Hanoi Old Quarter: 36 Streets Guide, Things to Do & Walking Route

This is where Hanoi began trading a thousand years ago. Under the Ly and Tran dynasties it sat right to the east of the Citadel of Thang Long, along the slow-moving, muddy Red River, and it was where trade and commerce took place and working families lived above their shops. They still do. It is also where many first-time visitors from India choose to stay, because the lake, the markets and the water puppets are all a short walk away.

On this page: At a glance · The 36 streets · Things to do · Walking route · Food · Night market · Safety at night · How to reach · Hours and fees · Best time · Where to stay · Nearby · Tips

Hanoi Old Quarter at a glance

Rupee figures on this page use Rs 1 = 270 VND (3 November 2026). Fees, hours and fares were checked by our Vietnam desk against Vietnam's national tourism portal, Hanoi city notices reported by Lao Dong and VnExpress, and Grab's Hanoi tariff in November 2026.

Where is the Old Quarter, and how big is it?

The Old Quarter covers about 100 hectares of central Hanoi, roughly a 1 km by 1 km block that you can cross on foot in 15 minutes. Its official edges were fixed by Vietnam's Ministry of Construction in 1995. Hang Dau street marks the north, Phung Hung and the railway viaduct the west, and the Red River dyke roads (Tran Quang Khai and Tran Nhat Duat) the east. The southern edge runs along Hang Bong, Hang Gai, Cau Go and Hang Thung, which is why the lake's north shore feels like the front door.

Inside that box are 76 streets. Most are lined with tube houses: shopfronts barely 3 or 4 metres wide that run 50 metres or more back from the street, with courtyards cut into the middle for light. Merchants were taxed on their frontage, so families built backwards instead of sideways. Above the ground floor you will see the yellow plaster, green shutters and wrought-iron balconies added in the French colonial years, and here and there a communal house or a small pagoda squeezed between two shops.

The 36 streets of Hanoi, explained

The "36 streets" name is older than the street map. When the Old Quarter was established a thousand years ago, it was mostly a commercial hub, and craftsmen from the villages around Thang Long gathered by guild, one trade to a street, to sell to merchants. Most streets took the name hang ("wares") plus what they sold: Hang Tre street was for bamboo products and Hang Dong street was for copper. There were never exactly 36. The number was a traditional way of saying "many", and today the quarter has 76 streets.

Many of the old trades are gone, but the essence of it has stayed. Some streets still sell what their name says (silver on Hang Bac, herbs on Lan Ong, tin on Hang Thiec). Others switched trade but kept the one-street, one-product habit, like Hang Buom, the old sail street, which now sells cakes and sweets.

If you only have an hour, walk Hang Gai, Hang Bac and Hang Ma in that order. You will see silk, silver and paper lanterns within 600 metres. Our shopping in Hanoi guide lists what to pay on each street.

Top things to do in the Hanoi Old Quarter

The Old Quarter is easily the most popular area of the city to explore, and its best sights are small: one temple, one gate, one merchant's house, a market, a coffee. Between them sit a dozen small temples and communal houses, and most stops are within 300 metres of each other.

Bach Ma Temple

Bach Ma, at 76 Hang Buom, is the oldest temple in the Old Quarter. Legend says a white horse (bach ma) showed King Ly Thai To where to build the walls of his new capital in 1010, and the temple honours that guardian spirit. Look for the white horse statue in the inner hall and the carved red-lacquer altars. A ticket is 20,000 VND (about Rs 75) since 8 December 2025. It opens 8 am to 12 noon and 1:30 to 5:30 pm daily, plus 7 to 9 pm Friday to Sunday. Cover knees and shoulders. Allow 20 minutes.

Heritage House, 87 Ma May

This is the best place to see how a tube house works. The merchant's home at 87 Ma May dates from the 1890s and was restored with help from the city of Toulouse. You walk from the front shop room, through two open courtyards, to the kitchen at the back, then climb the steep wooden stairs to the family rooms and altar. A ticket is 20,000 VND (about Rs 75), set by the city from 1 January 2025 and paid in cash at the door. Allow 30 minutes.

