We spent three full days in Hanoi, Vietnam and I’m sharing with you our itinerary. But because we mostly just ate and ate during our Hanoi trip, don’t be surprised if it’s basically just a list of all the places we ate at. 😉

Day 1:

• Lunch at Tam Vi

  • Hanoi has three restaurants with Michelin stars and Tam Vi is one of them. It’s also the most affordable one. Tam Vi is a one Michelin star restaurant and we were not disappointed.
  • Make sure to book a reservation. I booked mine via their Facebook page. We booked for 6 persons and was pleasantly surprised to be seated inside a private dining room! A wonderful first meal in Hanoi.

• Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
  

  • They had an indoor exhibit and an outdoor garden featuring different traditional Vietnamese architecture.
  • It was fun for the kids to run around, climb and explore. Would recommend this if you want to do something “culture-oriented” during your visit.

• Afternoon Snack at Bun Cha Huong Lien

  • This spot has been made famous by Anthony Bourdain and Barrack Obama. The restaurant even encased the exact table where they ate. And this is what we came here to see.
  • To be hoenst, the Bun Cha here was nothing great. I would totally skip this OR just do what we did: come by to see the spot, eat a set of bun cha for sharing as a snack. Eat your full lunch or dinner elsewhere!

• Dinner at Don Duck

  • A Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. A haven for duck lovers, like me! Yes we recommend this place.
  • Make sure to try the Duck Pho. The Duck Breast came highly recommended so we tried it and loved it as well.

Day 2:

• Halong Bay Daytrip

  • As it’s all of our first time in Hanoi, we booked a Halong Bay daytrip. Unfortunately, the weather did NOT cooperate and our cruise was cancelled. But not before the 2-3 hour drive. Yup, it was cancelled when we were already on the boat. We just enjoyed the buffet lunch that went with it.
  • Nothing much to say about this but I heard it’s a great place to visit if you’re in Hanoi. We’ll go back next time!
  • Halong Bay Daytrip on Klook (Use my promo code: SHEENALOVESSUNSETS to get 3% off on Klook activities)

• Coffee Break at Cafe Giang

  • Hailed as the birthplace of Egg Coffee. Well, sort of. The story goes that in 1946, Mr. Nguyen Van Giang was a bartender at the 5-star hotel Sofitel Legend Metropole and because of the milk shortage, experimented with putting egg in coffee. It was a hit and he opened Cafe Giang shortly after that.
  • All the adults had egg coffee but the kiddos had egg cocoa, which they loooved.

• Dinner at Bun Cha Ta
  

  • Another Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant and in our opinion, way way better than the Bun Cha Obama place!
  • This one we highly recommend. Book a table OR do what we did, which was to arrive early (5:30pm)-

• Evening foot massage

  • The weather was not so good so it was hard to walk around the Old Quarters with the kids (which was our original plan). So we ended up having a foot massage at our hotel, Grande Collection Hotel and Spa.
  • Service isn’t really anything to write home about but it was a special experience because I believe it was our first family massage together! Fun!

• Quick street shopping

  • Walk around the Old Quarters

Day 3:

• Train Street

  • Just like our Halong Bay tour the day before, our Train Street experience was disrupted by the weather. The train was supposed to arrive at 11:40am but it was delayed for two hours. They only announced it when it was already 11:30. Ugh. We had to leave without seeing the train pass by anymore.

• Lunch at Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su

  • LOVED THIS PHO.
  • Lined up outside together with the crowd but waiting time was so fast because they crammed you in together with other people (for small parties)
  • Highly recommend to split up the group if you’re more than 4 to get a faster seating.

• Afternoon Snack at Maison Marou

  • Artisanal chocolate shop in Hanoi. It was interesting to see the pastry / chocolate chefs work (the kids loved that!)
  • There’s a shop too where you can purchase gifts and chocolate bars.
  • Worth a stop only if you’re into chocolates!

• Trang Tien Ice Cream

  • Was recommended by a friend but did not wanna take in too much sweets that day. So we just ordered 1 popsicle and asked the boys to share.
  • Apparently it’s iconic here! The boys said it just taste like a regular popsicle. Haha.

• Hoan Kiem Lake

  • Walked here on the way to the Water Puppet Show. Otherwise, would not recommend really making a special stop.
  • It’s basically a lake, with a small structure in the middle.
  • Beware of pickpockets here; my friend got pickpocketed here on her visit last time.

• Water Puppet Show

  • The show is in Vietnamese but that didn’t stop the kids from enjoying! The kept laughing (slapstick comedy with puppets)
  • You can purchase an audio guide in English, but didn’t wanna get one anymore.
  • We bought from Klook VIP tickets and were seated in the second row. (Use my promo code: SHEENALOVESSUNSETS to get 3% off on Klook activities)

• Banh Mi 25

  • We arrived before 6. There was no space at the restaurant. We didn’t make prior reservations
  • They had a takeout section. So, we got takeaways and ate them at the coffee shop beside it (Kafa Cafe — we ordered drinks there, they didn’t have food)
  • Not a lot of people when we were ordering. But after 30 mins, we saw the line and it was crazy! Arrive early (or make a reservation if you can)

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(NOTE: THIS POST IS ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE LAST APRIL 2024)