Duration: Full Day
Guide picks you up at your hotel to start the tour, you will go with 1 private guide.
Start time:
- 8:30 am and ending at 16.30 pm with lunch
Hightlight
Session 1: Hanoi Classical and ancient highlights
Riding through the chronology of time in Hanoi from the Thousand-year-old parts to the modern. Driving around the enchanting French Colonial Quarter, vibrant Hanoi Old Quarter. Passing by the must-see historical highlights of Hanoi such as Tran Quoc pagoda – the most ancient pagoda in Hanoi, the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, Ba Dinh Square, West lake, Truc Bach lake, Hoan Kiem lake, the Opera House, Saint Joseph Cathedral and train street. Crossing the legendary Long Bien bridge and Hanoi Train station.
Session 2: Explore the less touristy parts of Hanoi
Riding through zigzagging street, narrow alleys, markets to see the local people’s life
Travelling with all your senses: Watching, Hearing, Touching, Tasting and Smelling…
Experiencing the GOOD, the WEIRD and the WONDERFUL sights of the city.
Experiencing different slices of life behind the scene, the hidden part of the iceberg.
Session 3: Hanoi food experience
Tasting local food as Bun Cha (noodle with barbecued pork) or Banh Cuon (steamed rice paper with grilled pork/beef with egg) with green tea and egg/regular coffee in a sidewalk cafe.
Session 4: Adventure to handicraft village of Bat Trang Pottery OR Red River Delta Co Loa Ancient Citadel of Vietnam in 3rd Century.
Riding scooters along the Red River dyke to visit the 700-year-old Bat Trang ceramic village to learn the process of making ceramics and practice making an item by yourself. We continue to the rural area to visit Co Loa, an ancient citadel from the 3rd century and meet friendly locals where they live and work on their farms, with livestock such as water buffalos, ducks, chickens and cows.
Full Itinerary
About 8.30 am: Our tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in the Old Quarter to begin our adventure!
The first part of our Hanoi scooter tour, we pass by & stop at the MUST-SEE places of our beautiful city such as the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum-the Mecca of the Vietnamese, the 1000-year-old Buddhist and Taoist Temples of Tran Quoc, B52 lake, the historical train track, the enchanting French Quarter, the hustling ‘n’ bustling Old Quarter, the romantic lakes of Hoan Kiem, the Hanoi Opera house and the famous Long Bien bridge etc.
The second part of our Hanoi scooter tours, we expose you the REAL HANOI with a day in the life experiences, featured with the less known parts of the city with slices of life in the maze of backstreets, tiny alleyways, local homes, schools, random markets, experiencing where and how locals live, work and play. Other travel companies show just you the beautiful and tell you to run away from the weird and the wonderful spots of this amazing city.
The last part of our tour is the food! We will stop at local street stalls where local people make Bun Cha (noodle with barbecue pork) or Pho Ga/Bo (noodle with chicken or with beef) or Banh Cuon (steamed rice paper wrapped with vermicelli, mushroom and egg). Vegetarian options are available, please inform us before the trip.
Option 1: Bat Trang Pottery Village:
In the afternoon, we will cross Chuong Duong bridge – one of the rare steel bridge built after the war then drive along the Red River dyke, passing through guava, banana farms and vegetable gardens, which are one of Hanoi’s main sources of food. We then head to the ceramic village of Bat Trang. Stop at the village, where our guide will lead you through the zigzagging maze of alleyways to learn about villagers’ daily lives of the 700-year-old Bat Trang ceramic village. During the walking tour, our guide will stop at a ceramic workshop to teach you about the process of making ceramics and give you the opportunity to design your own ceramic bowl or tea cup.
You will stop for some iced-tea before finishing the trip at your hotel.
Option 2: Co Loa ancient citadel
In the afternoon, you leave the busy streets of Hanoi to the urban outskirts, you’ll cross the famous Long Bien bridge and zipping along the maze of the zigzagging alleys in the outskirt villages of Hanoi on the other side of the Red river. Leaving the city behind, you go to the countryside, ride along the winding country roads, taking us to the paddy fields to meet friendly local people where the live and work in their farms and livestock such water buffalos, ducks, chickens, cows… It is a great opportunity to have hands-on experience about farming works and building cultural connections. You will learn about Vietnamese rice farming. We then ride to the countryside village with friendly people. You will visit local markets, schools, community places and temples. Our destination is Co Loa ancient citadel of Au Lac Kingdom, dating from the 3rd century BC, considering as the oldest citadel in Vietnam. It is interesting to learn about the origin and mythology of Vietnamese people and their ancestors. We then take a short walk around the village, visiting a local bonsai garden, chatting with locals and enjoy lotus fragrance tea at the very local tea-house as local people do for entertainment and stop for some iced-tea before finishing the trip at your hotel.
Inclusion
- Complimentary 1 bottle of water/person
- Good scooter as Lead/Wave/Dream Honda…with helmet during the trip
- English speaking guide
- Food with Bun Cha/Banh Cuon/fried rice with meat (depending on availability)
- City bike with Vietnam star helmet during the trip. If you are taller than 1.85cms, we have larger framed bikes for you. Electric bikes are available on request (additional $20 USD/person)
Exclusion
- Drinks, travel insurance, government tax
- Tips for guide and other not clearly mentioned above
Price Info
1,600,000 VND/person
Each guest will travel pillion with a tour guide
Policy
- Children are under 13 years old are advised not to join this tour
- If you have any problem with balance keeping on transfer, you are advised not to join to be safe.
Note
Frequent Asked Questions
- Is the food included? Yes, food is included (authentic, healthy food). Vegetarian options are available.
- Are drinks included? Drinking water is provided, additional drinks can be paid for.
- What is group size? To guarantee the comfort and easy management, we limit up to 5 travelers on this tour
- Is travel insurance included? No, please prepare your travel insurance from your country. You will be guided to be safe during the trip.
- Am I picked up at my hotel? Yes, the guide will greet you at your hotel (inside Hanoi Old Quarter).
- Can we visit Hanoi train-street? Yes, you can, the famous Hanoi Train-street is a part of our itinerary. Though the train street was closed recently due to a local government order, sadly we cannot sit and have a coffee to watch the train. We can only see the train street for a short time.
- Do I have to ride the motorbike? No, you do NOT have to ride the motorbike, we provide you with friendly, licensed driver acting as a tour guide. This is your personal tour guide.
She/he can answer all of your questions during the trip.
- What happen if it rains? The tour operates in all weather and ponchos are provided for free.
- Do we go INSIDE the tourist attractions? We don’t go INSIDE the touristic attractions; we just stay OUTSIDE for photos and PASS BY the main attractions as we spend time to show you the HIDDEN GEMS and HARD-TO-FIND places that expose the REAL Hanoi that you cannot do it yourselves. We take you off the beaten track and drive to less touristy places.
- Could I book directly with you? Yes, you can contact our sales team directly to book the adventure with great offers.
Useful Info
This tour gives you the insights of Hanoi Old Quarter and new town area with daily life of the local. You will be in some place that there is no tourists and enjoy the strange things that you could not find in your country.
