Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Morning Mausoleum, Pagoda and Temple of Literature

   Your guide meets you at your hotel and the day begins at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex, where you learn about the leader's life and his place in Vietnam's history. Nearby stands One Pillar Pagoda, built in the shape of a single lotus rising from water. From there you continue to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first national university, with its courtyards, stone stelae and quiet pavilions that give a sense of the country's long scholarly tradition. There is time to rest in the shade between visits, and your guide shares stories of the leader and the people of Hanoi.

2. Afternoon Old Quarter, Lake and Market

   After lunch, you walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and cross the red Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple, set on a small island. From here you head into the Old Quarter, where streets are still named after the guilds that once worked them. You pass through Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi's largest covered market, watching traders at work and taking in the pace of daily trade that has defined this part of the city for generations. Hoan Kiem Lake is the heart of Hanoi, and its banks are always busy with walkers, families and people exercising.

3. Evening Water Puppet Show and Dinner

   As the day winds down, you attend a traditional water puppet show, a performance style that began in the rice paddies of northern Vietnam centuries ago. Afterwards, you sit down for dinner in the Old Quarter, finishing the tour in the same lively streets you walked through earlier in the day, now lit up and busy with evening life. The puppeteers stand behind a bamboo screen in waist-deep water, moving the wooden puppets with long poles hidden under the surface. Dinner is at a local restaurant, where your guide helps you order classic northern dishes such as cha ca, grilled fish with dill and turmeric, or bun cha.