The Best Hanoi 5-Day Itinerary to Explore Vietnam’s Capital

Want to see the best of Hanoi in five days? You’re in the right place.

Hanoi might seem like an entangled maze of chaos for first-time visitors, but it is a treasure trove for culture, history, and food.

There is so much to discover in Hanoi that even a 5-day itinerary isn’t enough to do and see it all. Luckily, you don’t have to.

Realistically, with five days in Hanoi, you have time to explore the top sights and attractions while inviting slowness into your stay.

Relax with a massage, discover authentic Hanoian street food, wander off the trodden path, and connect with locals with this easy and epic 5-day itinerary.

I’m sure your only regret will be not staying longer!

In fact, the first time I mentioned Hanoi to another traveler, they told me to avoid it at all costs.

They made a convincing argument, saying it was dirty and polluted, with constant gray skies and chaotic drivers. Truthfully, it didn’t sound like somewhere I’d like to linger.

But after spending a week in Hanoi (with five full days to spare), I couldn’t disagree more with that disgruntled traveler.

Hanoi is undoubtedly dizzying at times, but its charm and character spanning its 36 streets of various trades always tickled my senses and left me wanting to know more.

If you enjoy urban adventures, you’ll love spending five days in Hanoi (with a day dedicated to exploring beyond the city!).

If that sounds like your cup of tea (or should I say egg coffee?), read more below for my recommendations for what to do and the best places to visit in Hanoi for a 5-day itinerary!

How to Spend 5 Days in Hanoi (Itinerary)

Bri’s quick Hanoi recommendations:

🏠 Stay: Hotels in the Old Quarter for walkability! Peep the Old Quarter View Hostel for backpackers.

✨ Tours: Don’t miss out on doing a food tour and an all-day day trip to Ninh Binh (read more below).

🍲 Favorite eats: Bun cha and egg coffee! iVegan cafe for healthy food + views.

🇻🇳 Connectivity: Get data fast with an easy-to-install Vietnam eSIM.

Before diving into details, here are a few notes about this guide.

First, I’ve clumped together activities near each other for convenience, but feel free to customize this itinerary based on your interests!

Here is an overview of what I recommend doing if you have five days in Hanoi.

• Day 1 — Arrival / Food tour / Old Quarter / Train Street / Night market
• Day 2 — Choice of attractions (Recommendations: Thang Long Citadel + Water Puppet show, Temple of Literature)
• Day 3 — Full day trip to Ninh Binh and Trang An
• Day 4 — Bicycle or motorbike tour / Tran Quoc Pagoda (and West Lake) / Long Bien Bridge
  • Alternative: Bat Trang ceramics village
• Day 5 — Slow day (Cafes, Shopping, Massage)

Find details on each, plus alternative recommendations, tour links, food and transport tips, and more below!

Activities and attractions in Hanoi that I didn’t get to visit but that I recommend and include in this itinerary are:

• Tran Quoc temple (oldest pagoda in Hanoi, built in 541 AD)
• Long Bien Bridge (a historic relic built during French occupation)
• Hanoi Water Puppet show at Thang Long (we visited Thang Long but missed the show)

More things I would have liked to do and added to this 5-day itinerary include the West Lake/Tran Quoc Pagoda (oldest in Hanoi), a Hanoi highlights motorbike tour or bicycle tour, Banana forest/banana island, and Long Bien Bridge—nicknamed the “horizontal Eiffel of Hanoi.”

Rule of thumb: Between getting ready, walking, taking a Grab taxi, and eating, you won’t have time to pack everything within five days. I suggest you pick 1-2 maximum daily activities for a more relaxed pace.

Now, let’s take a closer look day by day!

Day 1 in Hanoi: Food Tour, Old Quarter, Train Street

Start with a Hanoi Food Tour

Before you do ANYTHING else, I highly recommend signing up for a Hanoi food tour (link to my review of our tour).

A food tour on day one is the best because, this way, you’ll get a fantastic introduction to the city with a Vietnamese local, taste and learn the names of Hanoian and Vietnamese dishes, and get your bearings as you step out into the chaos of the city.

