What an amazing day in Hanoi! Our 10-hour private tour with Maximus Travel was filled with history, adventure, delicious food, and wonderful personal touches that made the experience truly unforgettable! Once again, Thu Ho, our tour director, did an outstanding job coordinating everything. His communication, organization, and attention to detail were excellent. And the price was fantastic for everything we experienced! Our guide, Timtam, was absolutely wonderful! Knowledgeable, friendly, thoughtful, and genuinely excited to share his city with us. He didn’t just want us to see Hanoi’s famous attractions. He wanted us to experience Hanoi like the locals do! We visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, the fascinating Hoa Lo Prison, and the unforgettable Train Street! We also loved our cyclo ride through the bustling Old Quarter. What a fun way to experience the sights and sounds of Hanoi! Lunch at Quán Ăn Ngon was delicious! We also loved Timtam’s little surprises that made the day extra special! He treated us to a local sugarcane drink, took us to the famous Kem Tràng Tiền ice cream shop, and even gave each of us a thoughtful gift of Rồng Vàng Hoàng Gia. Such unexpected kindness! My dad uses a transport chair, and Timtam was incredibly attentive to his needs. His patience, assistance, and genuine concern for Dad’s comfort meant so much to our family. The drive from the cruise port to Hanoi was lengthy, but our excellent driver made it comfortable and relaxing. The van was clean, spacious, and wonderfully air-conditioned! What a fantastic combination of sightseeing, local experiences, and genuine Vietnamese hospitality! If you’re visiting Hanoi, I HIGHLY recommend Maximus Travel and especially Timtam. You won’t just tour Hanoi. You’ll experience it! Thank you, Thu, Timtam, and our wonderful driver, for another day we’ll never forget! ❤️
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Private, Customized and Flexible Tour
- Vietnamese Traditional Lunch
- Cruise Port Pickup and Drop-off
- All Entrance Fees
- Professional Tour Guide
Excludes
- Personal expenses
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- Tour guide welcome and pick you up at the lobby of Ha Long Cruise Port with your name on hand. He/she will say hello to you via your WhatsApp/Phone in advance.
Itinerary
The President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a mausoleum which serves as the resting place of Vietnamese Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a large building located in the center of Ba Dinh Square, where Ho, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam from 1951 until his death in 1969, read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It is also known as Ba Đình Mausoleum and is open to the public.
The One Pillar Pagoda is a historic Buddhist temple in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It is regarded alongside the Perfume Temple, as one of Vietnam's two most iconic temples.
The Tran Quoc Pagoda in Hanoi is the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De (from 544 until 548), thus giving it an age of more than 1,450 years. When founded the temple was named Khai Quoc (National Founding) and was sited on the shores of the Red River, outside of the Yen Phu Dyke. When confronted with the river's encroachment, the temple was relocated in 1615 to Kim Ngu (Golden Fish) islet of Ho Tay (West Lake) where it is now situated. A small causeway links it to the mainland.
The royal enclosure was first built during the Ly dynasty (1010) and subsequently expanded by the Tran, Le and finally the Nguyen dynasty. It remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1810, when the Nguyen dynasty chose to move the capital to Hue. The ruins roughly coincide with the Hanoi Citadel today. The royal palaces and most of the structures in Thăng Long were in varying states of disrepair by the late 19th century with the upheaval of the French conquest of Hanoi. By the 20th century many of the remaining structures were torn down. Only in the 21st century are the ruin foundations of Thang Long Imperial City systematically excavated. In mid-1945 the Citadel was used by the Imperial Japanese Army to imprison over 4000 French colonial soldiers captured during the Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina in March 1945. The central sector of the imperial citadel was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Site on July 31, 2010 at its session in Brazil, as "The Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long – Hanoi”.
Hoa Lo Prison was a prison used by the French colonists in French Indochina for political prisoners, and later by North Vietnam for U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. During this later period it was known to American POWs as the Hanoi Hilton. The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although the gatehouse remains as a museum.
The Old Quarter is the name commonly given to the historical civic urban core of Hanoi, located outside the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. This quarter used to be the residential, manufacturing and commercial center, where each street was specialized in one specific type of manufacturing or commerce. Another common name referring to approximately the same area is the 36 streets, after the 36 streets or guilds that used to make up the urban area of the city.
