HANOI CITY TOUR (1 Day)

Vietnam’s small and pleasant capital lies at the heart of the northern Red River Delta, and is a city of lakes, leafy boulevards and open parks with a French colonial feel. Hanoi was founded in 1010, and became the center of government for the Indochina Union under French rule in 1888. In 1954, it became the official capital of independent Vietnam. ToDay ancient crumbling buildings dating from the 11th century lie scattered among grand French colonial residences. The streets of the Old Quarter preserve age - old customs, where trade takes one back half a century, and temples, pagodas and monuments reflect the historic character of Vietnam.

• Itinerary

8.00: We pick you up from your hotel; take you to visit the Ho Chi Minh complex, which includes Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum – the final resting place of the beloved national hero, Uncle Ho – and President Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house where he lived off and on from 1958 to 1969. You’ll also the Ho Chi Minh museum where you can learn about this remarkable man and what he did for Vietnam and the world.

9.30: you’ll visit the One Pillar pagoda, which is actually a ground of structures that collectively make up a pagoda built over the water in the middle of a square lake.

After that, you’ll have a chance to explore the Tran Quoc pagoda on the shore of West Lake. From there, it’s onto the Temple of literature, which was Vietnam’s first university and is dedicated to Confucius.

12.30: you have lunch at the restaurant in the Old Quarter. Afterwards, you’ll visit Hoan Kiem Lake, the heart and soul of Hanoi.

Finally, you’ll stop in at museum of ethnology. This superb museum showcases the depth of Vietnamese cultural diversity with an astounding collection of 15,000 artifacts gathered from throughout Vietnam. Maps, displays and dioramas are labeled in Vietnamese, French and English. Displays portray a typical village market, the making of comical hats and a Tay shamanic ceremony; videos show the real thing. You can also check out a traditional Black Thai house reconstructed in the museum. There’s also a centre for research and conservation where scientists from all over the world study traditional Vietnamese cultures.