We spent 5 nights in Hanoi in 2025 and loved it! We had been avoiding the north in previous visits to Vietnam because we thought it would be really cold, and this didn't appeal because when we travel in December we like having some nice weather to escape from the European winter! However, we were pleasantly surprised that temperatures were very pleasant and we only needed a thin sweatshirt or gilet at night or first thing in the morning.

We got a free airport taxi with our hotel reservation on booking.com which was great, although we did have to hang about for a while waiting for it.

Accommodation in Hanoi

Dalvostro Valentino Hotel & Spa
In December 2025 we stayed for 5 nights at the excellent mid priced Dalvostro Valentino Hotel & Spa, centrally located in the Old Quarter. Rooms were small but comfortable (larger ones are available), with great showers, comfy beds, delicious breakfasts and super friendly and helpful staff. Sophie, Jimmy, Anna and Harry all deserve a special mention. Sophie was particularly helpful, always keen to find out our plans and suggest things. The hotel has a nice bar and residents get discount, but the night we went there we were the only people - the cocktails were very good though!. There was a great selection at breakfast with plenty fresh fruit, hot dishes and salads in the buffet, and you could get eggs cooked to order (scrambled, fried or poached) and could also order chicken, beef or vegetable Pho if you wanted a local version of breakfast. The pho was very tasty - try it! Book a room at Dalvostro Valentino Hotel & Spa

Places to visit in Hanoi

You can't visit Hanoi without going to Train Street! Train Street is a narrow alley with cafes at both sides really close to the train track. Several times a day the train passes through close to people sitting in the cafes. We were lucky to time it so that we could see two trains, from different places along the track. The second one was the best where we felt really close to the train. Cafe owners are very good at ensuring safety, checking that nobody is too close to the track. Obviously it is a tourist attraction and we expected coffee prices to be much higher there, but any mark up was minimal. We sat outside the Railway Tuan Cafe and the egg coffee and coconut coffee was very good and reasonably priced. To get a good view it's best to be there at least 10 minutes before the train is due but at busy times if you want a seat you have to be there even earlier.

Bars and Restaurants in Hanoi

We love Vietnamese food and found some great places to eat and drink in Hanoi. The coffees are delicious. Egg coffee was invented in the 1940s during a milk shortage and is made from a rich, creamy, egg yolk mixture layered over strong Vietnamese coffee. We had been concerned that it would be too sweet but it was very subtle.  We had our first egg coffee at Cafe Giang which was where egg coffee was invented in 1946, when milk was scarce.  The coffee was very nice, but the place gets pretty busy, service wasn’t with the usual smile, and we had just as good egg coffees elsewhere.  Other interesting coffees we tried were coconut coffee (very subtle coconut flavour) and salt coffee (again, just a touch of salt) which were served cold, but also very tasty.

Some of our favourite meals were as follows:

Ph? Bò, Bún Ch? & Nem – This was the first place we tried Bun Cha and it was delicious!  The pork patties were really tasty and the broth was perfectly balanced.  Most places served it with a mixture patties and slices of pork, but occasionally the slices were a bit fatty.  This was the only place we just got the patties.  It was served with a spring roll, all for 100,000 VND (about 3.20 euros).

 We had a nice meal at Hanoi Corner.  The Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese pancake) was delicious and our waiter showed us how to properly roll it up (easier said than done!).  The salad we had with it was also very nice.   

We had dinner at Mia’s on our last night.  It was a bit pricier than most, but still great value for money and delicious food – maybe the best spring rolls we’d had and a slightly different but delicious Bun Cha.  Just a shame that our arrogant waiter got the order wrong and we missed out on the Mango & Passion fruit salad to start.  The rest of the staff were lovely, the restaurant has a nice ambiance and the food we got was very tasty.

Our favourite bar in Hanoi was Leo’s Tavern, a small, cozy bar with subdued lighting across the road from our hotel, friendly staff, nice drinks at reasonable prices and a nice ambiance.  Don’t be put off by the strange alley and steps you have to go along to get to the bar – it’s worth it!  It has a medieval/supernatural theme and regularly plays traditional Irish music, which isn’t really our thing, but it worked.  They have regular drinks specials and interesting cocktails.  There’s a small balcony overlooking the street as well as indoor seating.

The Note Cafe is another place worth a visit.  It’s an unusual coffee shop on several floors near the lake where they encourage everyone to write a note and stick it to the wall, so the walls are completely covered in post-it notes.

Click here to book hotels in Hanoi, read travellers reviews of those hotels and view lots of photos of the hotels

Some useful sites about Hanoi:
Trip Advisor - Reviews from other travellers and a useful forum
Vietnam Online - Useful information here about Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City