Hoan Kiem Lake, Ha Noi
North Vietnam
Our tours in a Private Vehicle with Chauffeur and Guide
Our tours in a Private Vehicle with Chauffeur and Guide
One-day Tours
We offer you three kinds of one-day tours:
- A complete visit of Ha Noi, which ends with the marvelous Water Puppet Show
- Excursions to sites close to Ha Noi: Hoa Lu and the magic Halong Bay on Land of Tam Coc
- Theme tours in Ha Noi (Arts, Antiques, or Gastronomy)
All the rates include a private car, a guide, entrance fees, the boat ride if any, lunch, taxes and service. They do not include your drinks and other personal expenses.
Hanoi and Around
VISIT OF HA NOI - WATER PUPPET SHOW
 The Temple of Litterarure |
In the morning, visit of the modern city: Governor Palace, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (except Monday and Friday), his stilt house, the One-pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature, the temple of Quan Thanh, and the pagoda of Tran Quoc. Ha Noi traditional lunch, then visit of the extraordinary Museum of Ethnology, followed by a stroll in the Old Quarter of Hoan Kiem and its 36 merchant streets. |
Rates per person in US dollars
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THE PEACEFUL HANOI COUNTRYSIDE ON A BICYCLE
Half-day Tour (9:00-14:00 or 14:00-19:00) : VILLAGES AND PAGODAS
We take you at your hotel around 8:00 with a taxi and cross the Red River to arrive in a small local market where we taste delicacies. We then bicycle alongside a dyke and reach our beautiful homestay villa
www.orientalbridge.com/maison
in the heart of the residence districts of many famous Vietnamese artists, where we have tea. We then ride through vegetable gardens, corn fields and rice fields and cross an affluent of the Red River by boat. We ride to a beautiful pagoda, which we visit, pass along other ones, and return to the homestay villa for lunch or diner. Return to Hanoi by taxi.
One-day tour : VILLAGES, PAGODAS AND THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF CO LOA
Same morning programme as the half-day tour. After the visit of the pagoda, we have lunch in a small village. We then continue through corn and rice fields to the Ancient City of Co Loa, the capital of the first Vietnam kingdom (Kingdom de Au Lac – 257-208 B.C.). At that time, it was surrounded by several concentric brick walls, hence it name, Co Loa, which is a variety of snail in Vietnamese. One can still guess part of a brick wall. Visit of a beautiful pagoda, with its well, subject to a very old legend.
For love, My Chau,daughter of King An Duong, opened the town to the Chinese invaders by giving to her lover Trong Thuy the claws which protected the city. To punish her, her father had her decapitated and thrown in the sea, where there was such blood that one can still find pink pearls. Learning about the execution and desperate, Trong Thuy threw himself in the well.
We then take the return road, with visit of a small coconut biscuits. Diner in the homestay villa, and return to Hanoi by taxi.
For love, My Chau,daughter of King An Duong, opened the town to the Chinese invaders by giving to her lover Trong Thuy the claws which protected the city. To punish her, her father had her decapitated and thrown in the sea, where there was such blood that one can still find pink pearls. Learning about the execution and desperate, Trong Thuy threw himself in the well.
We then take the return road, with visit of a small coconut biscuits. Diner in the homestay villa, and return to Hanoi by taxi.
Rates per person in US dollars
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 5 pers. | |
| ½ Day tour | $66 | $46 | $40 | $38 | $35 |
| 1-Day tour | $73 | $53 | $46 | $44 | $41 |
THE POTTERY CRAFT VILLAGE OF PHU LANG
 Pagoda |
Located 65 km north of Hanoi, in the Province of Bac Ninh alongside the charming Cau River, the craddle of the Red River Civilization, the village of Phu Lang is famous for having welcomed Luu Phong Tu, the Saint-Patron of Ceramists, who taught his craft to the village children. Since those very ancient times, generations of craftsmen have settled in the village tp practice the art of ceramics and pottery. We arrive in the village around 10 am and stroll in the the picturesque streets bordered with walls and doors covered with ceramics. |
In the village, we met the most famous local crafstman, Mr. Cuong, in his very old house alongside the river, where we have lunch. We then visit his workshop, with its enormous oven where ceramics are heated for 2 days. We then go to other villages, where you can learn the Art of ceramics, and return to Hanoi with a visit en route of the Pagoda of the Peaceful Happiness (Ninh Phuc), near the village of But Thap. Very likely founded in the XIVth century, (but the present structures date from the XVIIIth), it represents the most complete and representative type of North Vietnam pagodas.
Rates per person in US dollars:
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 5 pers. |
| $113 | $73 | $59 | $50 | $48 |
THAY AND TAY PHUONG PAGODAS, AND THE ANCIENT VILLAGE OF MONG PHU (DUONG LAM)
| An exceptional tour unknown by tourists. We are the only one to offer it: Morning departure to the Thay Pagoda, an immense complex of pagodas stretching on several levels on a lime peak surging from the surrounding rice fields. In front of that complex, a small lake lined with multicolor houses, two Chinese covered bridges, cafe terraces and vendors, and a cute little pagoda in its middle. A visit of at least one hour. 10 km farther away, another surprising complex, much smaller, the Tay Phuong Pagoda, 3 parallel structures on top of a lime peak, the oldest dating from the XIIIth century. Magnificent polychrome wooden statues (XVIIth-XVIIIth) representing "The Human Conditions", and the statue of Quan Am, the thousand-arm Goddess. |
 Thay Pagoda |
We then drive to the village of Muong Phu (district of Duong Lam), famous for its tri-centenary houses, some still inhabited by the same family. We visit several of those houses and have lunch in one of them. We then ride a bicycle through the peaceful countryside to arrive in the village of Duong Lam, to admire the Mia Pagoda (pagoda of the sugar cane), famous for containing 287 polychrome statues, mostly in terra cotta, the oldest in Vietnam. We continue our bicycle tour with the visit of the tombs of King Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (897-944), both born in Duong Lam. Return to Hanoi late afternoon.
