French Quarter Tour

Hanoi’s French quarter, the grid of streets south of Hoan Kiem Lake, is unique amongst Asian capital cities. It is packed with buildings from different eras in the city’s history. It features ancient pagodas; classical European architecture; international modernist architecture (avant-garde Art Deco residences) as well as a fusion between Asian and French style architecture. Each of these styles is a tangible sign of the ideological shifts, which have influenced Vietnamese culture over the centuries. Much more than just bricks and mortar, they are monuments to the vision of French, Vietnamese and Soviet thinkers and architects.