What to See, Do & Eat in Hanoi, Vietnam

By: Gabrielle Yetter

There’s singing in the streets of Hanoi.

Around almost every corner in the city’s Old Quarter, you’ll find wooden birdcages hanging from telephone wires or dangling outside cafes and shops. Inside are tiny birds, chirping and twittering as motos zoom beneath them, street vendors carry poles across their shoulders bearing baskets of pineapples and bananas, and tourists browse countless boutiques and souvenir shops while dodging the constant surge of traffic.

Hanoi is a city of contrasts and turmoil. The capital of Vietnam, it’s a metropolitan center offering everything from history to culture to great cuisine to a thriving expat community.

It’s a place where beautiful French architecture mingles with skinny sliver buildings, chic fashion boutiques stand alongside street merchants selling slabs of raw meat or steamed corn and almost four million motorbikes dominate the roads.