It’s eight in the morning and I’m wandering through the streets of the Old Quarter of Hanoi. The area is already buzzing with activity: scooters zip by just a few centimeters from carts piled high with fruit, flowers, and plastic goods, while along the edge of the road people have breakfast perched on tiny stools, a heartbeat away from the traffic. The air is filled with aromas that, in a few days, I would recognize with my eyes closed.
This is only the beginning of a journey through Northern Vietnam that allowed me to discover — and fall in love with — a country where frenetic cities are only part of the story. Northern Vietnam is also green/gold terraced rice fields that seem endless, bays where you sail among ancient rock formations and floating temples surrounded by mountains. And, amidst all this, street food that, alone, would be worth the trip.
Hanoi
After that first stroll through the Old Quarter, I immediately understood that the only way to visit Hanoi was to let yourself be carried along by its own chaos, one hàng after another. It’s the word with which many streets still begin, followed by the craft practiced there centuries ago, from silk to silver. With this spirit you walk along narrow, long houses born from a clever trick (they were built this way because taxes were calculated on the width of the façade).
Speaking of unconventional urban planning, go and wait for the clanking locomotive’s passage on Train Street, where the railway runs through the middle of a narrow alley flanked by houses on both sides.
And Hanoi isn’t all chaos; just reach Hoàn Kiếm Lake, the “Lake of the Returned Sword,” to rediscover calm together with people who come here to practice sports. The name derives from a legend featuring a giant turtle that, in these waters, reclaimed the magical sword with which the future emperor Lê Lợi defeated the invaders.
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In the capital it’s really easy to not get bored. To meet one of the most important protagonists in the country’s history, Ho Chi Minh, visit the monumental marble mausoleum. If you’re after tradition, make sure you secure a seat at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre to witness the water-puppet show.
Sapa
The ideal itinerary in Northern Vietnam includes wearing comfortable shoes and reaching the terraced rice fields of Sapa. Truly comfy, because here beauty is earned on foot, along paths that descend between terraces so perfect they seem to have stepped out of a Studio Ghibli film, with peaks popping in and out of the fog. The town center, now marked by mass tourism, can be left behind quickly: the real Sapa starts where the asphalt ends.
To discover it, rely on a local guide, often a hmong woman who knows every trail, and in the evening sleep in a homestay in the villages of Lao Chai or Ta Van: beyond living a more authentic experience, you’ll send your money directly to the local families.
Lan Ha Bay
Northern Vietnam has a knack for surprising at every shift in scenery, from mountains to the sea. Everyone knows Ha Long Bay, yet what won me over was nearby Lan Ha Bay. The same limestone spires rising from the water, the same UNESCO recognition (since 2023 the site also includes the Cat Ba archipelago), but many fewer boats. And that is precisely the difference you feel: less crowding, less noise, and less pollution, which, unfortunately, doesn’t disappear entirely, but here it weighs far less.
To really enjoy it, the advice is not to settle for a day trip. I chose a two-day, one-night cruise and I still remember the cabins’ furnishings in an Indochina style, blending Vietnamese traditional design with French colonial touches: a mood from another era that, on its own, is worth the experience. But the most beautiful moment comes in the evening, when the engines fall silent and the silhouettes of the rocks stand out in the darkness, in an almost unreal silence.
Travelers on a tighter budget can still book a boat excursion directly from Cat Ba Island.
Ninh Binh
If Lan Ha Bay showed me the limestone rocks from the sea, Ninh Binh showed them from another perspective: here, the same pinnacles rise from the rice paddies, to the extent that the area is known as the “Ha Long Bay on land”. It was one of my favorite stops on the trip, the perfect place to slow down.
The best way to enter this landscape is to hop onto one of the small rowboats in Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that glide slowly between rock walls, caves to be traversed almost at water level, and hidden temples. I chose the longest route, which takes two or three hours. Trust me, it’s worth every minute.
The same mountains guard other treasures. At the Bich Dong Pagoda, founded in 1428 and spread over multiple levels on the rock, you reach it by crossing a stone bridge surrounded by lotus flowers. At the cave of Hang Múa, instead, the panorama must be earned by climbing about 500 steps that lead to the summit, where a stone dragon keeps watch over a 360-degree view of the valley. A tip: avoid sunset, when crowds, slopes, and the lack of guardrails make the climb more stressful than enjoyable.
If you still have time, push beyond the more famous stops. Hoa Lu, the ancient capital, lights up with red lanterns in the evening while boats stud the river. But the most precious memory of Ninh Binh came from the Thai Vi temple, found by chance and where I met the custodian while he played the đàn bầu, a traditional single-string instrument: one of those encounters that no itinerary can plan.
