Ngoc Son Temple

We found the Ngoc Son Temple to be just an average attraction in Hanoi, nothing particularly special to write about.

Photo by Richard Mortel

However, we did enjoy its setting in middle of the Hoan Kiem Lake on a small island. It made for nice photos from the shore walkway around the actual lake.

There is a nice, small bridge that leads from the mainland over to the small island which houses the temple. The bridge is nice and the gates are very attractive. We really liked the dragon mural particularly. This was worth a quick stop to see, even if you don’t feel like going over the bridge to the actual temple. 

The temple was not particularly special, making it difficult to recommend as a must see when visting Hanoi. However, its worth taking a few pictures from the outside of the lake, near the Water Puppet Show Theater. We recommend just doing this before or after you see the water puppet show. It does cost a few Dong to go over to the temple but can’t recall the price, it wasn’t much.

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