Breakfast is at the hotel.
08.00 AM - 08.30 AM: Get picked up by our friendly guide and start to explore Hanoi City.
08.45 AM: Arrive at Tran Quoc Pagoda located on Golden Fish Island in West Lake
It is the oldest pagoda in Ha Noi built in the 6th century.
09.30 AM: Visit Ho Chi Minh complex, you have a chance to see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh then walk around the garden to see 2 houses where he lived & worked from 1954 to 1969. Then visit One Pillar Pagoda where worships the Godess of Mercy – It is the most unique pagoda in the world.
- Should dress modestly by covering from shoulders to knees when visiting Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, temples, pagodas…
- Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed on Mondays and Fridays.
- Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is closed at least 2 months (15thJune -15thAugust) for the annual maintaining but still can take picture Mausoleum and visit around that area
11.15 AM: Visit Vietnam Ethnology Museum to learn about the culture of 54 ethnic groups living in the whole country of Vietnam.
Special note: We will visit Women Museum instead of Ethnology Museum closed on Mondays.
12.45 PM: Have lunch at our restaurant. You have an opportunity to enjoy Vietnamese cuisine with 8 delicious dishes.
14.00 PM - 14.15 PM: Continue to visit Temple of Literature – the first university of Vietnam, established in the 11th century.
15.15 PM: Leave for Hoa Lo Prison Museum which originally used by the French colonists in Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later period, it was known to American POWs as the "Hanoi Hilton”.
16.15 PM - 16.30 PM: Tour finishes. Back to hotel
Overnight in hotel in Hanoi.
Optional joined tour “Discover Hanoi backstreets on vintage motorcycle”
Price: 50 USD/person
Details:
16.45 PM: You will be greeted by our guide and driver at your hotel lobby for safety briefing, we then begin our adventure!
On the first part of the trip, we pass by & stop at the MUST-SEEE places of our beautiful city the enchanting French Quarter, the hustling & bustling Old Quarter, the romantic lakes of Hoan Kiem, West Lake, Hanoi Opera House & famous Long Bien Bridge, the peaceful & allure out-skirt villages around West Lake and Truc Bach Lake, Tran Quoc pagoda, the historical training track to enrich your experiences about the contrast in harmony of life between the city center and her out-skirt.
On the second part of the trip, we expose you the REAL HANOI with a day in the life experiences, featured with the parts-unknown of the city with slices of life in the maze of backstreets, tiny alleyways, local homes, schools, random markets and black market, experiencing where & how locals live, work and play. Other travel companies show just you the beautiful and tell you to run away from the bad and the weird of your destinations. On Hanoi Backstreet Tours’ journeys, not only do we show you the good but we also expose the bad and the weird of your destinations as it is what it is. For us, the run-off-the mill tourist sites are only the tip of the iceberg, the majority of your destinations remains hidden in the parts-unknown.
On the third part, you gonna stop at different AUTHENTIC restaurants, eateries and food stalls to savor the tastiest of the tasty dishes of Hanoi including family heirloom & secret recipe dishes, local delicacies and specialties.
Last but not least, at 20.50 PM – 21.10 PM, you will have a stop at Ba Dinh Square in front of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - the Mecca of Vietnamese for lowering Flag ceremony.
21.15 PM: Drive back your hotel.
- Included activities: Hanoi sightseeing (joined tour)
- Accommodation: Hotel in Hanoi
- Meals included: Breakfast at the hotel, Lunch at a local restaurant
- Vehicle: Shared van/bus