O Quan Chuong gate

O Quan Chuong is the only gate left from the walls that once ringed Hanoi. It stands at the east end of Hang Chieu, facing the river, and was once called Dong Ha Mon. The current name honours a commander said to have died defending it against French troops in the 1870s. It is open-air and free, so pass any time. Motorbikes still squeeze through its arch, so the best photo comes before 8 am.

Dong Xuan Market

Dong Xuan is Hanoi's largest and most frequented covered market, built in 1889 at the north end of the Quarter. The ground floor is where locals and expats come for everyday groceries and wet-market needs. The upper floors sell garments, jewellery, bags, watches, fabric and souvenirs at wholesale prices. It runs from about 6 am to 6 pm. The food stalls at the back serve bun rieu and fried spring rolls to traders at lunch. Read our Dong Xuan Market guide.

Kim Ngan communal house and the Old Quarter temples

Kim Ngan, at 42 to 44 Hang Bac, is the guild temple of the silversmiths, and the carved wooden beams above its altar are some of the finest in the quarter. Entry is 20,000 VND (about Rs 75), the same as Bach Ma. Quan De Temple at 28 Hang Buom and the Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Centre at 50 Dao Duy Tu, a restored house with small craft exhibitions, are a two-minute walk away, and both have charged 20,000 VND since 1 January 2026.

Ta Hien beer street and Bia Hoi Junction

At the corner of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen, hundreds of people sit on low plastic stools with glasses of bia hoi, fresh Vietnamese draught beer at 10,000 to 15,000 VND (Rs 35 to Rs 55) a glass, with skewers and fried tofu on the side. It fills from 8 pm and peaks on Friday and Saturday. Our Ta Hien Beer Street guide covers the bars, and the Hanoi nightlife guide covers rooftops, jazz and clubs.

Egg coffee at Café Giang

Egg coffee was invented in Hanoi in 1946 by Nguyen Van Giang, a bartender at the Metropole hotel, when fresh milk was scarce. His family still runs Café Giang at 39 Nguyen Huu Huan, on the Quarter's eastern edge. Egg yolk is whipped with sugar and condensed milk over strong coffee, and it tastes like tiramisu in a cup. A cup costs 30,000 to 50,000 VND (Rs 110 to Rs 185). Go before 10 am for a seat upstairs.

A water puppet show

Water puppetry began in the flooded rice fields of the Red River delta. The Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre at 57B Dinh Tien Hoang, on the Quarter's southern edge by the lake, runs the classic 50-minute show several times each afternoon and evening, with a live band. Seats cost 100,000 to 200,000 VND (Rs 370 to Rs 740). Buy evening tickets in the morning in peak season. See our water puppet show guide.

A cyclo ride or an electric-car loop

A cyclo is a three-wheeled pedal rickshaw with the passenger seat in front, and it is the gentlest way to see the quarter if you are travelling with elders. Agree the price and the route before you sit down; expect about 150,000 to 200,000 VND (Rs 555 to Rs 740) for an hour. The green electric buggies that leave from Dinh Tien Hoang on the lake's north-east side run fixed loops with a printed fare, so there is nothing to haggle.

Shop the craft streets

Hang Gai is the place for silk and a tailored shirt in 24 to 48 hours. Hang Bac sells silver rings from about 150,000 VND (Rs 555). Hang Ma sells paper lanterns from about 30,000 VND (Rs 110), and it turns red and gold in the weeks before Tet and Mid-Autumn. Bargain gently on the market lanes, not in fixed-price shops.

Hanoi Train Street

Train Street is the stretch of track that runs a metre or two from front doors on the Old Quarter's western edge, between Tran Phu and Phung Hung streets. Cafés set stools along the rails, and when a train is due, owners pull everyone back to the wall. Since a 27 February 2026 decision to cut passenger services on this line, there are fewer trains than before, police check some entrances, and access can change from day to day. Visiting is free but you are expected to buy a drink. Sit inside a café and stay behind the line the owner shows you.

