TOP PLACES TO VISIT IN HANOI CITY

We reached Hanoi at 1 am in the morning, and the hotel by 2 am. Our pickup for the City tour was at 8 am in the morning from the Hotel reception. As we always travel for our small kid who is now 2 years old, it is not easy to get started in the morning. You always need extra time to prepare baby bags and stuff. So our day started at 6 am and the tour at 8 am.

Hanoi is a beautiful city, small shops selling their authentic food/breakfast in the morning with small tables and stools outside of their mini restaurants, and few shops selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Other shops are filled with beautiful and colorful flowers.

There are many mini buses you will get to see on the road in Hanoi city. Many tour guides come and call for your name and tour type which you opted for the day. Mornings are very busy for them. After our pickup, they did 2 more pickups and then the tour guide started his conversation with his group. He shared today’s itinerary and do’s and don’t do’s.

TRAN QUOC PAGODA

Tran Quoc Pagoda was the first stop. It is a Buddhist temple set on a west lake Peninsula. It is one of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam.

 HO CHI MINH MAUSOLEUM

This is one of the must visit places in Hanoi City. Vietnamese people used to call him Uncle Ho, which remembers the communist leader. This place is very crowded, you have to wait in a long queue for more than 2 hours to see Ho Chi Minh. The highlight of that place is, Vietnamese have preserved their Uncle Ho body in this Mausoleum.

TRADITIONAL CERAMICS VILLAGE

This is a Bat Trang showroom. Here workers will demonstrate how the distinctive handicrafts are made. You can buy beautiful paintings from the showroom.

VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY

This Museum talks about the Vietnam culture groups. There are around 54 cultural groups living in Vietnam.

Lunch at Old Quarters Restaurant– Old Quarters are surrounded by many shops and mini restaurants. Tour guide will organize your lunch in one of the restaurants. I had given my preference of vegetarian food and out of my expectations, I got good vegetarian food to eat.

HOAN KIEM LAKE

Lunch generally finished by 2:30 pm and then headed to our last stop at Hoam Kiem Lake. It is a scenic spot at the very center of Hanoi. Good place for photography. The option available is to visit ‘Ngoc Son Temple’ or ‘The temple of the Jade Mountain’ , Which is dedicated to warriors, a saint and a scholar.

The tour will end at 4 pm in the evening and it will conclude with drop-off at your respective hotels.

Overall it was a hectic day to visit many places in one day, especially when you have to stand in a long queue for around 2 hours. The energy already drained out and then many places to visit. Please be aware of pick-pockets at all the places, do not leave your things unattended.