Hanoi for The Romantics: a Friday-to-Monday weekend
Lakes, lacquer, and a thousand-year hum.
The weekend for two. Terraces at dusk, a table booked weeks ago, a walk home the long way. Nothing before ten, nothing rushed, one extravagance you will talk about for years.
Friday: The lake at dusk
- Hoan Kiem Lake and the Húc Bridge
Cross the red Húc Bridge to Ngọc Sơn temple as the light goes copper; the lake's turtle is a legend, and couples on the benches have a view of the pagoda.
- Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre
Fifty minutes of dragons and farmers on a flooded stage with a live folk band; a short, funny show for two, and the 18:30 slot leaves dinner free.
- Chả cá Thăng Long
The one dish: turmeric fish grilled over charcoal then fried at your table with a mountain of dill, with peanuts and shrimp paste. Be ready for the smell on your clothes.
Saturday: Scholars, a bridge, and the splurge
- Temple of Literature
Vietnam's first university, founded 1070, a chain of courtyards under old trees where students once rubbed the turtle stelae for luck; quietest before the tour groups at eleven.
- Long Biên Bridge at sunset
Walk the Eiffel-era iron bridge over the Red River at dusk, between the trains and the scooters; the bridge sways and the light on the water is soft.
- La Badiane
A courtyard villa of the French quarter serving modern French dishes with Vietnamese herbs; reserve a table in the garden, order the tasting menu and linger.
Sunday: A pagoda on the lake and jazz
- Trấn Quốc Pagoda
The oldest pagoda in Hanoi, 6th century in origin, with a tall brick stupa and a lotus-shaped islet on West Lake; arrive for a quiet morning before the weekend crowds.
- Madame Hiền
A colonial-era house of the French quarter where a Vietnamese chef cooks refined northern dishes: crab-spring rolls, claypot fish, rice with lotus. Book in advance for the courtyard.
- Binh Minh Jazz Club
A small basement club behind the Opera House with live jazz every night; reserve a table in the front row and walk back round the lake afterwards.
Monday: Villas and a late brunch
- Phan Đình Phùng's villas
A boulevard of tamarinds and crumbling 1920s French villas, quiet on a Monday morning; walk the length of it from the Citadel gate to Hàng Đẫy.
- Vietnam Women's Museum
A modern museum of wartime heroines, street sellers and wedding customs; the exhibits on the Hanoi market women are well chosen and rarely crowded.
- Hanoi Social Club
An old villa turned café with a rooftop and mismatched armchairs; the roasted pumpkin and the banana-flower salad suit a last, slow lunch for two.