Address: Van Mieu, Hanoi Open Hours: Monday – Sunday 8:00 – 17:00   In 1070 King Ly Thanh Tong founded this temple to pay tribute to education and to those of high academic achievement. Six years later, it became home to Hanoi's first university. Even now, more than 200 years after the last national examination, the site's five courtyards still enjoy an atmosphere of higher learning. Today, art students sit on the grass and try to reproduce the traditional Vietnamese architecture on paper. Stone steles record the names of successful doctorates of the past at this quiet retreat into Vietnamese educational history.

                                                                        Address: Thanh Nien, Hanoi Open hours: 08:30 – 17:30 Ticket:  Free   Tran Quoc is one of the oldest temples in Vietnam, located near the West Lake, at the end of Thanh Nien road. It was originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De (from 544 until 548), thus giving it an age of more than 1,450 years. When founded the temple was named Khai Quoc (National Founding) and was sited on the shores of the Red River, outside of the Yen Phu Dyke. When confronted with the river's encroachment, the temple was relocated in 1615 to...

Address: Dang Thai Mai, Hanoi Open hours: 08:00 – 17:30 Ticket:  Free   Named after the lake it sits beside, the pagoda occupies a superb position on a tongue of land projecting into the water. It is dedicated to Thanh Mau, the Mother Goddess, who appeared on the lake as a pretty girl, smiling and reciting poetry to a fisherman, then vanished.  It is one of Hanoi's most popular pagodas, attracting many worshipers on the first and 15th of each lunar month. It’s also a delightful place to visit, particularly as part of a trip around the lake by boat – it has its own landing stage.