Northern Vietnam · Day tour
Hanoi Culture & Heritage
A full day across the capital: the Ho Chi Minh complex, the Temple of Literature, the Museum of Ethnology, and the Old Quarter on foot.
- Length
- Full day
- Approx. 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Pick-up
- Hanoi
- From your hotel
- Guide
- English-speaking
- Group or private
What you see
The day in short
Everything below is covered by the programme. The order can move with the traffic and the weather; the list does not.
Where it goes: Hanoi
Highlights
- The Ho Chi Minh complex: the mausoleum, the Presidential Palace and the One Pillar Pagoda
- The Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first national university
- Tran Quoc Pagoda on West Lake, the oldest Buddhist temple in the city
- The Museum of Ethnology and the fifty-four peoples it covers
- Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple and the thirty-six guild streets of the Old Quarter
- Phở or bún chả at a restaurant Hanoians actually use
Hour by hour
The running order
Approx. 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM. These are the timings operations work to; your guide confirms the pick-up the evening before.
Want it privately?08:00 AM
Hotel pick-up in the Old Quarter.
08:45 AM
Tran Quoc Pagoda on West Lake.
09:40 AM
The Ho Chi Minh complex: the mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, the house on stilts and the One Pillar Pagoda.
11:30 AM
The Temple of Literature.
12:30 PM
Lunch of traditional Hanoi cooking at a local restaurant.
01:45 PM
The Museum of Ethnology, or Hoa Lo Prison Museum instead.
03:30 PM
On foot around Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple and the Old Quarter.
05:00 PM
Back to your hotel.
What's included
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off in the Hanoi Old Quarter
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Professional English-speaking guide
- All sightseeing entrance fees
- Vietnamese lunch as set out in the programme
- Bottled mineral water
What's not
- Personal expenses and drinks at lunch
- Tips for the guide and driver
- VAT
Before you book
- Shoulders and knees covered at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and at the temples.
- The mausoleum is closed on Mondays and Fridays. On those days the complex is seen from outside and the rest of the day runs as normal.
The route
- 1Tran Quoc Pagoda
- 2Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
- 3Temple of Literature
- 4Museum of Ethnology
- 5Hoan Kiem Lake
Map is schematic and not to scale for travel times.
Our own camera roll
From this day
Good to know
Questions
Can we go inside the mausoleum?
When it is open, yes — but the queue is long and the viewing is brief and strictly managed. Your guide will tell you on the day whether it is worth the wait.
Where does pick-up happen?
From your hotel in the Old Quarter. Give us your hotel name and address when you book and we will confirm a time the evening before.
Can this run as a private tour?
Yes. Every excursion here can run privately with your own guide and vehicle instead of joining a group. Tell us how many of you there are and we will quote it.
Can we combine this with other days?
Yes — most guests string two or three of these together, or add them either side of a multi-day journey. Send us your dates and we will lay them out in a sensible order.
Book the Hanoi Culture & Heritage
Give us your dates, your hotel and how many of you there are. We confirm availability the same day and pick you up from the door.