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Old Aug 3, 2018, 2:10 am
  #16  
imm2b
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Saigon/Hanoi/San Francisco
Posts: 1,779
Originally Posted by anaggie
Traveling to Hanoi with two of my friends from India and we are booked at the JW Hanoi. We will have 1.5 days to explore Hanoi before heading out of a bike tour of the countryside, then a day at Ha Long Bay and then bike back to Hanoi.

What should we do in Hanoi? I was looking at doing the street food tour and exploring the Old Quarter. Any other suggestions you can think of?
JW Hanoi is a nice hotel but a bit far from the Old Quarter for tourists. FWIW, Four Seasons is building a hotel right in the center of Hanoi lakeside at Hoan Kiem Lake. Personally, 1.5 days in Hanoi is a bit too rush. I would say 3 days would be ideal to enjoy Hanoi. It's a compact city, most of tourist things are within 5 km of Hanoi center. The Old Quarter is a must visit at night, on weekends, the streets around Hoan Kiem Lake is blocked off for pedestrians only.

Things to do in Hanoi are Night Market on Hang Ngang & Hang Dao streets, Ta Hien & Luong Ngoc Quyen streets for fresh beer (Bia Hoi) and snacks. Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda, Ngoc Son temple in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Street foods are everywhere in Hanoi, a must try is Bun Cha (Hanoian's grilled pork with vermicelli), Obama & Anthony Bourdain's shared a meal of Bun Cha in Hanoi, but don't go to that shop, it's expensive and mediocre at best. My favorite spot for Bun Cha is on Cửa Đông street, they only open for lunch. Other food to try is of course, Hanoi Pho Bo or Ga (Beef or chicken) and Xoi Yen, a famous sticky rice place in Hanoi. Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) is one of Vietnam's French influence culinary favorites. Kafa coffee is ubiquitous in Hanoi, a great place to have Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk) relax and people watch. May be I should offer a street food tour for Flyertalkers. .

Originally Posted by wolfpacktrojan
I hadn't heard of Tay Nguyen, so I'll check that out. Thanks!
Tay Nguyen is not a city, it's the central hightlands region. Buon Me Thout or Gia Lai / Dak Lak are some of the cities in that region, a bit off the beaten path for tourists.

Originally Posted by heronb
Travelling to Danang in the last week of April for two weeks, would like to visit Nha Trang also but wondered which area would usually have the best weather at this time of year.
April time frame in Danang and Nha Trang are pretty much the same. Personally, I would stick with Danang & Hoi An.

Last edited by Ocn Vw 1K; Jun 28, 2019 at 10:44 pm Reason: Combine 3 consecutive posts of same member.
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