Hanoi Countryside Jeep Tour to Co Loa

Why we built this tour

Cổ Loa is Vietnam's oldest capital. It predates the Chinese occupation. It predates the Lý dynasty, the Trần dynasty and every pagoda in Hanoi you have been told to visit. It was built by King An Dương Vương in the third century BCE as a spiral fortress — three concentric earth walls, a legend about a magic crossbow, and a daughter who betrayed her father for love. By the time Angkor's first stones were laid, Cổ Loa was already a ruin.

Almost no one visiting Hanoi goes there. It is forty kilometres north, in Đông Anh district, past the airport. There is no train to it. The guidebooks mention it in half a page. We thought this was a mistake.

So we built a jeep tour that treats Cổ Loa as what it is: the single oldest piece of urban Vietnam, told through the one route that lets you also see the countryside you cross to get there. The Red River crossing. The rice fields on either side. The temple inside the citadel grounds, where An Dương Vương's daughter is still worshipped despite being the woman who lost him his kingdom.

What this tour means

Vietnam's identity is older than its colonisation and older than its independence. Cổ Loa is the proof. Standing on the earth walls of the citadel today you can see the shape of the spiral if you know what you are looking at. Most visitors do not know what they are looking at. Your guide will tell you.

The Mỵ Châu story — king, daughter, enemy prince, stolen crossbow, war, a betrayal that was really a love — is Vietnam's Romeo and Juliet, told six hundred years before Shakespeare wrote his. Vietnamese children learn it the way British children learn Macbeth. Our guides tell it in the temple where it ends.

Key facts at a glance

The experience

The ride out is forty-five minutes, mostly on quiet roads once you are over the Red River. The jeep handles well on these roads. The temperature drops two degrees. The air changes. You will notice it.

At the citadel itself you walk the earth walls for about forty-five minutes with your guide. There is a small museum, a shrine, a well. The site is quiet — this is not a Angkor Wat crowd. On most weekdays you will see more incense sellers than other tourists.

The ride back is a different route through more villages. You will stop once at a tea house, probably, if the guide and the group feel like it. The tour ends in the Old Quarter around four and a half hours after it started.

A day in the life

Minute-by-minute, in the order it happens.

1. Cross the Red River — Leave the Old Quarter over Chuong Duong Bridge, with Long Bien Bridge, banana farms and river life below.
2. Countryside villages & market — Drive between rice fields where buffaloes graze, meet farmers and walk through a local market.
3. Co Loa Citadel — Explore the earthen ramparts of Vietnam's capital from the 3rd century BC and visit the temple of King An Duong Vuong, hearing the legend of the Golden Turtle and the magic crossbow.
4. Lotus garden & koi pond — Relax with a cup of lotus tea, feed the koi and take photos among the lotus flowers.
5. Egg coffee by West Lake — Return to the city for egg coffee in a café overlooking the lake.
6. Bun Cha — Enjoy Bun Cha, grilled pork with noodles and herbs — lunch comes at the end of the morning tour and at the start of the afternoon tour.

From the tour

Real photos from recent vintage jeep tours.

Who it's for — and who it isn't

The soundtrack of this tour

The jeep ride to Cổ Loa is the quietest ride we run. Once past the Red River bridge, it is cicadas and water buffalo and someone's radio. The citadel itself has one constant sound — the wind in the bamboo along the earth walls — and one occasional sound — a bell at the temple when a worshipper arrives. On a weekday morning this is as quiet as a Vietnamese historical site gets.

What's included — and what's not

Behind the scenes

Every vehicle on this tour is owned, registered and maintained by Eco Trip Asia — not rented from a third party by the hour. Daily pre-tour safety checks. Twice-yearly road authority inspections. One mechanic per fleet, who has been with us since before we had a licence number.

Your guide is on our payroll, not a freelance tour hunter picked up outside a hostel. Every guide completes a six-month training programme before leading a tour alone. The tour you take is the tour we would send our own cousins on.

Insurance: Eco Trip Asia's commercial passenger-service policy covers every guest for the duration of every tour (third-party and personal accident). First-aid trained guide. Emergency contact at the office +84 879 617 691.

Compare with sister tours

The Female Riders Co Loa tour covers the same destination on quiet electric scooters driven by women. The Bat Trang Pottery jeep tour is a different kind of countryside day — ceramics instead of history. The Ba Vì & Đường Lâm full day goes further and includes a 400-year-old village.

For a specialist deep dive on the specific vehicle used on this tour, see our sister network sites: hanoijeep.com (UAZ-469 jeeps), biketourhanoi.com (VinFast VF DrgnFly e-bikes), hanoiatvtour.com (Sóc Sơn ATV & buggy).