West Lake – The peace of Hanoi
1. Where is West Lake? An overview of West Lake
West Lake is located in Tay Ho district, surrounded by main roads: Thuy Khue - Thanh Nien - Nghi Tam - Au Co - Lac Long Quan. Opposite West Lake through Youth Street is Truc Bach Lake with a smaller area.
West Lake is the largest natural lake located in the inner city of Hanoi. The lake has an area of more than 500 hectares and the circumference of a lake is 17 km.
Previously, West Lake also had other names such as Xac Cao Lagoon, Kim Nguu Lake.
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2. How to go to West Lake
If you want to go to West Lake by personal vehicle, you can follow google map directions to West Lake very easily. West Lake is very wide and has many turns, so you can go to West Lake from many directions.
If traveling by public transport, the following are the fastest and most convenient bus routes:
- Route 13: West Lake Water Park - Police Academy
- Route 25: Nam Thang Long Bus Station - Giap Bat Bus Station
- Route 33: My Dinh bus station - Xuan Dinh
- Route 55: Luong Yen Bus Station - Cau Giay
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3. What to play in West Lake?
3.1 Drink coffee and enjoy the view of West Lake
The road along the West Lake has long become a favorite entertainment place of Hanoi people with many well-designed cafes and airy and windy views of West Lake.
Some famous cafes include: The coffee house, Highland coffee, Maison De Blanc - Bakery & Dessert Café, 6 degrees, Cup Of Tea Cafe & Bistro, Santorini Vibes, Up town terrace, Zun Kun's Coffee, Ami Garden Coffee, Abc Coffee Roasters...
6 Degrees
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Zun Kun's coffee
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Maison De Blanc - Bakery & Dessert Café
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3.2 Play pedalo
With a large area, spacious and peaceful space, and can also watch the sunrise and sunset, playing pedalo on West Lake is also very interesting.
When the high winds make waves strong, it may make you feel a little scared because you are floating on the vast water, but remember to wear a full life jacket, observe safety regulations and handle it calmly to help us avoid dangerous situations.
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3.3 Cycling, running along the lake
The road along the West Lake has one side is the lake and the other side is beautiful coffee shops and restaurants located in a row, sometimes there are small parks that bring a very romantic and relaxing feeling. This is a very suitable place for couples or friend groups to roam by bicycle, motorbike or even on foot. It is also suitable for sports activities such as running, cycling, etc.
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3.4 Riding the SUP
SUP, which stands for the English phrase "Stand up Paddle", is a water sport that originated in the Hawaiian Islands. SUP players only need a specialized board and paddle to navigate the water.
This is a relatively new sport in Vietnam and usually only appears on the beaches. However, recently it appeared at West Lake of Hanoi. All you need is a paddle and a SUP board, and of course, a life jacket and 10-15 minutes of getting used to it, you can SUP!
The feeling of being floating in the middle of the lake, in the middle of a large, peaceful, free space and listening to the sounds of a modern, bustling Hanoi echoing from afar will surely make you extremely impressed and satisfied.
You can rent SUP items at Hanoi Kayak Club, 267 Trich Sai Street.
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3.5 Walking on Trinh Cong Son walking street
Trinh Cong Son walking street includes Trinh Cong Son street located behind West Lake water park and part of lane 431 Au Co, lane 612 Lac Long Quan (in Tay Ho district, Hanoi).
This is a completely new walking space located right next to the lotus ponds around the West Lake area. The stalls here are modeled after the architecture of the old quarters of Hanoi, Hoi An, imbued with regional cultural identity…Therefore, people coming here will have new experiences that are completely different from the walking street in the center.
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4. What to eat in West Lake?
4.1 West Lake ice cream, sweet popiah, taffy
West Lake ice cream shop on Thanh Nien street has a long history and is a place where young people often queue up to buy sweet and fragrant ice cream.
Along Thanh Nien street, there are also many street vendors selling sweet popiah - a simple snack that thin paper-likke crepe made of rice and wheat flour is mainly used, while the fillings include sugar candy, grated coconut and black sesame.
