Tourist Attractions Of Hanoi - Save Money By Walking

The good thing about staying in the Old Quarter of Hanoi is its proximity to major tourist attractions. Instead of paying for a city tour that may range from USD60 to USD150 (2 pax) we went on a leisurely walk to visit these places and it costs us close to nothing. We started our walk from our hotel in Hang Chieu Street.  All in we must have walked 6 or 7 km that day. It was a bit tiring towards the end but we discovered a lot more things.
Our first destination is just a stone's throw from our hotel. The Old City Gate of Hanoi (aka Quan Chuong City Gate) is located on Hang Chiew Street where we were staying. Year built: 1749

We walked passed a maze of streets in the Old Quarter and arrived at Hoan Kiem Lake. A very popular hangout among the locals as well as tourists, this lake is delightfully picturesque. The Huc Bridge (red color) and Ngoc Son Temple at the end of the bridge were swarmed by the visiting crowds.

A cute tower stands on a little island in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. The Turtle Tower is linked to some old legend about a Golden Turtle God. For more pictures of Hoan Kiem Lake click to view: Hoan Kiem Lake Photo Gallery

There are a few interesting statues next to the lake. One of them is the statue of King Ly Thai To, the first king of the Ly Dynasty.

A favourite pastime.

We walked pass a few beautiful parks around the lake and proceeded to Hanoi Opera House.

Hanoi Opera House located at Trang Tien Street is a majestic structure built by the French. Year completed: 1911

Details of the Opera House

Details of the Opera House

A 2 minutes walk from the Opera House brought us to The Museum of History (Bao Tang Lich Su). We just had a look at the building and left for our next destination.

We made our way to Na Tho Street to visit another spectacular building. St Joseph's Cathedral was built by the French (1886). I've seen pictures of the interior and it was beautiful. Unfortunately the church was closed for visitation and we could only view it from outside.

Tired out we took a lunch break at one of the streets we passed by. This modest meal which is authentically Vietnamese happened to be one of the best meals we'd had in Hanoi.

Helped ourselves to locally made Vietnamese ice-creams. From there it was a fairly long walk before we reached the Temple of Literature.

We passed by some interesting streets and buildings and observed the Hanoian lifestyle. The main mode of transport in Hanoi are the motorcycles. Very often we spotted young girls riding their motorcycles on 4 inch stilletos.

A street we passed by.

An ancient shop along a street we passed by.

An interesting building with so many balconies along a street we passed by.

A nice building we saw on the way

A less known water puppet theatre

A Street with heritage buildings

A primary school

We were finally at the gate to the Temple Of Literature. Paid a nominal entrance fee to enter.

Click here to view more photos of Temple Of Literature: Temple Of Literature Photo Gallery

Intricate paper cuttings sold outside Temple of Literature. These arts pieces are sold in many other parts of Hanoi too.

Water puppet figurines are popular souvenir items and were displayed at a few shops.

Our next destination was Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. It was a 20-25 minutes walk from the Temple of Literature.

The park at the Mausoleum was very well kept. A group of gardeners were seen weeding the garden.

An old building in the vicinity of the park.

We visited the One Pillar Pagoda which is just nearby.

A very short walk from One Pillar Pagoda is Ho Chi Minh Museum.  From here we took a metered cab to Trang Tien Plaza. The taxi fare for the 3km ride was 50000VND. There is a supermarket in Trang Tien Plaza and we were told we could purchase the items we were looking for there.

The things we wanted were much more expensive at Trang Tien Plaza (photo above) compared to Dong Xuan Market so we took another cab back to our hotel. All in we did our city tour for only USD10 (for 2 persons) - lunch included.

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Exploring The Streets Of Old Quarter, Hanoi

I stayed in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and every other day, I was walking on streets bearing cute names like Sugar Street, Paper Street, Silver Street, Coffin Street, Chicken Street, Fish Street, etc. This prompted me to learn a little more about the history of Old Quarter which dated back to the 11th century. 
Old Quarter, also known as "36 Old Streets" is Vietnam's version of the guild system of Medieval Europe. In the past, as artisans moved to the capital city, they stayed closed to each other and formed guilds to protect their livelihood. Soon streets came into existence and were named after the products sold or the crafts specialised by the guild members. Pho Hang Bac (silver), Pho Hang Chieu (mats), Pho Hang Ma (paper products) are examples of streets carrying the name of the products sold till this day.
Below are some of the thousand years old streets I trod while staying in Hanoi.

Hang Bac Street (Silver Street)

Hang Bac Street specialises in jewelries and accessories made of silver.

Hang Chieu Street (Mat Street)

 Hang Chieu Street sells mostly mats.

Hang Chiew Street has diversified to include the sales of all types all of tapes.

Hang Duong Street (Sugar Street)

Not sugar per se but a lot of sweet things like candies and dried fruits are sold here.

Communal houses (small temples) were set up by the guilds in each area to honour a local god. (Pic above: Communal House in Hang Duong Street)

Hang Dong Street (Copper)

Hang Ma Street (Paper products)

Joss paper, paper lanterns, etc are sold here. This is a colorful street.

Ma May Street (Rattan Street)

As time evolves, many streets no longer sell or specialise in the products they were originally named after.

Ma May Street is now a street with many travel agents, internet cafes and tourist restaurants. 

The popular Backpackers Hotel is located at Ma May Street.

Hang Be Street (Rafts)

No rafts seen but there is a mix of other products. Many shops sell paintings. 

Hang Vai Street (Textiles)

Hang Vai is one of the quieter streets in Old Quarter. It no longer sells textiles though.

There are lots of bamboo products seen here, especially ladders and tobacco pipes.

A man smoking a long bamboo pipe.

A street barber at Hang Vai St

Will this trade still exist 10 years from now, I wonder.

Modern hair saloons have sprung up everywhere.

It is common to see street butchers selling pork on pavements by the roadside.

Dong Xuan Street

This is where the largest wholesale market in Hanoi is located. 

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, a very long stretch of 5 roads are closed to traffic to make way for the weekend night market. One of the roads is Dong Xuan St. [Pic above: Dong Xuan Market]

Hoan Kiem Street

This is the shortest street in Hanoi. Barely 50 metres long, this street is more like a connecting lane between two streets.

There are interesting shops an this short street.

Hang Gai Street (Hemp Street)

A lot of tourists are seen along this street as it is very near to Hoan Kiem Lake. No hemp seen here but lots of nice souvenirs, silk, and apparels.

Luong Van Can 

Most of the streets in Old Quarter are short stretches that merge with others before you even realise it.

Lan Ong Street

The aroma of herbs filled the air as we walked along the second half of Lan Ong Street. The specialty here?  Traditional herbs.

Hang Ngang Street (Transversal)

Weekend night market at Hang Ngang St.

Luong Ngoc Quyen Street

The real Sinh Cafe ( travel agent) is located at Luong Ngoc Quyen Street. There are many other Sinh Cafes in Old Quarter but all are fakes.

Thuoc Bac Street (Herbal Medicine)

Thuoc Bac Street is now filled with shops selling hardware products.

Hang Giay Street (Shoe Street)

Hang Dau Street (Beans) & Cau Go Street (Wooden Bridge)

Hang Dau now sells shoes and sandals while Cau Go has women accessories a little of everything.

Lo Su Street (Coffin Street)

There are but not many mortuary shops in Lo Su Street. This is a tube hotel on Lo Su Street.

Hang Tre Street (Bamboo Street)

Hang Thung Street (Barrel Street)

Hang Dao Street

Weekend night market at Hand Dao Street.

Even though Old Quarter is known as "36 Streets", there are in fact about 70 of them.

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