Private tour · 1–4 guests · tailored to you
Temple of Literature Tour, Private and Guided from Your Hotel
Four hours inside Vietnam’s first university, with a licensed local guide who speaks fluent English and a car for your group alone. The five courtyards, the doctors’ steles read aloud, a calligraphy session with a scholar, and the One Pillar Pagoda — then we drop you wherever you want to go next.
Your sample half day, stop by stop
What the private price actually buys
A car for your group alone
Nobody else joins, and it waits for you rather than the other way round.
A licensed guide who works only for you
A local who speaks fluent English and knows the history well enough to answer your questions, not recite a script.
Picked up and dropped where you like
From your hotel in the morning or afternoon, and afterwards to lunch, the Old Quarter or back to your room.
The stones read, not just photographed
Names, dates and stories from the doctors’ steles, and what each courtyard meant to a scholar.
A brush in your own hand
A calligrapher shows you the strokes and helps you write a word to take home.
Every fee included, no shop stops
Tickets and the calligraphy session are already paid, and we never detour to a shop.
Duration
4 hours
Departure
08:00 or 13:30
Pickup
Any hotel in Hanoi
from · $35 · / personChoose group size ›
Price is the total for the whole group, not per person
Solo traveller$95 BOOK →2 guests$110 BOOK →3 guests$125 BOOK →4 guests$140 BOOK →Price is for your whole group · free to cancel until 3 days before · the route bends to you
The half day, stop by stop
This is a sample route: linger at the steles, skip the pagoda or add a stop, and we rework it around you. The morning start is quieter; the 13:30 start has warmer light in the courtyards.
Pickup · 08:00 or 13:30 · your hotel in Hanoi · usually 10–20 minutes to the gate
The five courtyards and the Constellation of Literature
About 60 minutes · on foot, flat
Entry ticket included
3 photos · tap to enlarge
Each gate takes you further from the street and closer to learning. Your guide explains why the paths are laid out as they are, what the round windows of the Constellation of Literature pavilion stand for, and why this square pond is called the Well of Heavenly Clarity.
The doctors’ steles and the Imperial Academy
About 35 minutes · on foot
Included
2 photos · tap to enlarge
Eighty-two stone steles on the backs of tortoises record the laureates of the royal exams between 1442 and 1779. We read some names and stories aloud, then walk through to the halls of Quoc Tu Giam, the university founded here in 1076.
Your calligraphy session
About 30 minutes · seated
Session included; your piece to keep
A scholar-calligrapher shows you how the brush moves and what a few characters mean, then helps you write a word you choose — a name, a wish, a place — on paper you take home.
Short drive · about 5 minutes · to Ba Dinh
One Pillar Pagoda and the Presidential Palace grounds
About 50 minutes · on foot
Grounds ticket included
2 photos · tap to enlarge
The small wooden pagoda built to look like a lotus on its stem, and the gardens of the Presidential Palace with Ho Chi Minh’s stilt house. 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.
Drop-off · about four hours after pickup · your hotel, a restaurant or anywhere you ask in Hanoi
Four hours, your group only
Pick your group size. The total already covers the car, the licensed guide, every ticket and the calligraphy session — and the route can still change before you travel.
Group total · everything included
Solo traveller$95 BOOK →2 guests$110 BOOK →3 guests$125 BOOK →4 guests$140 BOOK →Total for your group · free to cancel until 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081A different start time, a slower pace or five of you? Message us for a plan and a single price. ›What is in the price
Everything the morning costs is inside one group price.
Included
- Licensed local guide who speaks fluent English, with your group only
- Private air-conditioned car, pickup and drop-off at your hotel or anywhere you ask in Hanoi
- The Temple of Literature in depth: the five courtyards, the Constellation of Literature pavilion and the 82 doctors’ steles
- A calligraphy session with a scholar-calligrapher; your own piece to take home
- One Pillar Pagoda and the Presidential Palace grounds
- Every entrance fee and bottled water
Not included
− Lunch and drinks beyond the water we bring
− Anything you buy for yourself
− A tip for your guide and driver — never expected, always welcome
− Travel insurance, which we recommend you carry
Is this the right tour for you?
A good fit if
You want to understand the Temple of Literature, not only photograph it.
You enjoy history told as stories about people.
You are a couple, a family or a small group and want the morning to bend to your pace.
You like the idea of writing your first characters with a real calligrapher.
Look elsewhere if
Price is the deciding factor. The ticket is cheap and the site is easy to reach on your own.
You want the whole city in one go; for that, choose the full day instead.
You mainly want the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum; it opens only on some mornings and is not part of this half day.
Your flight leaves within four hours of the start.
If you have a whole day, the full-day tour keeps this morning and adds Tran Quoc Pagoda, Hoa Lo Prison, the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake and a water puppet show, with lunch. See the Hanoi full-day tour. Or tell us what you would like to see and we will build the half day around it.
Questions before you book
About the half day
Is the Temple of Literature worth a guided visit?
It is beautiful on your own, but much of its meaning is invisible without someone to explain it: the exam system, the symbolism of each courtyard and the people named on the steles. That is what a good guide adds.
Is the morning or the afternoon departure better?
Mornings are quieter before school groups arrive; the 13:30 departure has warmer light for photographs. The route is the same.
How much walking is there?
About two kilometres in total, mostly flat stone paths, with the car close by between stops.
Will our guide speak good English?
Yes. Your guide is licensed, speaks fluent English and adapts the stories to what you are interested in.
Can we keep what we write in the calligraphy session?
Yes. You take your piece home the same day; the calligrapher rolls it for you.
Can the order change, or the pace slow down for children?
Yes. This is a sample route: stay longer at the steles, skip the pagoda, or shorten the walking for small children or older parents. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest.
Before you book
Is that price per person?
No. The price covers your whole party of one to four. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest. Five or more are quoted on WhatsApp.
How do we pay?
You can pay the full amount online by card or PayPal when you book, or pay a 30% deposit online and give the remaining 70% to your guide in cash on the day, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. With the cash option we send the deposit invoice by WhatsApp or email, and your place is confirmed once it is paid.
What if we need to cancel?
Cancelling at least 3 days (72 hours) before the tour is free: the whole payment is returned, and changing the date costs nothing if there is space. Within 3 days, no-shows included, we keep 30% of the tour price, because the guide, the car and the calligraphy session are already reserved for you.
Where and when is pickup and drop-off?
Pickup at your hotel in Hanoi at 08:00 or 13:30; drop-off at your hotel or anywhere else you ask in the city. Your guide will be in the lobby at the time we agree and waits 20 minutes.
What should we wear?
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.
Book the half day
Tell us the date and how many of you there are. We reply on WhatsApp, normally within minutes, and confirm your pickup time and your licensed guide’s name that same day.
Group total · everything included
Solo traveller$95 BOOK →2 guests$110 BOOK →3 guests$125 BOOK →4 guests$140 BOOK →Total for your group · free to cancel until 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081A different start time, a slower pace or five of you? Message us for a plan and a single price. ›