Around West Lake by bicycle

A long, flat loop around Hanoi’s biggest lake, past the city’s oldest pagoda, lotus ponds, flower villages and a sunset with shrimp cakes.

Area

Ba Dinh & West Lake

Start from

Truc Bach Lake

Distance

about 17 km loop

Time needed

half a day

Best season

October – April; sunset all year

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

Rented bicycle or electric scooter; Grab to start

Tickets & rules

None; modest dress in pagodas

Why go

West Lake, Ho Tay, is Hanoi breathing out. It is huge, around 500 hectares, and the road that circles it is flat and lined with willows, cafés, temples and, more and more, glass villas. On a bicycle you leave the Old Quarter’s clamour behind and the sky opens up.

The ride takes in Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest in the city, the bronze guardian of Quan Thanh temple, the little shrine of Phu Tay Ho reached by a causeway, and, on the northern shore, the flower and kumquat villages of Nhat Tan and Quang An.

End at sunset on the western shore, when the water turns gold and pink and the whole city seems to slow down.

The story

Legends explain the lake in different ways. One says it was formed when a golden buffalo calf, drawn by the sound of a giant bronze bell, stamped the ground into a hollow; another tells of a nine-tailed fox spirit defeated by the Dragon King, who flooded its lair. Geographers more prosaically see an old loop of the Red River cut off from the main channel.

Tran Quoc Pagoda is said to date to the sixth century, originally built on the bank of the Red River and moved to its islet in the early seventeenth century when the river eroded the site. Its slender red tower, eleven storeys high, rises above the water, and a bodhi tree in the courtyard was given by India in 1959 as a cutting from the tree at Bodh Gaya.

Quan Thanh temple, at the lake’s south-east corner, is dedicated to Tran Vu, guardian of the north. His huge black bronze statue, cast in 1677, weighs about four tonnes.

The northern shore was once a patchwork of lotus ponds and flower gardens, and the villages of Nhat Tan and Quang An still grow peach blossom and kumquat trees for Tet. Lotus tea from West Lake, with the tea leaves scented inside living lotus flowers overnight, was once prized at the royal court.

Getting there

Rent a bicycle from your guesthouse or a shop in the Old Quarter, or take a Grab to Truc Bach Lake and start there. The road around the lake is mostly a separate lane or a quiet street, but the stretch along Thanh Nien and the main roads near the bridge are busy.

Hanoi also has public bike-share stations; they are useful for a one-way ride.

A suggested plan

1. AfternoonStart at Truc Bach Lake and visit Quan Thanh temple.
2. NextCross Thanh Nien road to Tran Quoc Pagoda.
3. ThenRide clockwise along the eastern shore to Phu Tay Ho temple and its causeway.
4. Late afternoonThe northern shore past the flower villages and lakeside cafés.
5. SunsetWatch the sun go down on the western shore with banh tom, crisp shrimp and sweet-potato fritters.

Where to stay

The Tay Ho district around Xuan Dieu and Quang An has many expat-friendly cafés, apartments and guesthouses, with a slower pace than the centre; it’s ideal for a longer stay.

Good to know

• Weekday afternoons are quietest; on weekends the shores are busy with families.
• In late January and February, before Tet, the flower villages are a riot of peach blossom.
• Tran Quoc closes at midday for a few hours on some days; arrive in the morning or late afternoon.
• Bring lights if you ride after dark.