Private tour · 1–4 guests · tailored to you
Hanoi Craft Villages Tour: Van Phuc Silk, Cu Da and Quang Phu Cau
Three villages down one river road south of Hanoi: silk on the loom at Van Phuc, a hundred-year-old village of soy sauce and noodle yards at Cu Da, and the incense yards of Quang Phu Cau in the afternoon light. A licensed local guide, a private car, lunch at an artisan home, and every fee already paid.
Your sample day, stop by stop
What the private price actually buys
A car for your group alone
Air conditioned, for the whole day, with hotel pickup and drop-off in Hanoi.
A licensed guide for the whole day
A local who speaks fluent English and translates both ways in three villages where almost nobody does.
One road, not a day in the car
All three villages lie on the same route south along the Nhue river — about 80 km in total, the longest leg 35 minutes.
Doors that are open because we asked
A loom house, a soy-sauce yard and an incense yard expect your group; walking in alone usually means watching from the lane.
Lunch in a home, not a coach stop
A sit-down meal at an artisan house between the villages, cooked for your group.
Every fee already paid
Loom house, workshop, incense yard and lunch are settled in advance — nothing to hand over all day.
Duration
8.5 hours
Departure
08:00
Pickup
Any hotel in Hanoi
from · $78 · / personChoose group size ›
Price is the total for the whole group, not per person
Solo traveller$205 BOOK →2 guests$245 BOOK →3 guests$275 BOOK →4 guests$310 BOOK →One price for the whole group · free to cancel until 3 days before · every stop can be swapped
The day, hour by hour
This is a sample day: drop a village, spend the extra hour at the looms, or swap the incense yards for a knife-forging village nearby. Times are what we actually run.
Hotel pickup · 08:00 · anywhere in Hanoi · about 25 minutes to Ha Dong
Van Phuc: the looms and the silk lesson
08:30 · about 75 minutes · on foot, flat
Loom house fee included
3 photos · tap to enlarge
The yards behind the main street, where the warp is set and the cloth comes off the loom. Then the two tests that separate real silk from printed polyester, in your own hands — useful for the rest of your trip, not just for this morning.
Your workshop at Vun Art
09:45 · about 60 minutes · seated
Workshop and materials included
A co-operative where artisans with disabilities turn the village’s silk offcuts into collage work. You sit with them, choose your colours and make a piece that leaves with you.
Drive to Cu Da · about 15 minutes · downstream along the Nhue river
Cu Da old village
11:15 · about 60 minutes · on foot, flat
No entry fee — and no obligation to buy
2 photos · tap to enlarge
A village that grew rich on soy sauce a century ago and still makes it, in ceramic jars standing in the yards. Between them, houses built when the money came — French shutters on Vietnamese frames — and racks of miến noodles drying in the sun.
Lunch · 12:20 · about an hour · at an artisan home near the river
Drive to Quang Phu Cau · about 35 minutes · south into Ung Hoa
Quang Phu Cau incense yards
14:05 · about 75 minutes · on foot
Yard fee included
2 photos · tap to enlarge
Bamboo split into cores, dipped, dyed and fanned out in circles across the yards — the strongest photograph of the day, and the reason we put it last, when the light is low. You also see what nobody photographs: the splitting machines and the drying racks that make it a living rather than a backdrop.
Back at your hotel · around 16:30 · about an hour from Ung Hoa
Three villages, eight and a half hours, your group only
Pick your group size. The total already covers the car, the licensed guide, the loom house, the workshop, the incense yard, lunch and every fee along the way — and the route can still change before you travel.
Group total · everything included
Solo traveller$205 BOOK →2 guests$245 BOOK →3 guests$275 BOOK →4 guests$310 BOOK →Group total · free to cancel until 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Another village, a slower morning or five of you? Message us and we will send back a plan and one price. ›What is in the price
One price for the whole group: the car, the guide, three villages, the workshop and lunch.
