What are the best ways to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, and vice versa?

The most efficient way to travel is by domestic flight, which will take about two hours. To find the best price and timing, you can search for flights departing from Hanoi, or flights departing from Ho Chi Minh City. 

To explore other modes of travel between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (which might take over a day), you can visit 12go.asia. 

Book a stay at Pan Pacific Hanoi, and be enchanted by the nostalgic charms of Hanoi’s famed Old Quarter, where the city’s best cultural attractions are located. Here, you can watch traditional merchants at work in narrow streets, or experience the joys of slow living at the serene Hoan Kiem Lake.

From your hotel window, you may be able to spot the oldest Buddhist temple in Hanoi—the Tran Quoc Pagoda, which sits on an island in the middle of the West Lake.

Prefer to dine in during your Hanoi holiday? Head to our in-house restaurant Pacifica for a sumptuous buffet spread, or Ming for Cantonese cuisine. After-dinner drinks are available at The Summit, which promises the best rooftop views of the West Lake.

Where are the best places of interest in Hanoi, and how should you organise your Hanoi itinerary? 

You can plan to spend several hours in each of Hanoi’s main districts, to cover the top attractions:

• Hoan Kiem District: Top sights here include the Old Quarter and its 36 walking streets, as well as Hoan Kiem Lake, Hoa Lo Prison, and the Vietnamese Women’s Museum.

• Ba Dinh District: Known as Hanoi’s French Quarter and political hub. This is where the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Ho Chi Minh Museum are located.

• Tay Ho District: A scenic location, famed for its West Lake and the Tran Quoc Pagoda

• Hai Ba Trung District: A shopping hub, where you can visit modern malls, check out Hom Market, and hunt down fashion finds at the Pho Hue and Ba Trieu shopping streets.

• Dong Da District: Hanoi’s university town, with famous Hanoi sights like the Temple of Literature.

• Cau Giay District: An up-and-coming Hanoi neighbourhood, with one of Hanoi’s best museums, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

Alternatively, hire a tour guide to show you the best of Hanoi. You can search on tour portals such as Withlocals, or book a tour with a boutique agency like Hidden Hanoi. If you’re open to an exchange arrangement—letting Hanoi students practise their English as they show you around for free—look for volunteer-based tour agencies such as Hanoikids.

Keen to include a day trip in your Hanoi itinerary? Ha Long Bay (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is the most popular option, and you can book a tour through tour portals like Klook and GetYourGuide.

A proud winner of multiple World Luxury Awards, PARKROYAL Saigon is where top-notch style meets sublime comfort and service. 

Located in the Tan Binh District where most tourists stay, PARKROYAL Saigon offers easy access to major Saigon attractions such as the Ben Thanh Market. Rooms and suites here are tastefully decorated in soothing tones, and feature all of the modern amenities that you will need for a worry-free stay. 

If you prefer to dine in, you can visit the Garden Brasserie restaurant for all-day international dining, and retreat to the Lotus Bar for signature cocktails and wines to cap your evening.

Need to find your bearings around Ho Chi Minh City? What are the top things you can do in Saigon?

Unlike Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City’s main districts are numbered, and this can be confusing for the new visitor. Here’s what you need to know, in order to get around easily:

• District 1: This is the city’s business centre, and likely where your hotel will be located. Attractions include the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Jade Emperor Pagoda, the Ben Thanh Market, and the Nguyen Hue Walking Street (a social space for locals in the evenings).

• District 2: A cosmopolitan district—known locally as the “Westerners’ district”—with Western-style restaurants and pubs.

• District 3: This is a neighbourhood of culture and history, and main attractions include the Xa Loi Pagoda, Tan Dinh Church (Hanoi’s “pink church”), the Reunification Palace, and the War Remnants Museum.

• District 4: Street food lovers will rejoice here—use this guide to find local foods to try.

• District 5: This is Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown, where you can visit the Binh Tay Market and the Quan Am Pagoda.

For a complete guide to Ho Chi Minh City’s districts, bookmark this article.

Need a local expert to help you navigate Ho Chi Minh City? Book a local experience on tour portals like Withlocals, or look for specialty tour agencies such as XO Tours, which offers food and city tours on a scooter.

To complete your Ho Chi Minh City experience with a day trip, visit the historic Cu Chi Tunnels, and learn about how this extensive network of tunnels aided local Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. You can book a Cu Chi Tunnels day tour on tour portals such as Klook and Viator.  

Need assistance for your Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City stay? Contact our Pan Pacific Hotels Group team today!