Breakfast in the Old Quarter. Lunch among the karsts.
Which Ha Long cruise is worth a night on board. Whether Trang An or Tam Coc gets the rowing boat. How many days the Ha Giang loop really needs. Every tour you can book from Hanoi, reviewed and priced.
HanoiThe lake, the Old Quarter, the train line
Sapa5½ hours north-westfrom $4
Ha Long Bay2½ hours eastfrom $15
Ninh Binh2 hours southfrom $22
Travel times by road from the Old Quarter
Ha Long by deck, Ninh Binh by oar, Hanoi by the bowl.
The four bookings most first trips to Hanoi are built around, with what each costs and what the people who took them say.
01The bay dayHa Long Bay Day Cruise – Swimming, Meal, KayakingLunch on board, a swim stop and a paddle between the karsts. Ha Long without giving it a night.- 02The river dayFull-Day Ninh Binh Highlights Tour from HanoiA sampan rowed through caves and rice paddies under limestone towers, the inland answer to Ha Long. Back in Hanoi by dinner.
03The first eveningGuided Food Tour with Train Street VisitStreet food in the Old Quarter on plastic stools, with a stop on the line where the houses sit a step from the rails.
04The rainy nightWater Puppet Show TicketsPuppets dance across a pool of water to a live band, an art born in the flooded rice fields of the Red River Delta. Under an hour, and cheap.
Ha Long Bay: one long day, one night on board, or Lan Ha by kayak.
Around two thousand limestone islands, and the real question is how long you give them. A day cruise has you back in Hanoi the same night. An overnight boat wakes you in the bay before the day boats arrive. From Cat Ba, the quieter Lan Ha side is a paddle away.
One night on the waterA cabin, sunset from the top deck, the bay to yourself at dawn.
Kayak daysPaddle into the lagoons and under the rock arches.
Cat Ba and Lan HaThe same karsts next door, with far fewer boats.
All 140 Ha Long Bay tours →
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Amanda Cruise – Ha Long, Lan Ha Bay – All Inclusive 2D1N & 3D2N · from $56
Hanoi: thirty-six guild streets, one lake, and a railway through the front rooms.
More of Hanoi →The Old Quarter still sorts itself by trade, one street for silk, another for tin, another for paper offerings. Walk it early, eat it late, and let someone else drive the scooter. These three carry more travellers than anything else in the city.
On footThe Old Quarter, lane by lane
2–3 hours· small groups· from $8The guild streets, the temple courtyards hidden behind shopfronts, and the corners where fresh bia hoi is poured from the keg for pennies.
On wheelsArmy jeeps through the backstreets
3–4 hours· food stops· from $44Russian-built jeeps with the canvas rolled back, into lanes a coach could never fit, with something to eat at most of the stops.
Out of townThe incense and conical-hat villages
half a day· an hour out· from $2Quang Phu Cau dries its incense sticks in fans of red and gold across every yard, and Chuong village still stitches conical hats by hand.The most popular tours from Hanoi.
Every Hanoi tour we have reviewed →The tours more travellers book than anything else in and around the city, and what earns each one its place.
1
Hanoi Jeep Tour: Food, Culture and Fun by Vietnam Army Jeep
Ride through Hanoi in an open-air Soviet-era GAZ-69 with an English-speaking guide and driver. The four-hour route pairs narrow residential lanes with city landmarks, Long Bien Bridge, Train Street coffee, and a full meal at a local cafe. Guides such as Finn, Louis, and Danny have been praised for mixing clear history with humor.
From · $55
Read our review →
2
Full-Day Ninh Binh Highlights Tour from Hanoi
from $79
3
Ha Long Bay Day Cruise – Swimming, Meal, Kayaking
from $41
4
Water Puppet Show Tickets
from $7
5
Hanoi Motorbike Tour: Food, Culture and Fun by Vintage Motorbike
from $55
6
Guided Food Tour with Train Street Visit
from $19
7
Hanoi Cooking Class: Culture, Local Market & Meaning CSR Impact
from $39
8
5 Traditional Dishes Hanoi Cooking Class with Market Trip
from $35
Ninh Binh swaps the sea for rice paddies and keeps the karsts.
Two hours south of Hanoi the karsts rise out of paddy instead of water. Trang An and Tam Coc both put you in a sampan through the caves, Hoa Lu was the capital a thousand years ago, and almost five hundred steps up Hang Mua buy the view on every postcard.
- 1Full-Day Ninh Binh Highlights Tour from Hanoifrom $79
- 2Ninh Binh Full-Day Tour from Hanoi to Hoa Lu, Tam Coc & Mua Cave Via Boat & Bikefrom $33
- 3Ninh Binh, Bai Dinh/Hoa Lu, Trang An, & Mua Cave Tourfrom $46
Hanoi eats on plastic stools and takes its coffee with egg in it.