Included
- Licensed local guide who speaks fluent English, for the whole day
- Private air-conditioned car with driver, hotel pickup and drop-off in Hanoi
- Van Phuc: a working loom house, the silk lesson and the Vun Art workshop
- Cu Da: the riverside old village, drying yards of miến noodles and the soy-sauce jars
- Quang Phu Cau: the incense yards, with time and light for photographs
- Lunch at an artisan home, every entrance and workshop fee, bottled water
Not included
− Drinks beyond the water we bring and what comes with lunch
− Silk, tailoring or anything else 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 a full day of working villages rather than one stop and a coffee.
You would rather be let into three working yards than walk past thirty shops.
You are two of you, a family or a small group and want the day to bend to your pace.
You want the incense yards photographed properly, in low afternoon light.
Look elsewhere if
Money is the deciding factor here. All three villages are free to enter and reachable by Grab.
Heat is a problem for you. From May to September the middle of the day is hot, and two of the three stops are outdoors.
You only have a morning. The half-day tour covers Van Phuc properly on its own.
It has rained hard that week: the incense yards are cleared and we will tell you the evening before and swap the stop.
If a whole day is too much, the half-day tour keeps the looms, the silk lesson and the workshop and has you back by lunchtime. See the Van Phuc half-day tour. Or tell us which of the three villages matters most and we will build the day from there.
Questions before you book
About the day
Why these three villages together?
They sit on one road south along the Nhue river, so the whole day is about 80 km with the longest leg 35 minutes. And they are three different trades: thread, food, and bamboo — you are not looking at variations of the same craft.
Is the incense village worth the drive?
For photographs, it is the strongest thing near Hanoi: fans of red incense sticks filling whole yards. We put it last so you are there in low light. If photography is not why you travel, say so and we will spend the time at the looms instead.
What happens if it rains?
The looms, the workshop and lunch are all under roof, so the day runs. Heavy rain does clear the incense yards, and then we tell you the evening before and swap in another village or a longer workshop, with the difference refunded.
How much walking is there?
About four kilometres in total across the day, all of it flat, broken into short stretches with the car meeting you at each end.
Will our guide speak good English?
Yes. Your guide is licensed, speaks fluent English and translates both ways in all three villages, where almost nobody else does.
Can we change the order, or drop a village?
Yes. This is a sample day: skip Cu Da, stay two hours at Van Phuc, or swap the incense yards for the knife forges at Da Sy. Tell us when you book and we send back the plan and one price in writing.
Before you book
Is the price per person?
No. The price shown is for the group, one to four guests. 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?
Two ways, and you pick at checkout: pay the full price online by card or PayPal, or put down a 30% deposit online and hand the rest to your guide in cash on the day, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. Choose cash and the deposit invoice reaches you on WhatsApp or by email; the booking is confirmed once it clears.
What if we need to cancel?
It is free to cancel up to 3 days (72 hours) before the tour: you get back everything you paid, and a new date costs nothing if there is space. Inside 3 days, including no-shows, 30% of the tour price is kept, because the guide, the car, your workshop place and the family cooking lunch are already held for you.
Where and when is pickup?
Any hotel in Hanoi at 08:00, back at the same door around 16:30. Your guide is in the lobby at the agreed time and waits 20 minutes.
Can you handle dietary needs at lunch?
Vegetarian and vegan are straightforward with notice, and we pass allergies to the kitchen. It is a home kitchen rather than a certified allergen-free one, so tell us when you book and we will be honest about what they can promise.
Book the full day
Tell us the date and how many of you there are. We answer on WhatsApp, usually within minutes, and the same day you get your pickup time and the name of the licensed guide who will meet you.
Group total · everything included
Solo traveller$205 BOOK →2 guests$245 BOOK →3 guests$275 BOOK →4 guests$310 BOOK →Group total · free to cancel until 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Another village, a slower morning or five of you? Message us and we will send back a plan and one price. ›