Hanoi itinerary 2 days: The best things to do in Vietnam’s capital city

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is a unique city when owning old architectural works interwoven with modern buildings. This is where the bustling urban life still takes place every day, besides a traditional lifestyle that is still stored through many generations. 

Are you coming to Vietnam and plan to spend two days in Hanoi? Or you simply want a short trip in this city before starting long journeys in the beautiful Southeast Asian country. Immediately follow the information about Smile Travel‘s Hanoi itinerary 2 days to get more inspiration for your upcoming discovery journey. And don’t forget to contact us via Hotline/WhatsApp +84 346190168 to book a tour!

Highlight of Hanoi itinerary 2 days

• The Hanoi 2-day itinerary gives you a great opportunity to explore daily life in the capital of Vietnam through the journey to explore the Old Quarter, French Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake  and West Lake. 
• You will be able to go deep to learn about the cultural and historical treasures of Vietnam through works and destinations not to be missed such as Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, Vietnamese Women’s Museum,… 
• The journey is also fully combined with culinary and folklore elements through street food tour and water puppet puppet shows of professional artisans. 
• In Hanoi 2-day, you also have the opportunity to explore the bustling and colorful nightlife of the old town. 
• This Hanoi itinerary 2 days is relatively hurried and Smile Travel can be adjusted to fit your sightseeing rhythm and flight schedule.

Brief

Detailed Hanoi 2-day itinerary

Day 1: Hanoi Old Quarter – Hoan Kiem Lake – Hanoi Opera House –  Vietnamese Women’s Museum – Thang Long Puppet Theater – Street food tour & Nightlife

8.00 am: Smile Travel‘s car and guide will welcome you at the airport to move to your hotel in the Old Quarter. Here, you will check-in your hotel before starting the Hanoi itinerary 2 days. 

9.00 am: You will visit Hanoi Old Quarter – a complex maze of streets with colorful life. The streets here are named after the goods sold in the shops there, including silver street, silk street, basket street, cotton street,… Especially, you will visit Ma May Ancient House, an ancient tube house built in the late nineteenth century. 

10.30 am: You will walk for about 15 minutes to Hoan Kiem Lake, which is in the heart of Hanoi. Here, you can walk and enjoy the fresh air of the neighborhood full of history and culture. You also visit the red The Huc Bridge and Ngoc Son Temple right on the lake, the iconic works of the Capital, to have a glimpse of the spiritual aspect of Hanoi.

11.30 am: The guide will take you to one of the famous bun cha shops of the city, where you can smell the fragrant grilled meat before seeing it. Or you can eat pho, bread or any other typical dish of Hanoi. After eating, you can enjoy Hanoi egg coffee. 

1.30 pm: You will be taken to the French Quarter, located adjacent to the old town to admire the beautiful works such as Hanoi Opera House, Hom Market, St.Joseph’s Catherine,… 

2.30 pm: After enjoying a drink at a cafe with a beautiful view in the French Quarter, you will visit the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, where you will have a deeper view of the history and cultural heritage of Vietnamese women in many periods. 

5.00 pm: Goodbye French Quarter, you will return to the exciting Old Quarter and join in a cyclo tour for about 1 hour. This is the time when you immerse yourself in the busy traffic flow of the Old Quarter and enjoy the bustling atmosphere like Hanoi people of the past. 

6.10 pm: You will stop at Thang Long Water Puppet Theater to enjoy the incredible performance of water puppet artisans. 

7.10 pm: The water puppet performance ends is the time that you continue to immerse yourself in the influx of people in the Old Quarter to participate in street food tours and experience nightlife. This is an opportunity for you to enjoy many orthodox Vietnamese dishes such as spring rolls, sticky rice, grilled meat, spring rolls, fried spring rolls,… to end the first evening in Hanoi itinerary 2 days, you can enjoy a local fresh beer in Ta Hien Street.

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum – One Pillar Pagoda – Temple of Literature – Tran Quoc Pagoda & West Lake – Hoa Lo Prison

6.00 am: On the second day of the Hanoi 2 days trip, you will wake up early to participate in the flag-raising ceremony at Ba Dinh square. The flag-raising ceremony will take place at 6.00 am (summer) and 6.30 am (winter). After that, you will eat breakfast like a true Hanoi person with bun cha, pho, Vietnam bread or sticky rice. Breakfast will take place quickly for you to have time to rest before starting the journey. 

7.20 am: After breakfast nearby, you will return to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to visit. This place can be very crowded so you need to go there as soon as possible. Located next to the Mausoleum is the Presidential Palace Area, including the Presidential Palace – a large colonial building, and a simple stilt house – where President Ho Chi Minh once lived and worked. 

Note: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum will close on Monday and Friday but you can still visit outside. In addition, you should pay attention to wearing neat and polite clothes, preferably shirts with sleeves, and long pants and long skirts under the knee. 

8.20 am: One Pillar Pagoda is located near Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Therefore, you can walk here to visit and admire unique architecture. 

9.00 am: The next destination of the Hanoi itinerary 2 days is the Temple of Literature – the first university of Vietnam. You can walk through peaceful courtyards, tree -lined walkways and learn about Vietnam’s academic past. 

10.30 am: Visitors get in the car and move to Tran Quoc Pagoda – the oldest temple in Hanoi is up to 1500 years old. This project is located on the sparkling water of West Lake and is built with complex architecture, worth exploring. 

11.30 am: Visitors have lunch at West Lake. After that, you can enjoy coffee at a cafe with a view overlooking the West Lake to relax and kill time before coming to the afternoon journey. 2.00 pm: Visit Hoa Lo Prison, which was used to detain the Indochinese political prisoners and American pilots in two wars against the French colonialists and the American imperialism of Vietnam. 

4.00 pm: Smile Travel‘s car and guide will take you back to the hotel in the Old Quarter or airport, ending the Hanoi 2-day itinerary.

Price of Hanoi 2 day itinerary

• PRICE: From 150 USD/pax

Price of Hanoi 2-day tour includes:

• Move by private car on the entire journey. 
• Tour guide speaking English or any other language. 
• Tour to visit the Old Quarter with cyclo. 
• Entrance fee for all the stops mentioned in the program. 
• 01 bottle of mineral water per 01 day.

Price of Hanoi tour 2 days excludes: 

• Tip. 
• Personal expenses. 
• Travel insurance.

HAVE A NICE TRIP!

Contact Smile Travel to book a tour:

Address: No. 140 Hong Tien, Bo De, Long Bien, Hanoi, Vietnam

Mobile: +84 346190168 Whatsapp/Line/Viber/KakaoTalk/Line/Wechat

Website: https://smiletravel.net/

Fanpage: Smile Travel Indochina