A Guide To Hanoi's Prettiest Temples
The Vietnamese capital of Hanoi is full of beautiful temples. As you wander through the pretty streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter it won’t be long until you’ll stumble across the smells of burning incense, swinging paper lanterns in the breeze and flowers left as offerings on shrines. Wherever you walk there will be Buddhist, Confucian or Taoist temples all within a short distance from you.
Here’s our guide to some of Hanoi’s prettiest temples you must visit during your trip!
This temple guide only covers some of our favourite temples we visited during our time in Hanoi and obviously cannot include every temple in the city. The Old Quarter is full of smaller temples, so we would recommend you put on your temple wear and head out onto the streets to see what you can find!
Let us know in the comments on which temples you visit!
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If you are planning on visiting any of the temples we’ve suggested on this list, please be respectful.
Please respect the dress code and cover your shoulders and knees and keep the noise down.
All these temples are still active places of worship and you’ll be sharing your visit with other devotees and worshippers.
Please also be aware that there are different expectations for tourists as opposed to local worshippers. It might be acceptable for the young lady going to pray and visit the grave of her elder to be showing her shoulders and legs, but not for us gawking tourists.
Temple of Literature
The Temple of Literature, also known as Văn Miếu Quoc Tu Giam in Vietnamese, is a beautiful Confucius temple set a short walk from Hanoi’s Old Quarter.
The temple was built in 1070 under Ly Thanh Tong, the Emperor of the Ly Dynasty. The temple became Vietnam’s first national university in 1076, after Ly Thanh Tong founded the Imperial Academy at the temple.
At the university, the students spent between three and seven years studying literature, philosophy and history alongside the principles of Confucianism. When the university was first established, only students born into noble families were invited to study, but this was changed in 1442 where admission became more equal.
Today the temple is still a popular place for Vietnamese students to visit. With students coming to pray for good luck in their exams and studies. On both times we’ve visited we’ve also seen countless numbers of graduates dressed up in mortarboards and long cloaks posing for photos in the temple grounds.
To learn more about the Ly Dynasty, we’d recommend visiting the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long located around a twenty minute walk north of the Temple of Literature.
You can read more about visiting the Imperial Citadel in our guide to the museums of Hanoi here.
The entrance to the Temple of Literature is on its southern edge. Once you’ve bought your tickets head on inside. The temple itself is split into five courtyards. The first two courtyards you’ll walk through are filled with tree-lined paths, hedgerows and square ponds filled with lilies.
The Temple of Literature gardens are very pretty!
In the third courtyard you’ll stumble upon a huge square lake, the Thiên Quang well. On both sides of this well are huge stone slabs standing on top of stone turtles. These stone slabs are the stone stelae, ordered by the Emperor Le Thanh Tong to record the achievements of those students who achieved exceptional grades. In the Temple of Literature today, 82 of the original stone stelae still remain.
The faint carvings on the stone stelae can still be seen in the Temple of Literature today.
The stelae stand on the backs of turtles, as the turtle (rùa) is considered to be one of Vietnam’s sacred four animals.
Turtles can be found carved in temples and pagodas throughout Vietnam. They are thought to represent strength, longevity and intelligence.
Continue on through to the fourth and fifth courtyards which are full of halls, bells and a drum house. Inside these buildings are various shrines and altars dedicated to Confusionist disciples as well as to the late Emperors of the Ly Dynasty.
Make sure to head inside all the buildings surrounding courtyards three to five as they house different exhibits that give you more information about the history of the university.
We absolutely love the Temple of Literature. It’s a beautiful example of the type of architecture we adore, with bonsai trees, lotus ponds and incense dotted throughout. There’s so much to see we easily spent a good few hours exploring the temple buildings and grounds. Make sure you take your camera with you!
Check your Vietnamese Dong as the back of the 100,000 note features an image of the Temple of Literature!
There are plenty of guided tours that include the Temple of Literature and other Hanoi sights. If you’re looking to maximise your time in Hanoi, we’d recommend taking a tour to combine some of Hanoi’s top attractions. Check out this tour here on Get Your Guide which includes a trip to the Temple of Literature.
