Lonely Planet Vietnam: Hanoi

Includes FREE planning and background information. The grand old dame of the orient, Hanoi is perhaps the most graceful, atmospheric and exotic capital city in Asia. Its appeal is instant, with sweeping boulevards, tree-fringed lakes, ancient pagodas and a relatively compact historic centre that’s best explored on foot. Hanoi is very much a city on the move. The pace of life is relentless and the energy and enterprise remarkable – indeed, it seems that all of Hanoi’s defiant, ambitious citizens are determined to make up for all that lost time. A constant tide of motorbikes swarms through the quixotic web of streets of the Old Quarter, a cauldron of commerce for almost 1000 years and still the best place to check the pulse of this resurgent city. Life is carried out on the street, as hawkers in conical hats ply their wares while locals sip drip-coffee and bia hoi (beer). Witness synchronised t’ai chi on the shores of Hoan Kiem Lake at dawn while goateed grandfathers tug at their wisps over the next chess move.

Includes FREE planning and background information. The grand old dame of the orient, Hanoi is perhaps the most graceful, atmospheric and exotic capital city in Asia. Its appeal is instant, with sweeping boulevards, tree-fringed lakes, ancient pagodas and a relatively compact historic centre that’s best explored on foot. Hanoi is very much a city on the move. The pace of life is relentless and the energy and enterprise remarkable – indeed, it seems that all of Hanoi’s defiant, ambitious citizens are determined to make up for all that lost time. A constant tide of motorbikes swarms through the quixotic web of streets of the Old Quarter, a cauldron of commerce for almost 1000 years and still the best place to check the pulse of this resurgent city. Life is carried out on the street, as hawkers in conical hats ply their wares while locals sip drip-coffee and bia hoi (beer). Witness synchronised t’ai chi on the shores of Hoan Kiem Lake at dawn while goateed grandfathers tug at their wisps over the next chess move.