Which one to choose in Hanoi
Perfume Pagoda (Chua Huong) vs Tay Phuong Pagoda
Two temples in Hanoi. Perfume Pagoda (Chua Huong) has 28 tickets and tours to book; Tay Phuong Pagoda has 1 ticket or tour to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Hanoi, Vietnam
The Perfume Pagoda is not a single building but a pilgrimage route through the limestone hills of Huong Son, about 60 km southwest of central Hanoi, and getting there is most of the planning. Independent travellers can take a bus or a hired car to Ben Duc wharf, buy the site ticket and a boat ticket there, and then add the cable car if they do not want to climb. For most foreign visitors, though, a day trip from Hanoi is simpler.
The standard product is a full-day tour with a guide, hotel pick-up in the Old Quarter, the rowing boat along the Yen stream, lunch at a local restaurant and the walk or cable car up to the cave.
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Hanoi, Vietnam
Tay Phuong Pagoda is an active Buddhist temple and charges no admission in the ordinary way; visitors leave a donation if they wish. There is no ticket to book, and the only practical question is how to cover the distance from Hanoi. The pagoda lies about 40 km west of the city centre, in the rural Thach That district of greater Hanoi, so a car or motorbike is the usual way to get there; public buses run in the general direction but leave you with a long final stretch.
The most common organised option is a full-day trip from Hanoi to the western outskirts that joins several sights in one loop.
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