Culture, design & architecture

Vietnam’s first university, founded in 1070: five courtyards, stone stelae on turtles and a quiet lotus pond. Arrive at opening.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site with palace foundations, the Kinh Thien steps and wartime bunkers beneath French-era buildings.

A temple on an island in Hoan Kiem Lake, reached by the red Huc Bridge. Best in the early morning.

Hanoi’s oldest pagoda, its brick-red tower on a small peninsula in West Lake. Come for sunset.

The solemn granite mausoleum, the stilt house and the small One Pillar Pagoda. Reopens on 3 November 2026 after maintenance; from November it opens 8–11am (Saturdays to 11.30am) and is closed on Mondays and Fridays. Dress modestly and stay silent inside.

One of the oldest temples in the Old Quarter, with a lacquered interior just off busy Hang Buom.

The French colonial prison later known as the “Hanoi Hilton”. Sombre but essential; evening tours run on some nights.

Fifty-four ethnic groups, with full-size village houses in the garden. Allow half a day; closed on Mondays.

Clear, moving galleries on family life, fashion and women in wartime. One of the best-designed museums in the city.

Lacquer, silk painting and folk prints in a former French boarding school opposite the Temple of Literature.

Bronze drums and ancient treasures in Ernest Hébrard’s 1932 building, which blends French and Vietnamese forms.

A restored tube house showing how Old Quarter merchant families lived around a central courtyard.

A 1911 opera house modelled on the Palais Garnier. Check the programme for concerts and occasional tours.

A neo-Gothic cathedral from 1886, its grey towers facing a small square of cafés.

The long iron bridge across the Red River, now used by trains, motorbikes and walkers.

A striking inverted pyramid by gmp architects, built for the city’s millennium in 2010; worth a look for the building itself.

Puppets dance on water to live folk music in a short, cheerful show by the lake. Book a seat in the front rows.