8-Day Vietnam Heritage & Artisan Tour: Hanoi, Bat Trang, Hue & Hoi An
Overview
Destination: North and Central
Duration: 7 - 10 days
Travel Style: Cultural & Heritage
Theme: Couple
Tour Highlights
Value of the package
This 8-day Vietnam heritage and artisan tour is a private trip for travellers who want to see how Vietnam’s crafts are still made, not only its monuments. You start in Hanoi and the pottery village of Bat Trang, fly to the old imperial capital of Hue, and cross the Hai Van Pass to Hoi An, with hands-on workshops along the way. Transfers and guided days run from your arrival at Noi Bai to your departure from Da Nang.
- A full day in Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ba Dinh Square, the One Pillar Pagoda, Tran Quoc Pagoda, Train Street, the Temple of Literature, the Old Quarter and a water puppet show.
- Hands in the clay. In Bat Trang, where potters have worked for more than 700 years, you watch artisans at the wheel and then shape a piece of your own.
- Hanoi through food and coffee. A street food lunch with your guide – pho and grilled pork with rice noodles – and a coffee workshop where you brew egg coffee and coconut coffee.
- Hue beyond the citadel. After the Ngo Mon Gate and the Imperial Citadel, visit the incense makers of Thuy Xuan and a conical hat village known for its poem hats.
- The coast road to Hoi An. The drive south crosses the Hai Van Pass, then an afternoon in the UNESCO-listed old town ends with a lantern boat ride on the Hoai River.
- A morning in the countryside. A basket boat in the Cam Thanh coconut forest, a walk through the Tra Que herb gardens and a cooking workshop, with the dishes you cook for lunch.
Included in the package
- Airport pick-up at Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) and drop-off at Da Nang International Airport with your guide, plus transfers for the Hanoi – Hue flight
- 7 nights’ accommodation – Hanoi (3 nights), Hue (2 nights) and Hoi An (2 nights)
- 7 breakfasts and 5 lunches, as listed day by day
- Private car and driver throughout, the lantern boat on the Hoai River and the basket boat in Cam Thanh
- English-speaking guide on sightseeing days
- Entrance fees and the activities in the itinerary, including the water puppet show, the Bat Trang pottery session, the street food lunch, the coffee workshop, the Imperial Citadel, the Thuy Xuan incense village and conical hat village, and the Tra Que cooking workshop
- Drinking water on tour days, travel insurance, VAT and service charges
Not included: international flights, domestic flights, Vietnam visa fee, meals not listed, personal expenses, and tips for your guide and driver.
Download the detailed day-by-day itinerary (PDF) and ask us for a price using the box on this page, on WhatsApp +84 345 827 501 or at booking@hynatravel.com. Your price depends on your travel dates, group size and hotel choice.
Itinerary
DAY 1: HANOI ARRIVAL – FREE & EASY
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Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi | Meals: Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Guide pickup
On arrival
Welcome to Vietnam. Your HYNA guide and driver are waiting in the arrival hall at Noi Bai International Airport, and the drive into the city takes about 45 minutes, across the Red River and into the tangle of the Old Quarter, where your hotel stands.
Evening
Check in, rest after the flight and take the rest of the day at your own pace. When you feel like stretching your legs, Hoan Kiem Lake is a short walk away: locals stroll its shore, scooters hum along the lanes around it, and the red Huc Bridge leads out to a small temple on the water. It is an easy first look at the capital.
DAY 2: HANOI FULL-DAY CITY TOUR
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Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 8:00 AM, and the day begins at Ba Dinh Square and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where President Ho Chi Minh lies in state.
Walk on past the Presidential Palace, his simple stilt house and the lotus-shaped One Pillar Pagoda. The mausoleum opens in the morning and closes on Mondays, Fridays and during its yearly maintenance; on those days you see it from the square.
At West Lake, Tran Quoc, Hanoi’s oldest pagoda, raises its red brick tower above the water.
Then walk Train Street, where the railway runs a few steps from front doors and tiny cafés.
