The capital of Vietnam is a city of timeless grace with tree-lined boulevards, colonial buildings, many lakes and parks as well as temples and pagodas. Hanoi centre is a quixotic blend of Parisian grace and Asian pace, an architectural museum piece evolving in harmony with its history, rather than bulldozing through it like many of the region’s capitals. Bustling Old Quarter has been a cauldron of commerce for 800 years and it’s still the best place to check the pulse of this resurgent city. Hanoi is a friendly-to-tourist city with developing travel amenities: an international airport, seven five-star hotels and a wide range of hotels at lower standards, a large variety of restaurants offering most of the main international cuisines and nearly all of the differing styles of Vietnamese food, plenty of banks and currency exchange outlets and a shopper’s paradise. It’s also a remarkably safe city. The level of crime is low, and what exists hardly ever involves violence. Of course, travelers need to be aware of personal security, but they’re unlikely to be robbed or physically assaulted.The Red river delta surrounds Hanoi with many small ancient handicraft villages which are the remain reflection of the once-prosperous wet rice civilization.
Hanoi highlights: