Highlights
- Take a walking tour through Hanoi’s vibrant Old Quarter
- Visit the historic Temple of Literature and Ho Chi Minh complex
- Get an introduction to Vietnam’s ethnic diversity
- Enjoy a water puppetry performance
TOUR OVERVIEW
Hanoi, our one millennium capital is a city of contrasts, where main roads and boulevards are a cacophony of traffic, but a few steps away tiny back streets are calm and peaceful. These full day programs bring you to the very best of what Hanoi has to offer
PROGRAMS
8:00 – Pick up from your hotel, we'll start the day with an exploration of Hanoi Old Quarter on foot. This bustling are of Hanoi is a maze of shopping streets and restaurants with a hotchpotch of architecture - traditional tube houses, religious buildings, artisans’ workshops and cottages, colonial houses and modern concrete edifices. We’ll take an unusual trail –the city railway tracks – to discover a amount of local life plays out around the line, and it’s surprisingly quiet as well. There’s time to visit the lovely Temple of Literature - Vietnam's first university, which was established in 1070 before lunch break.
In the afternoon, we head to the Ho Chi Minh Complex, including Ba Dinh square, and his modest stilt-house which provide valuable insights into the life and times of one of the most successful leaders of the 20th century. We conclude the day with a drive to the excellent Ethnology Museum for an overview of Vietnam's 54 distinct ethnic groups and enjoy a performance of traditional Water Puppetry, an art form unique to northern Vietnam at the museum outdoor stage (a good, light-hearted introduction to our rural culture). Service ends at around 17:00.
