West Lake - A Walk Through Lesser Known Hanoi
Most visitors to Hanoi will be familiar with the city’s iconic Hoàn Kiếm Lake, but this is not the biggest lake the Vietnamese capital has to offer!
West Lake or Hồ Tây as it is also known, is the largest lake in Hanoi. A massive 17 kilometres (ten and a half miles) of shoreline stretch around the lake in the north-west of Hanoi. From our base on Truc Bach Island (read all about this cute little island here ) we hatched a plan to see some lesser known sights of Hanoi. Far from the busy streets of the Old Quarter we would walk the whole loop of the lake and explore the districts of its shoreline. It was going to be a long walk but one that would show us a side of the Vietnamese capital we had not seen.
This is what we got up to on our day out and our recommendation for a fantastic, unique walking route around Hanoi.
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Walking around Hanoi’s West Lake
Our day started on Trúc Bạch Island which had been our home in Hanoi for the last week. We had begun our Hanoi stay with a fantastic week in the Old Quarter before moving up north to the quiet streets of Trúc Bạch Island. You can find Trúc Bạch on a map here, the island is full of cafes, coffee shops and great restaurants and is a fantastic place to stay - make sure you have read our blog on Trúc Bạch Island for more details.
We skipped the cafe’s that day, deciding instead that we would see what we could find to eat and drink around the waters of West Lake. We laced up our walking boots and left our comfy apartment (you can see where we stayed here) for a long day of walking.
Truc Bach Island is an oasis in busy Hanoi.
We would be exploring the lake roughly clockwise, starting in Truc Bach at the bottom and looping all the way around the edge of the lake. But first, a small detour.
Truc Bach island is separated from the main lake by a narrow strip of land. A road cuts across the south-east corner of West Lake creating the much smaller Trúc Bạch Lake. This little spit of land is home to two beautiful temples. For most of the day we would be looping the lake clockwise but we started off in the opposite direction. We headed north from Trúc Bạch Island until we could cross the lake westwards on the Thanh Niên road.
As soon as we started walking on the road spanning the lake we came across the gorgeous Đền Thủy Trung Tiên temple. Sitting serenely on its own little island, the Đền Thủy Trung Tiên is beautiful and well worth a visit. The temple also sits opposite the much larger (but equally pretty), Tran Quoc Pagoda and temple. For more information and a guide to the most amazing temples of Hanoi, make sure you check out our guide here.
Tran Quoc Pagoda is stunning!
For a map of our walking route around Hanoi’s West Lake make sure you read to the end of the article or, if you are in a hurry, you can see it via the link here.
From the temples we continued west across the lake, passing by the statue commemorating the capture of former US senator John McCain. John McCain’s bomber was shot down over West Lake in 1967 - (the small statue can be found here).
We re-joined the mainland on the west bank and walked a short way inland to the Quan Thanh Temple (location). This Taoist Temple has a dramatic arched entrance and many intricate carvings. When we visited the temple was bursting with orange fruit laden trees. Again for more information about this and other beautiful Hanoian temples make sure you check out the article here.
Coming back to the shoreline we started our walk around the main body of Hanoi’s West Lake. We walked north along the shore, passing by the abandoned and dilapidated but still strangely picturesque old seaplane station - Nhà Ga Thủy Phi Cơ Hồ Tây (location). It is no longer in use as a seaplane station but does look like it is occasionally open to the public. Its walls, outside and in, are covered in graffiti and plants are growing out of its concrete floors. To us it was strangely pretty.
We do love abandoned and ruined buildings - the Seaplane station was an unexpected treat on our lake-side wander.
After the seaplane station we walked by the opulent and ornate grounds of Chu Van An High school (location). Built over one hundred years ago, during the era of French rule, the school was full of French colonial style buildings, fountains and manicured gardens. It is still an operational school so we obviously didn’t go in and interrupt the lessons! You can see a lot of the buildings and gardens from the lakeside path. On the lakes edge you can also see a very impressive library that would not be out of place in Versailles!
This is a high school library?!