The food we tried on our walk about the Old Quarter:

• Bún chả — barbecued pork and meatballs with fermented rice noodles + nem cua bể — crab spring roll
• Bánh cuốn nóng — steamed rice pancakes
• Bánh xèo – fried, sizzling pancakes! + nước mía — sugar cane juice
• miến lươn xào — stir-fried noodles with crispy eel
• Hoa qua dam kem — mixed fruits with coconut ice cream
• Cafe Trung — egg coffee!

If you want to book a food tour directly, save this budget-friendly food tour by a local for later.

Too often, people sign up for this kind of tour on the last days of their trip and then don’t have the time to enjoy and benefit from the guide’s insight, travel tips, and restaurant recommendations.

So before you do anything else, sign up for that food tour!

Tip: If you arrive in Hanoi by the morning, opt for the lunch tour to make the most of your first day. If you arrive at night and have technically 5 nights/4 days, you can do a night foodie tour and then push back visiting the Old Quarter to another day.

The next thing to note is that, due to all the typical street food and restaurants, most of these tours take place walking around Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

Since your accommodation is likely in/near the Old Quarter, a food tour is an easy way to get acquainted with the city and your neighborhood for the next five days.

Explore Hanoi’s Old Quarter & French Quarter

While you will undoubtedly learn more from your foodie guide about what to visit after your tour concludes in the Old Quarter, I suggest visiting the nearby Hoan Kiem Lake, the legendary “Sword Lake” in the heart of Hanoi with an islet home to Ngoc Temple.

💡 Did you know? Hanoi’s Old Quarter has 36 streets, each dedicated and named after its corresponding trade. For example, you can walk down Hang Ma Street, known as “Lantern Street” (where they sell paper lanterns), and the next, “Glasses Street.” You will see everything across trades, from nuts and bolts and bamboo ladders to fruits and veggies, clothes, shoes, and more! 🏮

From the Old Quarter, you could wander 15 minutes down south into Hanoi’s French Quarter.

Marked by affluent architecture, art galleries, and boutiques, the French Quarter of Hanoi stands out with several eye-catching monuments and historic relics, including:

• St. Joseph Cathedral (that looks like a miniature Notre Dâme de Paris),
• Trang Tien Plaza,
• Hoa Lo Prison,
• Vietnam National Museum of History
• and the Hanoi Opera House.

All of these sights are located within a triangle, so they are easily accessible on foot.

Stroll the Hanoi Night Market & Catch a Passing Train on Train Street

To finish your first epic day in Hanoi, loop back to the Old Quarter to enjoy the night market and the train.

On weekends, you can walk the 3km stretch down the very popular (and characteristically Hanoian) night market from roughly 6pm to 11pm.

To get there, listen to the sound of singing and live music to guide you, or simply pop Hang Dao street or Dong Xuan Market (Hanoi’s largest indoor covered market) into your GPS to find the bookends of the night market street.

Finally, to wrap up day one in Hanoi, catch one of the evening trains passing by on the famous Hanoi Train Street (around 9 pm).

While not the most meaningful or memorable part of Hanoi (in my opinion), it remains one of the capital’s top attractions. Go see for yourself if it’s worth the hype!

🚂 But before you go, read my guide to the Hanoi Train Street for tips on train times, cafe vantage points, and responsible tourism.

Day 2: Hanoi History & Culture

Day two is all about diving deeper into Hanoi’s richly colorful and shadowy history.

While you could organize today in several ways, I suggest Thang Long (with a Vietnamese Water Puppet show) and the Temple of Literature.

These places are unique and worth spending 2-3 hours for (each).

Since the Water Puppet show at Thang Long is only available in the afternoon, it is best to visit the Temple of Literature (or another monument) in the morning.

Before heading out, I recommend stopping by Blackbird Coffee for small bites and delicious morning coffee. Next, take a Grab to visit the Temple of Literature.

The Temple of Literature is one of Hanoi’s historical gems. This temple, Vietnam’s first national university, is dedicated to Confuscious and was built in 1070.

While signs are written in English, I suggest purchasing the audio guide to freely walk around the site, including the gardens and temple complex, while the audio plays in your ear.

