Vietnam’s most-visited city is a smouldering hotpot of cultural traditions like no other in the region. Its downtown Old Quarter has suffered invasion and counter-invasion from the north, east, south and west for more than a thousand years, making it an enticing fabric of multicultural threads woven from such diverse origins as the culinary traditions of China and the post-colonial Euro-architecture of the French imperials.
But unlike many of its contemporaries, Hanoi has emerged noticeably unscathed from the turmoil of its past, and is a city that still proudly totes its grandeur and over-confidence to visiting tourists. Take note of the great colonnades of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the sprawling and grandiose grounds of the Uncle’s own Presidential Palace, in many ways the political forge of the modern Vietnamese State. Then head east, to the UNESCO site at Hạ Long Bay, where soaring karst hills rise from the water like an army of jungle-clad teeth—unquestionably this city’s most-visited landmark.
Trekking tours, theatre and inner-city museums abound as well, and any Hanoi tour guide would do well to cram their itinerary with all the ‘must do’ activities of the metropolis. But, if you’ve got the time, there are also some truly worthy off-the-beaten-track things to do, from hard partying on the ubiquitous Vietnam booze cruise, to soul searching in the temple complexes of Hanoi’s backcountry.