Category: places to see

Motorbikes and street life in Hanoi Old Quarter

Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026 — Part 7: Hanoi Old Quarter: Complete Guide

Tom Vaughan 14/10/2026 0 Comments
Hanoi Old Quarter is not an open-air museum. It is a living neighbourhood where a family breakfast, a delivery scooter, a centuries-old temple and a fashionable coffee shop can share the same few metres of pavement. The best way to discover it is to walk slowly, look above the shop signs, turn into small lanes and allow time for food, conversation and unexpected stops. This Hanoi Old Quarter...
Hanoi street with hotels, shops and cafés near the Old Quarter

Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026 — Part 4: Where to Stay in Hanoi

Tom Vaughan 07/10/2026 0 Comments
Where you stay in Hanoi changes the trip. For a first visit, the Old Quarter puts food, cafés and major sights outside your door. The French Quarter is calmer and more polished. West Lake gives you space and a slower rhythm, while Ba Dinh works well for history and quieter nights. This is Part 4 of our Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026. Choose the right area first, then the right accommodation for...
Hanoi street food stall in the Old Quarter

Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026 — Part 3: Street Food

Tom Vaughan 05/10/2026 0 Comments
Hanoi is a city you can eat your way through. The best meals are often not behind polished restaurant doors but on a pavement, in a narrow alley, beside a charcoal grill or at a family shop that has been serving the same dish for decades. This is Part 3 of our Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026. The goal is simple: help you understand what to eat, when to eat it, how to order it and where to start...
Vietnamese egg coffee in Hanoi

Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026 — Part 2: Best Cafés in Hanoi

Tom Vaughan 05/10/2026 0 Comments
Hanoi is one of the great coffee cities of Asia. Coffee here is not simply something you buy on the way to work. It is a daily ritual: a slow phin filter dripping into a glass, friends sitting on tiny stools, long conversations in hidden upstairs rooms, and increasingly, a new generation of specialty roasters treating Vietnamese beans with the same seriousness as wine. This is Part 2 of our...
Hoan Kiem Lake in central Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi Traveler’s Guide 2026 — Part 1: 3 Days in Hanoi

Tom Vaughan 30/09/2026 0 Comments
Three days in Hanoi is enough to understand why the Vietnamese capital rewards slow travel. The city is not one single attraction: it is a collection of old trading streets, lakes, colonial buildings, museums, temples, cafés, railway lines, markets and neighborhoods that change completely from morning to night. This itinerary is designed for a first visit in 2026. Each day combines a morning...
Train passing through Hanoi Train Street with visitors beside the railway

Hanoi Train Street: Complete 2026 Guide to Visiting, Safety, Cafés & Train Times

Tom Vaughan 30/09/2026 0 Comments
Hanoi Train Street is one of the Vietnamese capital’s most unusual urban sights: an active railway line running through a narrow residential neighborhood where homes, cafés and small businesses stand only a short distance from the tracks. When a train approaches, chairs are moved, people step back and, for a few dramatic seconds, the railway becomes the center of the street. It is also a...

Discovering Vietnam: Everything You Need to Know

Tom Vaughan 05/02/2023 0 Comments
Welcome to Vietnam Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country that has become increasingly popular with tourists over the years. With its rich cultural heritage, beautiful natural scenery, and diverse landscapes, it's no wonder that so many people are drawn to this amazing country. Whether you're interested in exploring ancient temples, trying delicious street food, or simply relaxing on a beach,...

Places To See In Vietnam:

Tom Vaughan 01/05/2020 0 Comments
Sa Pa: Hiking through Sapa can be one of your most beautiful adventures ever. The glorious sight of the rice paddy fields, the amazing scenery of the mountains, and interacting with the minority groups and knowing more about their culture can be a glorious adventure on its own. Ha Giang: Well known for its towering glorious mountains and its surrounding scenery this is a spot you wouldn’t want...

Sapa: North Vietnam’s Mountainous Heaven

Tom Vaughan 25/03/2020 0 Comments
Sapa is a popular but quiet mountain town in Lao Cai Province, which is on the northern Vietnamese-Chinese border. It is located about 350 kilometers northwest of Hanoi, on Fan Si Pan mountain, which is the highest peak in Vietnam!  Sapa is very close to the border of China and is a part of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. When the French arrived in the Tonkin highlands in the late 1880s,...

Long Bien Bridge

Tom Vaughan 21/03/2020 0 Comments
Only a kilometer from the Old Quarter you will find the Long Bien Bridge.  The Long Bien Bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who is world-renowned for the Eiffel Tour in Paris.  The bridge was built between 1899 and 1902 by architects Daydé & Pillé of Paris, and opened in 1903.  More than 3,000 Vietnamese people took part in the construction of this bridge.  The...