We are not early risers, despite our best efforts to get up and go we had not had the quickest of starts to the day. We had eaten a small yogurt based brekkie and so, by this point in the walk, now a little way past midday, we were getting peckish. We had been in Hanoi for a couple of weeks at this point and so decided to treat ourselves to something different, something other than a delicious bowl of Bun Bo Hue, Bun Reiu or Pho. We had done some research and found there was a small restaurant just off of the lake selling that well known Vietnamese delicacy, Ramen....
Ok, we know ramen is not remotely Vietnamese! The Japanese noodle soup is completely different to the famous bowls of Vietnam but ramen is one of our favourite meals on the planet. Seeing a well reviewed but cheap and local joint, we couldn’t resist.
The inside of Machi Ramen is fully decorated to look like a proper Japanese ramen joint.
Set down a maze of tiny alleyways is Machi Ramen. It is only a ten minute walk from the lake but feels like it is a world away. Set in the middle of a residential district, we wormed our way down narrow lanes and passages until we found the small, sliding door shop front of the ramen house. You can find Machi Ramen on Google Maps here.
Machi Ramen serves a honed and tight selection of delicious bowls of ramen as well as bento boxes and small Japanese inspired meals. It is not a posh place (some of the dishes are named after Naruto characters!) and the prices are very reasonable at around 70-90,000 VND a bowl. We absolutely loved our lunch at Machi Ramen, the stock was rich, creamy and delicious with slices of meltingly tender pork belly. We know it is not “authentic” but who were we trying to impress? We wanted tasty food not kudos points from imaginary strangers!
Who could resist the cream call of Tonkotsu ramen?
If you are in the area around Machi Ramen you can (and should) visit the B52 Lake and the nearby museum.
The lake is well worth the short walk and sits in a really interesting district of Hanoi. The small lake is surrounded by buildings on all sides and the carcass of the B52 Bomber sticks up out of the lake like a massive decaying eagle.
The area around the lake was once the flower sellers district of Hanoi and it is super colourful and unique.
You can find the lake here. Nearby is a great museum about Hanoi’s air defence during the bombings of the American war. The museum is located here.
Make sure you check out our guide to all the best museums in Hanoi- find it here.
After our fill of ramen we wandered back to the lakes edge and continued around. We were still walking on the western edge of the lake, heading north. Dotted all along this stretch of the lake are loads of coffee shops. All the shops seem to offer mini statues to paint as you sip your coffee. This is a brilliant idea and we are surprised it hasn’t caught on in the West. The painting coffee shops would make a great break if you were travelling Hanoi with children. Set out overlooking the lake and providing the all paints it would be a very relaxing way to spend an afternoon, also most of the cafes served beer…. just saying…
The coffee shops themselves were all very unique, each one having its own aesthetic design. We passed pastel pink saccharine hyper-cuteness, brushed metal modern chic and everything in between. We were in need of some caffeinated refreshment so paused to pick up a cup at the minimalist EVO Coffee (location) . The café den (sweet black Vietnamese coffee - read all about the coffees of Vietnam here), was delicious and not badly priced for such a nice location - 30,000 VND (about £0.90 or $1.18).
Energised from caffeine and full from lunch we continued on. Looking at the map we were starting to get an idea of how big West Lake Hanoi was. The West Lake covers an area over 500 hectares (5,000,000 square metres). We had been walking (and eating and drinking) for nearly two hours but had only covered about a third of the lake's edge. We needed to get a wiggle on!
You never know what you are going to find on the roads of Hanoi!
Hanoi’s West Lake is the subject of many myths and legends. Some stories claim it was created by a huge angry buffalo, looking for its calf. Other stories claim the lake was created by a battle between the Dragon King and a nine-tailed fox (we are really packing in the Naruto references on this walk). The modern, correct and more boring explanation is that the lake was, like many of Hanoi’s lakes, naturally formed by the Red River as it arched, split and flowed towards the sea.
We walked on, passing the Trich Sai Temple (located here). With the lake to our right we continued up the western bank and started to come around to the northern point. At one point we passed an amazing looking coffee shop. AMI Coffee Garden (you can find it here) looks like a treehouse and an Ewok village had a love affair. Made of bamboo and wood, the shop is spread over many sprawling irregular floors and looks like an awesome place to chill out and watch the water flow by. Sadly we were still less than half way around the lake so we soldiered on.
