3 Days in Hanoi: Two City Days and a Ha Long Bay or Ninh Binh Day

Start with the stop that has a deadline. From November to March the mausoleum admits visitors on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, 8:00-11:00 Tuesday to Thursday and 8:00-11:30 on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, and it is shut on Monday and Friday. Queue early, dress neatly and leave bags behind.

The mausoleum guide covers the summer hours and the yearly maintenance closure.

Văn Miếu is open 8:00-17:00 every day, with a standard ticket of VND 70,000 and free entry for children under 16. It is the old national academy, with stelae on turtle bases listing the scholars who passed the royal exams. Allow 75 minutes.

The Temple of Literature guide has the courtyard order and the night-tour days, which are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

The citadel at 19C Hoang Dieu is open 8:00-17:00 every day, with a VND 100,000 ticket and free entry for children under 16. Restoration of Kinh Thien Palace began in 2026, so some of the central ground is under works. Give the visit 90 minutes, after a lunch of bun cha or cha ca on the way.

The 50-minute show at 57B Dinh Tien Hoang runs 5 to 7 times a day, all year. The reserved ticket at $7 is collected at an Old Quarter office and lets you choose a show time, which the theatre's own site prints only as a booking form. Read the water puppet theatre guide before choosing seats.

The old French colonial prison is open 8:00-17:00 every day, and the ticket is VND 50,000 with children under 16 free. Allow 75 minutes. The Little Paris walk at $43.81 is a three-hour French Quarter walk that ends here, with the ticket included. See the Hoa Lo Prison guide.

The museum at 36 Ly Thuong Kiet is open 8:00-17:00 daily. The ticket price is not printed on its site, so pay at the desk. It is the most useful indoor hour of the three days if it rains, and an hour is enough.

Walk the lake circuit and cross the Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple, whose ticket and hours are not confirmed on an official page. From 19:00 to midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the lake roads are a pedestrian zone and taxis stop short of the water, which matters if your dinner is on the far side. The Hoan Kiem Lake guide has the loop.

Give the Old Quarter two unhurried hours. Many streets still sell the goods their old guild named them for, so the street sign is a map of what to buy. Stop for an egg coffee when your feet say so. Old Quarter streets are laid out by theme in the guide, and Train Street has its own page because access to it varies.

The three-to-four-hour food walk at $18 gives 4 to 5 tastings, including bun cha and banh mi, from an Old Quarter office, and it is the dinner of the day. On a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, eat in the lake's pedestrian zone after 19:00 instead and keep the $18.

The listing's Old Quarter pickup runs 07:20-08:20 if you book that option. The port-only option has no pickup, and its listing says a Hanoi transfer adds $10 per person, so read which option the $40 covers at checkout. The bus takes about 2.5 hours and includes a 25-minute stop at a pearl shop.

This is the part of the day that tires people, so use the ride to rest.

Guests board at 11:30 and eat a set-menu lunch while the boat moves out among the limestone islands. The Ha Long Bay day cruise is rated 4.8 from 14,910 reviews, and the luxury day trip with a buffet or standard menu at $41 is the other well-reviewed choice, with Hanoi return at about 8:30-9:00 PM. The $41 listing states the bay entrance fee as included.

The afternoon visits Sung Sot Cave, then offers kayaking or a bamboo boat at Luon Cave. Kayak if you are fit, take the bamboo boat if you want to stay dry. The caves have steps, so wear shoes with grip.

The Ha Long Bay day trip guide compares every day cruise from Hanoi.

The last stop is Titop Island, with a swim or a hike, followed by a sunset party on board. The bus returns to the Old Quarter at about 9 PM, so do not book anything for the evening. An overnight cruise makes the bay unhurried and sits on the Ha Long Bay cruise page.

The Ninh Binh day trip at $48 collects guests from the Old Quarter between 07:20 and 08:00 by limousine or bus. The first stop is your choice of Hoa Lu with a village cycling tour or the Bai Dinh Temple complex. Entrance fees, the guide, the boat and water are included in the listing.

Children over 1 metre pay an entrance fee at the destination, and a Lunar New Year surcharge applies.

The listing serves a buffet lunch with vegetarian options. The other well-reviewed option, $50, keeps all entrance fees and the Trang An boat in the price and returns to Hanoi about 7:00-7:35 PM. That earlier return is the practical difference from the Ha Long day trips.

The afternoon is a sampan boat ride through Trang An. Some cheaper listings pick Tam Coc instead, such as the $25 Ninh Binh tour with a Tam Coc or Trang An choice, where the listing says entrance fees are included on some options only.

The day ends with a hike up Mua Cave for views over the Tam Coc valley, then about 2.5 hours back to the Old Quarter, with no arrival time given in this listing. Wear shoes with grip for the steps and bring water. The Ninh Binh day trip guide compares all the day trips from Hanoi.