Private Tour: Hanoi City Tour Including Water Puppet Show and Cyclo Ride
Hanoi, Vietnam
- 8 to 10 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
![[Private] Hill tribe & Rice terraces - 2 days 1 night](https://media.tacdn.com/media/attractions-splice-spp-360x240/07/38/cb/1c.jpg)
![[Private] Sapa Panorama Tour - 3 days 2 nights](https://media.tacdn.com/media/attractions-splice-spp-360x240/07/36/56/8d.jpg)
Overview
Explore vibrant Hanoi on a private sightseeing tour that hits all the highlights of Vietnam's capital city. Visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, in addition to sites such as One Pillar Pagoda and Ngoc Son Temple. You'll also attend a water puppet show and see the Old Quarter up close on a cyclo tour. Your tour includes a typical and tasty Vietnamese lunch, plus a Vietnamese egg coffee to start your day.
- Full-day private sightseeing tour of Hanoi
- Enjoy a Vietnamese coffee and lunch at a local spot
- Learn about local customs and city life with informative commentary
- Includes round-trip hotel transport by air-conditioned private car
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Sightseeing Fees, Cyclo Ride and Puppet Show
- Professional English guide
- Lunch
- Bottled water
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Gratuities
- Surcharge for German, Spainish Guide 40USD/Day
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Operating hours.8:00 am
Itinerary
After early pickup from your hotel by your private guide, start your Hanoi sightseeing tour aboard a three-wheeled bicycle taxi known as a cyclo.
Experience the Old Quarter up close as your cyclo winds through the historical center of the capital, which contains narrow streets and alleyways filled with tiny shops and the daily life of the city. Old streets are named after the crafts that were once produced there by artisan guilds that date back to the 13th century. Your cyclo tour ends at St Joseph’s Cathedral (Nha Tho Lon), a Gothic Revival style Catholic church built in the late 19th-century.
Take a break for a quintessential Hanoi treat: a cup of strong Vietnamese coffee. Your guide teaches you the language to order ca phe sua nong (hot coffee with sweetened condensed milk) or ca phe nong (hot black coffee, usually with sugar).
Then, your climate-controlled private vehicle takes you to Ba Dinh Square, site of the President’s Palace and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the historical One Pillar Pagoda—an iconic Buddhist temple that dates to 1049, the Temple of Literature, and view Long Bien Bridge—built during the French colonial period.
Relax over a Vietnamese lunch at a local restaurant, then see the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hoan Kiem Lake (Sword Lake) and Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain), located on an islet in the lake. Finally, your guide accompanies you to a water puppet show that delves into Vietnam’s mythology and traditions.
Experience the Old Quarter up close as your cyclo winds through the historical center of the capital, which contains narrow streets and alleyways filled with tiny shops and the daily life of the city. Old streets are named after the crafts that were once produced there by artisan guilds that date back to the 13th century. Your cyclo tour ends at St Joseph’s Cathedral (Nha Tho Lon), a Gothic Revival style Catholic church built in the late 19th-century.
Take a break for a quintessential Hanoi treat: a cup of strong Vietnamese coffee. Your guide teaches you the language to order ca phe sua nong (hot coffee with sweetened condensed milk) or ca phe nong (hot black coffee, usually with sugar).
Then, your climate-controlled private vehicle takes you to Ba Dinh Square, site of the President’s Palace and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the historical One Pillar Pagoda—an iconic Buddhist temple that dates to 1049, the Temple of Literature, and view Long Bien Bridge—built during the French colonial period.
Relax over a Vietnamese lunch at a local restaurant, then see the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hoan Kiem Lake (Sword Lake) and Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of the Jade Mountain), located on an islet in the lake. Finally, your guide accompanies you to a water puppet show that delves into Vietnam’s mythology and traditions.
1
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Lake of the Restored Sword (Hoan Kiem Lake) (Pass By)
Dền Ngọc Son (Pass By)
One Pillar Pagoda (Pass By)
2
Thang Long Water Puppet
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Temple of Literature & National University (Pass By)
Old Quarter (Pass By)
Bravo Indochina Tours (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.0
based on 57 reviews
RodneyS, Oct 2024
Doung was a very knowledgeable guide, extremely passionate about her country. The sites were compelling.
