Where to stay in Hanoi: the Old Quarter and three more areas

Old Quarter or French Quarter: decide this first

For a first visit, sleep in the Old Quarter. The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) describes 36 guild streets north of Hoan Kiem Lake, named for the trades that once supplied the royal court in the Thang Long Citadel, and the lake, Dong Xuan Market, the street food and the beer corners are a walk from any hotel there. The price is noise: shops spill onto the pavements, motorbikes fill the narrow streets and the beer corner stays busy late.

Choose the French Quarter instead if you want calmer nights. Just south of the lake, VNAT says, are spacious streets, green parks and French colonial architecture, with the Vietnamese Women's Museum, Thien Quang Lake, Reunification Park and the Opera House on one walking route, and Hanoi Railway Station, where airport bus 86 ends, on its western side. The lake is still a short walk away, so you give up little but the Old Quarter on your doorstep.

The other two areas suit a particular kind of trip. Ba Dinh and Truc Bach, west and north-west of the Old Quarter, put the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Imperial Citadel and Truc Bach Lake close by, for travellers who want the state sights early in the day and quieter evenings. Tay Ho, on the shore of West Lake, is for a longer or return stay among cafes and pagodas. Keep one hotel for the whole stay: from any of the four, the others are a short ride away, and our Hanoi guide plans three days around them.

The four areas compare like this:

The Old Quarter: guild streets, the lake and late nights

The Old Quarter is Hanoi at its most intense. Only a few of the guild streets still sell what they were named for, VNAT says, but the constant motion is the point: bicycle vendors with flowers and fruit, old friends playing checkers on the pavement and cooks serving pho and bun cha from stalls that open onto the street. Hoan Kiem Lake marks its southern edge, with the red Huc Bridge leading to Ngoc Son Temple, and at weekends the lake is closed to vehicles and fills with Hanoians, young and old, out for entertainment and exercise. North of the quarter, past Long Bien railway station, Long Bien Bridge crosses the Red River, an iron bridge that VNAT calls the city's main supply lifeline in wartime.

The evenings are what you pay for, and what you hear. At Bia Hoi Corner, in VNAT's words, the party spills onto Ta Hien Street and backpackers and locals drink fresh draught beer on plastic stools; after dark at weekends Hang Dao becomes a night market selling snail meatballs, grilled quail and cured pork sausage. The district's notices of 2024 and 2025 set the Old Quarter's walking streets at 19:00 to 24:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with longer hours over national holidays, and the district announces each change. Sleep lightly and you want a room on a side street or at the back of the building, away from those two streets. Windows vary too: Hanoi Graceful Hotel on Hang Phen Street, for one, sells its cheapest rooms with a window but no view.

Ha Long Bay cruises that include a Hanoi pick-up may collect you from a meeting point rather than your hotel: Cozy Bay Grand, for one, collects guests at ten meeting points in the Old Quarter between 07:15 and 07:45. Our Ha Long Bay guide explains how the cruises are booked. Hotels range from small ones such as Hanoi Graceful to Hanoi Garden Hotel & Spa on Cha Ca Street, a short walk from the lake and Dong Xuan Market.

The French Quarter: avenues, museums and the railway station

South and south-east of the lake, the streets widen. VNAT's French Quarter walk starts at Hoan Kiem Lake, passes St Joseph's Cathedral on Ly Quoc Su Street and the yellow villa of Hang Trong Gardens, and reaches the Vietnamese Women's Museum, which it calls one of the best in the country. From there it follows Ba Trieu Street, with its pavement cafes and pho stalls, to Thien Quang Lake and its centuries-old trees, then crosses Reunification Park, the city's largest green space, where locals exercise on the paths and swan boats go out on the water. It ends at the Opera House, among high-end shops and colonial buildings, with coffee on the terrace of the Metropole.

That hotel is the quarter's landmark. The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, at 15 Ngo Quyen Street, a few steps from the Opera House, opened in 1901, has hosted guests from Charlie Chaplin to Graham Greene and now has 358 rooms and suites, some in its historic Heritage Wing. Evenings here are quieter than north of the lake, and the Old Quarter is just across it.

On the quarter's western side stands Hanoi Railway Station (Ga Ha Noi), where airport bus 86 ends and the long-distance trains leave, including the three night trains to Lao Cai for Sa Pa at 21:45, 22:00 and 22:40. A hotel between the station and the lake suits a trip that arrives by bus 86 or leaves on a night train; our transport guide for Vietnam has the trains and fares.

Ba Dinh and Truc Bach: the Mausoleum, the Citadel and two lakes

Ba Dinh is where the state sights stand: Ba Dinh Square with the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and just east of it the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. VNAT's historic walk follows Phan Dinh Phung, which it counts among the most beautiful boulevards in the city, past the Citadel's Northern Gate, still pocked with bullet holes from the war, to Truc Bach Lake, the 11th-century Quan Thanh Taoist temple and Thanh Nien Street, a causeway with lakes on both sides. On Ngu Xa island in Truc Bach, it says, is a famous food area for pho cuon, fresh rice-noodle rolls with grilled pork, and pho chien phong, puffed fried noodle squares with beef and gravy.

