West Lake (Ho Tay<\/em>) is the largest lake in Hanoi, a wide sheet of water of a little over 5 square kilometres just north-west of the Old Quarter. A road and path run almost all the way around its roughly 17 km shoreline, and that loop is where Hanoians come to breathe: to jog at dawn, to drink coffee by the water, to watch the sun go down and, in early summer, to photograph the lotus.<\/p>\n The lake is an old meander of the Red River, and it has collected legends to match. One story says it was formed when the dragon king Lac Long Quan fought a nine-tailed fox; another tells of a golden buffalo searching for her lost calf. In the 11th century it was called Foggy Lake, because mist so often lay on the water. Royal palaces, pagodas and temples were built on its banks over the following centuries, and several of them still stand.<\/p>\n The most famous stretch is Thanh Nien Road, a narrow causeway that separates West Lake from the smaller Truc Bach Lake. It is lined with old trees and benches, and at its western end sits Tran Quoc Pagoda on a tiny island, the oldest pagoda in the city. A few steps away, at the corner of Quan Thanh street, is Quan Thanh Temple with its great bronze statue of the guardian of the north.<\/p>\n Further round, the Quang An peninsula is home to Tay Ho Temple (Phu Tay Ho<\/em>), dedicated to the Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh, and to the lanes where expats, boutique caf\u00e9s and lotus ponds share space with old villages. This is also where Hanoi\u2019s famous lotus tea is traditionally scented. Along Au Co street, on the dike behind the lake, Quang Ba flower market trades through the night.<\/p>\n Because the loop is long and the sights are spread out, most people see West Lake by bicycle, scooter or car rather than on foot. Several of our tours stop here: the jeep city tour visits Tran Quoc Pagoda and the lake shore, the sunrise scooter tour watches the dawn from Thanh Nien Road, and our e-bike tour rides the lakeside path.<\/p>\n The shoreline loop is about 17 km, so most people see West Lake by bicycle, scooter or car rather than entirely on foot. A good short visit takes in the southern end: Thanh Nien Road at sunset, Tran Quoc Pagoda on its island, and Quan Thanh Temple on the corner. With more time, ride round to the Quang An peninsula for Tay Ho Temple and the lotus ponds. Early summer (late May to July) is lotus season, and late afternoon is best for the sunset over the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hanois gr\u00f6\u00dfter See: Ein 17 Kilometer langes Ufer voller uralter Pagoden, bl\u00fchender Lotus-Teiche, lebendiger Ufercaf\u00e9s und der spektakul\u00e4rsten Sonnenunterg\u00e4nge der Hauptstadt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":59,"menu_order":3,"template":"","eta_destination":[9],"class_list":["post-157","eta_place","type-eta_place","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eta_place\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eta_place"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/eta_place"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eta_place\/157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eta_place\/157\/revisions\/194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"eta_destination","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecotripasia.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eta_destination?post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Thanh Nien Road and the southern shore<\/h3>\n
Tay Ho, Quang An and the northern shore<\/h3>\n
How to see West Lake<\/h2>\n