Pho for breakfast, bun cha at lunch, a night market for whatever is left. Book the walk that knows which alley, the class that starts at the wet market, and the workshop that explains why the coffee is so strong.
North of Hanoi the road climbs into rice terraces and Hmong villages.
Sapa sits above the terraces of the Muong Hoa valley with Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina, behind it. Further east the Ha Giang loop crosses the Ma Pi Leng pass towards the Chinese border. Give either one at least two nights.
What a day out of Hanoi costs, from rowing boat to balcony cabin.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. Much of the best of northern Vietnam comes in under $50 a head.
Street-food walks, puppet tickets, coffee workshops and most Ha Long and Ninh Binh day trips.
Army-jeep and motorbike tours, the Sapa and Ha Giang runs, and overnight boats at the simpler end.
Balcony cabins on the five-star boats, private drivers and multi-day loops through the north.
Three things you will only find in Hanoi.
Plenty of cities have a food tour and an old town. Puppets on water, a train through the front rooms and coffee whipped with egg yolk are Hanoi’s own.
Water Puppets
Mua roi nuoc began in the flooded paddies of the Red River Delta, where villagers worked carved wooden puppets across the water from behind a bamboo screen. They still do. At the Thang Long theatre by Hoan Kiem Lake the puppeteers stand waist deep behind the stage while a band plays beside the pool.
- 1Water Puppet Show Tickets★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 7,029 reviews
- 2Thang Long Water Puppet Show Ticket – Skip The Line★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 836 reviews
- 3Skip the Line: Thang Long Water Puppet Theater Entrance Tickets★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 414 reviews
Train Street
In one stretch of the city the railway runs between houses so close that residents step back indoors when the train comes. Cafes set their stools inches from the rails and tell you when to stand. Access has been closed and reopened more than once, which is why most people go with a guide who knows the current rules.
- 1Guided Food Tour with Train Street Visit★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 6,239 reviews
- 2Street Food Tour with Train Street & Hidden Alleyways★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,831 reviews
- 3Guided Street Food Tour with Train Street Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,479 reviews
Egg Coffee
In 1946, with fresh milk scarce, a bartender at the Metropole whipped egg yolk and sugar into something like custard and floated it on strong Vietnamese coffee. His family still pours it in the Old Quarter, and a coffee workshop will have you whisking your own, along with the salt and coconut versions.
- 1Hanoi Coffee Experience: 6 Brews, 9 Recipes & 3 Liquor Tastings★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,945 reviews
- 2Hanoi Coffee Workshop: Taste Salt, Coconut and Egg Coffee★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,286 reviews
- 3Salt Coffee Workshop Awake Your Senses With 6 Brews★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 792 reviews
Four Hanoi bookings that will not wait for you to land.
Most of Hanoi can be sorted the night before over a bowl of noodles. These four run on cabin counts, theatre seats and drivers who are spoken for weeks ahead in the busy months.
- 012-Day Halong & Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise with BalconyEvery overnight boat carries a fixed number of cabins, and the balcony cabins on the five-star boats go first.
- 02Ha Giang Loop 3 days Small group- From Ha NoiLoop tours run in small groups with an easy rider for each passenger who will not drive. The riders, not the bikes, are what run out.
- 03Water Puppet Show TicketsThe theatre plays a handful of fixed shows each evening, and the rows nearest the water fill first.
- 04Sapa 2 Days 1 Night Overnight At HomestayHomestay beds in the villages below Sapa are few, and the treks are planned around them.
When summer rain shuts Ha Long Bay, Hanoi moves indoors.
From June to September Hanoi is hot, humid and given to afternoon downpours, and a storm warning can keep every boat in Ha Long Bay in harbour at a day’s notice. Keep one day loose, then spend the wet one under a roof: a cooking class, a coffee workshop, a puppet show or an hour on a massage table.
By place, from the Old Quarter outwards
By kind of day: boat, bike, bowl or stage
Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Long, Sapa: the loop most first visits follow.
The newest Hanoi tour reviews.
All the latest Hanoi reviews →
AUTHENIC 2D1N Trek & Bungalow Retreat with Dinh Hmong Family
Read our review →
Easy Rider 3 Day Motorcycle Tour of Ha Giang Loop
Read our review →
7 hours to discover HaLong Bay on Luxury Day Cruise
Read our review →
4-day Motorbike Ha Giang Loop Luxury Tour With Easy Rider
Read our review →
3 Days Ha Giang LOOP DIVINITY Tour with easy rider
Read our review →
3-Day – Ninh Binh – Lan Ha Bay 5-Star Cruise & Balcony
Read our review →
3 days: Ban Gioc waterfall – Ba Be Lake with Local Guide
Read our review →
3-Day Ninh Binh Bungalow & Ha Long Bay 5 Star Cruise
Read our review →