Tips to Get the Most out of Your Visit to Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi is an enormous, dirty, and vibrant city. It is the epitome of organized chaos and it was the perfectintroduction to Vietnam.

The sheer quantity of scooters in Vietnam’s capital will blow your mind. You have to see it to believe it. Vietnam has a population of 92 million people and over 45 million people own a scooter. When you need to cross the street in Hanoi, people don’t stop. You’ll inch your way across the road step by step and drivers will maneuver around you. It’s terrifying the first few times, but by the end of our 3 days in the city I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find the experience slightly thrilling.

Dong is the Vietnamese currency and currently 100,000 Dong is worth less than €4. You’ll be dealing with “millions” of Dong during your visit so make sure to pay attention to the bills you’re paying out (I almost gave away a 100,000 bill instead of a 10,000 bill a few times). There should be exchange centers located in the city center / old quarter, however we found it was more convenient to exchange money at our hotel.

We stayed at the Sunway Hotel and it was within walking distance to Hoan Kiem Lake and the historic center of the city. A taxi to and from the center costs about €2, but you’ll need to be on the lookout for cheating taxi drivers. They will try to overcharge you when possible. At our hotel the bellhop would run to the street every time we arrived to write down the license plate of the taxi in case we wanted to make a complaint. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).