And pull candy is a kind of popular candy that is handmade with the main ingredient is molasses or sugar. When a customer buys, the seller uses a handkerchief and then stretches the candy until a candy bar reaches the right size (usually 5-10 cm long and as big as a writing pen), then use the index finger cuts on the candy bar forcefully, causing it to snap apart with a very interesting "crack" sound.
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4.2 Pyramidal rice dumpling
This familiar afternoon snack has almost become a "legend" for young people because the taste is so unique that you can't find it anywhere else and the price is very suitable for students - only 25,000 VND /plate, full of lean pork paste and pickles served with it. Let's come to the beginning of Thuy Khue Street to enjoy this famous cake.
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4.3 Rolled noodle soup
Pho roll is a famous dish of Ngu Xa Street, located on the banks of Truc Bach Lake. Pho roll is rice paper sheet roll with green herb, beef stir fry with garlic, then dip in sweet and sour fish sauce with a bit of chili, which is extremely suitable for eating in the summer. In addition, here you'll also find inflated fried Pho and crispy fried Pho, sweet and sour mixed noodle, sweet and sour seafood vermicelli noodle.
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4.4 Snail
The streets around West Lake (Trich Sai Street, Nhat Chieu Street...) gather with many famous and delicious snail shops such as Mai snail, Ba Gia snail, ... Snails are cooked in a variety of ways such as boiled snails, fried snails with tamarind or coconut, grilled snails with onion sauces..., there are also quail, fried corn, butter and garlic fries... which are the favorite dishes of young people, especially in winter.
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4.5 West Lake shrimp cake
Referring to West Lake, it is impossible to ignore the famous West Lake shrimp cake. The hot shrimp cakes with crispy dough, fresh shrimp meat with spicy and sour dipping sauce served with herbs delight diners.
You can enjoy this specialty cake at West Lake Shrimp Cake Restaurant at No. 2, Thanh Nien Street or at restaurants around Tay Ho temple.
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4.6 West Lake Lotus Buffet
This is a buffet restaurant with a very large and beautiful space, located next to West Lake water park, address 614 Lac Long Quan, Tay Ho, Hanoi. In the Sen restaurants, this is the address with the most spacious space and the cheapest price, divided into International and Vietnamese areas, of which the international area is about 290,000 VND - 335,000/person, the Vietnamese area is about 305,000 VND – 390,000 VND/person depending on weekdays or weekends. This place is chosen by many companies to organize parties on holidays or anniversaries.
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5. Famous attractions around West Lake
5.1 Famous spiritual area
West Lake is classified as one of the extremely important cultural and spiritual relic complexes in Hanoi. There are more than 20 communal houses, temples and pagodas ranked with many famous relics containing unique architectural and cultural values such as Tran Quoc Pagoda, Phu Tay Ho, Quan Thanh Temple... Especially, Tran Quoc pagoda is the best well-design pagoda in Hanoi.
Tran Quoc Pagoda
Quan Thanh temple
At the Tet holiday, every Hanoian who goes on a spring tour to visit the pagoda will not be able to ignore the temples and pagodas in the West Lake area because this place is famous for being the most sacred place in Hanoi.
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5.2 Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area is about 2km far from West Lake, including the Mausoleum, Uncle Ho's house, Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh Museum, One Pillar Pagoda... is popular to Vietnamese people and international tourists.
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5.3 West Lake Flower Valley
West Lake Flower Valley is located at the junction of Nhat Chieu Street and Water Park with a thousands-of-square-meter area, planting all kinds of fancy flowers such as scallops, roses, sunflowers, daisies, lotus and has attracted a lot of attention of young people who like to take pictures.
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5.4 West Lake Water Park
West Lake Water Park is divided into two areas: Water park (aqua play area) and New Sun park (a terrestrial play area). This place is considered one of the most modern and famous amusement parks in Hanoi.
Here you can participate in a lot of unique and attractive water activities such as float slide, carpet slide, tube slide, highway slide, hanging jump at Water park or adventure games such as Dragon Dragon, flying saucer, flying carpet, pirate boat, octopus Ferris wheel, ... at Sun Park.
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Source: collected
