Two things that decide a short trip and no guide can answer for you: how much daylight there is on the dates you are looking at, and how much free time your inbound and outbound flights really leave you.
The longest day is in June — 13 h 24 min of daylight — and the shortest in December, with 10 h 52 min. That is a 2 h 32 min swing between them.
Tell us when you arrive and when you leave. We will tell you how many hours you really get to enjoy the city, day by day, once the transfers and your own breaks are set aside.
These are free hours, not a list of sights. We do not know your flight, the queues, opening times or how long it takes to get from one place to another.
Sunrise and sunset in Hanoi, on its own clock and with the seasonal time change already applied. It is what decides how much fits into a day, and it swings far more than people expect.
2–3 days in March / April / October / November come to roughly 22 h 18 min to 37 h 51 min of daylight, depending on the month you pick and how long you stay.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:36 | 17:35 | 10 h 59 min |
| February | 06:27 | 17:54 | 11 h 27 min |
| March | 06:06 | 18:05 | 12 h |
| April | 05:38 | 18:15 | 12 h 37 min |
| May | 05:19 | 18:26 | 13 h 7 min |
| June | 05:14 | 18:39 | 13 h 24 min |
| July | 05:23 | 18:41 | 13 h 18 min |
| August | 05:35 | 18:27 | 12 h 52 min |
| September | 05:43 | 18:00 | 12 h 17 min |
| October | 05:51 | 17:33 | 11 h 42 min |
| November | 06:06 | 17:15 | 11 h 9 min |
| December | 06:25 | 17:17 | 10 h 52 min |
Worked out for Hanoi from its position and its time zone (Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh). The times are approximate — the sun shifts a couple of minutes from one year to the next — and they leave out twilight, which adds some light before and after. Each month is worked out from its 15th, the day that looks most like the month as a whole.
Rank what matters most to you, from one to three things, and tick anything you want to avoid. We compare the areas the guide describes and explain why each one fits, catch included.
It sorts what the guide says; it does not score neighbourhoods. It does not look at hotels, today’s prices, safety or accessibility, and it only knows the areas the guide describes.
Every rating comes from what the guide’s table says in words, and the sentence is shown next to it. What the guide does not say is not scored.
Who each one is for and what the catch is, in the guide’s own words.
A first visit. The street food, the lake and the markets all on foot.
The catch: Loud from dawn, and rooms on the bar streets are loud until very late.
The same central position with wider streets, grander hotels and quiet nights.
The catch: Less street life at the door; you walk ten minutes to the good eating.
Waking up next to the morning exercise crowd, and the weekend car-free streets.
The catch: The most expensive central beds, and it books out early.
Space, greenery, lake sunsets and the best international food in the city.
The catch: A taxi ride from the Old Quarter, so you commute to the sights.
An early train south or to Sapa.
The catch: Nothing there but the train, and the Old Quarter is a short ride anyway.
Give it the days you have just worked out and Joru builds the whole trip: what to see each day, in what order, and how long it takes to get between them. With real places and real forecasts, not invented ones.
Free for one destination of up to three days, on Android and iPhone.
