Bắc Ninh

Do Temple, But Thap and Dong Ho before the evening rush

Bac Ninh makes a day trip from Hanoi built around old temples and a craft village. Start at Do Temple, where the eight Ly kings are worshipped, cross the Duong River to Dau and But Thap pagodas in Thuan Thanh, spend the afternoon watching woodblock printing at Dong Ho, and head back by 3.30pm.

Set off around 7am and go first to Do Temple at Dinh Bang. The eight Ly kings are worshipped here, and the dynasty's founder, who moved the capital to Thang Long in 1010, came from this village. On the way out, look at the old communal house in Dinh Bang, one of the finest in the north.

Mid-morning, drive south across the Duong River to Thuan Thanh. Dau Pagoda stands on the site of Luy Lau, one of the earliest Buddhist centres in Vietnam, and its brick tower rises over the rice fields. A short hop on, But Thap Pagoda keeps the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Quan Am, a carved wooden figure whose hands fan out in a full circle; take time over the stone balustrades in the back courtyard too.

Spend the afternoon at Dong Ho, where a few families still press woodblock prints. Watch a sheet go through the colour layers before you buy. If your dates fall in the first lunar month, rearrange the morning around Lim hill and the quan ho singing instead.

Phu The cakes, Nem Bui and Ho Village chicken

Bac Ninh's food is a set of village specialities, each tied to one place: banh phu the wedding cakes from Dinh Bang, nem Bui pork rolls from Tien Du and boiled ga Ho chicken from Thuan Thanh. The phu the cakes travel well and are the usual gift to take back to Hanoi.

In Dinh Bang, the same village as Do Temple, families make banh phu the, the square 'husband and wife' cakes of glutinous rice and mung bean wrapped in leaves, traditionally given at weddings. They are sold in stacks along the main road.

Tien Du district, around Lim, is the home of nem Bui, a pork roll seasoned with roasted rice powder and wrapped in leaves, eaten with herbs and a glass of rice wine. In Thuan Thanh, Ho village gives its name to ga Ho, a large, heavy-legged breed of chicken once raised for royal tables; restaurants near the pagodas serve it boiled or steamed.

Quan ho culture has its own manners at the table. Hosts offer betel and green tea before a song, and at festival time you may be handed a quid of betel by a singer; accepting with both hands is the polite reply.

The Lim Hill, Do Temple and Dau festivals by lunar month

Bac Ninh's big festivals follow the lunar calendar, so their Western dates move each year. The Lim Festival of quan ho singing falls less than two weeks after Tet, Do Temple honours the Ly kings around the 15th of the third lunar month, and Dau Pagoda holds its procession on the 8th of the fourth.

At Lim, pairs of singers in four-panel dresses and flat palm hats trade quan ho verses on the slopes of Lim hill and from boats on the pond, and the crowds are huge; arrive at dawn. The Do Temple festival brings processions of palanquins, wrestling and boat races that mark the founding of the dynasty. The Dau Pagoda festival carries the statues of the four Buddhist deities of rain, cloud, thunder and lightning out in procession, a ritual tied to the farming year.

Dong Ho has its own season: printing peaks in the last lunar month before Tet, when families buy new prints to hang for the new year. Outside the festival months, October and November are the most comfortable time for the loop, with dry roads and mild afternoons; summer brings heavy storms and sticky heat.