Hoan Kiem Lake - Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - West lake - Old Quarter

Day 1: Hanoi 

Your Good morning Hanoi adventure begins with a 6am pick-up at your hotel. It’s an early start but well worth the effort to see the Quang Ba Flower Market, awash with a riot of colour and fragrance. The market is busiest between midnight and 6am and is the main place where farmers – some of them from far-away provinces – sell their produce to Hanoi traders. 

Then stroll around Hanoi’s iconic Hoan Kiem Lake and watch hundreds of Hanoians doing morning aerobics. You are very welcome to join them! Then walk to a local restaurant to try “pho,” Hanoi’s signature dish. Pho – pronounced “fuh” – is a noodle soup invented during the French colonial era. Once only a dish that was only eaten at breakfast, it is now enjoyed at any time of day. 

After breakfast, take a short drive to West Lake to visit Quan Thanh Temple and sample traditional Vietnamese tea on the lakeside. Afterwards, visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the resting place of Vietnam’s founding president and wander the complex to see the musuem and one pillar pagoda.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is open in the morning only and closed Mondays and Fridays.

Please be aware that the One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi is closed for renovation work until January 2015. Day tours will now visit Ho Chi Minh’s Museum as an alternative touring attraction.

Day 2: Hanoi 

You will be picked up around 8.30am and driven to the Hanoi Cooking Centre for an all-day cooking course. The centre is the best place in Hanoi to gain a hands-on understanding of Vietnamese cuisine, and its long-time expatriate owner has written many cook books about Vietnam’s best-known dishes.

Sip a welcome tea on arrival, as your chef and guide explains the basics about the dishes you’re about to make. Walk to nearby Chau Long Market and stroll among hundreds of stalls selling everything from pumpkins to silkworms. Take in all the smells, and pause for photographs with the vendors!  Then it’s hands-on as you return to the centre and learn how to make a traditional dish. You also have the option to purchase many of the tools and spices used during the class.

In the evening, sample Hanoi specialities in a street-food tour of its old quarter. Feast on a Vietnamese-style BBQ, and stop at a street famous for serving gas beer, or “bia hoi,” the famous local brew. Finish your Good Morning Hanoi tour with a stop at the city’s most famous ice-cream parlour, and return to your hotel by about 8pm.