Hanoi
Hanoi is the capital and second-most populous municipality of Vietnam. It encompasses an area of 3,358.6 km2, and as of 2025 has a population of 8,807,523. Hanoi had the second-highest gross regional domestic product of all Vietnamese provinces and municipalities at US$48 billion in 2023, behind Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi had 18.7 million domestic and international visitors in 2022. It hosts the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, West Lake, and Ba Vì National Park near the outskirts. Hanoi's urban area has architectural styles, including French colonial architecture, brutalist apartments and disorganized alleys and tube houses stemming from the city's growth in the 20th century.
Typical weather
1981–presentCity Rhythm
measuredOpening hours, by kind of place
median across mapped venuesVital absurdities
measured · the Anti-AwardsSame time system
by rhythmWhat to do each season
4spring
the transition; openmeteo mean 22.0-25.8 °C; mild; Wikipedia notes 'some amounts of drizzle and less sunshine due to the activity of the southeast monsoon'
- the drizzly pre-monsoon spring — the Old Quarter and the lakes (Hoàn Kiếm, West Lake) take on the misty character the city is romanticised for
- Tết (Lunar New Year, late Jan-Feb) often falls at the spring threshold — the peak civic ritual
summer
hot, humid, wet; openmeteo mean 26.9-28.9 °C (Jun hottest 28.9; Wikipedia records 42.8 °C); the rainy core (May-Sep, Aug wettest 8.9 mm/day); mean humidity >80%
- the oppressive heat and humidity — life shifts to the bia hơi corners and the air-conditioned cafés; the sidewalk plastic-chair phở culture moves into shade
- heavy monsoon rain disrupts the low-lying Old Quarter streets
autumn
the comfortable season; openmeteo mean 20.4-23.9 °C; Wikipedia describes a 'decrease in temperature and precipitation … warm and mild'; the clear-air window
- the best window for the city — mild, drier; the high season for Old Quarter walking and the lakeside cafés
- the autumn is the cultural-peak season (festivals, the Temple of Literature)
winter
cool and dry; openmeteo mean 15.9-18.3 °C (Jan mean 16.4 per Wikipedia; record low 2.7 °C, 1955); the northeast monsoon gives 'a dry winter'; snow has been seen on the nearby Ba Vì mountains
- the only genuine cold season in Vietnam — locals eat seasonal warming dishes; dog meat (thịt chó) is 'especially popular in the winter' in the Tây Hồ district (wikivoyage:Eat)
- the Old Quarter's bia hơi culture continues but moves later indoors; the lowest tourist density
What it is known for
Important moments in a year
Tet
- the year's largest civic ritual — Tết; a peak of domestic travel and the Old Quarter flower markets
Sea Games 2003 2021
- Hanoi hosted the 2003 and 2021 SEA Games (multiple venues)
Formula 1 Vietnamese Gp Cancelled
- the inaugural F1 Vietnamese Grand Prix was postponed by COVID-19 and permanently cancelled after a corruption arrest
On the record
source-trackedWhen using the Köppen climate classification, Hanoi is categorized as having a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa). The city experiences the typical climate of Northern Vietnam, with four distinct seasons.
In 1010, under the Lý dynasty, emperor Lý Thái Tổ established the capital of the imperial nation Đại Việt in what would later become central Hanoi, naming the city Thăng Long ('ascending dragon').
Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1945 and of the French protectorate of Tonkin from 1883 to 1949.
Conflict had the effect of making it largely oblivious to modern architecture, and as a result, few buildings in the city center are higher than five stories.
Hanoi is sometimes dubbed the 'Paris of the East' for its French influences.
Hanoi is Vietnam's most visited city (15th in Asia Pacific), with 4.8 million overnight international visitors in 2018.
Hanoi's most famous (and prevalent) dish is phở soup: 'phở gà' (chicken noodle soup), 'phở bò' (beef noodle soup), or 'phở chay' (tofu noodle soup). Another local specialty is bún chả, grilled fatty pork over a plate of white rice noodles and herbs with dipping sauce.
Bia hơi is abundant in the streets of the Old Quarter. At the crossing of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen, commonly known as Beer Street, five separate venues fill up with travellers in the evenings.
In decades, motorbikes have overtaken bicycles as the main form of transportation. On 4 July 2017, the Hanoi government voted to ban motorbikes entirely by 2030.
Getting around Hanoi can be a challenge: traffic slows to a crawl for most of the day, and the public transport system has not kept up with the city's explosive growth.
The Reunification Express between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City covers a distance of 1,726 km and takes approximately 33 hours.
The method behind this atlas — 196 pp. Not published yet.