Christopher_I, Feb 2023
My was a great guide and host And a fine ambassador for your organization. We were happy that he as knowledgeable and thorough with his narration of our tour.
christophe_r, Oct 2018
Pick up on time at the hotel.Great view of the city starting with Ho Chi Minh mosoleum, the garden then the anthropology museum.Lunch and then water puppets and cyclo.Fine
Manuel_A, Jul 2018
We booked this private tour for our family of 6 including 2 children ages 7 and 11. Our tour guide was Chan. Although she was very polite and nice, we would not recommend this tour for the following reasons: 1 Our instructions indicated to be ready no later than 7:45 am, but the tour guide showed up at our hotel at 9:00 am after the hotel called the tour company for an update. If this is a private tour, there is no reason why the tour guide should be late. 2 Our guide was very sweet, but we could not understand her English. 3 We ran out of time to do activities as the tour guide was over one hour late to the hotel. 4 The tour included the water puppet show, but rather than have already the tickets purchased for our family, a significant amount of time was taken from our tour time for the tour guide to go purchase the tickets which were almost sold out in the first place we went to and had to go to a second water puppet show place to get tickets. The tickets should have been purchased already. Overall, I feel the tour company forgot completely about our booking until we placed the call in the morning because we had not been picked up. This tour company is not reliable.
Michael_P, Apr 2018
Started out a little shaky. The tour guide was late and there was no breakfast included we did eat at the hotel prior so it was no big deal for us. Our guide turned out to be awesome. Knowledgeable and very friendly. We booked out tour for a Sunday due to how out trip played out. I do not recommend going on a Sunday. Sunday is the day that thousands of people go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum so we were not able to go in due to the expected four hours or more standing in line. The tour guide and driver adjusted and made it an amazing day. Water puppets and cyclo rides were a great addition to end our day.
Linda_D, Apr 2018
This was a wonderful diverse tour. Guide was punctual, well informed and his English was excellent. I can hardly believe we did so much in one day. The Museum of Ethnology was made a high spot by the extremely interesting narrative of the guide. The cyclo tour of the Old Quarter was not to be missed and the Water Puppets was certainly different. A well thought out tour giving a great overview of Hanoi. A tour not to be missed.
Barry F, Apr 2018
Very good exposure to Hanoi in one day! A little rushed but had to be to cover all the things we saw this day.
NhatAnh_T, Mar 2018
I only had a limited time in Hanoi after a business trip and wanted to get out and see the sights. The tour was wonderful, Hanoi with richl history, colour and flavour. Our guide Kien spoke good English and was friendly, informative and helpful. Very impression with tour service
NhatAnh_T, Mar 2018
Hanoi is a very busy charming city and mr Hoa from Bravo Hanoi Tours was great. We feel very enjoy about this trip and the services company provided to us. Highly recommend this trip for every one
Le_T, Mar 2018
I was not satisfied with this tour. I booked a private tour for the day, but we were joined by another person, who had also booked a private tour and was not happy.
Our guide seemed quite confused as to what was on the agenda for the day i.e. he did not know that breakfast was included, so we spent quite a bit of time looking around for somewhere to eat as most places were closed.
Our guide told us there would be no cyclo ride as none of the cyclos were operating that day. However later in the day we found some cyclos that were operating and after a lot of running around on the part of our guide he managed to get some for us to enjoy the ride through the streets of Hanoi.
Even though we had ordered and paid for 3 water puppet show tickets prior to our departure to Vietnam, our guide said he had to go and buy 2 more tickets for the show even though there was only 1 extra person and this meant that our party of 3 were split up and we were not sitting together.
Our guide kept disappearing during the day, through no fault of his own, to do all this extra planning that should have been in place before the tour began.
I believe the whole day tour was disorganised and lacked structure due to bad planning on the part of your company. Yes I know it was New Years Day, but you knew that when we booked the tour and you should have shown more consideration and planned around that fact.
I do not blame the guide or driver for any of the disorganisation of the day, they did the best they could in bad circumstances.
ERIKA_A, Mar 2018
We had an awful experience with our tour. The guide didn't fullfil what was specified in the tour information. He didn't want to take us for breakfast (even when it was specified in the tour information), he didn't take us to all the specified touristic places in Hanoi, instead he took us to many stores to buy souvenirs; then he wanted us to pay the lunch, but we told him that lunch was included according to the tour information, so he made us pay only the beverages; of course he didn't gave us the water bottles; during the transportation he didn't give us any information about the city; then we went to the Ho Chi Minh museum (because we asked to, even when it was also included) and he didn't explain anything to us, he was sat waiting for us (I have a photo of him) while other guides from others tours were explaining to the tourists. The only thing that he show us was a Ho Chi Minh photo and he said that he was a good person and for that reason he was famous. We suspect that we went to many souvenir stores because the guide wanted to go to the restroom. In addition the guide didn't hace historia official guide badge. Finally, the guide asked for a tip of 50 USD. Of course, we didn't have our local beer. This is the most dissapointing tour we have ever had
Peteology C, Dec 2017
Firstly, it is not a 10-hour trip as advertised. Secondly, the guide was late for an hour. She thought informing the hotel reception about the amended tour time would suffice, but the hotel reception did not inform us about the delay. The guide was also apparently unclear about the itinerary and even had to check with our paper at hand to know some of the places to go. Certainly not recommended.
