BOOKING TERMS
Booking Terms
Last updated 23 September 2026
The terms for every tour booked on templeofliteraturehanoi.com, in plain language.
1. The tours we sell
Both of our tours are private: one car and one guide for your party, and no strangers added. Every price on the site is a total for the whole party of one to four guests; for five or more we quote on WhatsApp.
The half day spends most of its time inside the Temple of Literature, adds a calligraphy session with a scholar-calligrapher, and ends at the One Pillar Pagoda and the Presidential Palace grounds. The full day adds the Ho Chi Minh complex, Tran Quoc Pagoda, lunch, Hoa Lo Prison, the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake, and a water puppet show. Every booking includes:
- an air-conditioned car and driver for your party, collecting you at your hotel and dropping you at your hotel or any address you give us in Hanoi
- a licensed local guide who speaks fluent English and stays with your party throughout
- every admission charge on the route and the calligraphy session, with the sheet you write to take away
- bottled water, and on the full day, lunch and seats at the puppet show
What you see on the tour pages is a starting point, not a fixed script. Stops can be dropped, added or lengthened, and the pace slowed for children or older travellers; we confirm the final route and its single price in writing before you pay. Changes may raise or lower the price.
Excluded: your own purchases, drinks other than the water we supply and those served with lunch, travel insurance, and gratuities.
2. Who is responsible for your day
Temple of Literature Hanoi Tours takes your booking, arranges the day and remains your contact from the first message to the last. The tour is delivered with a Vietnamese partner holding an international travel licence, and your guide carries a valid guide card. You deal with us throughout; there is no third party for you to chase.
3. Payment
Pick one of two options at checkout:
- Pay the full amount online — by card or PayPal at checkout, or through a payment link we send you on WhatsApp.
- Pay a 30% deposit online and the balance in cash — we send the deposit invoice by WhatsApp or email, and you hand the remaining 70% to your guide on the day in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. The balance, and the exchange rate if you pay in dong, are shown on your confirmation.
We confirm your booking when the online payment clears and then send your pickup time and your guide’s name. Because the tour price already covers every ticket, nobody asks you for money at a gate, at the calligraphy table or at the theatre.
Payments are only ever taken through this website or through an invoice sent from our own WhatsApp number or email address. Treat any other request as not coming from us.
4. Cancellation, changes and no-shows
- 3 days (72 hours) or more before the tour: cancellation is free for any reason. We refund everything you paid to the card or account you used, usually within 5–10 business days.
- Within 3 days, and no-shows: we keep 30% of the tour price, since the guide, the car, the calligraphy session and any show seats are held for you alone. If you paid in full, 70% is refunded; if you paid the deposit, it covers the charge.
- Changing the date: free up to 3 days before the tour, as long as there is availability.
On the day your guide waits in your hotel lobby from the agreed time and messages you on WhatsApp. If we cannot reach you within twenty minutes, the booking counts as a no-show.
5. Closures, weather and changes on our side
Rain does not stop this tour: the halls, the prison museum and the puppet theatre are under roof. In heavy rain we shorten the outdoor walks and tell you the evening before if the order changes.
Sites in Hanoi sometimes close at short notice — the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum on Mondays, Fridays, during its annual maintenance or for state events, other sites on public holidays. When that affects your route we tell you before the day and offer an equivalent stop, another date, or a refund of the difference. Stops are never left out without telling you.
The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum opens only in the morning, is closed on Mondays and Fridays, and closes for several weeks each year for maintenance. On those days we visit the Presidential Palace grounds, the stilt house and the One Pillar Pagoda instead.
6. What we ask of you
- be ready in your hotel lobby at the agreed time, or message us if you are delayed
- tell us when booking about dietary requirements, mobility needs, or anyone in your party under five
- carry your own travel insurance — our booking does not include medical or cancellation cover
- dress with shoulders and knees covered at temples, pagodas and above all the mausoleum
- follow your guide’s instructions at the mausoleum, where silence and a fixed route are required
Shoulders and knees should be covered at the Temple of Literature, pagodas and especially the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where guards turn away shorts and sleeveless tops.
7. Children and accessibility
Children are welcome on both tours. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest. The calligraphy session suits children from about five with a grown-up helping.
The Temple of Literature has flat stone paths with low steps between courtyards, and the car waits close to every stop, so the half day suits most visitors with limited mobility. The full day involves more walking and uneven pavements in the Old Quarter. Tell us your needs when booking and your guide will plan around them.
8. Limits of our liability
As far as Vietnamese law allows, our liability for any claim arising from a booking is capped at the amount paid for that booking. We are not responsible for loss caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as weather, closures, public holidays or the acts of others. None of this limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence.
9. How to reach us
Temple of Literature Hanoi Tours · Dong Da, Hanoi, Vietnam
WhatsApp +84 368 938 081 · [email protected]