EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

The best areas to browse are Hang Gai in the Old Quarter and around the southeastern edge of Hoan Kiem Lake. Compared with Thailand, Vietnamese silk is slightly inferior quality, but prices are lower and the tailoring is great value. So many silk shops are concentrated on Hang Gai, at the southern edge of the Old Quarter, that it's now known as "Silk Street". The best-known is Khai Silk at no. 96 Hang Gai, but try also Thanh Ha at no. 114, and Kenly at no. 102. Tailoring shop Co, 18 Nha Tho, has the best hand-made clothes in town. For embroideries and drawn threadwork Song, 7 Nha Tho, is probably Hanoi's most famous shop, while Tan My, at 16 Hang Trong, stocks delicate pillow cases and covers.

The non-profit Craft Link, at 43 Van Mieu, sells traditional crafts made by ethnic minorities, including lacquerware, paper goods, basketry and clothes. Most ordinary souvenir shops also stock ethnic minority crafts, particularly the Hmong and Dao bags, coats and jewellery that are so popular in Sa Pa, though many are actually factory-made. For more unusual mementoes, have a look at the traditional Vietnamese musical instruments on sale at 11 Hang Non or 1a or 1c Hang Manh. Several small shops on Hong Bong supply Communist Party banners and badges and Vietnamese flags. Hanoi also has a flourishing art scene and any exploration should start with the Apricot Gallery, 40b Hang Bong, a well-established gallery with a range of works by local artists; open 8am-8pm.

Hanoi has over fifty markets , selling predominantly foodstuffs: Cho Dong Xuan on Dong Xuan Street is Hanoi's biggest covered fresh- and dried food market, but for greater variety try Cho Hom, on Pho Hué, which has clothing upstairs, and a supermarket. All around Hom market are specialist shopping streets: Tran Nhan Tong focuses on shirts and jackets, while Phung Khac Khoan, off Tran Xuan Soan, is a riot of colourful fabrics. Hanoi's wholesale flower market is held each dawn beside Nghi Tam Avenue at its most northerly junction with Yen Phu; action starts around 5am (6am in winter), and lasts an hour.