EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Cyclos are banned from many roads in central Hanoi, notably around Hoan Kiem Lake (Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Thai To) and in the Old Quarter, so don't be surprised if you seem to be taking a circuitous route. Taxis wait outside the more upmarket hotels and at the north end of Hoan Kiem Lake and cost just over $1 per 2km.

Bicycles can be rented for under $1 a day from many hotels and traveller cafés in the Old Quarter. It's best to pay the minuscule charge at a supervised bike park ( gui xe dap), rather than run the risk of a stolen bike. Parking is banned on Trang Tien and Hang Khay; elsewhere it's only allowed within designated areas.

Motorbikes are available from guesthouses and small tour agencies , and also from the Meeting Café, 59b Ba Trieu and Memory Café, 33b Tran Hung Dao. Prices start from $5 per day, including use of a helmet. You'll be required to leave your passport as a deposit. Park in supervised motorbike parks ( gui xe may). Bao Viet at 15c Tran Khanh Du (tel 04/934 0289) does motorbike insurance. For motorbike repairs, try Phu Doan, just behind the cathedral, or along Thinh Yen at the south end of Pho Hué. Any tour agency will rent you a car with driver (from $30 per day).

Hanoi's snail-paced city buses are mainly useful for transport between the long-distance bus stations (every 15min 5am-5.30pm; flat fare of 2000d). Bus stops are marked by missable white signs, sometimes with the route numbers written in blue, but corresponding numbers displayed on the buses aren't necessarily accurate. The most useful route, #3 , runs between Gia Lam and Giap Bat with stops on Tran Quang Khai, Phan Chu Trinh (or Phan Huy Chu, heading north), Tran Hung Dao and outside the train station. From the centre of town, it's about 30min to either Gia Lam or Giap Bat. Route #2 (Bat Co-Ha Dong) serves the Temple of Literature (10 min) and Ha Dong (40 min); there are stops at the northwest corner of Hoan Kiem Lake and on Trang Thi opposite Vietnam Airlines.