Hoan Kiem Lake, meaning "Lake of the Returned Sword" or "Lake of the Restored Sword"), also known as Hồ Gươm (Sword Lake), is a fresh water lake, measuring some 12 ha in the historical center of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. In the past, the lake was variously name "Luc Thuy Lake", meaning "Green Water Lake" - aptly named for the water's color) or "Thuy Quan Lake", meaning "Mariner's Lake". The lake is one of the major scenic spots in the city and serves as a focal point for its public life.
The Temple of Literature is a Temple of Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple hosts the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Ly Thanh Tong. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. The temple is located to the south of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. The various pavilions, halls, statues and stelae of doctors are places where offering ceremonies, study sessions and the strict exams of the Dai Viet took place. The temple is featured on the back of the 100,000 Vietnamese Dong banknote. Just before the Vietnamese New Year celebration Tet, calligraphists will assemble outside the temple and write wishes in Han characters. The art works are given away as gifts or are used as home decorations for special occasions.
Hanoi train street is one of the most curious places to discover in this city, which attracts flocks of tourists every day. It's the single-track railway that runs through the streets of Hanoi Old Quarter has been there since the 20th century, during the French colonial period. The railway is still active nowadays. The hot spot that used to drive photoholic crazy is the railway section on Phung Hung, Dien Bien Phu, and Le Duan streets.
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Reviews
A great tour of Hanoi courtesy of Peter, our outstanding guide wo met us at the cruise port. He customized our day to make sure we saw what interested us the most. The highlight was the visit to the "Hanoi Hilton" and learned of its early history and the North's perspective of the war. The visit to the train station was unexpected fun. All in all, a great day!
This was a fantastic tour Anh was an incredible guide and tailored the tour specifically to us. When we advised him of our need for Gluten Free food and showed him several restaurants on Find me GF he said he knew one and proceeded to make a reservation and pick several traditional dishes for us that were all wonderful. He asked what we wanted to see and made recommendations to of some less tourist sights. Our driver Mr Sun was also very kind and friendly. An amazing day! Highly recommend.
You need to go to app to get pick-up info. We were not told this. We looked for an email after getting confirmation of booking and ticket. Consequently we were unable to connect with the driver. Luckily another tour operator was finally able to find him for us.
Dannie and Tam were great! We saw sights in Hanoi that we have never seen before.
Donie, (or Dan the Man, as we called him), was a fantastic tour guide and we loved the entire day. His English was excellent and very easy to understand. . After a convenient pickup from our port, we traveled by luxury, air conditioned van to Hanoi. We learned a lot about the Hanoi culture and history along the way, and the time flew by. We stopped to visit a factory where art pieces are hand sewn. Our tour guide, Donie, was fantastic, telling us all about the the farming areas, pointing out the rice paddies, oyster farms, (where pearls are harvested), mango, lychee, and coconut trees. After arriving in Hanoi, we first visited the Ho Chi Minh museum. The large area also had One Pillar Pagoda, and Lady Buddha, in close proximity so there wasn’t too much walking. From there, we enjoyed a delicious Vietnamese lunch in the city’s Old Quarter, and then went to Train street, where the street vendors brought their stores to us while we were sitting and waiting for the train. Donie did a fabulous job at having everything reserved for us so there was never a wait for lunch or on Train Street where it was crowded. We also learned more about Vietnamese history at the prison, known as the “Hanoi Hilton”, where are American POW‘s were held during the war. I can’t imagine having a more well-rounded experience for our first time in Vietnam.
Our tour of Hanoi was amazing and our guide was excellent. He catered the tour to what we wanted to see and we even ate lunch where President Obama went and went to the train market. He was very informative, helpful and friendly. This was our favourite tour of our trip to Asia
It seems that all Vietnam guides still come up a little short on being understood which is not to say they are bad, but they try to please and insure your tour and safely return.
M. Kong and his driver were very efficient. We visited some of the nicest places in Hanoi, from the prison to President Ho Chi Minh mausolée, the train street . We had a good beer in the Old Town and a great dinner to finish everything off. I would consider this day practically perfect.
Short journey started and finished within the day out to Vietnam capital city. Our guide named Don did an enthusiastic job introducing all aspects of Vietnam and people lifestyle in particular. We remembered so well about the chaos and energy this city has, through watching the train pass by and roaming around the downtown. Car was clean and driver was calm but we just wanted it to be a bit faster cuz we know its a long long way to drive back and forth.
