What to eat and where to go in 24 hours in Hanoi?

Watching Hanoi at dawn

Tourists can start their day in Hanoi by watching the flag-raising ceremony at Ba Dinh Square, in front of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. In summer (April 1 to October 31), the flag-raising ceremony takes place at 6am; in winter (November 1 to March 31 of the following year), it takes place at 6:30am.

Then, visitors move to Thanh Nien Street to see West Lake, Truc Bach Lake in the early morning, enjoy the fresh, cool air.

At 8am, visitors can go to the area around Hoan Kiem Lake to have breakfast and drink coffee. The most famous and popular breakfast dish here is pho. Visitors can find many long-standing, crowded pho restaurants around the old town such as pho Thin Bo Ho, pho Tu Lun Au Trieu, pho Khoi Hoi, pho gia truyen Bat Dan...

Afterwards, visitors enjoy the famous egg coffee at Dinh cafe by Hoan Kiem lake or Giang cafe on Nguyen Huu Huan street. In recent years, egg coffee has been a drink that has been regularly introduced and praised by international media. In early 2025, Taste Atlas voted egg coffee as one of the 63 best coffee drinks in the world .

Hoan Kiem Lake has an area of about 12 hectares, the circumference of the road around the lake is about 1.7 km. Photo: Hoang Ha

Stroll around the old town

After breakfast, visitors can walk around the Old Quarter to see architectural and cultural works such as the Cathedral, Hanoi Post Office, Hanoi Opera House, Dong Xuan Market, Long Bien Bridge, etc. Visitors can also choose to visit the city by double-decker bus.

Tourists visit Hanoi Cathedral. Photo: Linh Trang

At noon, visitors can enjoy Hanoi specialties such as vermicelli with grilled pork, grilled fish, vermicelli with crab soup and rest at restaurants or cafes.

About a 10-minute walk from Hoan Kiem Lake, visitors can find bun cha in alley 74 Hang Quat. The cha is made from half lean and half fat meat, so it is soft, not dry, and not greasy. The meat is grilled until golden brown on both sides, slightly charred to bring out the aroma. The rich dipping sauce is made from fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, filtered water, garlic, and chopped fresh chili.

Bun cha alley 74 Hang Quat attracts diners. Photo: Linh Trang

In the afternoon, visitors can visit some of the capital's typical monuments and structures such as the Temple of Literature, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, and Tay Ho Palace; at 5 p.m., visit Tran Quoc Pagoda and watch the sunset on West Lake.

With an age of up to 1,500 years, Tran Quoc is one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam, once honored to be in the top 10 most beautiful pagodas in the world.

When the afternoon light falls, each ray of sunlight shines on the sparkling lake surface, creating an extremely poetic scene. Photo: Hoang Ha

Hanoi Night Tour

For dinner in Hanoi, visitors can enjoy dishes such as Thang Long fish cakes, Hang Luoc garlic-fried duck, eel vermicelli or "home-cooked meals" restaurants.

If you want to learn about the history and culture of the capital, visitors can join attractive night tours such as "Sacred Night" at Hoa Lo Prison relic, "The Quintessence of Confucianism" at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam, "Decoding the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long"...

If you want to experience the vibrant atmosphere of the city at night, visitors can go to Ta Hien Street and Hoan Kiem Lake night market.

If you have explored the center of Hanoi, you can replace the above itinerary with destinations on the outskirts of the city such as Duong Lam ancient village, Bat Trang pottery village, Ba Vi National Park...

Regarding Hanoi delicacies, in addition to pho and bun cha, visitors can spend time enjoying Ho Tay shrimp cakes, La Vong fish cakes, bun thang, cold bun oc, bean porridge... Green rice, ripe sour plums, dried apricots, lotus tea are specialties that can be bought as gifts.