Hanoi Old Quarter

Along Hang Dao street, Ngang street, Dong Xuan market is the bustling night market which is held every weekend. You can enjoy shopping and eating out. With nearly 4000 goods including fashion, accessories, souvenirs, craft hand-made things and foods at affordable prices, this night market is truly a shopping paradise.

Dong Xuan market is not only the old commercial center with diverse goods, but also sells many souvenirs that attract numerous tourists. Even if you don't buy anything here, you can enjoy many interesting dishes in the food alley to satisfy your hunger.

It can be said that Hang Ma is the busiest and most splendid street in the Old Quarter. Especially on every occasion like Tet, Mid-Autumn Festival, Christmas,... the whole street seems to put on a vibrant coat, welcoming tourists for shopping or virtually check-ins. This streets also bears the spiritual of the Eastern people, not only possessing beautiful scenery but also offering many attractive sounds and traditional activities.

Another destination that you should visit is the ancient house at 87 Ma May Street. With only 10,000 VND, you can explore a true model of an old Hanoi house with traditional trading and living spaces of the old life in Thang Long capital. This is also an address where various attractive cultural events are taken place in Hanoi!

As one of the five gates of Thang Long capital that still exist until now, O Quan Chuong is a historical symbol of Hanoi and an indispensable check-in point for tourists. Built in 1749 on the East of Thang Long Citadel, O Quan Chuong possesses a unique architecture with many glorious victories of the nation throughtout the resistance period against the French. Through many ups and downs of time, O Quan Chuong remains steadfast and is the pride of the people here.

Hoan Kiem Lake is an unmissable tourist destination when visting Hoan Kiem District or even Hanoi in general. Whether day or night, Hoan Kiem Lake always possesses a beauty that touches people's hearts. With relics from the Pen Tower, The Huc Bridge, Ngoc Son Temple and many other places to play or check-in around, visiting and virtual living in Hoan Kiem Lake are definitely activities that you must try here.

When the night falls, Ta Hien entertainment street becomes bustling with many young people who are called as "dressing up to go out".With a specialty of lively beer shops and bars, Ta Hien Street is a gathering place for young Vietnamese and foreigners who love a noisy, bustling space with music playing throughout the street.

As a thousand-year-old historical monument, Bach Ma Temple was built according to the "Three Chinese character" architecture, representing the standard of ancient architecture with delicate and sophisticated carvings. The temple, dedicated to the ancient Hanoi deity Do Long and Bach Ma deity, containing many sacred stories, an actiquated atmosphere and mossy spaces that attract visitors.

One of the most attractions in 36 old streets is the quintessence of famous ancient cuisine. Thousands of large and small restaurants have been opened to meet the diverse culinary needs of near and far customers, presenting the sophisticated cuisine of the ancient capital Thang Long. Below is the most favourite address with famous dishes that you definitely must try when coming here.

If you are looking for the place where focuses the most delicious foods in Hanoi Old Quarter, the answer is probably in Dong Xuan market alley. Just walking along the narrow and crowded alleys, you can find here is the real cuisine paradise with full of dishes, such as snail noodle, crab noodle soup, shrimp paste noodle, stew chicken noodle, Bun cha noodle, fruit tea, yogurt, etc. that you can enjoy them without worrying about price.

Next is an extremely famous dish that you can’t miss when coming Hanoi Old Town, which is Bun Cha. The two most famous and delicios Bun Cha restaurants are located in Hang Buom street and Hang Manh street. With a long history and rich experience, these Bun Cha restaurants stand out with delicious and rich flavors, from the dipping sauce and mouth-watering grilled pork that smell spreads over the street.

Dinh Liet Street is short, but always crowded. The most prominent thing on this street is the long-standing boiled snail casual. With a variety of large and small snails, seafoods, thousands of diners come here to enjoy the food every late afternoon. Accompanied by the crispy snail, the featured and luscious sauce is extremely illustrious, contributing to the fame of Dinh Liet Street.

An unforgettable cultural feature is the "lemon tea" in the Old Quarter. Lemon tea fast food casual in Cho Gao Street is a famous place for cool, sour, sweet and sour lemon tea along with many other drinks and snacks so that you can enjoy with friends in the bustling and boisterous old town atmosphere.

Having been famous for a long time, Pho Bat Dan has the featured flavor of ancient Hanoi “pho”. Despite the higher price, the special and luscious flavor of Pho Bat Dan is praised by Hanoi citizens.

With a series of illustrious junk food casuals, Hanoi Old Quarter will absolutely inspire you passionate with can’t - miss junk foods. Typical among them are beef jerky salad on Ham Long Street, fried meat bar on Tam Thuong alley, sticky rice sweet soup in Ba Thin fast food casual, floating cake soup in Pham Bang fast food casual, mixing fruits on To Tich Street, Trang Tien ice cream, Thuy Ta ice cream, etc.

Apart from admiring the Hanoi ancient culture and architecture, visitors should not forget to buy souvenirs or specialities of this old town.

The salted or sugared dried fruits is the food in which fruits are mixed with sugar, salt, ginger, and other spices then fried over medium heat until to get a dried or jammy mixture. This is the most attractive specialty in Hanoi that you can buy as a present for your dears. There are diverse fascinating flavors from ancient to modern age.

Biting a Banh Cha cookie, you may find crispy outside and smell a butter flavor and flesh taste on the inside. Trying this fatty and sweety cookie with a cup of lotus tea is an unforgettable experience on Hanoi ancient town savor. You can buy this specialty in the shop below.

Mentioning Hanoi, visitors may think of green rice flakes (Cốm in Vietnamese). There are stalls on pavements selling the fresh green rice flakes and processed foods from green rice flakes. You can buy some kinds like fresh green rice flakes, green rice flakes cake (or maybe known as “green sticky rice cake”), green rice flakes patties (green sticky rice patties), green rice flakes candies, etc. In general, from fresh green rice flakes to processed green rice flakes, all of them retain their natural sweetness and aroma as well as their original nutrition.

Have you ever smelled and sipped Hanoi lotus tea? If not, please don’t forget to buy this meaningful gift. Lotus tea represents Hanoi noble elegance and also is very good for health. With a quintessential aroma, sweet taste, lotus tea both helps you cool down and inspire you to feel the flavor of capital land.

Besides delicious foods, visitors can buy many souvenirs such as brocades, handmade items, clothes, hats, etc. along 36 streets. However, remember to bargain to own the items that are both meaningful and affordable!