Sarah D, Dec 2017
A good trip which gave a good overview of interesting places to visit in Hanoi. Would recommend if in Hanoi for only a few days as it covered the main sights in the centre of Hanoi in one day.
Wolfgang N, Dec 2017
Very informative tour with a very knowledgeable guide. I can only recommend.
Globalaids, Nov 2017
Sam is a terrific person conscientious, articulate, knowledgeable, thoughtful, and attentive to detail. No criticisms whatsoever. I could have skipped the water puppet show, but obviously it is a popular activity for tourists and others. Suspect I don't understand how difficult it is to perform. If I ever return to Hanoi, I would be happy to have the same guide!
Brenda_D, Sep 2017
The puppet show is amazing, nva miss this and the cyclo ride calm and relaxing.
Joseph C, Aug 2017
Good tour of Hanoi. It was rainning all day, it was worth every penny.
Steve Igor, Jun 2017
So lots of interesting experience with our day trip in Hanoi. Our guide Thanh of Bravo Indochina Tours is really knowledgeable. He told us a lot about Hanoi history and about local food, lifestyle. Highly recommend
Steve D, Jun 2017
Our tour was extremely disappointing.
The tour guide turned up 2 hours late, claiming to have left a message the night before with our hotel to inform us of the new starting time. We checked with the hotel - he didn't leave any message. He then said he wanted to start later because it was Sunday and he wanted to sleep in and have breakfast.
We asked when we were having breakfast and he said we probably didn't need breakfast as we would have had it at the hotel, which we hadn't as we knew it was part of the tour. He then said, well, would you prefer breakfast or coffee at the end of the day? I said we get both and then showed him the itinerary which confirmed it. He reluctantly took us to have a Pho. There was meant to be Vietnamese coffee with breakfast but we weren't offered any and as just getting a Pho was such an effort, we didn't bother asking for it.
The tour guide wasn't informative. He was completely disinterested in the whole thing, skipping parts of the tour so he could pocket the money he was meant to be using to buy ticket/food/drink, and did everything possible to finish it as soon as possible.
When we asked about the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, all he said was it's not even his real body in there, it's just a dummy! He suggested we not bother going inside and just see it from the outside.
He didn't accompany us to the water puppet show and just gave us tickets to see it on our own, pocketing the money for his ticket.
He also skipped the beer/coffee at the end of the day, again pocketing the money.
The tour ended up going for just over 5 hours, nowhere near the approx. 10 hours advertised.
Private tours obviously depend very much on what guide you get, and our guide made it an awful experience.
Mahbub E Farid, May 2017
It was good. The only down side is that the guide did not inform me of his cell number and I lost him and had a hard time to reach him through the company phone. Anyway would recommend to anyone with just small advice, at the very beginning, please collect the cell phone number of the guide and make communications very clear.
Geoffrey D, Apr 2017
I'm not sure if we were lucky or whether it's standard practise but my husband and I had a charming tour guide to ourselves. Not only were we able to ask questions easily but she was happy to do things at our pace. We feel we saw most of the important features of Hanoi, and learnt a lot of its history along the way. Well worth while and great value for money.
Pamela C, Mar 2017
Singh was an excellent guide in the cultural, political and religious background to Vietnam--really excellent. We hit places of interest. Oddly, the only thing I could have done without was the cycloride around Old Quarter (walking my preference). But it was time and money well spent.
MMonroe_W, Feb 2017
Tour was to start with hotel lobby pickup at 7am. By 7:30am no show. No one answered phone in tour office. Called again at 8 am, no answer. Called again at 8:15am, finally got a response, then hang up. They called backed 10 minutes later. They claimed to have tried calling my room, no response...of course no as I was waiting in lobby as instructed. Think they simply did not intend to pick me up. Finally picked up at 9:25am. Tour guide said he was called by your office to come to hotel at 8:30am, further asked me to say I was his friend, not your client ask office had not prepared official documents for your...all leading me to think office never planned to provide my tour. In end tour was excellent. Guide and driver were perfect. I enjoyed the 9 hours tour. Really upset with management for keeping me waiting two and a half hours and lots of anxiety. Viator gave 10 discount on 109 cost. Think Viator could have done better. Other Viator to Hoa Lu and Tam Coc was 45 minutes late pick up!
