Things to do in Hanoi

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, on the Red River in the north of the country — not Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the larger southern city roughly 1,150 km away, and not Hue, the former imperial capital until 1945.

The centre splits into distinct districts: the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake, the French Quarter just south of it, Ba Dinh with the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Temple of Literature, and Tay Ho around West Lake. Most visitors base themselves here for several days and use the city as a hub for trips to Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay and the northern mountains, a couple of hours or more away by road.

Northern Vietnam has four real seasons: a cool, grey winter, a damp spring, and a hot, very humid summer that brings heavy rain and is not the best time to visit — autumn is generally considered the most reliable season.