Hanoi, the political capital of Vietnam, has preserved many of the sites inherited from its past and offers a richer cultural heritage than Saigon.
During my previous stay in Hanoi, incessant rain prevented me from making the most of a city I discovered for the first time in the early 2010s. This time the weather was fine and I was able to fully enjoy what Hanoi has to offer tourists.
Having already visited the city twice in the past, I’ll stick to the essentials.
You’ll find at the bottom of the page a summary of the articles about this vacation in Vietnam.
- Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
- The temple of literature
- Hanoi Museum of Fine Arts
- Hỏa Lò Prison
- St Joseph’s Cathedral of Hanoi
- Hoan Kiem Lake or Lake of the Restored Sword
- Ngoc Son Temple or Temple of the Jade Mountain
- The articles about this vacation in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Since 1975, it has housed the remains of Ho Chi Minh, founder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
The body is kept cold in a glass sarcophagus lit by dim lights.
This is a very important place for the Vietnamese and a major tourist site for tourists, so expect a very long wait that can be uncomfortable depending on weather conditions.
The temple of literature
Initially, this temple had no religious purpose, but was an academy where the sons of upper-class families studied to become scholars and civil servants.
Built in 1070, it has been transformed and restored several times since, most recently in 2000, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It comprises 5 courtyards in a row, the last of which is the academy itself.
Hanoi Museum of Fine Arts
It presents the evolution of Vietnamese art from prehistory to the present day.
Hỏa Lò Prison
Originally a French prison in which Vietnamese were held during the colonial era in rather undignified conditions, it was later used by the Vietnamese to detain and torture American POWs. This earned it the nickname Hanoi Hilton, and the story of this era is told in the film of the same name.
It is now a museum telling the story of the prison, with a special focus on the Vietnam War era.
St Joseph’s Cathedral of Hanoi
It was built in 1886 by the French for a single political and colonial purpose, on the site of a Buddhist pagoda then considered a wonder of the world, in order to make it a symbol of French domination.
Its resemblance to Notre Dame de Paris is so striking that some call it Notre Dame du Vietnam.
It is in neo-Gothic style.
The organ, meanwhile, was installed in 2022 and comes from Belgium as part of a cultural collaboration.
Hoan Kiem Lake or Lake of the Restored Sword
It was named after a legend according to which an emperor, during a war against the Chinese, received a sword spotted in the lake from a fisherman. 10 years later, the turtle, a character very present in local legends, asks him to return the sword in the name of the Dragon King, ancestor of the Viet people. He then understood that the sword was a mandate to drive the Chinese out of the country
In the middle of the lake is the Turtle Islet, with a temple dedicated to this sacred animal.
An American B52 bomber also lies at the bottom of the lake.
Ngoc Son Temple or Temple of the Jade Mountain
Located on an islet of Hoan Kiem Lake, the Jade Islet, it is reached by a red wooden bridge that is emblematic of the place.
It is dedicated to Confucian and Taoist geniuses.
The articles about this vacation in Vietnam
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