r/hanoi

I'll be making a big Asia trip in 2027 and one of my stops will be in Hanoi. It'll be my first time visiting Vietnam.

Currently planned for 7~8 days.

I currently have narrowed it down to a few options, and would love any feedback. I'm definitely looking for a more luxurious / premium experience, so the budget ~$1000 USD would be the max, but not against saving money either, as it's a fairly large asia trip.

I personally don't care for free Breakfast, since I'll eat locally (or not at all), but I'll never say no to free food, I guess.

JW Marriott Hanoi

• Pro: Covered by Free Nights, Good reviews, probably will get upgraded, Free breakfast
• Cons: Far from City Center, probably not as easy to explore

Solaria Hotel Hanoi

• Pro: Great Location, Good reviews, Free breakfast, Good Size (30m),
• Cons: (?) $850 USD ($$$)

HOTEL du LAC Hanoi

• Pro: Great Location, Reddit seems to love this hotel from what I can see, Cheaper $$(650), Free Breakfast
• Cons: Smaller Room, Room doesn't have a nice window i don't think

Airbnb

• Pro: ($) Probably $300-500. More "Local" experience, Larger than. most of the rooms, Location
• Cons: Risky in terms of quality/expectations. Safety(?) for my things?

Based on above, what would you pick? Anything you'd recommend? Thanks!

Friend of mine flew in last week, 1:30am T2 Noi Bai. Guy at arrivals said “metered taxi, 350k VND max”. Meter hit 880k VND by the time they hit Kim Ma.

I’ve been using Grab for 1 year in HCMC few years ago but late night the app was surging. Curious, what’s the highest you’ve paid from Noi Bai, and do you still trust street taxis or just bite the Grab surge?

Hi,

I'm looking for travel agents based in Hanoi who offer tours in and around Vietnam.

Please send me a message.

Thanks

Hi! Moving to Hanoi for a job in a couple of months. I’d like to look for an apartment in advance (at least 1 br close to Hanoi zoo area). What websites do you use? Looking to rent at least 6 months.
Thanks!

Hello! Our Family will be travelling From Manila to Phu Quoc via Hanoi this December. So we land in Hanoi by ~1am and our next flight to PQC will be at 6am via Vietjet.

Here are some questions hopefully you guys can help

1. With it being a self transfer and going to a different terminal, how much time should I allow myself to get through immigration, grab our bags, transfer to domestic, check in and go through security before boarding?

2. Is there available airport shuttle for terminal transfers at this hour? I’ve read that the shuttle service is only up to 1am

3. Deciding if we book private transfer on Klook or just take a Grab (2 cars I guess). Which one is cheaper for a Group of 7 with bags each? PS. I have senior citizens joining

4. Can we do online check in for Vietjet? Ive read some recent posts/replies here that lines in Vietjet check in can be long even those without any luggage drop.

Appreciate any tips or experiences you’ve had traveling through Hanoi!  Thank you so much.

I went for a run this morning around the lake 7-8am (went solo and I’m 31 female) - obviously a very busy area so not overly concerned with safety but then I noticed a man near me kept checking his speed and matching my walking speed and location when I was walking through those smaller walking paths around the lake.
I exited the lake + he followed, followed me across the lights so I sat outside a cafe to let him continue. He kept walking about 300 metres so i stood up, changed direction and crossed the road, got another 250 metres down the next road and clocked him RUNNING AROUND THE CORNER to catch me up. I crossed 2 more blocks and went into circle K. He came into circle k too and stood behind me in line.

- At this point I knew that he wasn’t following me just to try to speak to me, as it would have been the perfect time to ask any question or make conversation and he didn’t say anything. (You always want to think the best of someone and not make assumptions)

I texted my husband and waited for him inside.
Could see the man lurking at the front of circle k for me to come out then he disappeared.
Thought he must have got tired of waiting
My husband arrived and i left circle K with him, about one minute of walking and we see the man who followed me reappear from the corner next to circle K to try to continue to follow me.

He saw my husband and then walked as quickly as he could back to the lake, checking over his shoulder about 20 times looking back at my husband.

I don’t know what his intentions were but they didn’t seem good.

Just putting this out there to give the heads up to any solo female exercising around the lake 🙏🏼 the guy was around late 20s early 30s and wearing glasses and black exercise clothes, and had a funny gait.

My girlfriend and I are staying here and every video/TikTok is the same 5 things. I make YouTube content and I want the stuff that makes you go “wait what.” Not looking for “hidden gems” listicle stuff either. I mean genuinely weird, funny, or insane experiences that actually exist in Hanoi. The kind of thing where you show your friends the video and they don’t believe it’s real. What are the most unhinged, unexpected, or just plain bizarre things to do here that most tourists have no idea about?

Hello! I go to Hanoi this June. If my flight back home is at 1:50AM how early do I have to be at the airport? I’ll be coming from Old Quarter area. Wondering if the immigration lines will be bad. I don’t have any luggage to drop off.

Also, will it be easy to book a Grab to the airport late at night? What’s the best way to get to the airport? Thanks!

Hi! I would like to ask for recommendations on how we should spend our long layover in Hanoi. Based on our flight itinerary we will arrive at Noi Bai Airport at 12:15 AM and our next flight is at 11:10 PM. Should we book an airbnb or hostel?? Or should we make the most our time and find places that are open 24 hrs??

Would also appreciate recommendations for places that are open 24 hrs or early mornings.

Hoping for your help. Thanks.

