As I quitted my job last September, the first decision I made was to have a nice trip to somewhere else rather than Saigon nearby locations. Ultimately I chose Hanoi as the place to visit in Vietnam, since I have always been wanting to visit the place for such a long time. Of course you can expect a few tourism destinations like Hoan Kiem Lake or Ngoc Son Temple that I should have visited on my first travel to Hanoi, but then it was just me, myself and I in this trip. Moreover, I’m the kind of traveler who prefers to discover the culture rather than those historical remarks.

So here are a few things I did while I was in the capital. If you are only travelling by yourself, perhaps these things will help your Hanoi trip become a great experience, or at least, some suggestions for you to do while travelling in Hanoi.

Discover the old towns at the central area

For the first few days in Hanoi, what I did was basically wander around all those old towns at the central area of the capital, next to Hoan Kiem Lake. It is also the easiest choice of destination for you in the morning to discover, as it wasn’t too crowded to move. There you will find yourself getting lost in a small market with many kinds of good, as well as food stores and nice souvenir shops. I remembered getting lost there for almost an hour in the afternoon before realizing that I was standing next to St. Joseph's Cathedral, which was really exciting.

For foreign visitors, Dinh Liet St. and Ta Hien St. are the places to be, as they are full of hotels, hostels, bars and convenient stores to get by.

Grab a motorbike with local driver

One good thing about travelling alone is how easy you can connect with the local people. As my homestay location was far away from the central area, a local motor driver (aka Xe om) would be the best choice to go anywhere. I used an application named UBER to book those drivers for a ride, and it was all great as the price was much cheaper than that for a taxi. They all seemed friendly, easy to talk to and were eager to hear their guests’ stories. The only thing I didn’t like was that the drivers don’t usually know much about the streets in Hanoi, so prepare yourself a map on the phone to direct them.

Night ride

Perhaps the most exciting thing I love to do whenever I travel to a new place would be having a night ride around the city. Since you will be totally new to the place, renting a motorbike would be the best choice for you as there are lots of motor renting stores at the central area of Hanoi. Usually you can take a ride at around 8PM as the streets are less crowded than 6PM. Don’t worry about where you go, it’s the joy of seeing how lively Hanoi is that comes to your mind and feelings.

Make a mini food tour of your own

At first when I got to Hanoi, things were a bit difficult for me. I had no idea what to do, where to go, especially what to eat. Then came in a lot of recommendations of the best ones in town for each kind of food via searching through the phone (Google is your best friend at that moment), which I was lucky enough to pick some of the finest food stores in town. Though such preparation should be made before you travel, I kind of prefer going with the flow since it’s going to be another trip inside your big travel, which is fantastic. Traditional and signature dishes of Hanoi are what you should be up to first, such as bún-chả, bánh-cuốn, bún-đậu… It’s all about your own taste and choices for meals.

Spend a lazy afternoon at somewhere tranquil

Just like any other big city, Hanoi is full of honks, vehicle sounds and voices from thousands of people on the streets. As much as I loved the urban flow of the capital, there were times when I felt a bit out of place. Luckily, lots of Hanoi’s finest coffee shops are located at the heart of the capital, which you can always come to experience. For quite a few times while I was there, Tranquil Café was one of my favorite places to visit, as the café was as tranquil as its name, cozy and somewhat nostalgic to me. With the sunlight keeps on coming relentlessly and a nice view of sunset through the looking glass in the afternoon, you may feel like it was just pure lazy at that moment, but a good one to not miss.

Of course there are still more things to do that I could have included in this list, however these 5 things above are pretty much the highlights from this memorable trip. If you have a whole week to discover Hanoi, perhaps this list can give you a few ideas to get to know the capital at its greatest. Start your own travel to Hanoi as soon as possible, because it’s going to be more exciting than you think.