Hanoi for The Time Travellers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The oldest shrine in the Old Quarter, founded in the 9th century to a white horse spirit that guided the founding of Thăng Long; small, dark and well worth a look.

A thousand-year-old village folk art, with puppets that tell the legend of the lake; the live musicians and the splash of the waves are worth the seat.

The original turmeric fish house, in the same street since 1871, and the street is named after it; the pan arrives at your table and you cook it.

A UNESCO site of 1010 palace foundations, a flag tower and the Doan Mon gate; the excavated trench shows layer upon layer from the Lý, Trần and Lê dynasties.

The 1896 French prison, then the home of the revolution's heroes and later of American airmen; the permanent exhibit is blunt and details its own history clearly.

The aristocratic Hanoi noodle soup of a dozen ingredients: chicken, egg strips, pork and shrimp in a clear broth. A good, delicate dinner after a long day.

The guided tour into the hotel's wartime air-raid shelter, discovered in 2011, where guests including Joan Baez sheltered in 1972; book at the concierge desk, small groups.

Founded 1070 and the country's first university: five courtyards and 82 turtle-backed stelae of doctoral laureates, with a scholarly quiet that is exactly right for the afternoon.

The bar of the 1901 hotel where journalists, diplomats and spies are said to have traded gossip; order the Graham Greene or a gin and sit in a corner.

Ho Chi Minh declared independence here on 2 September 1945; the square, the stilt-house museum and the 1049 One Pillar Pagoda are all within a few minutes' walk.

A museum with a strong section on women in the revolution, the war and the Ho Chi Minh trail, told with their own letters and photographs; allow an hour.

Grilled pork and noodle lunch in a plain old shop on a quiet street; the dish is a Hanoi invention and this is one of its homes.