Rates per person in US dollars
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 5 pers. |
| $141 | $79 | $66 | $55 | $51 |
“HALONG BAY ON LAND”: HOA LU AND TAM COC
| Departure for Tam Coc (2 hours) to make, before the tourist groups, which arrive at 12:00, the magic boat ride on the three-grotto River. You then have lunch in the famous Chez Loan restaurant, and then visit, by car or bicycle at your choice, the Pagoda of Bich Dong and Temple of Thai Vi. You then cross Halong Bay on Land on a small road which is one of our little secrets, and arrive in Hoa Lu, the first capital of the Kingdom of Vietnam, where you visit the two superb temples of Dinn Thien Hoang and Le Dai Han. Return at your Hanoi hotel around 18:30. |
 Tam Coc River |
Rates per person in US dollars
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 5 pers. |
| $130 | $72 | $52 | $44 | $39 |
PERFUME PAGODA (CHUA HUONG)
Morning departure for the pagoda, one of the most revered religious sites in Vietnam. A 2-hour boat ride brings you at the foot of the mountain; visit of the bottom pagoda, followed by a cable-car climb to the top one, which is in fact a huge grotto, called Perfume Pagoda because of the smell of the millions of incense sticks burnt inside since centuries. Visit and descent for lunch. After lunch, visit of the pagoda of Long Van and the village of Vac, famous for its bamboo products: bird cages, fans, lanterns, etc. Return at your Ha Noi hotel around 18:00.
Rates per person in US dollars
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 5 pers. |
| $150 | $89 | $68 | $65 | $59 |
Theme Tours in Ha Noi
We propose to you 3 exciting theme tours in Ha Noi and around:
- Arts tour (1 day)
- Antique tour (3/4 of a day)
- Gastronomy tour (3/4 of a day)
ARTS TOUR (full day)
| Your tour starts with the visit of the magnificent Fine Arts Museum of Hanoi, where you will admire all the art treasures of Vietnam, from the Antiquity to the contemporary period: paintings, drawings, popular arts, silk, etc. You then visit the famous Nha Sanh Studio, set in a magnificent old Thai house with it carved wooden beams, originating from the region of Hoa Binh, and which became of of the most active Art Centers in North Vietnam. We then go to the house–studio of Mrs Tham Poong, the most famous Vietnam painter from a minority origin (Mrs Poong is Thai) and and renowned expert in Contemporary Arts (Do paintings). |
 Fine Arts Museum, Ha Noi |
You will then cross the Red River and have a delicious lunch of local cuisine in a Vietnamese family, followed by the visit of the curious house–studio of Mr. Anh Khanh, a renowned sculptor and lacquer painter. Return to Old Hanoi, where you will visit famous art galleries. Back to your hotel around 18:00.
Rates per person in US dollars
|
ANTIQUE TOUR (3/4 day)
We start this tour with the visit of the famous Nguyen Frères antique shop, very popular with the international clientele because of its eclectism and exquisite taste: real antiques, high quality reproductions, ceramics, high fashion silk, h’mong textiles, old statues issued from Vietnamese Catholicism, etc. surround you on two floors of this old house located behind the Opera.
We then continue on 8 km to go to the house de Mr. Luong, two wooden houses on stilts filled up with treasures. Mr. Luong, who frequently collaborates to historic films as an expert, will be pleased to give you explanations on all the objects attracting your curiosity. We then stroll through the Flower and Bonsai Market, and have in a small street restaurant. After lunch, we go the famous Antique Street, north of the West Lake (Ho Tay). Return at your hotel around 16:00.
We then continue on 8 km to go to the house de Mr. Luong, two wooden houses on stilts filled up with treasures. Mr. Luong, who frequently collaborates to historic films as an expert, will be pleased to give you explanations on all the objects attracting your curiosity. We then stroll through the Flower and Bonsai Market, and have in a small street restaurant. After lunch, we go the famous Antique Street, north of the West Lake (Ho Tay). Return at your hotel around 16:00.
Rates per person in US dollars
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 5 pers. |
| $112 | $67 | $46 | $38 | $33 |
GASTRONOMY TOUR (3/4 day)
| Our gastronomy tour starts with a delicious breakfast of pho, the famous Vietnamese soup. You then visit Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi Central Market, where you will admire the myriads of local products and the fierce bargaining. Degustation of fresh specialties in a nearby street, including bahn cuon, a rice and grilled pork cake. You then cross Old Hanoi in a cyclo to go to Hom Market, where we buy all the ingredients for our next step: a delicious lunch, prepared in front of you with all the necessary explanations in one of the most famous Vietnamese restaurants in Hanoi, Chim Sao (« The whistling bird »), located in an old colonial house dating from the 1900's. Return at your hotel around 16:00. |
Chim Sao Restaurant |
We also offer you the possibility of taking only a cooking class at the Chim Sao, whish you have to reach on your own.
Rates per person in US dollars
| 1 pers. | 2 pers. | 3 pers. | 4 pers. | 4 pers. | |
| Complete tour | $100 | $58 | $43 | $36 | $30 |
| Cooking class only | $20 | $20 | $20 | $20 | $20 |
