Hanoi Street Food Walking Tour and Water Puppet Show
Description
If you are a little worried about eating food in the old Quarter in Hanoi, this is an absolute must. With hundreds of food vendors in this area, it's difficult to know which are good to enjoy. Your guide will help you make the right choices. - Sample delicious Vietnamese cuisine just like the locals do - on the street - Learn more about Hanoi’s unique food culture - Take in a spectacular night view of Hoan Kiem lake - Enjoy the water puppet show
Tour Options
Itinerary
The tour guide will welcome you at your hotel lobby, then start the walking tour in the old quarter '36 streets' to visit some famous and specialized food stalls and local restaurants. You will watch as it is made and taste some particular dishes (The company can customize vegetarian food or something for other special requirements). The old quarter in Hanoi is over one thousand years old and today retains much of the old flavor that made the area special in earlier times. Each street was the exclusive domain of one trade (guilds) so there are whole streets of blacksmiths, silver shops, paper shops, headstone makers and more. Originally there were just 36 streets in the old quarter but today there are more than 50. Although many of the streets are short, and the area is rather compact. It can be very difficult to find local food on your own in the hidden alleys or sidewalks, certainly the best way to experience street food is with a local. In this special tour learn about Vietnamese cuisine, culture, people and language. You will have a unique experience trying the foods of the local Hanoi people; the food is handled hygienically and comfortable venues are provide for the tastings. The benefit also goes back to the vendors or restaurants / families as the food is bought directly from them. Later, the guide will bring you to enjoy a Water Puppet show which is a unique variation on the ancient Asia puppet tradition, and is a Vietnamese tradition dating back to the 11th century. Supported by a large rod placed under the water and manipulated by experienced puppeteers, the wooden puppets appear to be dancing over the water, telling folk tales. It’s entertaining and suitable for all audiences. At the end of your Hanoi tour you are free to continue exploring the area or your guide will assist you with directions or a taxi back to your hotel.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Departure Point: Meeting point, pick-up at hotel possible in the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi. Address: At your hotel Directions: Tour depart from The Old Quarter , Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Dates: See Availability Return point: At the tourist's hotel
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Pick-up at your hotel in old quarter or at 24 au trieu Street (next to Cathedral)
- Departure Time: 2:00pm, 3:00pm, 4:00pm, 5:00pm
- Drop off location: Water Pupet Theater by the side of Hoan Kiem Lake
Reviews(6)
Jewel was a great person to show us around Hanoi's food scene. The water puppet show was really fun. Highly recommend.
Long was an amazing tour guide. Very knowledgeable and experienced. The food was delicious, highly recommended this tour
This was (sadly) my first poor experience with a Vietnam tour or anything I've booked thru Viator in any country. My pickup was late and disorganized and needed me to tell them multiple times where I was. The first half of the food was not street food but was some cooking school that served us their own "version" of pho - which didn't have any broth at all, so really wasn't pho in fact. The "walking tour" was definitely walking but I wouldn't call it a tour- we got basically no information about anything but just walked silently behind a guide. The street food we did have was fine (in my personal opinion) but not great - I had better banh mi for example from several other places during my trip so far. Some of the places we went to they clearly hadn't prepared in advance and there wasn't a table for the group. And to top it all off, they didn't have tickets for the water puppet show and didn't tell me that until after the tour started. Then they refunded me 100,000 vnd to make up for not having water puppet show tickets - except those tickets START at 150,000 according to the website. All in all very disappointing and the only bright spot was that our guide was nice and calm and clearly just trying his best.
This was a very informative and fun tour. The guide, Sarah, was really great. Personable and knowledgable. She was very fun to be with and took us to interesting, authentic places. I also really enjoyed the other traveler. It was a wonderful introduction to Hanoi and Viet Nam. Sarah told us about the food and the culture. I learned a lot. She is born to be a tour guide.
Puppet show was excellent and Hannah our guide took good care of us and explained what we ate and helped us understand eat dish we were eating!
We enjoyed lots of different types of food and learnt about the history of Hanoi. Our guide Nick was great!