Midday
Lunch around midday is a Vietnamese meal at a local restaurant, full of fresh herbs and gentle northern flavours.
Afternoon
The Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 and home to Vietnam’s first university, is a calm world of shaded courtyards and stelae naming doctoral laureates.
In the Old Quarter, where each street once belonged to its own craft, watch daily life flow around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Evening
Around 5:00 PM, take your seats for a water puppet show, a folk art born in the rice fields of the Red River Delta, with puppets splashing across a pool stage to live music. You are back at your hotel by about 6:30 PM, and dinner is at your own arrangement.
DAY 3: BAT TRANG ARTISAN VILLAGE, STREET FOOD & COFFEE WORKSHOP
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Overnight: Tirant Hotel, Hanoi | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 8:30 AM, and the road follows the Red River for about 15 km to Bat Trang. Potters here have worked the clay for more than 700 years, and the lanes are still lined with kilns and workshops. Watch artisans raise a pot on the wheel, then sit at one yourself and feel the clay turn under your fingers as you shape a bowl or vase of your own. Before you leave, browse the village market for ceramics to take home.
Midday
Back in the Old Quarter, lunch around midday is a street food meal with your guide: a steaming bowl of pho, then grilled pork with rice noodles and a basket of fresh herbs, tasted at the small local spots where Hanoians eat.
Afternoon
In a hands-on coffee workshop, learn how the beans are grown and roasted, then brew several local styles under a barista’s guidance, from the rich, creamy egg coffee Hanoi is known for to a cool coconut coffee. You are back at your hotel by about 3:30 PM, with the rest of the day at leisure.
DAY 4: HANOI – FLIGHT TO HUE – FREE & EASY
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Overnight: Silk Path Grand Hue, Hue | Meals: Breakfast · Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Guide for airport transfers
Morning
After breakfast, your guide accompanies you to Noi Bai International Airport for your domestic flight to Hue, a little over an hour in the air.
On arrival
Your HYNA guide and driver meet you at Phu Bai International Airport, and a 30-minute drive brings you to your hotel in the city. The rest of the day is yours: stroll along the Perfume River as the boats drift past, or simply rest before tomorrow’s visit to the imperial city.
DAY 5: IMPERIAL HUE & CRAFT VILLAGES
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Overnight: Silk Path Grand Hue, Hue | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Your guide and driver meet you at your hotel around 8:00 AM. Pass through the Ngo Mon Gate into the Imperial Citadel, seat of the Nguyen dynasty, the last royal family to rule Vietnam.
Inside the thick walls, your guide brings the Forbidden Purple City back to life among quiet courtyards, lotus ponds and restored palaces with red lacquered columns.
From there, a drive of about 7 km southwest leads to Thuy Xuan, where the air smells of sandalwood and cinnamon. Families still roll incense sticks by hand and fan them out to dry in bright bundles of red, yellow and purple.
Midday
Lunch around midday brings Hue-style dishes at a local restaurant, a cuisine shaped by the refined tastes of the old royal court.
Afternoon
At a conical hat village, artisans stitch layers of palm leaf over fine bamboo frames with patient, even stitches. Look closely at Hue’s famous poem hats: hold one up to the light and verses and pictures appear between the layers. You are back at your hotel by about 3:30 PM, and the evening is free.
DAY 6: HUE TO HOI AN – OLD QUARTER & LANTERN BOAT RIDE
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Overnight: Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery, Hoi An | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Full day guide
Morning
Check out after breakfast and set off south with your guide and driver around 8:00 AM. The drive to Hoi An takes about 3 hours, plus stops, and its finest stretch climbs over the Hai Van Pass, the ‘pass of the ocean clouds’, where the mountains drop straight into the sea. At the top, stop to take in the long curve of coastline and the fishing villages far below, then wind down towards Da Nang.
Midday
Lunch around 12:30 PM is at a local restaurant on the way, before you check in to your hotel in Hoi An.
Afternoon
In the late afternoon, walk the UNESCO-listed old town, once a busy trading port for merchants from China, Japan and Europe. Mustard-yellow merchant houses, carved assembly halls and the Japanese Covered Bridge line the quiet lanes, and there is time to browse the shops and sit in a café.
