---
node: spot_hanoi_hoan_kiem_lake
type: spot
slug: hoan_kiem_lake
destination: dest_hanoi
title: "Hoàn Kiếm Lake"
lead: "Hoàn Kiếm Lake is the small lake at the centre of Hanoi, with a red bridge to a temple island and a squat tower on an islet in the middle. Its name means the lake of the returned sword."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_hanoi_hoan_kiem_lake.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hoan_Kiem_Lake_night_panorama.jpg"
image_author: "Grenouille vert"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 3.0"
---

## Overview

The legend is that a fifteenth-century emperor was given a magic sword to drive out the Ming, and that a golden turtle rose from this lake afterwards to take it back. Giant softshell turtles did live here, and the last of them died in 2016 and is preserved in the temple on the island, which gives the story an unusually literal anchor. The lake is the hinge between the Old Quarter to the north and the French colonial grid to the south.

## Highlights

The streets around the lake close to traffic from Friday evening to Sunday night, which is when the city comes out to walk. Ngoc Son Temple on the island is a small ticket and holds the preserved turtle. Come at six in the morning to see the exercise classes, which is the most Hanoi thing there is.