Hoan Kiem Lake

Hoan Kiem Lake sits in the heart of the city, between the Old Quarter to the north and the French Quarter to the south. Hanoians use it the way other cities use a park. In the hours before sunrise joggers collect around the leafy banks, men and women move through tai chi routines and friends gather in circles to play hacky-sack. In the evening the scene repeats with couples on benches sharing green mango and tea. The tourism authority records a saying locals use for it: 'di mot vong ho', let's go round the lake.

For a visitor the draw is that so much is packed on a small body of water. The red Huc Bridge, Ngoc Son Temple on its island, the Turtle Tower and the Pen Tower are all within the loop. Add the weekend walking street and the lake is both a sight and a place to see how the city lives.

Viet Nam News tells the story as it is usually told. King Le Loi, the 15th-century ruler, returned his magic sword to the Golden Turtle in the lake after he beat the Ming. The tourism authority's own page names a different king, Ly Thai To, and says the turtle carried the sword back to the gods.

The two accounts agree on the turtle, the sword and the lake, so treat the king's name as the part that varies by who is telling it. On the ground nobody will correct you either way. The legend is also why the lake's turtles matter so much to Hanoians, and why the Turtle Tower stands on an islet in the water.

The temple stands on Jade Island in the northeast of the lake, and its entrance is on Dinh Tien Hoang street in Hang Trong ward. It honours Tran Hung Dao, who commanded Vietnamese forces against two Mongol invasions in the late 13th century, and Van Xuong, the patron of literature. A charitable group rebuilt it in 1843 and gave it the name Ngoc Son.

In 1865 the scholar Nguyen Van Sieu renovated it and added the stone embankments, Tran Ba Pavilion and the Huc Bridge.

The Huc Bridge is the red wooden bridge that curves from the shore to Jade Island. It was added in 1865 as part of the renovation led by Nguyen Van Sieu. Cross it in the morning for a lake view with few people, or after dark when it is lit. Because the temple closes at 18:00 on weekdays, a night crossing means you walk to the gate and turn back. That is fine, since the bridge is the image people travel for.

If you want a photograph with few people in it, arrive before 07:00, when the temple gate has not yet opened.

The turtle was about 100 years old, and in 2011 it measured 185 centimetres in length and weighed 169 kilograms. It was last seen alive on the surface in late 2015, and officials said it died of old age and bad weather. The People's Committee decided to move the body to the Viet Nam National Museum of Nature. Only three other turtles of the species were then known, one in Son Tay in Hanoi and two in Shanghai.

Two preserved lake turtle specimens are on show inside Ngoc Son Temple, so the temple is where a visitor can still see one. As for living turtles, reports of others surface from time to time, and no authority has published a confirmed count. A turtle that surfaces is therefore luck, not a promise. The Turtle Tower on its islet, seen from the shore path, remains the lake's symbol either way.

During those hours the streets around the lake become a pedestrian zone. Taxis and ride-hailing cars cannot reach the lake edge, so you must be dropped outside the zone and walk in. The zone fills with families, buskers and stalls, and it is the best time to see how Hanoi uses the lake.

The tourism authority adds a local ritual, an ice-cream cone on Trang Tien street during an evening walk around the water.

Carry your bag on the side away from the road, even where the road is shut for the walking street. Hand over valuables rather than resist. The shore path is busy and lit in the evening, and the closed roads at weekends make it easier to walk.

Watch for motorcycles on weekday evenings, when they share the road, because road-law compliance in Vietnam is poor and motorbikes approach as you walk.

The lake is not a long visit and it is not a museum. It is the place to see local life and to orient yourself. Pick the hour for what you want.

If you are short of time, a half hour at dusk is enough. If you have more, take a lap, cross the bridge and walk north into the Old Quarter. The Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre stands at the northern shore and a show lasts 50 minutes.

For a hotel near the lake see Hanoi's best hotel areas, and for guided options browse the Hanoi tours.

The lake lies at the southern edge of the Old Quarter, so most visitors simply walk. Buses 08, 14, 31 and 36 are reported to stop near the temple entrance, though the route numbers vary between sources, so check a map on the day. Ride-hailing and taxis work every day except the walking-street hours, when they stop at the edge of the zone.