We had an enjoyable day with Donie and our driver seeing some highlights of Ha Noi. Keep in mind that it’s a 2 hour drive give/take from the Halong Bay to the city… but if you have a great guide like we did you will learn a lot as you cruise along. If you are touring on a Monday you will not be able to go into the Ho Ch Minh Mausoleum but can walk around it. We really enjoyed the ‘train station’ and trying the wonderful Vietnamese coffee. Our guide made sure we had access to bathroom breaks which was appreciated. Given the drive from port (if you are on a cruise) it is a moderately fast paced tour of the highlights and a great way to enjoy Ha Noi if you have limited time or only one day! If you get Donie as your guide you will not be disappointed, super personable, knowledgeable and great sense of humor! We loved him! ❤️
Great way to experience Hanoi in a day especially if you are on a cruise ship and have limited time.
Tony was our guide and took wonderful care of our family of 4 for a day tour of Hanoi from our cruise port. We were picked up on time and he explained our itinerary. We were able to visit Ho Chi MInh's mausoleum, the famous Hanoi prison, the war museum and the Note Cafe (my daughter's favorite stop). He arranged a delicious lunch at a local street restaurant to enjoy local food. We also had time to walk around and shop the local market for souvenirs. A wonderful and long day.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and spoke English well. He was on time both to pick us up and understood we when needed to be back at the ship. He took us to a local lunch place. and was flexible to see the sites we wanted to see.
White we had a friendly tour guide and comfortable van, the 2.5 hour trip each way to Hanoi from the cruise port left very little time to explore the city. One Mausoleum, lunch then coffee shop and we had to return to the ship. I suggest others find more to do in beautiful Halong Bay.
Great experience on a day trip to Hanoi from the port. We were able to visit lots of different places in Hanoi easily since it was just our private group. Fantastic local lunch as well.
We had a great day with our guide in Hanoi. He picked us up on time at the port with a great driver and nice car. Then headed into Hanoi. It’s a long drive but it was worth it. We hit every site we wanted to see plus had an amazing lunch. We learned a lot. Definitely recommended if you’re coming from a cruise ship and want to see the city.
Although the ride from the pier to Hanoi is long, the trip was well worth it. Kong was an exceptional tour guide and provided historical, cultural and local insights. Fantastic lunch and tour. Thank you Kong!
My friends who were on the Oceania cruise docked at Ha long bay. I found this tour of Hanoi on Trip Advisor. The day and time of docking at the port changed three times before the cruise started. The tour company was very helpful in changing pick up time and duration. We were picked up by our guide in the cruise terminal. Don had my name on a card. The driver was safe and as fast as you can be with the horrible Hanoi traffic. Don was absolutely a great guide. The restaurant for lunch was a great choice. Filled with locals and tourists. The three hour drive to Hanoi was a bit too much. Overall we loved the tour.
It is easily customized with the list of the sites being merely suggestions. Don’t assume you will go to all of them. Tim tam (The guide) was very nice, flexible and caring for our enjoyment. He went out of his way to ensure we were enjoying ourselves and got to experience Hanoi at its best.
Tour worth considering as you are able to customize the itinerary. Was able to see the main attractions that were of interest to us and at our own pace. Our tour guide, Don Mike, was knowledge and very service oriented. Would highly recommend this tour company.
The drive to and from Hanoi (starting at Halong Bay) was pretty uneventful but made interesting by our guide. Guide Mickey and his driver were knowledgeable and friendly and he was always ready to tweak the itinerary for our benefit. Well done.
Mikey was a very informative guide. We had a lovely full day, delicious lunch, got to see the turtles, prison, Citadel, a pearl factory, walked down train street, and tried egg coffee. It was too busy to see the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, but we drove by it and the cathedral. Car was very nice and comfortable.
Dramatic overview of Ha Noi. Very interesting and in depth view of everyday life. Private tour for the 4 of us was a great way to see the city and notable sights.
Mickey, our tour guide, was friendly and allowed us to be flexible with our tour. We visited all the major sites of interest in Hanoi, We even stopped at a Harley store to buy a T-shirt.
Long ride from Port to Hanoi, but worth it. Great dinner. Timing needs some work since we arrived at Hanoi Hilton as it was closing.
<p>Excellent tour. Driver and tour guide met us right where the tender dropped us off and we got started on our drive to Ha Noi. Be warned it is a very long drive 3.5-4 but worth it!</p>
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