With a shore length of 17 kilometres (11 mi) and 500 hectares (5.0 km2) in area, this is the largest lake of the capital and a popular place for recreation with many surrounding gardens, hotels and villas.

West Lake was created from a curved part of Red River and appeared in several Vietnamese legends.

Another folk story claimed that original name of the lake was "Golden Buffalo Lake" (Hồ Trâu Vàng, or Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary: Hồ Kim Ngưu) because it was formed from struggle of a buffalo after the disappearance of her calf.

Trấn Quốc Pagoda, an ancient Buddhist temple in Vietnam,[3] was built in the 6th century by Emperor Lý Nam Đế and is located on a small island in the middle of the lake.

For this reason, real estate prices near West Lake are staggering,[3] and the surrounding quarters are often full of many imposingly large edifices occupied by wealthy Vietnamese people and expatriates.