Hanoi & Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Pho at dawn, egg coffee, and limestone islands rising from an emerald bay. Some of the best value travel on earth.

cityfoodbackpackercultureislands

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	20°	13°	42 mm
Feb	22°	15°	33 mm
Mar	25°	18°	61 mm	prime
Apr	29°	22°	103 mm	prime
May	31°	24°	227 mm
Jun	33°	26°	231 mm
Jul	32°	26°	270 mm
Aug	31°	25°	337 mm
Sep	30°	24°	262 mm
Oct	28°	22°	139 mm	prime
Nov	25°	18°	58 mm	prime
Dec	21°	14°	31 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Premium level. Typically around $45 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cash dominates outside hotels and malls. The notes carry a lot of zeros and two of them are near-identical in colour, which catches people out. Tipping is not traditional.
money · editorial
Crossing the road means walking steadily and letting the scooters flow around you; stopping is what causes accidents. Ha Long boats are cancelled on weather with no notice, so do not put it the day before a flight.
know before · editorial
The northern summer is hot, humid and the wettest part of the year, and storms cancel Ha Long sailings. Midwinter in Hanoi is grey and colder than people expect.
when not to go · editorial
The Old Quarter for density, noise and street food. The French Quarter and the far side of Hoan Kiem for wider streets and calm. Tay Ho by the lake for cafés and space, twenty minutes from the centre.
where to stay · editorial
Walk the Old Quarter and use ride-hailing for anything beyond it. Do not hire a car. Trains and sleeper buses cover the rest of the north.
getting around · editorial
Noi Bai airport, about forty-five minutes from the Old Quarter. Ha Long is another two and a half hours by motorway and then a boat, usually taken as an overnight cruise.
getting there · editorial

Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son
The red bridge and the temple on the islet. The city walks laps around it in the morning.
The Old Quarter of 36 streets
Each street sold one thing only, and several still do.
Temple of Literature
The first university in the country, from 1070, with the stelae standing on tortoises.
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Guards in white, silence required, and a queue that moves fast.
Train Street
The train passes a metre from the doorways. There is a timetable, and it is kept.
Ha Long Bay
One thousand six hundred limestone islands rising out of a shallow sea.

Eat bún chả for lunch in Hanoi, sitting on a plastic stool
Phở for breakfast
Soup at seven in the morning, on a plastic stool. That is how it is eaten.
Bún chả
Charcoal-grilled pork in a sweet-sour broth, with a pile of herbs.
Cà phê trứng
Coffee with egg yolk whipped into condensed milk. Invented here, when there was no milk.

Drink cà phê trứng at 6am and watch the city wake up
Cross the road without breaking stride
Steady pace, no running and no hesitating. The motorbikes do the calculating for you.
Bia hơi on a street corner at five in the afternoon
Beer brewed that day, served in a thick glass, for almost nothing.

Sleep on a boat in the bay
Off the day-boat route, waking among the islands, in silence.