Planning to try Yoni massage for my girlfriend, any recommendation here in Hanoi? Share your experience.

We're leaving Vietnam after a long stint and wanted to take back some keepsakes with us. We live in Hanoi and we're looking for recommendations for something better than magnets and keychains in the old quarter. I'm also looking for some cool clothes with VN illustrations and artwork along the lines of Tired City and not what's available in the night market. If you know of any local artists, I'd be glad to support them! Thanks!

[WE ARE IN TOUCH WITH KARIKS TEAM AND ARE PUTTING A PAUSE ON THIS THREAD AS PER THERE REQUEST]

PS. THANK YOU SCOTLAND!

TL;DR: My wife and I wrote and released a song in Scotland in 2011. In 2013, a major Vietnamese artist, Karik, released a song using the same lyrics and melody without credit or compensation. We have original recordings, live footage, and public upload evidence, but so far we’re being ignored and are looking for help getting the issue taken seriously.

So I’ll be the first to acknowledge this is a weird story. At this point I think the only thing that will help us is if we can get the internet behind us and gain awareness. I also won’t post links here as I’m not trying to promote anything, but all the information I speak about is easily available on a quick Google search.

I’m hoping everyone here can help me.

Back in 2011 me and my wife, Ashleigh Munn at the time, wrote, recorded, released and performed various songs around Scotland.

One of those songs was called “Need Someone When I’m Alone”. It was released in 2011 on the album “Blind Ambition”.

In late 2013 my wife saw that an artist from Vietnam had plagiarised the song, and refused to acknowledge her, provide credit, or compensation.

The song in question is Karik – “E” ft Windy Quein.

We own the original recordings we made in 2011, we have videos of us performing it live in 2011, and streaming platforms still hold our original song. This is all publicly available, minus the original recordings that we have secured.

At the time my wife was 8 months pregnant and we had our first child in Jan 2014, so life took over, and then shortly after that my wife fell ill, i then became a full time carer for ashleigh and had to leave full time employment around four years ago.

We recently started working on music again and this song came back up, only now we realise that Karik is now a major recording artist signed to Warner Music, hosts his own prime time TV show, is in major movies and has major sponsorship deals. He won rapper of the year in 2025 and released a double album in 2024 to major acclaim. He is not a small independent artist, that's the point I'm tyring to make.

He is still actively selling our song he stole in 2011.

We have tried all the correct ways to handle this. We have contacted lawyers, managers, labels, etc. and so far we are very much getting ignored. To a degree I understand how weird the story is and how international situations like this can be difficult to navigate but still feel we deserve a response to correct this situation and he should not be allowed to get away with plagiarism.

This is why we are turning to Reddit. We are looking for anyone who might be able to help us deal with this situation. A contact in the music industry, on the legal side, if all else fails, we want this story to be told.

If anyone has every dealt with a similar situation or has a suggestion that we haven't thought of please bring your idea forward.

We don’t want to be another story of a major artist stealing from unknown artists and it being ignored.

If you can share this post in any way, we are hoping if we can gain traction online, it puts pressure on Karik’s team to take our claim seriously and do the right thing.

We are not influencer-level social media people, we don’t have a following or any label behind us.

If anyone who reads this has a platform that could help get eyes on this, we would really appreciate the support in getting the story out there.

If anyone see's this who is involved in the legal side, please know we have a full evidence package showing the clear copyright infringement and a timeline of events as well as public archive listings showing the infringement's in his claims.

If anyone is interested in helping please drop me DM or Comment. If anyone wants more information (as I've tried to keep this short) again DM or Comment and I'll get back to you.

Hi everyone. Bit of a specific question, but I’ll be in Hanoi in a couple of days and I need a new wallet. Does anyone have a recommendations for where to go?

At most of places I have been to (cafe, restaurants), I eat and then pay. But sometimes they ask for it upfront. I went to work at this one cafe before and have paid when I leave. But this time they ask me to pay when they bought my drink. Happened only to me, the natives were not asked to pay upfront. Am I overthinking this or it was just random? It's not like I am gonna run away lol.

Anyone in Hanoi for couple swaps or Bull? May 20-26

Hey everyone! I'm planning a motorcycle trip to Cao Bang with my girlfriend and would love some logistical advice. We have a rough plan but are open to any adjustment( adding an extra day or two is fine) if it makes the route better.

**Our Current Itinerary:**

* **Day 0:** Arrive in Hanoi in the noon; check-in explore city and overnight stay.

* **Day 1:** Morning transit via bus/van from Hanoi to Cao Bang City, overnight stay.

* **Day 2–5 (The Ride):** Rent a bike in Cao Bang City for a 4D3N (or 5D4N) loop.

* **Day 6:** Return to Hanoi in the evening; final overnight stay.

* **Day 7:** Fly out at noon.

**A few questions:**

1. **Bike Rental:** Since I’ll be riding two-up with backpacks, which model would you recommend for the mountain roads? Any reputable rental shops in Cao Bang City?

2. **Route:** We’ve already listed Ban Gioc Waterfall, Angel Eye Mountain (Nui Thung), and Phong Nam Valley. Are there any other 'must-see' spots or alternative routes you'd recommend?

3. **Accommodation:** Based on your experience, where are the best places to stay? We’d love suggestions for any accommodations.

4. **Transit:** Which reliable bus or van operators offer morning or night departures from Hanoi to Cao Bang?

5. **Road Conditions:** How are the roads currently for riding with a passenger? Are there any particularly 'sketchy' passes we should be mindful of?"