Hanoi City Tour: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Pagodas & Museums

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/10

Duration8h–10h

GroupUp to 20

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

One Pillar Pagoda is the most unique pagoda in the world.

A full-day guided tour of Hanoi covering five major sites: Tran Quoc Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and its surrounding complex, One Pillar Pagoda, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Literature Temple and Quoc Tu Giam university, and Hoa Lo Prison Museum. The tour includes hotel pickup, an English-speaking guide with at least five years of experience, lunch, entrance tickets, transport by shuttle bus, and bottled water. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum closes Mondays and Fridays, and shuts for maintenance mid-June through mid-August, though you can still photograph the exterior and visit the surrounding area during that period. The museum stop applies on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

8h–10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Hanoi's historical and cultural sites

Visit Tran Quoc Pagoda
Tour Ho Chi Minh complex and One Pillar Pagoda
Explore Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
See Literature Temple and Quoc Tu Giam
Visit Hoa Lo Prison Museum

The Experience

Tran Quoc Pagoda sits on a small peninsula on the east side of Hanoi's West Lake and holds the distinction of being the city's oldest pagoda, with roots stretching back more than 1,500 years. The tour moves next to the Ho Chi Minh complex, where you see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, then walk the gardens to view the two houses where he lived and worked between 1954 and 1969. One Pillar Pagoda, dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, stands nearby—it is architecturally singular in the world.

The itinerary then branches depending on the day: on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the tour includes the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, a research centre and public museum documenting the cultural and historic heritage of Vietnam's ethnic groups. On other days, you visit the Literature Temple and Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam's first university built in 1070, where gardens and preserved architecture offer a window into the country's past. The final stop is Hoa Lo Prison Museum, originally built by French colonists for political prisoners and later used by North Vietnam to hold American prisoners of war during the Vietnam War—American POWs called it the "Hanoi Hilton."

An English-speaking guide leads the full day, which runs eight to ten hours. Hotel pickup is included, as is lunch, entrance tickets to all sites, shuttle bus transport throughout Hanoi, and a bottle of water. Modest dress is required at pagodas and the mausoleum—cover from shoulders to knees, and avoid shorts or sleeveless shirts at Tran Quoc Pagoda.

What’s included

The tour includes hotel pickup and drop-off.
an English-speaking guide with at least five years of experience.
lunch.
entrance tickets to Tran Quoc Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, the Literature Temple and Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (on applicable days), and Hoa Lo Prison Museum.
shuttle bus transport throughout the day.
and a bottle of water.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Inbound Vietnam Travel

Is this one for you?Book this if you prefer a structured itinerary hitting five major sites in one day rather than piecing together your own route; note that the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is only open Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so choose your date accordingly.