Asia Top Travel's tour guide will welcome you at your hotel and departure for an exciting city tour of Hanoi's significant highlights.
In the morning, you will visit:
- Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum is the final resting place of Vietnamese Revolutionary leader President Ho Chi Minh.
- Ba Dinh Square in front of the mausoleum is noteworthy as the site where President Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of Vietnam on September 2, 1945.
- Presidential Palace was constructed between 1900 - 1906 by French architect Auguste Henri Vildieu, was intended to be Ho Chi Minh’s official residence but he had opted for a traditional Vietnamese stilt-house instead.
- The humble traditional House-on-Stilts where president Ho Chi Minh lived intermittently from 1958 to 1969 is set in a well-tended garden adjacent to a carp-filled pond and has been preserved just as Uncle Ho left it.
- Temple of Literature was originally built as a temple to Confucius, this is the site of Vietnam’s first University dating back to 1070. The temple highlights the importance that Vietnamese society place then and now on education.
Lunch will be served at the local restaurant.
In the afternoon, visit the Museum of Ethnology widely acknowledged as the best in the country and has an extensive display dedicated to Vietnam’s 54 Ethnic minority peoples. As well as the comprehensive array of exhibits inside, there are also traditional tribal houses reconstructed within the ground.
Discover Ngoc Son Temple located on a jade island on the Hoan Kiem Lake, its history dating back to the 13th century. The temple is reached by crossing the The Huc Bridge which literally means the ‘Place Touched by Morning Sunbeams’. The Hoan Kiem Lake is the local point of the city and the source of many legends.
Take a 45 minute Cyclo Tour through the Old Quarter also known as the 36 streets. This bustling area of narrow streets is home to literally thousands of small businesses and shopkeepers. Originally each of the 36 names were related to the products being sold there. It’s a great place to explore on foot with numerous photo opportunities.
Attend to a Water Puppet Show at Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre before heading back to your hotel.