5 Off the Beaten Path experiences in Hanoi

5 Off the Beaten Path experiences in Hanoi

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and it is a great city for tourists and digital nomads like us. There are a lot of places for sightseeing, and many things to do in Hanoi.

You can hang out and drink beer, eat street food, drink coffee, walk around parks and lakes – there’s so much to do there! Click here to get a discount booking activities with Klook!

Today we will tell you about all these hidden places in Hanoi. Here are 5 off the beaten-path experiences in Hanoi.

Read here Vietnam travel tips, our top Instagrammable places in Vietnam and how to get from Hanoi airport to Old Quarter!

SIM CARD AT HANOI AIRPORT

I wouldn’t recommend you to buy a sim card at Hanoi airport. If you wish comfort you can buy eSim online and if you aren’t in a hurry just go around phone shops in the city and compare prices to buy the cheapest sim card in Hanoi. Read here Vietnam sim card for tourist and best Vietnam eSim

WHERE TO STAY IN HANOI

The cost of staying for a night in a private double room in a low-end guest house costs are starting $8-10 USD. There are also Airbnb options starting from $10-20 USD and be ready to have a local experience.

Click here to book your accommodation in Hanoi with Booking and Agoda!

BOOK YOUR TRAVEL INSURANCE

You can read Heymondo Vs Safetwing cheapest travel Insurance. You can get for $135 USD your Heymondo Travel Insurance with Heymondo discount code valid for 90 days. Read our full Heymondo Travel Insurance Review

You can get Safetywing Travel Insurance for Digital Nomads valid for 28 days Safetywing for $50 USD per month with kids until 10 years old included

How to get to Hanoi

Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport is 35 kilometers away from city center in Hanoi. There are a few airlines coming from different countries in Southeast Asia. There is Cebu Pacific, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Singapore Airlines.

Best time to visit Hanoi

Hanoi has a tropical climate, so the city experiences hot and humid days much of the year. The best time to visit Hanoi is in autumn (mid-September to November) and spring (March and April). This is a time when the weather is cooler and pleasant enough.

Click here to know more about the weather in Hanoi!

Transportation around Hanoi

The traffic is crazy in Vietnam so we recommend you to walk around. When distances are bigger you have the choice to use a taxi, Grab or Uber. If you are patient enough you can try to ask for local buses to move around, which are so affordable. This is the best for discovering off the beaten path experiences in Hanoi. Your experience starts in the bus!

Click here to book online with 12 Go your transportation around Vietnam!

Off the Beaten Path experiences in Hanoi

1. Walking around alleys of Hanoi’s Old quarters

Apart from street food walking around the alleys, you will find the real local life in Hanoi. From street barber shops where you can have your hair cut for $1-2, to temples to visit and street food sellers who sell everything that you can imagine. There’s a lot to see!

You can relax and walk around to see all these places. And take your time, because you will find so many interesting things to do and to see that you never saw or heard before.

2. Train tracks in Hanoi

There are a few spots where you can watch the train going inside the streets in Hanoi. It’s an amazing off the beaten path experience in Hanoi. There are a lot of street markets on the side or small shops to see. And there are a few people cooking or hanging out their laundry.

You can watch it in this street:  Ngo 224 Le Duan

Please make sure that when watching the train, you are respectful of the people around and not take any pictures of when the train is moving. People have started to complain about how difficult this situation is and that there are no spaces extra. The best memories will be the ones you saw with your eyes. 

3. Literature Temple in Hanoi

Temple of Literature in Hanoi is 20 minutes walking from Hoan Kiem Lake – another must to see while visiting Hanoi. The Temple of Literature has five courtyards and there are various pavilions, halls and statues around. Did you know the Literature temple appears in the 100,000 VND bills? Check it out!

The opening hours are from 7 30 to 5 30 pm from April to October and 8 am to 5 pm from October to April. There is an entrance fee of 30, 000 VND which is $1.5. Please remember to bring proper clothes when visiting. No wearing shorts, skirts and showing your shoulders to show them your respect.

More Off the beaten path experiences in Hanoi

4. Get into Food Comma in Hanoi streets

We have to say that this is our favorite part in every city that we visit in the world. This is what we usually do in Angeles City in the Philippines, where we are based.

We love to try street and local food everywhere. We recommend that you to try a food tour in Hanoi. It’s always better to discover gastronomy with a local. We were introduced to egg coffee and this became in our favorite in Hanoi.

We were trying to discover new places to make sure we find our favorite and we loved all of them. Pho and Bun Cha are also very delicious street food choices. The food is so affordable in Vietnam and so delicious. We can’t stop including the food in all our memories about Hanoi.

5. Hoa Lo Prison

The prison was built from the French colonists in 1886 to 1900 and later used for US prisoners during the Vietnam War. The prison was demolished in 1990s but its still remained as a nice museum to visit in Hanoi.

The prison is a symbol for France’s oppression of Vietnam. Most of the American prisoners were Air Force pilots.

Nowdays the prison is conserved as a museum for the Vietnamese government to show the tortures happening there.

The opening hours are from 8 am to 5 pm every day of the week and it closes from 11 30 am to 1 30 pm. The entrance fee is 30, 000 VND which is $1.5 USD. It’s located in the French Quarter and is one kilometer far from Hoan Kiem Lake. This is the address: 1 Hoả Lò, Trần Hưng Đạo, Hoàn Kiếm.

For more complete information about Vietnam, read our full travel guide to Vietnam.

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Happy Travels!