Thanks to the amazing overnight bus system in Vietnam, I didn’t lose a single day traveling during my 20-day trip, which enabled non-stop adventuring each and everyday. As you can imagine, by the time I made it to Hanoi from Ho Chi Minh City, I was exhausted. (The best kind of exhausted, of course.)
I decided that Hanoi would be the city where I would relax, refresh, and reflect on my travels thus far. I didn’t make a single plan other than to catch up on my writing and to wander around and see where the day would take me. I spent the majority of my time in the packed streets of The Old Quarter, and although bustling with backpackers, I grew to love it over my three-day visit.
6 Reasons To Love Hanoi’s Old Quarter
1. The Café’s!
The Hanoi House
Situated just outside of St. Joseph’s Cathedral, this café is sitting on real estate is gold. However, because it’s down an alley, up a staircase and altogether quite hidden, not many tourists frequent here unless they’ve heard about it. I read about it a while back in a travel magazine and am happy I wrote it down.
It’s a cozy cafe with dark lighting, incredible tea, beautiful minimalist décor, and relaxing French music playing in the background, adding to the ambiance.
Basically, it’s any writer or reader’s sanctuary. Move outside from the cool AC and onto the balcony and you have yourself a front row seat to St. Josephs Cathedral. It’s a special spot that I will come back to again and again whenever I visit Hanoi!
An Café
I stumbled upon this cute café on my way to the Hanoi House, and was lured in by the unmanned bahn mi cart outside. I was originally going in to ask if someone could help me with a take away bahn mi, but decided to stay when I realized what a gem of a café I had come across. Their menu is mainly coffee and fresh juice, and for food they have two pages of all different kinds of bahn mi. I got an egg bahn mi and condensed milk iced coffee with coconut cream and it was outstanding. The woman working the café was so sweet, and was excited when I told her I’d be writing about her café in my blog.
Cong Café
There are a few of these cafés sprinkled about The Old Quarter, each decked out with military posters, war paraphernalia, and dark green and red décor. Even the employee uniforms were war-like. This was definitely a more popular café than the other two mentioned, but it is a great place to post up to get some work done if you’re looking for a more lively vibe. It’s a bit overpriced in comparison to some surrounding cafes, but the atmosphere is great and so is the fresh juice. Just make sure to ask for no added sugar when ordering fresh juice! This goes for anywhere in Vietnam.
2. The Food!
You can’t visit Hanoi without eating pho, and lots of it! Hanoi is known for the best Pho in Vietnam, and since Pho is a Vietnamese dish, it makes it home to the best Pho in the world.
Bun cha, a pork and noodle dish, is also a specialty dish of Hanoi that’s a must-try, just be sure to find a friend before you order bun cha to yourself; it is an enormous dish that no one can finish alone! And if there’s time (there’s always time for food…) meander over to Quan Goc Da for crispy fried pork dumplings called banh goi.
3. The Night Market!
The Old Quarter really comes alive at night with vendors of all kinds filling the streets. There’s live music flooding the streets, food vendors everywhere, and countless stalls displaying handmade crafts. I fell in love with these beautiful pop-up cards of all different designs, and ended up buying a bunch to take home.
The best part is how entertaining it is just to walk around. You can honestly spend hours perusing all of the different stalls and all of the different trinkets.
4. Bia Hoi Corner!
The corner of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen in The Old Quarter is known as Bia Hoi Corner, where in the evenings you will find both locals and tourists flocking to drink the world’s most inexpensive beer.
This is one of the most popular drinking spots in the area, serving Hanoi’s specialty beer “Bia Hoi” at just 25 cents a glass. Did I mention that I love Vietnam?
5. Hoan Kiem Lake!
At the historical center of Hanoi, Hoan Kiem Lake is a scenic spot just outside of the Old Quarter that is always buzzing with activity. Cau The Huc Bridge connects you to Ngoc Son Temple in the middle of the lake, which is worth checking out if it’s not too crowded with tourists. It’s nice to take a walk around the perimeter on a beautiful day, and is also a great place to meet some locals! While walking around the lake one afternoon, two girls about my age approached me and asked if they could practice their English with me, as they had a big English test coming up the next week. I of course was elated to chat with them, and so we found a spot near the water’s edge to practice. A few minutes later, a guy also around our age asked if he could join the conversation to also practice his English! I ended up sitting and chatting with them for an hour before we all parted ways, but it was a cool experience to meet some locals and ask each other questions about the very different places that we both came from.
6. Lantern Lounge!
Although a tourist bar, I absolutely loved the ambiance of this place. With mats placed out on the floor, dim red lighting, hundreds of paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and all sorts of art covering the walls, it’s a cool place to go with some friends and exchange travel stories over a beer or two.
Where To Stay
I stayed at the Hanoi Youth Hostel and was very happy with its cozy accommodation. It’s really small, but it’s in a perfect location in the heart of the Old Quarter, it’s only $4 per night, the staff is incredible and will go out of their way to make sure you enjoy your stay in Hanoi, and the travelers I met here were awesome to boot. I even ended up going on a day trip with a friend I made there!
How To Get There
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when traveling through Vietnam, you’ve got to take advantage of the overnight bus system! If you’re traveling up the coast from Ho Chi Minh City like I did, it’s easy to grab a bus ticket from any backpackers in Hue, which will cost around $15. If you’re coming to or from the airport in Hanoi, don’t waste your money on a taxi! They will charge you ten times the price of a bus ticket, and will get you to The Old Quarter in the same amount of time. At $1.30, the #86 express airport bus terminal is about a 12-minute walk out of the Old Quarter, and then takes you straight to the airport terminals with no stops along the way. Again, for $1.30… I love Vietnam.
Wander On,
Wanderluluu xx
