Crossing the road. Wait for a gap in the cars, not the motorbikes; there is never a gap in the motorbikes. Step out and walk at a steady pace without stopping or stepping back, and the riders flow around you. Pavements are parking, so keep bags on the side away from the traffic.
The dong. ₫25,000 is about a dollar, and locals write 50k for ₫50,000. The ₫20,000 and ₫500,000 bills are both blue and the ₫10,000 and ₫100,000 are close, so count the zeros. Cards work at hotels, bigger restaurants and museum shops; street food, temple tickets, bia hoi and buses are cash.
Grab, taxis and the airport. Download Grab before you land; the price is set in the app. A GrabBike across the center is ₫20,000 to ₫40,000, a car ₫50,000 to ₫100,000. A hailed cab should be Mai Linh or G7 with the meter running. From Noi Bai, bus 86 reaches the edge of the Old Quarter for ₫45,000 in about 50 minutes; a Grab car is ₫300,000 to ₫400,000 from the pick-up point outside, never from the men inside the terminal.
Train Street. The houses a meter from the tracks on Phung Hung have been officially closed to visitors since 2019, and group tours were banned in March 2025. The cafés still let individuals in for the price of a drink, ₫50,000 to ₫80,000; whether you get in depends on the day. When a train is due, sit where the owner says and keep everything off the track.
The mausoleum. Mornings only: 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. from April to October and 8 to 11 a.m. from November to March. Closed Monday and Friday and for about two months every fall. Knees and shoulders covered, hats off, phones away, no talking inside; bags are checked at the entrance. Entry is free.
Hoan Kiem weekends. From 7 p.m. on Friday (6 p.m. in summer) to midnight on Sunday the streets around the lake close to traffic. A Grab cannot reach a hotel inside the zone then; it drops you at the edge.
Scams that happen. The shoe-shine man who mends a sole you did not ask about and wants ₫200,000; the woman who hangs her shoulder pole on you for a photo and then charges for the pineapple; meters that run fast at the airport and the station. A phone snatched from the curb side by a passing motorbike is the only one that costs real money. Keep it on the inside and keep walking.
On the day. Put the mausoleum on a Tuesday to Thursday or a weekend morning, cross slowly, and let Waystop’s hours check catch a visit placed on a Monday or Friday.