Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Morning Mausoleum and Temple of Literature

   After breakfast, we start at Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, then walk around the Presidential Palace grounds, his modest stilt house, and the One Pillar Pagoda. From there we move to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first university, where quiet courtyards and stone stelae tell the story of centuries of scholarship. Walking throughout is easy, covering a few kilometres across flat, well-shaded grounds. Your guide explains the history of each site and its importance for the Vietnamese people, and there is time to rest in the shade between visits. Please note that the mausoleum is closed on some days and for a few months each year, when we visit the surrounding grounds instead.

   
2. Midday Lunch and Egg Coffee

   We sit down for a traditional Vietnamese lunch at one of Hanoi's well-regarded restaurants. Afterwards, there is time to try cà phê trứng, Hanoi's own egg coffee, made with soft whipped egg, condensed milk and strong coffee. It is a local specialty worth slowing down for, and a good introduction to the city's café culture. The restaurant serves northern Vietnamese dishes made with fresh herbs and seasonal ingredients, and your guide is happy to explain each dish and how it is eaten. Egg coffee was invented in Hanoi in the 1940s, when milk was scarce, and today it is served in small cafes hidden up stairways and in old houses across the old quarter.

   
3. Afternoon Museum of Ethnology and Old Quarter

   We spend time at the Museum of Ethnology, with its indoor galleries and outdoor houses representing Vietnam's more than fifty ethnic groups. Later we head into the Old Quarter, walking past shopfronts and French colonial buildings to Dong Xuan market, a working market selling everything from clothing to fresh fish. We finish at Ngoc Son Temple, set on a small island in Hoan Kiem Lake. The Museum of Ethnology is one of the best museums in Vietnam, and its outdoor section includes full-size traditional houses from different regions, which you can walk into and explore. In the old quarter, your guide points out the guild streets, old tube houses and small temples tucked between the shops.

   
4. Evening Water Puppet Show

   The day closes with a water puppet show, a traditional art form that began centuries ago in the rice fields of northern Vietnam. Puppets move across a pool of water accompanied by live musicians playing drums, wooden bells, horns and bamboo flutes, a fitting way to end a day spent exploring Hanoi's history and daily rhythms. The show lasts about an hour, and the puppeteers stand behind a bamboo screen in waist-deep water, moving the wooden puppets with long poles hidden under the surface. After the show, your guide takes you back to your hotel, or you can stay in the old quarter to enjoy the evening on your own.