Long Bien Bridge at sunset

Long Bien is the steel bridge over the Red River that the French finished in 1902, bombed repeatedly in the war and patched back each time. It is a 15-minute walk from Dong Xuan Market. Walk the narrow pedestrian lane beside the rail line around 5 pm for the light over the river and the banana plantations below.

A 3-hour Old Quarter walking route

This loop covers the quarter's best stops in about 3.5 km, starting and ending at Hoan Kiem Lake. It takes three hours with time inside each sight and one coffee stop. Start at 7:30 am on a weekday, before the motorbike traffic builds. If mornings don't suit you, start no later than 2 pm. Bach Ma and 87 Ma May close around 5:30 pm, and a later start reaches them after the doors shut.

The pavements are mostly taken by parked scooters and food stalls, so you will walk in the road for stretches. Keep to the right, close to the shopfronts, and stop to look at things on the pavement side, not in the traffic.

What to eat in the Old Quarter

The Old Quarter is the best place in Hanoi to eat on a pavement, and a full meal rarely costs more than 60,000 VND (Rs 220). Breakfast is the big meal for pho and bun cha stalls, so many sell out by 1 pm.

Vegetarian and Jain food. Learn one word: chay (vegetarian). "Pho chay" gets you a tofu and mushroom noodle soup at many stalls, but the broth can still be meat-based, so ask "khong thit, khong nuoc mam" (no meat, no fish sauce). For a full Indian meal inside the quarter, Tandoor at 24 Hang Be has a long vegetarian menu; call a day ahead if you need Jain food without onion and garlic. Our Indian restaurants in Vietnam list has more, and the Hanoi street food guide explains what to order at each stall.

Weekend walking street and night market

Hanoi's main walking street runs from Friday 7 pm to Sunday midnight, when the roads around Hoan Kiem Lake close to cars and motorbikes. The linked Old Quarter streets, such as Hang Dao, Hang Buom and Ma May, close to traffic only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, from about 7 pm to midnight, and carry normal traffic in the daytime. Families take over Dinh Tien Hoang, street performers set up by the lake, and children ride hired toy cars.

The Hanoi Weekend Night Market runs on the same three evenings, from about 6 or 7 pm to 11 pm. Stalls fill the middle of Hang Dao, then continue north along Hang Ngang and Hang Duong to Dong Xuan Market, about 1 km in all. It sells cheap clothes, phone cases, sandals, souvenirs and snacks at low prices. Most other markets in the city serve residents; this one is built for visitors, so bargain. Come before 8 pm, because by 9 pm the crowd moves at a shuffle. The city sometimes extends the walking street over national holidays and suspends it around Tet.

The Old Quarter at night: is it safe?

Yes, the Old Quarter is safe to walk at night, and it is busiest between 7 pm and midnight. Violent crime against visitors is rare. The real risks are traffic, petty theft and overcharging.

• Cross the road at a slow, steady pace. Motorbikes flow around a walker who keeps moving. Stopping or running is what causes accidents.

• Hold your phone on the shop side. Bag and phone snatching from passing motorbikes happens on the busier streets after dark.

• Check your notes. The 20,000 and 500,000 VND notes are both blue. Count your change before you walk away.

• Agree prices first. Cyclo riders, shoe-shine boys and the fruit-basket sellers who offer you a photo all expect money. Settle the amount, or say no with a smile.

• Watch the closing times. Most bars close between midnight and 1 am, and a few licensed clubs such as 1900 Le Théâtre on Ta Hien run to about 2 am.

• Use Grab, Be or Xanh SM after dark. The apps show the fare before you book, which beats a meterless taxi.

How to reach the Old Quarter

The Old Quarter is about 28 km from Noi Bai International Airport, a 40 to 60 minute drive. Grab, Be and Xanh SM all work in Hanoi. Uber does not; it left Vietnam in 2018.

