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Thanks. I appreciate it.
We will spend the first 4 or 5 days at the start of Tet in Hanoi.
We will likely do for a day trip to Hoi An. Do you know of any other good day trips out of Hanoi?
Do you know a good tour company?
Hanoi to Hoi An are quite far apart, you'd need to fly. If you get there, I'd recommend doing a half or full day bike trip to Hue. You can either ride a scooter or get on the back of one and ride the Hai Van pass, which is really stunning. It was on Top Gear a few years back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=639EFj3RJkw
In Hanoi, the most popular day trip is to Ha Long Bay, but have a look at Cat Ba Island, which is more secluded and a lot of fun to explore. You would need a scooter though, so if you're not comfortable riding, then I'd recommend going for Ha Long Bay.
Have a walk around Hanoi old town during the day and eat the street food. At night there's bia hoi, which basically means the beer corner. It's a cross street in the middle of the old town where all the bars sell super, super, super cheap beer straight from the keg. The quality varies, so bar hop until you find one you like, then pull up a tiny plastic stool, and watch the world go by.
If you're a Tony Bourdain fan, the place he took Obama to eat is a good 20-30 min walk from old town:
https://g.page/bunchahuonglienobama?share
Warning: From what I understand it's pretty touristy now, but I managed to go there not looking after the episode aired, so it was pretty civil and mostly locals.