A print of tall, narrow Old Quarter houses side by side: balconies and railings in black line, indigo shutters, red doors, an ochre gable and a green street tree under a tangle of wires. — Tube housesOchre, Sappan red, Shutter green, Indigo, key blockOld QuarterLine drawn by FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, an image model, after a photograph by Francisco Anzola, Photograph by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0. Cropped for this site.

A photograph of tall, narrow Old Quarter houses side by side: balconies and railings in black line, indigo shutters, red doors, an ochre gable and a green street tree under a tangle of wires. — Tube housesOchre, Sappan red, Shutter green, Indigo, key blockOld QuarterLine drawn by FLUX.2 [klein] 4B, an image model, after a photograph by Francisco Anzola, Photograph by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0. Cropped for this site.

In the city

Thirty-six streets

The guild streets, a tube house from the inside, Bạch Mã temple, coffee.

Length: 3.5 hours
Starts: 08:30 or 15:30
Group: Up to 8
From: USD 49 a guest

What happens

Every street in the Old Quarter was named for what it sold, and a few still sell it. We walk four of the guild streets (Hàng Bạc, Hàng Mã, Hàng Thiếc and Hàng Trống), go through a tube house from the street to the courtyard at the back, visit Bạch Mã temple, and finish with coffee.

08:30
We meet at the market gate and agree on a pace. It is a slow one.
08:45
Hàng Bạc, where silver is still sold and worked.
09:30
Hàng Mã, paper houses and paper money, made to be burned for the dead. We stay a little back from the shopfronts and talk quietly.
10:15
A tube house, walked from the shop at the front to the courtyard at the back. It is a family home, and we have asked.
11:00
Bạch Mã temple. Shoes by the door if the doorway has a row of them.
11:45
Coffee, phin, at a table with a view of the street.

Included: Coffee at the last stop; A guide for up to eight guests.

What you will see

Photographs, graded to look like one shoot. Select one to see it larger, with its credit.

Good to know

What to wear

Shoes that are easy to slip off, and something that covers your shoulders and knees for the temple.

Walking

About 3 km, flat. The pavements are also shopfronts, so we walk single file.

Children

Fine from 8. The streets are narrow and the pace is steady.

Access

The tube house has steep stairs, but its ground floor is step-free.

Temples and dress

Cover shoulders and knees inside Bạch Mã temple, and keep your voice low.

The weather, by season

Xuân February to April: highs 22 to 29°C, about 53 mm of rain a month.
Hạ May to August: highs 33 to 35°C, about 239 mm of rain a month.
Thu September to November: highs 27 to 32°C, about 148 mm of rain a month.
Đông December and January: highs 20 to 21°C, about 20 mm of rain a month.

Láng station normals, 1991 to 2020. The four seasons

Where we meet

The main gate of Đồng Xuân Market, on Đồng Xuân Street.

The afternoon walk (15:30) follows the same route and ends with coffee at dusk.

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Đồng Xuân Market. We link to maps; we do not embed one.

Cancelling

Cancel up to 48 hours before the start for a full refund. Between 48 and 24 hours, half is refunded. Within 24 hours, nothing is, unless we cancel: then you are refunded in full, or moved to another day.

Sample terms. The cancellation policy

Questions

Do we go inside a real house?

Yes: a family home, not a shop, where we have asked in advance. We keep the group to eight so it stays a visit and not a crowd.

Is it a shopping tour?

No. We take no commission and we do not walk you into a shop. If you want to buy something, your guide will tell you the street.

Are the street names real?

All of them. Hàng Bạc, Hàng Mã, Hàng Thiếc and Hàng Trống are streets in the Old Quarter, and Hàng Trống gave its name to the pictures on this site.

What guests say

Reserved for a guest

Reviews appear here only once real guests have written them. We do not publish sample reviews.

Two more to hang beside it

A print of two ochre wooden cake moulds hung on a plank wall, each carved with a carp with jade fins.

A photograph of two ochre wooden cake moulds hung on a plank wall, each carved with a carp with jade fins.

Print the line, paint the colour

A woodblock and hand-colouring workshop with a printmaker. Your print comes home with you.

Length: 2.5 hours
Starts: 09:30 or 14:00
Group: Up to 6
From: USD 65

A print of three glasses of beer with white heads on a red plastic stool, seen from above, on a deep indigo ground.

A photograph of three glasses of beer with white heads on a red plastic stool, seen from above, on a deep indigo ground.

The city eats on stools

Eight stops on an evening walk. Bia hơi included.

Length: 3.5 hours
Starts: 18:00
Group: Up to 8
From: USD 59

All thirteen experiences