I’m taking some time at the end of the year to reflect on all the things I’ve cooked, read, grown, and everywhere we traveled this year. I realized that a Hanoi, Vietnam travel guide could be an excellent resource for anyone else who’s heading there in 2026 and beyond.
There are no affiliate links in this article — these are just the resources I’ve come to love. I’m incredibly grateful to say that this is my third trip to Asia in five years, so I feel like I have a good grip on what you need and how to plan.
Enjoy!
In February 2025, a friend’s wedding was taking us to Thailand. We wanted to make the most of our long cross-Pacific journey and see a country we’d never experienced before: Vietnam. We found flights into Hanoi, Vietnam that worked with our schedule and booked for mid-February.
While we only had three nights, I was smitten by the food, historic architecture and cultural vibrancy of this city. I can’t wait to visit again.
To make the most of the several days we had, we made a few plans in advance. Here’s a breakdown of what we did:
- Day 1: Land at airport, check into hotel, visit a tailor, and get pho for dinner.
- Day 2: Wander the old quarter, visit Tran Quoc pagoda, walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, dinner at a night market
- Day 3: Shopping and coffee, train street, dinner at Don Duck, pack to head out to Bangkok in the morning
We were definitely there during the off-peak season, but it wasn’t an issue. In fact, it probably made it easier to fit all of the things in that we did.
Before you leave home…
As you’re getting ready for your trip, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Apply for visas ASAP
If you’re a U.S. passport holder like us, you likely need a visa to enter Vietnam, even for just a few days.
I really cannot stress this enough: As soon as you book your flights, apply for your visa. Seriously. You can apply for a visa up to one year before your arrival date. Do it as soon as possible.
The Vietnam e-visa system can be accessed online and it costs $25 USD for a single-entry visa per person. Our experience required a photo of ourselves and filling out passport information. It’s a pretty easy form that shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes to fill out. But you need lead time because it can take a while to get approved. Again, do not leave this to a few weeks before your trip.
Whether you’re from the U.S. or not, check Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security Immigration Department’s website to get more info on visas — this is not my expertise & I’m just sharing our experience.
Get the Grab app at home
Download the Grab app before you set off on your journey to Vietnam, or Asia in general.
It’s basically the Uber of this area — it’s available both in Vietnam and in the other country we visited this trip, Thailand, as well as Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It helps you get around pretty affordably, including from the airport. You can even hitch a ride on a scooter/moped! When you’re exhausted from a long day of walking, you can order delivery food on the app, too. It’s just a helpful tool to have.
Downloading it at home means that you don’t have to wait to get on WiFi to download it. Since you might need it for a ride from the airport to the hotel, you might as well get it and set it up before you leave. After all, not every airport has reliable or strong public WiFi, and having to use your data to download it can easily be avoided. Speaking of…
Buy a phone data plan from Ubigi
We never buy international data from our U.S. based phone plan — the cost is usually pretty high. Instead, we love using Ubigi for affordable, temporary data plans for traveling.
Before we left the states, we both bought the 3 GB Best Asia plan for $14. It gave us up to 30 days to use the data, and we found that this was the perfect amount for our phone usage during our entire 12 day trip to Asia.
Ubigi’s Best Asia plan works in both Vietnam and Thailand, as well as about 14 other countries, so it was a perfect fit for our itinerary.
We previously bought the Best Asia Ubigi plan for travel to Taiwan and Japan in 2024 and loved it. As long as your phone has an e-sim capability (even my trusty old iPhone 12 Pro has it!), you can switch plans in just a few minutes. You simply turn off your U.S.-based plan when you land and turn the Ubigi plan on in your phone settings. By the time your plane taxis to the gate, you’ve got service. We really love this, and it’s so much more affordable than our normal phone plan would be for international service.
Once you’ve gotten these things, you’re ready to start planning and packing! But before you do, get the right stuff!
Hanoi, Vietnam weather and seasons
Hanoi, Vietnam’s weather in February reminded me a lot of Seattle weather. There was a near-constant mist over the city, and the sidewalks were always wet.
Being that our next stops were the balmy tropics of Thailand, we had kind of underestimated just how chilly the constant rain and clouds would make this city. Day to evening, the temperature was constantly in the mid-60s F (or 17 to 18 C).
We recommend packing a rain jacket for sure, if not one with a bit of insulation if you’re visiting this time of year.
