Hanoi City Tour Like A Local

Today, meet your guide and driver in the early morning at 6.30am and head towards Hoan Kiem Lake. It is a popular practice in Vietnam to awake very early and start the morning with some exercise. You’ll see several groups of people here practicing tai chi and aerobics. Immerse yourself in Vietnamese culture and join the locals in their morning routine.

Passing Ngoc Son Temple, you will visit a traditional coffee shop for a taste of Vietnam’s local iced coffee, ‘Ca phe sua da’. If you’re up for it, you can also try the ‘Egg coffee’. Continue from here to find some street food; we recommend the delicious ‘banh mi’, a typical baguette sandwich filled with a variety of fresh local ingredients. Later, proceed farther into Hanoi’s Old Quarter for glimpses of French architectural influence as seen in different Vietnamese buildings. The first stop will be the St. Joseph Cathedral, a French gothic building constructed in 1886. Next, you’ll arrive at Hoa Lo Prison, where Vietnamese, American and French prisoners were kept in different periods. Vietnam is justifiably well known for its food, and you will now stop by a ‘Bun Cha’ restaurant to try this specialty of Hanoi.

After lunch, you will visit the Temple of Literature. Built in 1076, this temple was the site of Vietnam’s first university, established to educate Vietnam’s royalty, mandarins and members of the elite. The day’s final sightseeing stop will be at the railway line cutting through urban Hanoi, sometimes running just meters away from the front doors of houses! Walking along a stretch of the railway with your guide offers some incredible photo opportunities.

The tour will finish, in true local style, at a Bia Hoi where you can enjoy some local draft beer or soft drink/juice. Note that innumerable street food specialties will be available throughout the day; to best appreciate them you may wish to skip your hotel breakfast before this tour.

In the evening, you will have ticket of the water puppet show. Your driver will drop you at the theatre and later you can walk leisurely back to your hotel.

Our price includes:

• Pick-ups and transfers by private air-conditioned vehicles specified in the itinerary above (Please note: pick-ups will be by a guide and driver or, where a guide is not necessary, a driver only. All unaccompanied drivers will be briefed in advance, and will carry a mobile phone to ensure smooth transfer arrangements). Travel in an appropriate private air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced safe driver.
• The services of experienced English-speaking guides as indicated in the itinerary (please note: guides will be on hand from pick-up until guests’ return to their hotel or reaching their destination). Free days or part days will not include the services of a guide unless requested and included in the final itinerary.
• Where necessary, entry fees for all visits as mentioned in the programme.
• Street foods meals (as specified in the itinerary) in the best local foodstall

Our price does not include:

• Dinners, except as specified above.
• Drinks, gratuities and personal expenses.
• International flight tickets and all taxes concerned except mentioned above
• Camera fees (if any)
• Insurance.
• VAT and other taxes
• Visa stamping fees for Vietnam
• Late checkout after 12:00pm or early check in before 14:00
• Other services not mentioned above
• Gratuities, Tips to Guides or Drivers. Unlike other travel agencies, we pay the guides and drivers a base salary. The tipping is not mandatory however the guides and drivers, as in many other countries, will usually expect a tip. Those customers wishing to tip often ask us what they should give. Our suggestion would be for your group size: US$ 3-5 /pax/day for Guide and US$ 1-2/pax/day for Driver. Of course, only tip if the service has truly satisfied you. It is not required to tip in restaurants, unless you wish to.