Monuments and Memorials in Hanoi
Part of the Hanoi travel guide.
Hanoi wears its history lightly. Its monuments and landmarks sit inside a living, modern capital of scooters, lakeside cafes, and glass towers rising along the Red River. A morning among the old sites pairs easily with an afternoon in a rooftop bar or a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake.
The One Pillar Pagoda and the Opera House
The One Pillar Pagoda is one of Hanoi's best-loved pieces of architecture: a small wooden hall set on a single stone column in a lotus pond, shaped like a lotus flower rising from the water. First built in 1049, it is tiny but very photogenic, and the shady gardens around it make a calm early-morning stop. Across town, the Hanoi Opera House, finished in 1911, is a grand cream-coloured building modelled on the Paris opera. Its front steps are a favourite photo spot, and evening ballet, classical and Vietnamese music shows let you see the hall inside.
Long Bien Bridge and the Ceramic Mosaic Road
Opened in 1903, the Long Bien Bridge is a long steel bridge across the Red River, about 1.7 kilometers of riveted iron frames. Trains, scooters and bicycles still use it, but not cars, and a walk along its side lanes at sunset gives wide river views and a close look at old engineering.
Hanoi's most playful monument is a horizontal one. The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural runs for nearly four kilometers along the Red River dyke road, a ribbon of brightly tiled panels created by Vietnamese and international artists for the capital's 1,000th birthday in 2010. Best taken in from the back of a slow-moving taxi or bike heading toward Long Bien Bridge, it turns an ordinary commuter route into one of the world's largest outdoor artworks — proof of how naturally Hanoi folds art into everyday street life.
Hoan Kiem Lake and the Modern City Around It
Hoan Kiem Lake is the city's favourite meeting place. The red wooden Huc Bridge crosses to a small island, and the tiny Turtle Tower rises from another islet in the middle. Cafes, bookshops, and pedestrian streets ring the lake and fill with music and street food on weekend nights, and the twin towers of St Joseph's Cathedral are a short walk away. It's a good place to end a day of sightseeing before heading to the city's rooftop bars and skyline views.