Hanoi City Tours, Hanoi

Hanoi City Highlights

Enjoy an orientation of the tree-lined streets of Hanoi, resplendent with French colonial architecture, including the recently restored Opera House. Pass by Hoan Kiem Lake, also known as Lake of the Restored Sword from the legend that surrounds it en-route to one of the city's fascinating museums (Army, History or Fine Arts, depending on your preference). Continue to the Temple of Literature, built in 1070 and then dedicated to Confucius, it is a serene retreat from the busy streets outside. Then take to the streets on foot for a walking tour of the Ancient Quarter or 36 Streets District. This densely populated corner of the city was once a centre of commerce where goods were sold under the street name of a particular guild. Still a thriving community of sellers today, you will see street names such as Sugar Street, Tin Street and Paper Street. Ancient homes and temples are interspersed with stores in this souvenir hunter's paradise!

(4 hours)

Hanoi's Tribute to Uncle Ho

Visit Ba Dinh Square, where silent sentries guard the marble and granite mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh lies in state. (Subject to opening times the interior of the mausoleum can be visited). See the simple cottage where Uncle Ho lived and worked, Nearby, visit the Ho Chi Minh Museum, an extraordinary tribute in abstract form to the life of the 'father of the country' and the evolution of Vietnamese independence. French architecture is a feature of Hanoi, and the nearby former Governor's Residence is a fine example. See also the One Pillar Pagoda, and hear the legend of its construction, born from the love of an emperor in the 11th Century.

(3.5 hours)

Water Puppetry (Dinner tour)

Your cyclo (pedicab) awaits you for transfer to the theatre where the ancient and unique art form of water puppetry is enacted. The 'stage' is a pool of water in which the hidden puppeteer must stand (waist deep!) to skillfully manoeuvre dancing puppets attached to bamboo poles on its surface. Each short skit in the performance relates to the daily life of the people, and featured are scenes such as 'Returning from School after Graduation' and 'Rearing Ducks and Chasing Foxes'. Following the performance, transfer by private vehicle to dinner in one of Hanoi's many superb Vietnamese restaurants.

(3 hours)