2 Days in Hanoi: A Ba Dinh Day and a Lake Day, Ordered by Weekday

Day one is the Ba Dinh day, and it has to land on a day the mausoleum is open. From November to March that means Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday, 8:00-11:00 on Tuesday to Thursday and 8:00-11:30 on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Monday and Friday are closed, and April to October uses earlier morning hours, which the mausoleum guide explains.

Be in the queue ten minutes before the doors open and dress neatly. Published rules on cameras, bags and young children disagree, so go light and ask at the gate. The visit itself is short, so most of the hour goes on the queue, the square and the gardens.

The one-pillar shrine and the Presidential Palace grounds share the complex with the mausoleum. Neither the pagoda's fee nor its hours are published on a page that could be read, and the palace's ticket and closed days are reported inconsistently. This plan does not depend on either. Look at the pagoda from the path, walk the gardens if the gate is open and leave by 10:00.

The Temple of Literature is a short ride away, about ten minutes by taxi or ride-hail in morning traffic (our estimate).

Văn Miếu, the Temple of Literature, is open 8:00-17:00 every day, and a ticket costs VND 70,000 with children under 16 free. Give it 75 minutes. The stone stelae stand in rows on turtle bases, each one carrying the names of scholars who passed the royal exams.

On Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday the temple opens again from 18:30 to 22:00 for a night tour, which has its own ticket and no published price. If your day one is one of those evenings and you have the energy, the night tour is an alternative to the puppet show. The full courtyard order is in the Temple of Literature guide.

Ride towards the Old Quarter and eat a northern lunch. Cha ca is turmeric fish cooked with dill at the table, bun cha is grilled pork with rice noodles and herbs, and both are standard Hanoi meals that restaurants cook for lunch. Pick a place with a short menu and a full room.

If you would rather have a guide pick the places, the Michelin-nominated noodle walk at $23 covers three eateries in under four hours and works as lunch, though it does not suit vegetarians or vegans. Hanoi food tours compares the others.

The citadel at 19C Hoang Dieu is open 8:00-17:00 every day, and the ticket is VND 100,000 for Vietnamese and international visitors, with children under 16 free. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site on the ground of the old royal centre, so what you see is partly excavated foundations and partly standing gates.

Restoration of Kinh Thien Palace started in 2026, so expect works around it. The citadel also runs a night tour called Giải mã Hoàng thành Thăng Long, but its price and times are not printed on the homepage, so ask at the gate. Give the visit 90 minutes.

The neo-Gothic cathedral stands in the French-era part of town just west of the lake, and the lanes around it are lined with small cafés and shops. Opening hours for the interior are not confirmed on an official page, so treat it as an exterior and a coffee break.

Walk from here east to the lake, about ten minutes (our estimate), and use the last hour of light for the pavement cafés. The things to do in Hanoi list adds what else sits in the French Quarter.

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre at 57B Dinh Tien Hoang is on the lake's north-east corner. A show lasts 50 minutes, runs 5 to 7 times a day all year and suits every age. Show times and seat prices sit behind a booking form, so a reserved ticket at $7, collected at an Old Quarter office, is the simplest route. Ask for a time from 19:00 so dinner comes after.

The water puppet theatre guide covers seat choice and what the puppets act out.

Day two starts in the French Quarter at the old colonial prison, open 8:00-17:00 every day including Tet. The ticket is VND 50,000 and children under 16 enter free. Arriving at opening gives you the cells and exhibits before the group visits arrive (our estimate).

The museum spans the French period and the later years when it held American pilots. The three-hour Little Paris walk at $43.81 ends at the gate with the ticket and a guide included, which is the way to take the French Quarter and the prison as one story. Allow 75 minutes on your own.

The museum at 36 Ly Thuong Kiet is open 8:00-17:00 every day, Monday to Sunday, which makes it the reliable indoor stop of day two. Its own site does not print a ticket price, so pay at the desk and carry small notes.

The exhibits are about the lives of Vietnamese women, and an hour is enough. From here walk north towards the lake, about 20 minutes (our estimate), or take a short ride if the heat is up.

The lake is where the city exercises, and the circuit takes under an hour at an easy pace. The red Huc Bridge leads to Ngoc Son Temple, whose ticket price and hours are not confirmed on an official page. The Turtle Tower stands on its own islet and is seen from the shore.

From 19:00 to midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the roads around the lake are closed to cars and taxis cannot reach the water's edge, so on those evenings plan to walk the last stretch. See the Hoan Kiem Lake guide for the loop.

The Old Quarter's edge streets hold lunch counters that sell a single dish, so pho, bun cha or banh mi cost little and arrive fast. Choose the counter with a queue of office workers.

A rest here is useful, because the afternoon is the longest stretch of the two days on foot. In hot months drink before you feel thirsty.

The streets of the old trading quarter were named for the guilds that worked on them, and many still sell one kind of goods, from tin and paper to silk and shoes. Read the street signs as you walk, because the first word of a name often tells you what the street sells.

Two hours with no fixed destination is the right amount. Pause for an egg coffee upstairs somewhere quiet. The Old Quarter guide lays the streets out by theme, and Train Street has its own page because access to it changes, so read it before you plan an hour there.

End day two with a guided food walk, which replaces dinner. The food tour at $18 runs 3 to 4 hours from an Old Quarter office with 4 to 5 tastings including bun cha and banh mi. It adds a Train Street stop for egg coffee, and that stop is the operator's own wording. Check the Train Street page for current access.

On a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, skip the guided walk and eat at the lake's pedestrian zone after 19:00 instead.