First Time in Vietnam! Photos and Stories from Hanoi

In November 2025, we took a 12-night Southeast Asia cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore. It was a gay cruise chartered by Atlantis Events on the Celebrity Solstice. We have been to Hong Kong before, so we arrived only the day before the cruise, stayed at the Airport Regal Hotel, then took a cab directly to the cruise terminal.

Our first stop was Halong Bay, the port closest to Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. Hanoi is 160 km inland from Halong. Our bus tour lasted over 12 hours, including a two-hour drive each way. The weather was gray and overcast all day, and it rained in the afternoon. Still, Hanoi was a beautiful, interesting city. We’re glad we got to experience it.

The first stop was the Hoa Lo Prison/Museum, where American POWs (including John McCain) were imprisoned during the Vietnam War. It was nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton.”

Next, we boarded electric vehicles that were a cross between a golf cart and a tuk-tuk for a drive through the narrow streets of downtown Hanoi. The streets were crammed with small storefront businesses, restaurants, coffee shops, small hotels, people (both locals and tourists), and scooters. Lots of scooters. The atmosphere was frenetic, but somehow no vehicles hit scooters and no scooters hit pedestrians. It was organized chaos!

Here’s our excellent tour guide Sy and one of the vehicles we rode.

Here’s a video Jeff shot of our ride through the market streets.

People grilling fresh fish and meat right on the sidewalk. It doesn’t get any fresher than this.

Several stores were offering Christmas merchandise.

There were scooters parked everywhere!

The cars in the foreground are VinFasts, an electric car made in Vietnam. The business in the background with the interesting name was a coffee and tea shop. Coffee shops were everywhere!

Speaking of businesses with interesting names…

Don’t ask, we have no idea.

We visited Train Street, which is just what the name implies. It’s lined on both sides with restaurants and bars. A train comes through five times a day.

We enjoyed a buffet lunch in a very nice Novotel hotel.

The next stop on our tour was Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and the “stilt house” where he lived. When we arrived, the queue was about 45 minutes long, and it was raining. Our bus unanimously voted not to stand in line in the rain for 45 minutes. Instead, our tour guide led us on a brief walking tour, where we could see the mausoleum from a distance. That was fine. Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body is only on display from 8:00 to 11:00 in the morning, so we weren’t going to see that anyway.

There were several important government buildings across the street from this park. This building, built by the French while they colonized Vietnam, now houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Vietnam’s Parliament was just down the street.

This 1900s French Colonial palace is the office and residence of Vietnam’s president & vice president.

While we’re sure Vietnam is happy to be free from France’s rule, the French architecture that can be seen all over the city gives it a distinctive flair.

While we would certainly have preferred nicer weather, we enjoyed our tour of Hanoi. In addition to the market streets pictured above, we passed through areas of modern office buildings and hotels that contributed to the city’s vibrant energy. Despite it being a crowded, densely populated city, it was charming.