Hanoi

Best Oct – Apr Northern Vietnam Culture & Heritage 2 – 4 nights

Hanoi moves at its own pace. The Old Quarter's guild streets twist past centuries-old temples, French villas crumble beside craft beer bars, and the scent of pho drifts from every corner. For honeymooners, it is a city where every meal, every alley and every lake-side evening feels like a discovery.

Stay at the Sofitel Legend Metropole, a 1901 landmark where Graham Greene and Charlie Chaplin once slept, or at Capella Hanoi with its Michelin-starred dining and 1920s opera house interiors. Between the history and the food, two or three days here sets the tone for the rest of Vietnam.

Why Honeymoon in Hanoi?

The capital sprawls around Hoan Kiem Lake, a sacred stretch of water in the city centre where locals practise tai chi at dawn and couples stroll the pedestrianised waterfront on weekend evenings. Noi Bai International Airport is 30 kilometres away, with direct flights from London, Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul.

The Old Quarter dates to the 11th century, its 36 streets named for the trades practised there. Hang Bac is the silversmiths, Hang Gai the silk weavers, Hang Ma the paper-offering makers. The architecture is a mosaic of narrow tube houses, tile-roofed shopfronts and the occasional colonial facade. Around the corner, the Temple of Literature has hosted scholars since 1070, its five peaceful courtyards and 82 stone stelae offering a welcome pause from the noise.

Hanoi is the birthplace of pho and egg coffee, and the food alone justifies the stop. Bun cha is charcoal-grilled pork in fish sauce broth, eaten at tiny plastic tables on Le Van Huu Street where Obama and Bourdain famously sat. Egg coffee at Cafe Giang is a whipped custard of egg yolk and condensed milk over strong robusta. Cha ca la vong is turmeric fish sizzling with dill, so beloved the street was renamed after the restaurant. After dark, the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre runs nightly shows of a thousand-year-old art form.

Highlights of Hanoi

Old Quarter

Centuries-old guild streets where each lane specialises in a single trade, from silver to silk to paper offerings.

Hoan Kiem Lake

A sacred lake at the heart of the city with Ngoc Son Temple on a jade island, reached by a scarlet wooden bridge.

Temple of Literature

Vietnams first university, founded in 1070, with five tranquil courtyards and 82 stone stelae on carved turtles.

Train Street

A narrow alley where an active railway squeezes past cafe doorways twice a day, just metres from the tables.

Egg Coffee at Cafe Giang

The original egg coffee, invented here in the 1940s. Whipped egg yolk and condensed milk over strong robusta.

Water Puppet Theatre

A thousand-year-old art form performed on water with live traditional music at Thang Long Theatre every evening.

Best Time to Visit

October to November is the sweet spot, with clear skies, low humidity and pleasant temperatures of 20 to 28 degrees. February to April is also comfortable. Avoid June to August when monsoon rains and 35-degree heat make sightseeing exhausting. December and January can dip below 15 degrees at night.

Getting There

Noi Bai International Airport has direct flights from London (12 hours), plus connections from Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Domestic flights from Ho Chi Minh City take 2 hours. The airport is 30 kilometres from the Old Quarter, about 40 minutes by car. We arrange private transfers for all our honeymoon packages.