Talking about Hanoi city tours, we can list some well-known tourist sites in Hanoi. Such as Hanoi Old Quarter, The Temple of Literature, Hoan Kiem Lake.
Hanoi is the capital and one of the busiest economic centers in Vietnam. It has been standing strong with a thousand years of history. Located on the right bank of Song Hong (Red River), Hanoi has been through many dynasties under and named Dai La in 866 when it was a citadel.
It is worth a visit Tourist sites in Hanoi
The rich history and culture make this city a wonderful destination with many attractions. Let’s find out about the top tourist sites when you go on Hanoi old quarter tours.
The history
King Ly Thai To decided to move the capital of Dai Viet (the former name of Vietnam before) to Dai La. As people said, King Ly Thai To saw a dragon rising from the Red River. Then he renamed Dai La Citadel to Thang Long (means ascending dragon).
In 1397, Thang Long became Dong Do (Eastern Captial) when the capital was moved to Thanh Hoa province (called Western Capital) by Ho Quy Ly. During the thousand years of history, Dai Viet was invaded by Chinese troops. Thang Long Citadel has changed its names several times but it’s still known as Thang Long – Hanoi today.
There are many sightseeing in Hanoi for visitors to learn and understand the Vietnamese culture, history, and people. You can name such as Hanoi Old Quarter, The Temple of Literature, museums, Water puppet theatre, Hanoi Opera House, Hoan Kiem lake, Dong Xuan market, Quang Ba flower market and so on. In this article, we just have a quick look at some of the most popular tourist sites for Hanoi city tours.
Hanoi Old Quarter is the most important tourist sites in Hanoi
The capital Hanoi has been through a thousand years of history with the imprint of every dynasty. It is considered as the cultural center of the country. During its history, Hanoi has many cultural features and cultural sites including pagodas and temples.
Hanoi Old Quarter is located next to Hoan Kiem Lake (Sword returning lake). One of the tourist sites in Hanoi to maintain the streets in an original structure, layout, and architecture of an old traditional Hanoi. The Old Quarter was established from the early of the 20th century with 36 old streets. Each street is known for a different kind of business as silk, jewelry, handicrafts, wooden pieces and so on. The name of each street reflects its specializations.
By the fact that people on each street have changed the business activities a lot, few of the streets still keep the original commercial activities. Hanoi Old Quarter is famous for many artists and merchants and small handcrafts shops. Hanoi Old Quarter is one of the very first site for visitors to learn about the culture of Hanoi and Vietnam.
The Temple of Literature tourist sites in Hanoi
Cited as the first university in Vietnam, the Temple of Literature is one of the most attractive tourist sites in Hanoi. The Temple of Literature was built in 1070 for dedicating to Confucius, scholars, and sages. The Temple of Literature is not a religious but a place for study. It’s a complex of a literature lake named the Well of Heavenly Clarity, turtle steles, pavilions, and courtyards.
The Temple now has remained the historic architecture in buildings from Ly-Tran dynasties with thousands of doctors in the past. The stelae in the Temple are the proof for the achievement of education at the time. The names of successful graduates were engraved on the styles on top of the stone turtles.
The Temple of Literature is in the same area of Ba Dinh Square, President Palace and Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. They are all known as the popular tourist sites in Hanoi.
Hoan Kiem Lake
Hoan Kiem Lake in English means the lake of the Restored Sword. It started with a story of Emperor Le Loi. He returned his sword to the Golden Turtle God after defeating the Ming Chinese invaders. Hoan Kiem Lake is known for a kind of large soft-shell turtles living in the lake.
Visting Hoan Kiem Lake, visitors can see Tháp Rùa (Turtle Tower) in the center of the Lake, Ngoc Son Temple (the Temple of the Jade Mountain), The Huc bridge (Morning Sunlight Bridge – a red painted wooden bridge to Ngoc Son Temple).
Hoan Kiem Lake is closed to many other tourist sites in Hanoi which bring the convenience to tourists to arrange tours in Hanoi.
Please contact Origin Travel for more know more information about place to go in Hanoi.