Evening
As the lanterns flicker on, around 6:00 PM, board a small wooden boat on the Hoai River. Light a paper lantern, make a wish and set it on the water to drift away among the reflections. You are back at your hotel by about 7:00 PM, with the evening at leisure.
DAY 7: COCONUT BOAT RIDE, TRA QUE VILLAGE & COOKING WORKSHOP
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Overnight: Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery, Hoi An | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch · Dinner on your own | Guide: Half day guide
Morning
Your guide meets you at your hotel around 8:00 AM for a morning in the green countryside around Hoi An. Climb into a round bamboo basket boat at the Cam Thanh coconut forest and glide between the water-coconut palms, the paddles dipping softly in the brown water. The boatmen show you how local fishermen cast their nets, and you can take the paddle and try to steer yourself, which is harder than it looks.
Continue to Tra Que, a vegetable village where farmers still tend fragrant herbs by hand in neat, dark beds. Walk the garden paths, crush a leaf of basil or mint between your fingers, and learn about the herbs you are about to cook with. Back in the kitchen, a local chef guides you step by step through a few Hoi An specialities.
Midday
Around midday, sit down to eat the dishes you have just cooked. You are back at your hotel by about 1:30 PM, with the afternoon free.
DAY 8: HOI AN DEPARTURE
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Overnight: — | Meals: Breakfast · Lunch and dinner on your own | Guide: Guide dropoff
Departure
Enjoy a last breakfast and some free time until your transfer. Your HYNA guide then accompanies you to Da Nang International Airport, about 45 minutes from Hoi An, for your flight home. Thank you for travelling with HYNA. We hope Vietnam stays with you long after you leave.
Children Policy
Children under 5 years old Children from 5 to 9 years old Children 10 years old and above Charged at 100% of adult tour price Note: Children’s age is calculated based on the start date of the tour, not the booking date.
PRICE ON REQUEST
Your price depends on your travel dates, group size and hotel choice. Tell us your plans and we will send you a quote.
Meals: 7 breakfasts · 5 lunches
Transport: Private car, domestic flight, basket boat, lantern boat
Or email us at booking@hynatravel.com
All Reviews
Why HYNA's Travel?
Local Expert Team
A Vietnam-based team that plans every route on the ground and knows each region first-hand.
Honest & Transparent
Clear itineraries, clear inclusions and no hidden surprises, from your first message to your last day.
24/7 support
24/7 support throughout your journey.
Customized Itineraries
Every itinerary can be tailored to your travel dates, pace and interests.
Price and policy
Flexible cancellation policy.
FAQ
1. Does the tour price include airfare?
No. International and domestic flights are not included in our tour prices. Where a route uses a domestic flight, the itinerary shows it so you can plan your bookings.
2. Can you arrange vegetarian or other special meals?
Yes. Tell us about your dietary needs when you send your enquiry and we will arrange the included meals accordingly.
3. Can I change the itinerary?
Yes. Every itinerary can be tailored to your travel dates, pace and interests. Tell us what you would like to add, remove or swap when you ask for a price.
4. What is your cancellation policy?
Our cancellation policy is flexible, and the terms depend on your travel dates and the services booked. Ask us for the full terms before you book.
5. When is the best time to take this tour?
The weather in Vietnam differs a lot between the north, the centre and the south. The best months for this route are shown under "Best time to go" in the Trip facts on this page. Tell us your travel dates and we can suggest the best way to plan the route for that season.
6. Is travel insurance included?
Travel insurance during the tour is included, as listed under "Included in the package". We also recommend your own international travel insurance that covers medical care and flight changes.
7. Is airport pick-up included?
Yes. Your guide and driver meet you at the airport on the first day and take you to the airport for your departure on the last day, as shown in the itinerary.
8. What documents do I need to travel to Vietnam?
You need a passport valid for at least six months from your arrival date and a Vietnam visa or visa exemption, depending on your nationality. The Vietnam visa fee is not included in the tour price.