ML_B, Feb 2017
We were met by our guide, who explained the excursion to us. She had organised a driver who was amazing in the traffic. At all times we felt she understood her subject, was able to communicate it to us in an interesting manner. Breakfast and lunch was fabulous, the cyclo trip through the traffic really made us understand the frenetic nature of Hanoi traffic. Loved the puppet show.
James C, Jan 2017
The operator called us at 9PM the night before to change the start time from 7AM to 9AM. This is an 8 hour tour, not a 10 hour tour! I believe that if you pay for a driver and guide for 10 hours that you should receive 10 hours of service. Kaine, our tour guide, indicated that he was pushing back the start time because it was cold that morning. We tried to stay with the 7AM start time, but he insisted that we chose either 9 or 9:30. The tour called for us to have soup for breakfast and coffee later in the day. Instead he forced us to choose between the soup and the coffee. Kaine's English was adequate, but difficult to understand.
Friedemann K, Dec 2016
Excellent tour and good organized! High Flexiblity for our wishes.
Jennifer_C, Sep 2016
Great tour, great guide. Very informative. Just ended up being the two of us with our guide. Water Puppet Show is a dud - people falling asleep all around me.
NGOCTIEN_T, May 2016
We really enjoyed the Hanoi city tour so much, a highlight of our trip and guide Huong were absolutely welcoming and knowledgeable, the lunch at 5 spicy restaurant was also excellent. This was a highlight to our overall trip. Highly recommended
RitcheKLee_L, Apr 2016
It was great! Tour guide was really nice and accommodating. Really enjoyed this tour.
pete, Apr 2016
Good tour but just so mad in Hanoi you don't actually travel very far poppet show was just 2nins from our hotel
From $103.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Private Tour: Hanoi City Tour Including Water Puppet Show and Cyclo Ride
57
10 hours
Free Cancellation
From
$103.00
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Explore Similar Things to Do
- Water Tours
- Underground Tours
- Multi-day Tours
- Overnight Tours
- Hiking Tours
- Extreme Sports
- 4WD Tours
- Sporting Events
- Multi-day Cruises
- Walking Tours
- Kayaking Tours
- Bus Tours
- Historical Tours
- Cruises & Sailing
- Tours, Sightseeing & Cruises
- Outdoor Activities
- Tickets & Passes
- Private and Luxury
- On the Ground
- On the Water
- Cultural Tours
- Hanoi
- Multi-day Tours - Mai Chau
- Overnight Tours - Mai Chau
- Hiking Tours - Mai Chau
- Bus Tours - Mai Chau
- Water Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Underground Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Multi-day Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Overnight Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Hiking Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Extreme Sports - Ha Long Bay
- 4WD Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Sporting Events - Ha Long Bay
- Multi-day Cruises - Ha Long Bay
- Walking Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Kayaking Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Bus Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Historical Tours - Ha Long Bay
- Water Tours - Cat Ba
- Underground Tours - Cat Ba
- Multi-day Tours - Cat Ba
- Overnight Tours - Cat Ba
- Hiking Tours - Cat Ba
- Extreme Sports - Cat Ba
- 4WD Tours - Cat Ba
- Sporting Events - Cat Ba
- Multi-day Cruises - Cat Ba
- Walking Tours - Cat Ba
- Kayaking Tours - Cat Ba
- Bus Tours - Cat Ba
- Historical Tours - Cat Ba
Attractions in Hanoi, Vietnam
- Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (VME) Tours & Tickets
- One-Pillar Pagoda (Chua Mot Cot) Tours & Tickets
- Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Tours & Tickets
- Van Phuc Silk Village Tours & Tickets
- Long Bien Bridge (Cau Long Bien) Tours & Tickets
- Vietnam National Museum of History Tours & Tickets
- Dong Xuan Market Tours & Tickets
- Hanoi Old Quarter Tours & Tickets
- Hanoi Opera House (Nha Hat Lon) Tours & Tickets
- Quang Ba Flower Market Tours & Tickets
- Sun World Fansipan Legend Tours & Tickets
- Presidential Palace Tours & Tickets
- Pu Luong Nature Reserve Tours & Tickets
- West Lake (Ho Tay) Tours & Tickets
- Bat Trang Ceramic Tours & Tickets
- Ha Long Bay Tours & Tickets