietnam wars.

Air Force Museum , Truong Chinh Street (Southwest of center). There's a decent outdoor collection of Soviet-built MiG fighters, a huge Mi-6 helicopter, and other aircraft; unfortunately they've been exposed to the elements for some time and local kids climb over them.

Natural Museum of Vietnamese History, No. 1, Trang Tien Street. This is a collection from Vietnamese history from about 1000 years back until 1945. Many antiques and the such. From 1945 onwards, you can go to the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution located just a five minute walk away.

Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution, 25 Tong Dan Street (and 216 Tran Quang Khai Street) Open every day except Monday, from 8.00 to 11.45 and from 13.30 to 16.15. This museum gives a very informed and detailed account of the Vietnamese struggle against first the French (starting in 1858 -- on the first floor), then against the Americians (on the ground floor -- ending on 30 April 1975).

Hoan Kiem Lake , HanoiHoan Kiem Lake is a pleasant park in the center of town, within easy walking distance from anywhere in the Old Quarter. It's the locals' favorite leisure spot, and a great place to watch early-morning tai chi or sit and read in the afternoon. Hoan Kiem means "returned sword", and the name comes from a legend in which King Le Loi was given a magical sword by the gods, which he used to drive out the invading Chinese. Later, while boating on the lake, he encountered a giant turtle, who grabbed the sword and carried it down to the depths, returning it to the gods from whom it had come. (You can see a version of the legend at the Water Puppet Theater - see below.) Rumor has it the giant turtles still inhabit the lake.

Ngoc Son Temple extends out into the lake, with small but attractive grounds, displays on Vietnamese history and, more memorably, displays on the giant turtles, including a mummified specimen.

Ho Tay, or "West Lake" ,is northwest of the city, and has become a popular site for gaudy villas owned by the well-to-do. Next to the West Lake you can have a visit to the two most famous sites in Hanoi, namely, Quan Thanh Temple and Tran Quoc Pagoda.

Wartime sites

Hoa Lo Prison ("The Hanoi Hilton"), 1 Hoa Lo, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. Open 8.30 to 11.30 and 13.30 to 16.30. This prison was built by the French at the turn of the 20th century, in classical French prison design. This is where the French imprisoned and executed many of the Vietnamese freedom fighters. The prison was also used to hold U.S. prisoners of war. Now a museum (2/3 of the prison was torn down to make way for the Hanoi Towers), the museum gives a very good example of the brutal French colonial regime and the struggle of the Vietnamese people against imperialism.

B-52 Lake. Until December 19, 1972, this was just a small brackish pond just off Hoang Hoa Tam Street, about 1 km west of the mausoleum. On that day, in a twisted retelling of the Hoan Kiem legend (see above), Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns (possibly with the help of flying turtles) retook the enemy's eight-engined, 100-ton sword and sent it, too, to the shallow bottom of the lake, where it remains today.

Downed Aircraft Memorial. Along Thanh Nien Street on Truc Bach lake there is a stone plaque commemorating the shooting down of a U.S. Navy (not "USAF" as depicted) aircraft in 1967. Peruse the Vietnamese script and you can pick out the name of John McCain, one of the airmen.

Theatre

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre - 57 Dinh Tien Hoang St., across the street from the shores of the Hoan Kiem Lake. A visit to the water puppet theater is a real highlight of a trip to Hanoi. Live musicians accompany folk legends from Vietnamese history, told with wooden men, women and dragons, dancing and splashing on the face of the water. The narratives are sung in Vietnamese, but a list of titles is available in several languages. There are several performances throughout the day, but it's virtually impossible to buy tickets for the same day, and most performances for the following day will be sold out as well. Camera passes are an extra 15,000 dong, but whether you buy one or not is purely on the honor system. Don't worry about getting wet, but the seats are very small, and visitors with above-average height will have to squirm a bit.

Do

Sit on a plastic chair in front of one of the Bia Hoi (fresh beer) establishments which are invariably situated on the corners of many of Hanoi's 'Old Quarter' streets. This preservative-free light beer is the perfect drink to sup upon as you watch the city's frenetic life bustle by. The beer costs less than twenty cents and gives you an excuse to relax and take photos of the passing local characters. Should not be missed. Moreover, once you reach the Old Quarter, you will find that almost every corner is filled with stalls selling Pho (Vietnamese noodle) and cafe (the name is not limited only to coffee, but also tea, sweets and grocery items, and yes, even to Pho!).

Buy 

Hanoi is a shoppers paradise for silk, lacquerware, wood, custom tailoring and other Asian inspired design. The bargains are among the best in Asia. Artisans and craftsmen have set up shop in the Old Quarter for generations, and each street is named after the item traditionally sold there. Among the more interesting sights are the streets close to the lake full of nothing but stores overflowing with wave upon wave of white shoes, and a few shops offering to custom-carve black marble tombstones (complete with portrait) for anyone passing by.

