Hanoi, Vietnam: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Hanoi is Vietnam’s capital, a city shaped by more than a thousand years of political, religious and cultural history. Its major sights range from the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long and Ba Đình Square to ancient temples, colonial buildings and museums. Neywo offers a free Hanoi audio guide with 81 narrated places, so you can explore the city while listening to its stories.

What to see in Hanoi

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ba Đình Square

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum stands at the heart of Ba Đình Square, on the site of the old podium where Ho Chi Minh addressed crowds. Construction began on September 2, 1973, and the building opened on August 29, 1975.

The mausoleum is 21.6 metres high and 41.2 metres wide. Its exterior is clad in grey granite, while the front bears the inscription “CHỦ TỊCH HỒ-CHÍ-MINH” in pink stone. The building has three levels, including the embalming chamber, corridors, stairways and a three-tiered roof. Gardens surround the monument.

Nearby, the Presidential Palace of Vietnam remains the official residence of the president and the seat of the presidential office. The French colonial building was originally the Palace of the Governor-General of Indochina and is used today for ceremonial receptions and state events.

The adjacent Presidential Palace Historical Site covers more than fourteen hectares and contains sixteen historic constructions. Ho Chi Minh lived and worked here from December 19, 1954, until his death on September 2, 1969. The site includes his stilt house, House 54, House 67, a Politburo meeting room, the presidential garden, Mango Road and the Ho Chi Minh pond.

One Pillar Pagoda

The One Pillar Pagoda is one of Hanoi’s most distinctive Buddhist temples. Its small wooden sanctuary, the Liên Hoa Đài, rests on a single stone pillar and resembles a lotus rising from the water.

The square building measures about three metres on each side. Its curved roof, surrounding corridors and wooden brackets form part of the lotus design. The pillar is roughly 1.25 metres in diameter and four metres high. The original pagoda was built in 1049 under Emperor Lý Thái Tông, while the present version was rebuilt in 1955 after the earlier structure was destroyed.

Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long

The Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long has watched over Hanoi for more than a thousand years. Construction began in 1010 under Emperor Lý Thái Tổ and was completed the following year. The complex was later expanded during the Trần and Later Lê periods, then substantially reconstructed under Emperor Gia Long in 1805.

Much of the original citadel disappeared during French colonial rule, when parts of the site were cleared for offices and barracks. The North Gate and Flag Tower survived, while archaeological excavations in the central area since 2002 have revealed layers of occupation spanning centuries.

For a wider look at Hanoi’s historic centre, the Vietnam page places the capital within the country’s broader cultural landscape.

Hỏa Lò Prison

Hỏa Lò Prison was built by French colonists to hold political prisoners. During the Vietnam War, American prisoners of war called it the “Hanoi Hilton”. The prison later held Vietnamese dissidents before most of the complex was demolished between 1993 and 1994.

The remaining gatehouse now operates as a museum. It stands at 1 Hỏa Lò Street in Cửa Nam ward and presents the site’s history through its colonial and wartime chapters.

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Behind the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, beside Bach Thao Park, the Ho Chi Minh Museum traces the life of the country’s revolutionary leader and Vietnam’s struggle against foreign powers.

The museum is organised into eight chronological exhibitions. They cover Ho Chi Minh’s childhood and youth, his travels in search of a way to free Vietnam from colonial rule, the foundation of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the period from 1945 to his death in 1969, and his later status as a national hero.

Hanoi Opera House

The Hanoi Opera House stands at August Revolution Square, at the head of Tràng Tiền Street. Its French Neoclassical design combines influences from opera houses in southern France and European theatres of the early twentieth century.

Construction began in 1901 and finished in 1911. The building was modelled on Paris’s Opéra Garnier, though on a smaller scale and with materials adapted to the local climate. Restoration between 1995 and 1997 returned much of its historic appearance.

The Old Quarter and Bach Ma Temple

Hanoi’s Old Quarter is a dense historic district of narrow streets and shophouses. Its street names recall the guilds and trades that once organised commerce, while Chinese-inspired details and French façades reflect the area’s layered past.

On Hang Buom Street, Bach Ma Temple is one of the Old Quarter’s most important historic sanctuaries. Also known as the White Horse Temple, it was one of the four guardian temples of Thăng Long and protected the eastern side of the old imperial capital.

The four guardian temples

Hanoi’s historic religious landscape includes several temples associated with the protection of Thăng Long. Quán Thánh Temple stands beside West Lake and dates from the reign of Lý Thái Tổ, between 1010 and 1028. It is dedicated to Trấn Vũ and was one of the city’s four great Taoist temples.

Voi Phục Temple, next to Thủ Lệ Park, was another of the Four Sacred Temples guarding the old citadel’s gateways. Kim Liên shrine served as the southern guardian. Built around the sixteenth or seventeenth century, it also functioned as the communal house of the original Kim Liên settlement.

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology introduces the traditions, artefacts and stories of Vietnam’s 54 officially recognised ethnic groups. Its site covers 43,799 square metres in Cầu Giấy District, roughly eight kilometres from the city centre.

A second exhibition building, opened in 2013, focuses on the cultures and peoples of Southeast Asia.

Vietnam Military History Museum

The Vietnam Military History Museum preserves more than 150,000 documents and artefacts. Its collection includes helicopters, tanks and MiG aircraft, as well as four national treasures: MiG-21 aircraft numbered 4324 and 5121, the Hồ Chí Minh Campaign map and a T-54B tank numbered 843.

Founded on July 17, 1956, the museum moved to its present premises on Thăng Long Boulevard in November 2024.

Son Tay Ancient Citadel

Around Hanoi’s northwestern outskirts, Son Tay Ancient Citadel is a stone fortress built in 1822 under Emperor Minh Mang. It covers about sixteen hectares and was designed to defend the approaches to Thăng Long.

The walls use locally found beehive stone. Four main gates face south, north, east and west, each reached by a stone bridge over the moat. The moat’s red-earth embankment is roughly 1.8 kilometres long and twenty metres wide. The citadel was recognised as a national historical and architectural relic in 1994.

Explore Hanoi with a self-guided audio tour

Neywo’s Hanoi audio guide includes six walking tours and one bus route, covering 81 narrated places in total. The walks range from 1.95 to 3.93 km and from 51 to 111 minutes:

• Ba Dinh: Ho Chi Minh’s Hanoi — 2.85 km, 111 minutes, 9 stops
• A Thousand Years of Thang Long — 2.13 km, 71 minutes, 7 stops
• Hoan Kiem Lake: Legends, Gates and Temples — 3.93 km, 104 minutes, 9 stops
• French Quarter: Opera, Prison and Cathedral — 3.39 km, 102 minutes, 9 stops
• Old Quarter Gates, a Mosque and the Long Bien Bridge — 1.95 km, 51 minutes, 4 stops
• West Lake: Northern Gate, Temples and Pagodas — 3.83 km, 78 minutes, 4 stops

There is also one bus route: Bus 04: Lake, Opera House and the Old Quarter, covering 2.5 km in 11 minutes with 5 stops.

Download Neywo and explore Hanoi at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages.