Nearby Attractions

Vietnam's first national university, founded in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius, his disciples, and Vietnam's own scholars. Five walled courtyards lead to the Well of Heavenly Clarity and 82 surviving stone stelae mounted on carved turtles, each recording the names of doctoral graduates from imperial-era exams — inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

Closed: Open daily

70,000 VND for adults (a recent increase from an older 30,000 VND price still shown on some outdated pages). Students/seniors with ID: 35,000 VND. Under 16 and severe-disability visitors: free. The separate evening 3D light-show experience (Wed/Sat/Sun only, 18:30-22:30) costs an additional 199,000 VND and is not included in daytime admission.

The embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh lies in state inside a granite mausoleum on Ba Dinh Square, where he read Vietnam's Declaration of Independence in 1945. Visitors file silently past the glass sarcophagus under armed guard; the surrounding complex also includes his wartime stilt house, the Presidential Palace grounds, and the One Pillar Pagoda.

Closed: Closed Mondays and Fridays year-round, plus a roughly two-month annual closure while the body undergoes maintenance in Russia (confirmed Sept 5 - Nov 3, 2026; exact dates shift slightly each year)

Free entry to the mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, and One Pillar Pagoda. The adjacent Ho Chi Minh Museum (~40,000 VND) and the Presidential Palace grounds/Stilt House (~25,000-40,000 VND, sources vary) are separate paid tickets. Strict dress code: shoulders and knees covered, no shorts/tank tops/flip-flops, hats off; bags and cameras must be checked in at the entrance and photography is banned inside the chamber; visitors must stay silent and walk in single file with hands out of pockets.

A French colonial-era prison built 1896-1901 to hold Vietnamese political prisoners, later used by North Vietnam to hold American POWs during the Vietnam War — who sardonically nicknamed it the "Hanoi Hilton," among them future US senator John McCain. Most of the original complex was demolished in the 1990s for a high-rise; the surviving gatehouse and cell blocks are preserved as a museum with reconstructed cells, guillotine, and POW-era artifacts.

Closed: Open daily

50,000 VND for adults. 50% discount for seniors (60+), students with ID, and visitors with severe disabilities. Free for children under 16. Cash is the more reliable payment method.

A museum dedicated to Vietnam's 54 officially recognized ethnic groups, widely rated among the best museums in Southeast Asia. Indoor galleries cover daily life, costume, and ritual objects across every group, while a large outdoor garden holds full-scale traditional houses — including an Ede longhouse on stilts and a soaring Bahnar communal house (nha rong).

Closed: Closed Mondays and during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday

40,000 VND for adults, cross-checked across multiple guides. Vietnamese university students: 15,000 VND; children 6-8: 10,000 VND. 50% discount for people with disabilities, seniors, and Vietnam's ethnic-minority visitors. Free for children under 6, visitors with severe disabilities, ICOM members, and accredited journalists.

The lake at Hanoi's literal and symbolic center, named for a legend in which a giant golden turtle god reclaimed a magic sword from 15th-century King Le Loi. A bright-red wooden bridge, The Huc, arcs across the water to Jade Island and Ngoc Son Temple, while a crumbling stone Turtle Tower sits on its own islet further out in the lake.

Closed: Open daily (Mon-Fri 7:00-18:00, Sat-Sun until 21:00)

Walking around the lake and viewing Turtle Tower from the shore is free. Only entering Ngoc Son Temple via The Huc Bridge requires a ticket: 50,000 VND for adults as of a Jan 2024 fee update (some older sources still cite 30,000 VND). Students with ID: 25,000 VND. Free for children under 1.2m tall. Cash only at the ticket booth.

A citadel continuously used as a seat of political power for over 13 centuries, from the early imperial era through the French colonial period to the Vietnam War, when its D67 building housed a wartime command bunker. UNESCO inscribed the site's Central Sector in 2010 for this unbroken record. Highlights include the surviving Doan Mon gate, foundations of Kinh Thien Palace, and ongoing archaeological digs displaying excavated artifacts in situ.

Closed: Closed Mondays per multiple independent guides — though a single automated read of the official ticket page suggested daily opening, so confirm locally before a Monday visit

100,000 VND per adult, effective from Jan 1, 2025 (official price). 50% discount (50,000 VND) for visitors with disabilities, Vietnamese seniors 60+ with ID, and students 16+ with a valid school ID. Free for children under 16 (with ID or under 1.3m tall) and visitors with severe disabilities.

A centuries-old art form born in the rice paddies of the Red River Delta, where puppeteers once stood waist-deep in flooded fields to perform for villagers. Hidden behind a bamboo screen and standing in a chest-deep water tank, puppeteers control wooden figures on long poles to act out folk legends and rural life scenes, backed by a live traditional orchestra — Hanoi's single most popular short cultural show for visitors.

Closed: Open daily (multiple showtimes)

Prices are tiered by seat row: standard seats from roughly 100,000 VND, front-row/VIP seats up to around 200,000 VND. Multiple daily showtimes (5 on weekdays, more added on Sundays including a morning slot). Shows regularly sell out in high season — booking a day ahead is recommended.