Day 1 in Hanoi, Vietnam
We landed in Hanoi via Taipei in the mid-morning. We used Grab to get ourselves to the Old Quarter, and found that to be the most cost effective way to get there.
We checked into our hotel, Hotel May De Ville, later that afternoon. We really loved this hotel — it was the perfect balance of clean and chic and affordable. While the rooms were small, it was in the perfect location to get out and explore.
We booked this hotel with Agoda, which has become my favorite site for booking hotels and stays in Asia. It’s not only easy to compare hotels, but this one has had consistently good pricing for all of the stays I’ve booked in this part of the world.
After a quick shower and power nap in the hotel, we set out on a very special side quest: To visit a local tailor for a wedding suit!
My then-fiance (now husband!) wanted a dark forest green suit for our upcoming wedding. As we were looking around in the states, we didn’t find much that we loved, and what we did like was going to require professional tailoring on top of the off the rack price. When we found out that Hanoi is a great place to get custom tailoring, we decided to get in touch with someone there who could help.
Before we left, we connected with Cazo Tailor on WhatsApp and made sure that they’d be able to fit in creating a whole suit in the 3 days we would be in town. They were totally up for it! So, we wandered over to their Hang Trong location as soon as we could on day one and got him measured up. We also got to pick from a rainbow of fabric for both the main exterior and the lining. We settled on a dark green with a gold-toned fabric with a map print for the lining and left the shop very excited.
By this point, we had gotten to wander a bit and had worked up an appetite. We sat down to pho at an excellent little spot near our hotel. I can’t find the exact name of the place, but it was excellent.
After 30 hours of travel, we decided to head to bed early that night.
Day 2 in Hanoi, Vietnam
After some much needed rest, we decided to venture out again onto the streets of Hanoi.
We got coffee at a little street stand while walking, and they put it in this little carrier which I absolutely loved.
We walked all the way to Tran Quoc pagoda. We both love walking, and to us it’s the best way to see a city. You could easily take a bike or a bus here from the old quarter, however.
This 6th century pagoda is one of the oldest in Hanoi. I typically don’t take photos inside the grounds of these sacred places. To me, it’s two-fold: firstly, it’s matter of respect. But secondly, I really like to savor the time I get to spend in these spaces to reflect on life and the incredible opportunities I’ve been granted.
As we left, I caught a picture of this incredible orchid planter, which frankly blew my mind.
Speaking of flowers, even in February, Hanoi was in full bloom. I spotted these flowers (which I believe are dahlias) on our walk around the other side of Hoan Kiem Lake.
We also saw lots of flowers zipping by on motorbikes, or being prepped for sale on street corners. It meant for a beautiful blur of color all around the otherwise somewhat gray city.
On the way back to the hotel for a short rest, we popped into Loading T Cafe for a delicious egg coffee. Its a lovely, cozy little cafe that’s nestled in an old French colonial building. This is a great spot to go if you need to do some laptop work, read or just relax and escape a light drizzle for a bit like we did.
Later that evening, we hit a night market in the old quarter to find some food. We had some local beers and found some fantastic spring rolls!
Day 3 in Hanoi, Vietnam
This was our last full day in Hanoi, and we were kind of taking it easy. We did some shopping that day — just popping into shops and checking things out. We also got a matcha at a cafe called Laika.
This was the view from the terrace. It’s on the top floor of a building, but had a great view of the lake.
Then, it was the moment of truth for the wedding suit! We walked over to Cazo’s to pick it up.
They did some last tweaks and alterations, and packed it up for its journey home. And, we were absolutely thrilled with the results.
This was the final product. We really enjoyed working with the folks at Cazo, and the custom suit ended up being about the same price we would have paid off the rack in the U.S. It made the anticipation for our own wedding even more exciting!
We wanted to grab a nice dinner that night, just to put a bow on our journey. We went to Don Duck, a restaurant in the old quarter that had been on the Michelin Guide for several years. We got a roasted duck quarter and a galangal duck — we both really loved the roasted quarter the best and highly recommend it.
The next morning, we set out for a whirlwind 24-hours in Bangkok. But not before I got another delicious egg coffee.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Hanoi, and being there for three days was of course not enough time, but we felt like we certainly got a feel for the city.
Are you heading to Hanoi in 2026? We’d love to hear what you have planned in the comments below! Or, if these recommendations helped you at all, tell us about your experience! And, if you’re interested in a quick guide to Bangkok, let me know and I can whip that up too.
Cheers to seeing the world in 2026 and beyond!
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