Temple of Literature - Essential Information
Where is it?
The Temple of Literature is located southwest from Hanoi’s Old Quarter, about a half hour walk away. You can find the temple on a map here.
Opening hours:
The temple is open everyday from 8.00am to 17.00pm.
In the run up to Tet or on public holidays, the Temple of Literature can get extremely busy.
Entrance fee:
Tickets to the Temple of Literature cost 70,000 VND each. If you would like to purchase an audio guide, it will cost you an additional 100,000 VND.
Facilities at the Temple of Literature:
There are toilets at the temple as well as vending machines to purchase water, soft drinks and snacks.
Don’t miss the souvenir shop at the exit which sells pretty postcards, posters and t-shirts!
Ngoc Son Temple, Hoan Kiem Lake
A short walk from the streets of the Old Quarter, the Ngoc Son Temple (also known as Temple of the Jade Mountain) sits on a small island in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake.
The temple was built in the 19th century in commemoration of General Tran Hung Do and Van Xuong De Quan. The temple is a mixture of Buddhist, Confucius and Taoist architecture.
The ticket booth to enter the temple can be found on the shoreline on the eastern edge of the lake. To access the temple, you will need to cross the ‘Cau The Huc’ red wooden bridge which leads you to the grey gatehouse of the temple island. The pretty bridge is a very popular spot for selfies, with Vietnamese locals and tourists all vying for the best spot on the bridge.
Even though Ngoc Son Temple is super busy with others, there's still spaces of calm!
The temple sits in the middle of the island, with a pretty courtyard surrounding it. The courtyard gardens are full of bonsai trees, kumquat trees, statues and flowers. In front of the pavilion hall sits a huge golden urn full of smoking incense. Even with the crowds, it’s a very pretty temple, with views out over the lake and the Hanoi skyline.
One of the main highlights of the temple is seeing the enormous preserved turtles that sit in huge glass boxes. The embalmed turtles are enormous and have a very smug smile on their faces!
It’s hard to imagine them swimming in the lake, as even though they were real, they just don’t look like a normal turtle!
We’ll let you be the judge though when you see them for yourself.
These turtles were once residents of Hoan Kiem Lake itself. There’s a Vietnamese legend behind these turtles, which says that during a war, one of the turtles of Hoan Kiem Lake brought a magic sword to the Vietnamese King Le Loi. It was this magic sword that helped defeat the Ming invaders and helped Vietnam win the war. After the war, the sword was returned to the turtles at the lake.
The Ngoc Son Temple is very pretty, and despite the crowds it draws (it’s a very popular tourist spot), it still feels peaceful.
Ngoc Son Temple - Essential Information
Where is it?
The Ngoc Son Temple sits in the middle of Hoan Kiem lake here.
To buy tickets, head to the eastern edge of the lake and you’ll find the ticket counter next to the Pen Tower, located here.
Opening hours:
The temple is open everyday from 8.00am to 18.00pm.
The temple can get very busy, so if you want to avoid the crowds head to the temple as soon as the ticket counter opens.
We’d recommend wandering around Hoan Kiem Lake after dark to see the Ngoc Son Temple and the Cuc The Huc bridge lit up. It’s really pretty seeing the lights, temple and bridge reflecting in the lake's water.
Entrance fee:
Tickets cost 50,000 VND each.
One Pillar Pagoda
Just over a half an hour walk away from the Old Quarter is the One Pillar Pagoda. Sitting between the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum we’d recommend pairing a visit to all three at the same time.
The One Pillar Pagoda is a Buddhist temple built in the shape of a flowering lotus, the Buddhist symbol for purity.
The temple was built in 1049 by King Ly Thai Tong. The story behind the construction of this temple is that King Ly Thai Tong once had a dream where he was handed a son by the Goddess of Mercy. This dream came true for the King, when his wife gave birth to his son. To thank the Goddess of Mercy, the King decided to build the One Pillar Pagoda.