Stay here if your days start at the Mausoleum, which receives visitors on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings and closes each year for maintenance; our Hanoi guide has the hours and the closure dates. The area lies away from the Old Quarter's nightlife. Hotels sit at two ends of the area. On the Truc Bach side, Flower Garden Hotel is at 46 Nguyen Truong To Street, and Pan Pacific Hanoi, at 1 Thanh Nien Road, looks over both West Lake and Truc Bach Lake. Further west, Hanoi Daewoo Hotel at 360 Kim Ma Street, with views of Thu Le Lake from its upper floors, is on the road where airport bus 90 ends.

The Metro does not reach the old centre. Hanoi Metro's Line 2A runs from Cat Linh, south-west of Ba Dinh and west of the Temple of Literature, out to Yen Nghia, and the elevated section of Line 3 runs from Nhon in the west; both run from 05:30 to 22:00, and neither stops at the airport, the Old Quarter or West Lake.

Tay Ho: West Lake for a longer stay

VNAT describes the 17 km shoreline of West Lake as lined with cafes, old pagodas and gardens, perfect for cycling. At its southern end, on a small island joined to Thanh Nien Street, stands Tran Quoc Pagoda, which the Thang Long Heritage Conservation Centre calls the oldest pagoda in Hanoi, with a history of about 1,400 years; it was moved to the island from the Red River in 1616. Further north, the lanes around Xuan Dieu Street and the Quang An peninsula, with the temple of Phu Tay Ho on its western shore, are where most of the area's hotels and serviced apartments stand.

Tay Ho suits a trip of a week or more, a return visit or a family that wants space. Fraser Suites Hanoi, in Syrena Tower at 51 Xuan Dieu Street, has 280 furnished serviced apartments from studios to duplexes, and the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake, at 5 Tu Hoa Street beside Kim Lien Pagoda, has rooms built over the water and a sunset bar on the lake. The trade-off is distance: the Old Quarter is a taxi or ride-hailing ride away, and none of the airport bus routes or Metro lines ends on the lake shore, so expect to take cars for most outings.

From Noi Bai airport to each area

Noi Bai airport is about 27 km from the city centre, and VNAT says the trip usually takes about an hour. Licensed taxis serve the terminals from the first flight to the last, and public buses and the Hai Van airport minibuses run into the city. Fares and hours below are from the airport's own page, checked on 28 October 2026; the taxi range is VNAT's:

Bus 86 suits a daytime arrival with luggage on a small budget; from Hanoi Railway Station a short taxi ride takes you to an Old Quarter hotel. Buses 17 and 90 are cheaper, and bus 17 starts at 05:10, for travellers with light bags. For a late arrival, two or more people sharing, or a hotel in Tay Ho, a metered taxi or a ride-hailing car booked in an app is simplest, or a hotel pick-up if yours offers one. If your passport needs a visa, our entry guide has the rules.

What rooms cost, and checking in

Room rates below are those the hotels' own websites listed on 28 October 2026 for the room named; rates change with the dates, so check the price for yours. Tax, service and breakfast are not listed with these rates.

The other hotels named above, among them the Sofitel Legend Metropole, Pan Pacific Hanoi, Hanoi Daewoo Hotel, the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake and Fraser Suites, publish rates only for your dates.

Ask your hotel at check-in what it needs from you for your stay to be registered, and expect to be asked for your passport details. If your dates fall around Tet, book early; our Tet guide has the 2027 holiday dates and what closes.

• Hanoi Graceful Hotel, 21 Hang Phen Street, Old Quarter: the Superior Double or Twin Room, with a window but no view, is listed at $40 a night, and the Deluxe Window Double or Twin at $50.
• Hanoi Garden Hotel & Spa, 3B-5 Cha Ca Street, Old Quarter: the Superior Double, 28 m2, with a queen bed or two singles, is listed at VND 1,350,000, with no period or inclusions stated.
• Flower Garden Hotel, 46 Nguyen Truong To Street, Ba Dinh: the Superior room, 25 m2, with a king-size bed for two guests, is listed at VND 1,750,000 per night; breakfast is served from 06:00 to 09:30.

Which area for which trip: the 30-second choice

Match the trip to the area, then compare rooms there. If more than one line fits, take the first.

• First visit, street food and evenings out: the Old Quarter.
• Quieter nights with the lake and the museums on foot: the French Quarter.
• Arriving by bus 86 or leaving on a night train: the French Quarter near Hanoi Railway Station.
• The Mausoleum and the Citadel early in the day: Ba Dinh or Truc Bach.
• A week or more, a return visit or a serviced apartment: Tay Ho on West Lake.