In the quarter between Hoan Kiem Lake and the Cathedral, you'll find numerous shops with the same selection but of better quality. Vendors know that, so prices are higher than in the Old Quarter. Shops can sometimes arrange shipment to overseas destinations, and even with the added costs you'll still have a bargain.

Eat

Since the mid 90s, the Vietnamese cuisine has caught up again and is now very diverse and most delicious. Most famous remains 'Pho Ga' (chicken noodle soup) or 'Pho Bo'(Beef noodle soup). There are various dishes including chicken, beef, fish and seafood.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of restaurants nowadays in Hanoi catering to everyone's taste. Be careful in your selection of eatery as most often the food on offer is utterly appalling and prepared in the most unhygienic conditions. Often western travelers need to contend with recurring bouts of diarrhea and should prepare themselves for the eventuality.

The community of Le Mat (aka the Snake Village) has numerous restaurants specializing in cobra foodstuffs. Live cobras are stored on the premises much the same way one would find live lobsters at a western seafood restaurant. If one orders cobra blood wine from the menu, the waiter will take a live cobra, kill it on the spot, drain the blood into a shot glass of rice wine, and top it off with the cobra's still beating heart for you to gulp down! Not for the faint of heart. Le Mat is about ten minutes across the river from downtown.

A local delicacy in the Hanoi area is dog meat (th?t chó), which is especially popular in the winter. There are a number of restaurants along the Red River that specialize in it. Another exotic regional taste is ca cuong, an extract from the belostomatid, or giant water bug. Just a few drops are added to noodles for the unique aroma.

Get out

If you are the adventurous type or simply bored temporarily of the city atmosphere, then consider a cruise in the northern countryside. A round trip will bring you to a lot of charming villages and through hills and valleys with stunning nature. Main roads are generally in good condition and you can easily do a couple of hundred kilometers a day. The villages and provinces are generally safe at night, and you get to see a lot of Vietnamese culture such as various tribe folks.

The Perfume Pagoda is a Buddhist pilgrimage site about 60 km southwest of Hanoi. A full-day excursion involves a boat trip, hiking up a mountain, and visiting various temples and grottoes.

Bat Trang is a village world-famous for its pottery, 9 km southeast of Hanoi. It is accessible by taking Bus 47, which originates at Long Bien. Just hop on and take it to the last stop, which is directly opposite the pottery market (haggle for lower prices, and insist on paying in Dong). Head back up the street to the factories to see artists at work.

Van Phuc Village-Ha Tay .

To reach Van Phuc village, travel south west out of Ha Noi on Nguyen Trai Street until you reach the border of Ha Tay province. Then turn right and dive for about 3km. The village lies to the left, some 12 km from central Hanoi..

During feudal times silk was considered an extreme luxury, on par with rhinoceros horn, ivory and precious handworks. Associated with nobility, this cloth adorned kings, queens and mandarins. Vietnam's various dynasties developed strict rules governing the color, ornamentation, style and fabric of clothes worn by aristocrats..

During feudal times silk was considered an extreme luxury, on par with rhinoceros horn, ivory and precious handworks. Associated with nobility, this cloth adorned kings, queens and mandarins. Vietnam's various dynasties developed strict rules governing the color, ornamentation, style and fabric of clothes worn by aristocrats.

Cao Bang featuring the beautiful Ban Gioc waterfall, is five hours away by bus, near the Chinese border.

The Cuc Phuong National Park is the largest national park in Vietnam, and an easy day-trip from Hanoi.

Staying overnight in a boat on the breath-taking Ha Long Bay (or in a hotel on Cat Ba Island) is the most popular side-trip from Hanoi.

The northern village of Sapa, home to ethnic minorities, gorgeous mountain scenery, and trekking paths connecting many tiny mountain villages, is also a popular two or three day trip or more days if you want to enjoy the full time in such a amazing landscapes. It is accessible by train (to Lao Cai) followed by a minibus link to the town. The trekking paths have no signs, so a hiring a guide is well-advised.

Hoa lu-Tam Coc, 123 km from Hanoi

Nearly one thousand years ago, this place used to be the Capital of Grand Viet ruled by Dinh and Le Dynasty. In spite of many feudal and historical conflicts, Hoalu still preserved its heritages with many temples and pagodas. Your one day tour will be filled with legend and myth. Additionally, one thing that make this tour the most exiting is the boat trip through winding stream to visit Tam Coc (three grottoes) - regarded as "inland Halong Bay"