4 Parks to Explore in Hanoi

This is not a Botanical Garden but a lush green park in the city center. The park was established in 1890 by the French and originally stretched over 33 hectares, but has since been squeezed to a mere 10 to make room for development.

Hoan Kiem Lake means "Lake of the Returned Sword". According to the legend, after defeating the Ming China in early 1428, Emperor Lê Lợi was boating on the lake when a Golden Turtle God surfaced and asked for his magic sword. Lợi concluded that the turtle god had come to reclaim the sword that its master, a local God, the Dragon King had given to Lợi. The Emperor later gave the sword back to the turtle after he finished fighting off the Chinese.

Temple dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. Built in 1070, it hosts the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university. The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnamese đồng banknote.

A complex of historic imperial buildings located in the centre of Hanoi. The royal enclosure was first built during the Lý dynasty (1010) and expanded by the Trần, Lê and finally the Nguyễn dynasty. It remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1810, when the Nguyễn dynasty chose to move the capital to Huế.