From India. Nonstop flights reach Noi Bai from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in about 4 to 5 hours. See our guides for flights from Delhi, from Mumbai and from Bangalore.

From Hoan Kiem Lake. You are already there. The Quarter begins across the road from the lake's north shore, and Hoan Kiem Lake is a natural first or last stop on any walk.

Getting around inside. Walk. Nowhere in the quarter is more than 15 minutes away on foot. For a short hop with bags, a Grab bike costs about 35,000 to 55,000 VND (Rs 130 to Rs 205).

Old Quarter opening hours and entry fee

The Old Quarter itself is a public neighbourhood, so it is free and open 24 hours. You pay only at a few temples and houses, and each has its own hours. Our Old Quarter opening hours page lists every market and bar time.

Temple hours change around Tet and public holidays, so carry small notes and check the board at the door.

Best time to visit the Old Quarter

October to December is the best time to visit the Old Quarter. Days are dry and the afternoon highs fall from about 30 °C in October to 21 °C in December, cool enough to walk all afternoon. March and April are the next best. The month to avoid is August, the wettest of the year at about 274 mm of rain, with June the hottest at about 35 °C.

Time of day matters as much as the month. The quarter is at its best from 7 to 10 am, when the pho stalls are busy and the light is soft, and again after 6 pm. Avoid the middle of the day from May to September. For month-by-month weather, read our best time to visit Hanoi guide.

Where to stay: Old Quarter or French Quarter?

Stay in the Old Quarter if you want to walk everywhere and eat on the street. Pick the French Quarter if you want quieter nights and bigger hotels. West Lake suits a longer, slower stay.

If you book in the Old Quarter, ask for a room at the back or on a high floor, away from the street. Browse hotels in Hanoi by area and price.

Nearby, outside the Old Quarter

Several famous Hanoi sights are often listed as "Old Quarter attractions" but are actually outside it. They are close, though.

• Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngoc Son Temple and The Huc Bridge, right on the southern edge.

• St Joseph's Cathedral, a 5-minute walk south-west of Hang Gai.

• The French Quarter, south-east of the lake, with the Hanoi Opera House, the National Museum of Vietnamese History and Hoa Lo Prison, 10 to 15 minutes on foot.

• One Pillar Pagoda and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, in Ba Dinh about 2.5 km west, 10 minutes by Grab.

• Temple of Literature, about 2 km south-west.

For the full list with timings and fees in rupees, see our guide to places to visit in Hanoi.

Tips for Indian travellers

Carry cash in small notes. Temples, stalls and cyclos take cash only. Keep 10,000, 20,000 and 50,000 VND notes, since a street vendor cannot change 500,000. Rs 1,000 is about 270,000 VND, enough for two temples, an egg coffee and a bowl of pho.

Plan around elders. Pavements are uneven and crowded, and the stools are low. Do the route in two halves with a café stop in between, use a cyclo or the electric buggy for one stretch, and stay in the French Quarter if your parents need lifts and quiet.

Dress for temples. Cover shoulders and knees at Bach Ma, Kim Ngan and the pagodas. A light scarf in your day bag is enough.

Photograph with care. Ask before photographing vendors, and at Train Street never stand on the rails or hold your phone over them.

Sort your papers and SIM before you fly. Indians need a Vietnam e-visa, applied for online (see Vietnam visa for Indians). Noi Bai is on the Digital Arrival Card list, so fill in the free form in the three days before you land and treat it as required. Buy an eSIM before you travel, so that Grab and maps work from the arrivals hall. Hanoi is 1 hour 30 minutes ahead of India.

Plan your Hanoi trip

Most travellers give the Old Quarter one full day inside a 4 to 6 night trip that adds a Ha Long Bay cruise. Our Hanoi tour packages put you in an Old Quarter or French Quarter hotel with airport transfers included, and the Hanoi city tour covers the Quarter, the lake and Ba Dinh with a guide.

Edited by TravelTriangle