West Lake

Ho Tay is an oxbow - a bend of the Red River cut off as the channel shifted - and at about five hundred hectares it is much the largest body of water in Hanoi, with a road running the full seventeen kilometres around it. Its shore carries some of the oldest religious sites in the city, Tran Quoc pagoda and Quan Thanh temple among them, alongside the villas and apartment towers of the districts that grew up around it. The lotus grown in the shallows is harvested in June and July and used to scent tea, a Hanoi speciality in which green tea is layered with lotus stamens over several days.

What you actually see

• An oxbow of the Red River - about five hundred hectares.
• A seventeen kilometre shore road - walked and cycled.
• Old temples on the banks - Tran Quoc and Quan Thanh among them.
• Lotus for scenting tea - harvested in June and July.

When to go

Year round; June and July for the lotus. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Water quality is poor and fish die-offs have happened. Traffic on the shore road is heavy in places. The lotus fields are commercial and photography sessions in them are charged. Sunsets over the lake are the main draw.

Nearby

Tran Quoc pagoda is on the causeway; the old quarter is south-east.