Experience a historic August Hanoi with special trains

“We will take visitors on a 'moving' experience in Hanoi. With 14 products associated with tourist vehicles, from cyclos, trams, double-decker buses, to the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line, inner-city trains or waterway journeys along the Red River, visitors will have a multi-layered, multi-perspective Hanoi. Each means of transport is a different way to feel the city's pulse. Hanoi does not stand still, Hanoi always invites with open roads.”

Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism Tran Trung Hieu said so about new tourism products on the occasion of the locality's 80th National Day.

Experiences not to be missed…

In order to enhance the experience for tourists, build new products typical of Hanoi during the peak season, especially during the National Day holiday, the Hanoi Department of Tourism has coordinated with associations, tourism clubs, travel agencies, transportation units, destinations... to build and develop the product set "80 Hanoi experiences not to be missed during the historic festival season."

The products are divided into 8 diverse and rich thematic groups: Heritage-cultural-historical tourism; eco-resort-nature tourism; culinary-shopping-urban experience tourism; art-night-creative tourism; product and service tourism at the hotel system; transportation-metro-waterway-air tourism; agricultural -craft village-new rural tourism; regional-connecting-province-city-international tourism.

Double-decker tourist train - a new highlight of Hanoi tourism on National Day. (Photo: VNA)

The leader of the Hanoi Department of Tourism said that the set of 80 products will bring tourists to experience cultural tourism products such as: Heritage discovery tour, Hanoi 12 flower seasons experience tour, tour to explore tourist attractions, resorts in Ba Vi area and many places on the outskirts of Hanoi, culinary tour, tour to experience craft villages... In particular, the Department has built a digital tourism map of these 80 products to contribute to increasing the convenience of experience for tourists.

Highlights in the product chain are Hanoi's typical railway tourism experiences such as metro train tourism, including metro line 2A combined with heritage sightseeing, craft villages, shopping, and experiencing Phu Luong Depot station; the product "Hanoi Metro Green Journey" to Van Phuc Silk Village and Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam; traditional railway exploitation products with 10 stations in the area, including Hanoi station over 100 years old, the high-class train "SJourney Luxury Train" and the upcoming "The Hanoi Train" route associated with centuries-old urban memories.

Local tourism leaders say the metro offers an opportunity to explore the capital in a convenient and environmentally friendly way. Through convenient connections, visitors can easily access cultural, historical, culinary, and entertainment destinations, etc. during their stopovers at each station. Using the metro will help reduce emissions, protect the environment, and encourage the habit of using public transport, helping to reduce urban traffic.

Deputy General Director of Hanoi Metro Limited Liability Company (Hanoi Metro) Nguyen Van Ngoc said that the urban railway line No. 2A is connected to typical tourist attractions and culinary establishments in Hanoi at each station such as: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam, National Cinema Center, Royal City, Van Phuc silk village, Van Quan lake. In addition, the pilot experience program from Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam to Phu Luong depot (Hanoi Metro's operating area) will soon be put into operation, helping tourists visit the operating area, take check-in photos, experience the train driving model, etc.

Electric cars take tourists around Hoan Kiem Lake. (Photo: Van Chi/VNA)

“Check-in” with the Historic Train

In addition to metro tourism, Hanoi will also have a 2-storey tourist train product called “Nam Cua O” (The Hanoi Train) which opened on the occasion of the successful August Revolution on August 19. This “historic train” is arranged with 5 passenger cars and “check-in” cars with familiar names: O Cau Den, O Quan Chuong, O Cau Giay, O Cho Dua, O Dong Mac.

The train is expected to run on the following route and time: The morning trip starts at 8:00 a.m. at Hanoi station, then passes through Gia Lam and Tu Son stations, then returns to Hanoi station at 11:35 a.m. (stopping to visit some places such as Do Temple - Bac Ninh, Long Bien bridge...); The afternoon trip starts at 1:30 p.m. at Hanoi station, passes through Gia Lam and Tu Son stations and returns to Hanoi station at 5:00 p.m. (stopping to visit Do Temple - Bac Ninh, Long Bien bridge...); The evening trip starts at 8:00 p.m. at Hanoi station, passes through Long Bien, Dong Anh, Phu Dien, Ha Dong, Giap Bat stations and returns to Hanoi station at 11:00 p.m.

It can be said that “The Hanoi Train” is the first inner-city tourist train route in Hanoi, combining nostalgic elements with cultural and artistic design, and typical cuisine of the capital. The product is expected to bring new experiences to tourists, increasing the connection between Hanoi tourism with Bac Ninh and neighboring localities.

Assessing the potential for metro tourism development, Deputy General Director of Hanoi Tourism Corporation, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, said that the Cat Linh - Ha Dong metro line has many advantages such as a modern, clean and beautiful station system, convenient connection with bus routes and close to many prominent tourist attractions such as the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Van Phuc silk village; trains run smoothly, on time, and reasonable ticket prices.

Young people today also pay much attention to history. (Photo: Vuong Cong Nam/Vietnam+)

However, the representative of this travel agency also pointed out limitations, most stations do not have food services, souvenir shops, the space is still monotonous, lacking cultural and historical elements, promotion is not strong and there are no special tourism products on the train.

From the perspective of travel businesses, Chairman of the UNESCO Hanoi Travel Club, Mr. Truong Quoc Hung, commented that Hanoi's metro infrastructure is currently very good and needs to be effectively exploited in tour products. Ha Dong market can be included in the itinerary, especially during Tet for tourists to experience shopping; the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum should be added as a destination so that visitors can have more experiences with art and famous works of art.

In addition, representatives of travel agencies said that metro stations need to have diagrams, maps, QR codes introducing “check-in” points, issuing 1, 2 or 3-day tickets at preferential prices for tourists to easily experience; connecting more bus stops, city tours to serve family groups and individual guests. For the 5-gate Heritage journey, time should be arranged for tourists to get off the station to visit more./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/trai-nghiem-mot-ha-noi-thang-tam-lich-su-cung-nhung-chuyen-tau-dac-biet-post1055579.vnp