AMI Coffee Garden also lets you do the statue painting - you can see them inside on the ground floor.
Just north of AMI Coffee Garden are the famous dragon statues of Ho Tay, You can find them on a map here. These two curling dragons stretch out on the lake's surface mirroring one another. The statues are a popular photo point for locals and, when we visited, had a huge fundraising bike ride setting off from them.
The Ho Tay (or is it Tay Ho?) dragons marked the halfwayish point of our walk
Now joined on our lake walk by a steady stream of charity cyclists, we continued up to the northern zenith of the lake. At the northern tip of the lake is the Ho Tay water and amusement park. This would be a great day out for those with children but, when we visited, we had the luck of the whole park being shut, closed up for the winter and awaiting refurbishment.
There is something eerie and fascinating about empty theme parks!
We love abandoned and deserted things, theme parks and waterparks especially (watch this space for an article about the abandoned water park of Hue!). There is something both creepy and pretty about modern ruins, or places that should be full of life but stand empty.
The Ho Tay Water Park was awesomely eerie, with dried up swimming pools and looming slides flowing to nowhere. Dominating everything and visible from all over the lake was the enormous Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel was closed as well but it really added a cool vibe, towering empty over the deserted waterpark.
The water slides and theme park are now apparently back open and look like they have been completely renovated from when we visited. Like we said, we loved seeing them empty and abandoned but we would also love to go to the theme park now it is open!
Would you ride this wheel? It looked like it had seen better days!
Passing the Ferris wheel we came to the edge of what is one of Hanoi’s biggest “Instagram attractions”. Everyone has heard of the Old Quarter and Hanoi’s famous Train Street (read our guide to the Old Quarter here) but the Thung Lũng Hoa - Valley of Flowers, is less well known outside of Vietnam. The ‘Valley of Flowers’ is a large landscaped garden full of blooming flowers as well as scenes, swings and photo spots to get your pose on. You can find the Valley of Flowers on the map here. Just be warned, it is wildly popular with Vietnamese visitors and can get very crowded with selfie-taking teenagers. We still had a long way to go, and no wish to queue for flower-framed photos, so we plodded on.
Now around the northern peak of the lake we began the long walk back south. The first part, past the “Flower Valley”, was not what we expected of a capital city. The lake opened up into a series of smaller bodies of water. Farms dotted the smaller lakes edges and people walked, calf deep in mud, planting seeds and tilling the soil. In the background rose massive modern apartment blocks, it was a strange but interesting contrast. You can see on google maps just how ‘thin’ the city gets here with just a strip of buildings before Hanoi falls away and is replaced by fields all the way up to the Red River.
Not a scene you would expect in the capital city!
It really is a jarring contrast, the farmers toiling away under the shadow of city apartment blocks.
Our path took us in and out of these small lakes and fields, some were covered in lotuses, some looked like they were being dammed and drained to create more land. We passed by a raised bandstand that obviously used to sit in the middle of the water. Now it stands alone, raised up over a muddy drained lake bed(location). A little way inland, just after the becalmed bandstand, we walked through a cute little park full of expats and their children playing on slides and climbing frames (location).
On the knobbled tip of a cape sticking out into the lake, we stumbled across the beautiful Phủ Tây Hồ Shrine and temple complex (located here). Legends say that this was the place where one of Vietnam's “four Immortals” fell in love with the landscapes nature. Wanting to stay amongst the beauty she decided to open a tea shop! Nowadays Phủ Tây Hồ is a stunning temple full of statues, pavilions and red roofed shrines. Phủ Tây Hồ was an unexpected treat on our walk, it was a calm break from the day’s heat and traffic. We would like to come back to the area for lunch one day as the temple was absolutely surrounded by restaurants and places to eat. Sadly we were still full of ramen so we continued on, off of the cape, past the amazing wooden doors of the Chùa Kim Liên temple (location) and onwards round the lake.
The entrance of Phủ Tây Hồ Shrine is very grand - the bats are apparently symbols of good luck, the word "bat" being very close to the word "fortune".
