7 Famous Places in Hanoi Worth Visiting - Hanoi City Tour

Pick up time: 7:15 - 7:45am Watching a water puppet show The 1-hour show is taken place in Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre and comprises 17 short sketches with the use of traditional puppets. Shows are played by a Vietnamese orchestra that accompanies stories, and musicians play songs using wooden bells, drums, bamboo flutes, cymbals, and horns. You don’t have to be a child to be entertained by water puppets. Vietnam’s water puppetry opens a window into local culture, and is a fully realised art form enjoyed by young and old. Watch scenes of village life on an ever-changing stage, learn about festivals and traditions, and get to know quirky characters inspired by Vietnamese personalities. Here’s a brief introduction to Vietnam’s wonderful water puppets. Puppeteers stand in water throughout the show, and use the movement of the water to create drama, perfect the illusion, and tell a story.

Tran Quoc Pagoda located on Golden Fish IsLand in West Lake It is the oldest pagoda in Ha Noi built in the 6th century. Famous for sacred sanctuary and stunning scenery, Tran Quoc Pagoda used to be a favorite place for sightseeing of many kings of Vietnam in special festivals such as Tet holiday and full moon days. More than 1000 years have passed, the pagoda still preserves its fame and unique characteristics in its architecture in spite of urbanization. Thanks to its advantageous location just right beside the dazzling West Lake and on an island which is linked by a bridge between the two most romantic lakes of Hanoi, which are Truc Bach Lake and West Lake, the pagoda attracts a lot of tourists each day Tran Quoc has special architecture which resembles that of ancient temples in Hanoi. It bears the bold Buddist architectural image with many layers of buildings. You can see it clearly through the three main houses of the pagoda.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex is one of the most historic tourist attractions in Vietnam. Being there, travelers can learn numerous things about Uncle Ho’s life, together with the Vietnamese liberation process under his lead. Ho Chi Minh‘s Mausoleum has long been considered as the first place to come for the first time travelers to Hanoi thanks to its tremendous historical value. Everyone wants to make a pilgrimage there to show their respect for Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho – President Ho), the Greatest President, who led Vietnam to Independence. Being there, visitors can not only discover more about Ho Chi Minh’s life and role in Vietnamese history but also enlarge their knowledge about Vietnam’s history reflected in the complex’s components. Ho Chi Minh (original name Nguyen Sinh Cung, also called Nguyen Tat Thanh or Nguyen Ai Quoc, (May 19th, 1890 – September 2nd, 1969) is not only a revolutionary and politician but also the most iconic and national hero of Vietnam.

Since the opening day, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology has attracted a huge number of visitors as well as ethnographers and researchers from all over the world. To date, the Museum has collected 15,000 artifacts, 2,190 slides, 42,000 photographs, 237 audiotapes, 373 videotapes and 25 CD-ROMs, to be displayed for all visitors. Besides a tourism spot, it is also a centre for ethnographic research employing many experts on the different ethnic groups. Coming here, visitors may find out that the Museum has successfully recreated the daily life together with the religious rituals and the symbolic festivals of each ethnic group in Vietnam. All displayed objects mingle and supplement one another to create a colorful and diversified picture of Vietnamese culture.

Temple of Literature Located to the south of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Temple of Literature was founded in 1070, almost 1000 years ago, by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong as a temple to worship the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Covering an area of over 54000 square meters, Temple of Literature, which is surrounded by an ancient brick wall, consists of five courtyards in different styles. The whole area consists of several main parts, which are described below. A symbol of Hanoi, a familiar image featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnam dong banknote is Khue Van Cac, the Pavilion of Constellation). This unique architectural work was built in 1805 with four white-washed stone stilts. Hanoi is such an interesting city that offers a number of interesting Hanoi attractions and sites to visit. Anyone who is either curious about Vietnam long fascinating history or love discovering some architectural and cultural features of Hanoi should not miss Temple of Literature.

Nothing prepares you for how creepy Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, Vietnam can be. A visit to the "Hanoi Hilton" can inspire sorrow, disgust, and, depending on your politics, different flavors of outrage. What you see of the present-day Hoa Lo Prison is actually only the small southern section of the entire prison complex back in the day; most of the prison was demolished in the mid-1990s to make way for the Hanoi Towers, a shiny office and hotel complex so steeped in capitalism it would have horrified Ho Chi Minh. Hoa Lo Prison was built by the French between 1886 to 1901, with an added renovation in 1913. The French colonial administrators thought to make an example of Vietnamese agitators for independence, and what better way to do that than set up a prison right in the middle of the city As U.S. foreign policy turned towards Indochina, the brewing war between the two halves of a newly-independent Vietnam would transform Hoa Lo Prison yet again.