Which one to choose in Hanoi
Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) vs Tran Quoc Pagoda
Two temples in Hanoi. Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) has 11 tickets and tours to book; Tran Quoc Pagoda has 3 tickets and tours 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
Most visitors simply buy a ticket at the main gate on Quoc Tu Giam Street and walk in; the fee is modest, there are no timed slots and no reason to book ahead. Audio guides and local guides can be arranged on site, and the information panels in English are good enough for a self-guided visit of an hour or so.
The paid tours fall into a few groups. The most common is a half-day or full-day city tour of Hanoi in which the temple is one stop among several, usually alongside the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area, the One Pillar Pagoda, Hoa Lo Prison or Hoan Kiem Lake, with a guide, a vehicle and entry tickets included and lunch sometimes added.
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Hanoi, Vietnam
Tran Quoc is an active Buddhist pagoda and entry is free; you walk in from the causeway at the gate, and donations for the upkeep of the temple are welcome. No ticket is needed or sold, and there is no booking system. The only practical requirement is clothing, since the monks turn away visitors in shorts or sleeveless tops.
Several kinds of outing that include the pagoda are sold online from Hanoi. The simplest is a guided walking tour of the Ba Dinh district, in which a local guide links the pagoda with the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum area, the One Pillar Pagoda and the lakes, explaining Vietnamese Buddhism and the history of the city as you go.
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