The final part of the eastern edge of the lake is far more built up than the others. It is full of hotels, villas and condos. It is home to the main expat community in Hanoi. It is also a bit harder here to stick to the shoreline as the way is frequently interrupted by resorts and private lake front properties. It was fun however, to duck back a few roads and explore the streets. This district was very artsy and cool, with loads of coffee shops and stylish places to eat. It was what modern Vietnam does so well, a perfect mix of modernity with tradition - pho shops next to craft burger joints. There was a great selection of food and shops to nose around. You could get anything from a plate of banh cuon to a pair of vintage trainers. We can see why it is so popular with expats. We would love to stay in this area and give it a more in depth exploration in the future. There is also a lot of development going on in this part of Hanoi, the streets and skyline will rapidly change in the next few years.
Speaking of expats, we were walking along the lakefront, past a couple of bars when we heard a familiar voice ringing out at us. We had managed to wander past our bartender friend from Nong Khiaw! If you haven't heard of Nong Khiaw or are thinking of travelling to Laos at any point, it is one of our favourite places in the world - check out our guide here. Our friend had travelled from Ireland to Laos and now we had run into him on the side of a lake in Vietnam. It is a small world sometimes!
As the afternoon wore on we circled back down towards Truc Bach lake and our apartment. We arched past the turning we had taken that morning for the Truc Bach temples and finally, over 15km later, we were back where we started. We collapsed into our favourite bia hoi bar on the lake's edge (find out more about Bia Hoi in our article here). After a whole day on our feet, plastic stools never felt so comfy!
The walk had taken us far longer than Google had suggested as we had stopped, wandered off course and taken ramen based detours. We had been walking for just shy of four hours. We had set off late in the morning and were back just before sunset. It had been a fantastic day out.
It had been a long day, but an amazing walk. We had thoroughly earned our sunset drinks!
Truc Bach Island has loads to offer whether you are staying there or just visiting from the Old Quarter. Make sure you check out our guide to Truc Bach island. The Island is a great place to watch a Hanoi sunset. Looking out of the lake as the sun sinks into its own reflection, with a beer in hand and our legs pleasantly aching from the walk, it was a great way to end a great day.
Thoughts on walking Hanoi’s West Lake - the good and the bad
The lake is not always picturesque, sometimes it is a little smelly and there is the occasional dead fish. There had been portions of the walk with dull surroundings and busy traffic, but we had had a truly amazing day. We love just setting off and seeing where our feet take us and, on that day in Hanoi, we had been taken all over the north of the city, seeing temples, neighbourhoods, abandoned ferris wheels, amazing food and so much more. It was not a tour for the guide books, there wasn’t a huge focal point or even a ‘reason why’ for the walk, it was just an amazing experience and a good excuse to get out and see a side of the city not many visitors bother with. If you have the time and like to stretch your legs, do it. You will get a better insight into Hanoi than those who just stick to the streets of the Old Quarter.
Wherever you are in Hanoi, there is always something interesting to see.
Walking map for Hồ Tây Lake
We have made a map of the route we walked and left pointers for all of the points of interest mentioned in this article. If you find something we missed let us know in the comments!
Other things to do around Hanoi’s West Lake
You obviously do not have to do this walk all in one go! You can reach any part of the walk easily via taxi (we recommend using the Grab App in Hanoi). You could split the walk into smaller chunks or not do a circular route. If you are interested in just the temples you can easily hop between the further away ones in a cab.
Another option for exploring West Lake would be to hire bicycles. There were loads of places around Ho Tay Lake offering bike hire, click here for a list on Google Maps. There are also several companies offering bike tours around West Lake and into Hanoi - Check out this tour from Get Your Guide for example.
Hanoi’s West lake is surrounded by interesting districts and neighbourhoods. If you wanted, you could take a neighbourhood per day and really explore the ‘real’ Hanoi. We loved the winding lanes and lake filled squares in the Ngọc Hà neighbourhood, the whole district of Ba Đình was fascinating and we would love to go back and really explore it.
There is so much to find around the West Lake, from parks and farms to restaurants and ruins!
One of the best things about the long lake walk is that it really made us fall in love with everyday Hanoi. It didn't need to be a big temple or dramatic historic site, the streets and bustle of the city were intoxicating all by themselves. Just get out and walk, you never know what you will find.
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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