Hoan Kiem Lake was originally called Green Water Lake, but later changed its name because of legendary Vietnamese monarch Li Li's sword return here. There are green tree-lined trails around the lake, which is a leisure place for locals to enjoy coolness and walk. There are two Nakajima buildings on the oval lake, the Yushan Temple to the north and the turtle tower to the south. This is a good place to feel the leisure life of Hanoi people. In the morning, many locals will come to the lake for morning exercises. During the day, the old people will fish and chat by the lake. At night, the benches by the lake are full of people. They can often meet couples who talk about love here. The area of the lake is small, it takes tens of minutes to walk around the lake. In addition to enjoying the beautiful lake view, you can also see the buildings with typical local customs around. There are many French colonial buildings scattered from the east to the south, with Bating Square, Confucian Temple, etc. to the west, and the "Thirty-Sixth Street" to the north. There is a red Qixu Bridge on the northeast side of the lake, which is connected to Yushan Temple, suitable for taking pictures.

Beautiful lake with a small but very attractive temple to visit. The small pagoda on an islet in the middle of the lake is unique. It is very pleasant to cross the red bridge to visit the temple and walk around the lake which shores are not crowded with people.

So beautiful lake, huge and really good to walk around (tired so much but very worth to see around)

Nice place.

I think it's a coincidence that this lake is located in the busy center of the old quarter... So the tourist attraction is centered on this lake. Like Bus hOp on off which can be booked from here. Many people sit around to enjoy the beauty of this lake and there is a temple in the middle which if you want to see it costs VND 30,000/person.

One of the Old Quarter's best-restored properties, this traditional merchants' house is sparsely but beautifully decorated, with rooms filled with fine big and cozy

the tower of turtle is the symbol of Hanoi, differently gorgeous at different times.