The temple today sits high above a pond and is surrounded by a small shrine, flowers and bonsai trees.
The temple is very busy with Vietnamese locals coming to pray to the Goddess of Mercy to ask for a son.
Burning incense is a common sight in the temples of Hanoi!
One Pillar Pagoda - Essential Information
Where is it?
The One Pillar Pagoda (also known as Dien Huu Tu or Lien Hoa Dai) can be found here.
Opening hours:
The temple is open everyday from 7.00am to 18.00pm.
Entrance fee:
The temple is free to enter.
Quan Thanh Temple
The Quan Thanh Temple was one of our favourite temples we visited in Hanoi. Set behind a huge stone, three arched gateway, the Quan Thanh Temple is an 11th century Taoist temple dedicated to Xuan Hu, a Taoist deity.
The courtyard of the temple is very pretty, with brushed grey stone being interrupted with splashes of colour from vibrant green plants, red roses and orange kumquat trees. Inside the temple, the walls are covered in mahogany wood and gold inscriptions and shrines full to the brim with colourful offerings.
Compared to the first three temples we’ve written about above, this temple was very quiet with only a small handful of visitors.
Quan Thanh Temple - Essential Information
Where is it?
The Quan Thanh Temple is located northwest from the Old Quarter on the southeastern shores of West Lake. You can find the temple here).
Opening hours:
The temple is open everyday from 8.00am to 17.00pm.
Entrance fee:
Tickets cost 10,000 VND to enter.
Tran Quoc Pagoda
The Tran Quoc Pagoda sits on an island on the southeastern shore of Hanoi’s West Lake (Ho Tay).
As you approach the island, the towering terracotta pagoda soars above the bright yellow walls of the Buddhist temple. In each layer of the pagoda, a plain white Buddhist statue sits under an arch.
Inside the temple complex, there are numerous shrines, bonsai trees and Buddhist flags. As you reach the main temple, the smell of incense is thick in the air, whilst the golden interior glints against the sunlight.
We visited on a bright and sunny day and had great views over the West Lake all the way to the northern shore.
Just over the road from Tran Quoc is another temple, Đền Thủy Trung Tiên. Sitting on an island on the smaller lake of Truc Bach, the temple can be accessed by a stone, arched bridge. The temple has one large pagoda and a couple of smaller shrines and is surrounded by tall stone pillars inscribed with Chinese characters. The temple inside is bright yellow and the shrine is full of offerings and donations. When we visited there was just one elderly lady paying her respects and lots of fishermen sitting on the banks of the island.
You can walk around the whole of West Lake (Tay Ho) check out our article on our afternoon exploring a lesser known side of Hanoi here.
Tran Quoc Pagoda - Essential Information
Where is it?
The Tran Quoc Pagoda is located northwest from Hanoi’s Old Quarter and sits on a small island on the West Lake. The pagoda can be found here.
The Đền Thủy Trung Tiên temple is located just over the main road on the spit of land connecting Truc Bach Lake with Ho Tay Lake and can be found here.
Opening hours:
The temple is open everyday from 7.30am to 11.15am before closing for lunch and reopening at 13.30pm to 17.00pm.
Entrance fee:
The pagoda is free to enter.
The very picturesque entrance to Đền Thủy Trung Tiên Temple on Truc Bach Lake.
Chua Ngu Xa Temple, Truc Bach
Sitting in the middle of Truc Bach island of Hanoi, the Chua Ngu Xa Temple was always busy with locals praying and offering incense and flowers.
Inside the restored yellow walls of the temple is a serene shrine atop stone steps.
The island of Truc Bach is full of great restaurants, cafes and pretty streets. To read more about Truc Bach and what there is to do on the island, check out our guide here.
Chua Ngu Xa - Essential Information
Where is it?
The Chua Ngu Xa temple is located on the island of Truc Bach and can be found here.
Opening hours:
There are no official opening hours on Google, but the temple was open from early morning to sunset.
Entrance fee:
The temple is free to enter.
Let us know in the comments which temples you visit!
Thank you for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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