The time to visit the Temple of Literature takes around two hours. Wear sunscreen and take water as there is little shade!

After a lunch break, spend the afternoon at Thang Long—the Imperial Citadel of Hanoi.

Whether or not you are a history buff, visiting this long-standing cultural and historical heritage site is essential in Hanoi.

Day 3: Ninh Binh Day Trip (Trang An, Mua Cave, Hoa Lu)

The middle of your itinerary (day three) is the perfect opportunity to take a whole day trip from Hanoi.

While you can cruise to Ha Long Bay, I only recommend doing that if you have time to do an overnight cruise rather than a day trip (unless it’s this HLB kayaking day trip).

Since your base will be in Hanoi for five days, Ninh Binh, located just 1.5 hours away, is the more suitable there-and-back day trip.

Ninh Binh has several must-do activities, the first being taking a Trang An boat ride.

Trang An (and Tam Coc) is a lush landscape featuring towering limestone karsts, rivers, rice fields, and caves. It’s a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site and a must-add to any Hanoi itinerary.

All-inclusive tours from Ninh Binh will include either a boat tour in Trang An OR Tam Coc (you choose), plus a visit to a handful of other places, such as:

• Mua Cave — considered Vietnam’s “Great Wall” and THE best viewpoint
• Hoa Lu — the ancient capital of Dat Viet (Vietnam)
• Optional bicycling ride on country roads past rice paddies

If you want to DIY this day trip, I highly recommend renting a car or scooter and visiting around at a slower pace.

Another possibility, instead of doing the there-and-back day tours, is going on your own and staying overnight and returning to Hanoi in the morning; if so, I recommend lodging at the beautiful Tam Coc Windy Fields.

🌟 Tam Coc Windy Fields

Day 4: Off-Beat Hanoi (Pottery, Painted Murals, & Pagodas)

Hanoi hides many treasures, arguably best uncovered by bicycle or motorcycle tours. On day four in Hanoi, uncover the city’s lesser-known, off-radar attractions.

I suggest starting at the local morning Thanh Ha market to glimpse the daily life of locals in this buzzing city.

Next, set out to explore North-Central Hanoi today with a visit to West Lake, where you can see the Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Hanoi, before going eastward toward the iconic Long Bien Bridge.

The above shouldn’t take too long. I recommend adding the banana forest on this day (a highlight of the bicycle tour) or taking a mini-day trip to the Bat Trang ceramics village, where you can make your own pottery and learn about its importance in Vietnamese culture.

Bat Trang isn’t as far away as Ninh Binh, so you can easily tuck it into your day. Get there in 30 minutes by car/taxi or take a tour, including transportation.

For more underrated things to do in Hanoi, check out the painted murals (and trompe l’oeil) on Phung Hung Mural Street and the “One-Pillar Pagoda” (Chùa Một Cột). These are located near West Lake, the Presidential Palace, and charming Ngoc Ha village, so it is easy to fit into your 5-day itinerary!

Day 5: Rest & Recover Day (Massages, Slow Cafes, etc)

For your very last day in Hanoi, don’t skip out on getting a classic Vietnamese massage.

If you have time in your itinerary at night during the previous nights, consider doing several!

For massages, I can’t recommend the Omamori Spa centers enough. These spas employ only blind therapists from the community, offering those both empowerment and employment.

We had two massages with the Omamori blind therapists in Hanoi and walked away with great experiences (and relaxed bodies!).

And for cafés where you can take it slow, Blackbird Coffee remains my favorite, but you might also have luck at Le Beret, Hidden Gem Cafe, and the adorable Tranquil Books & Coffee.

Finally, I recommend the Michelin-star Chào Ban Vietnamese fusion restaurant for your last meal in Hanoi! It’s so good, fairly priced, and a great way to sneak in one last spring roll before you head home.

I think a slow last day—for example, a good coffee and a book—is the best way to conclude any travel itinerary before heading to the airport.

What are you most excited about visiting Hanoi? I can’t wait to go back and explore more of the cute trade streets, cafes, and parks!