Phu Tho is about 90 km northwest of Hanoi. Referring to this place, visitors often think of the Hung Temple Festival, the pilgrimage to the roots, or the immense palm forest and tea hills. However, the locality has many other diverse tourist attractions such as vibrant cities, large national parks, hot mineral springs…
What season is beautiful in Phu Tho?
As a province located in the midland and mountainous areas of the North, the weather has four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring is the season of spiritual tourism and every year in the third lunar month, hundreds of thousands of tourists come here to make the pilgrimage to the Hung Temple historical relic site.
Move
Not far from Hanoi with the connection of the Hanoi – Lao Cai highway, the road to Phu Tho is very convenient. With public transport, visitors can choose a bus, catching at My Dinh from 60,000 VND one way. But the bus is often crowded, so you can book a limousine, priced from 140,000 VND one way. Currently, there are many car companies with fixed pick-up points, visitors can choose Xuan Cuong, Anh Phat…
For private vehicles such as cars, the fastest route is in the direction of Noi Bai, then on the Hanoi – Lao Cai highway. There are many points down the province from the highway. If going to the center of Viet Tri city, visitors get off at IC7. Motorcycles and cars can also travel on National Highway 2, passing through Phuc Yen, Vinh Yen, and Vinh Phuc province. Another route is Highway 32 through Son Tay town.
Currently, Phu Tho does not have a civil airport, tourists from further away fly to Hanoi and move.
What play
Viet Tri city center is the first stop for visitors to explore Phu Tho. The bustling city is not as crowded as Hanoi. Some suggested spots are Van Lang Park, built to emerge as a pearl. With a total area of 116 hectares, the park includes a walking path surrounding the lake, a pedestrian bridge lit up at night. This is also the place where many people and tourists gather to watch fireworks on every holiday. Around the park are a series of eateries and drinks with affordable prices of 15,000 – 30,000 VND.
In addition, the city put into operation Nguyen Du culinary street, with a series of delicious dishes such as river fish, diverse hot pot, goat meat, European dishes… for visitors to enjoy.
The Hung Temple relic site belongs to Phong Chau land, which was the imperial capital of the State of Van Lang. This is the place to worship the Hung Kings. Hung Temple area has 4 temples, 1 pagoda, 1 mausoleum and some other architectural items, in harmony with the majestic natural landscape, where the sacred air of the mountains and rivers converge. Every year, the Hung Temple Festival takes place on the 10th day of the third lunar month.
Currently, the travel company organizes a tour to discover Hung Temple at night, with the route to visit Lang Suong temple – My Thuan tea hill – Hung temple – Tam Giang temple – Bach Hac junction. Tour price from 1,500,000 VND per person.
Hung Lo communal house is located on a 500 m2 wide strip of land in the campus of Hung Lo ancient village, about 10 km east of Hung Temple. Legend has it that Hung Lo’s communal house is a sacred land, where King Hung used to rest during a trip. Therefore, the people here set up a shrine.
After 300 years of historical ups and downs, the communal house still retains its architectural, cultural and historical values. The communal house includes 5 rooms: Tien Te, Phuong Dinh, Chuong floor, Trong floor and Dai Dinh building. All of them are built with precious woods such as nails, iron, sen,… In 1990, the Hung Lo communal house was recognized as a national historical relic.
Long Coc tea hill is located in Tan Son district, Phu Tho province. This place is considered by tourists, photographers … as one of the most beautiful tea hills in Vietnam with hundreds and thousands of small hills interspersed with each other. In late autumn and early winter, the tea hill is fanciful under the fanciful translucent slopes, undulating one after another to the horizon. Going to the tea hill, don’t forget to buy tea produced according to VietGAP standards, with Dinh Bat Tien or Shan Bat Tien teas.
Xuan Son National Park in Tan Son district is an attractive tourist destination in Phu Tho every summer. One day in Xuan Son National Park will have 4 seasons: cool in the morning like spring, noon like summer, afternoon like autumn, and cold at night like winter.
This is a quite suitable destination for guests who like eco-tourism and resort tourism. Ethnic communities here still retain their own unique cultural beauty, so visitors can learn about cultural life and have cultural exchanges with the Dao and Muong ethnic groups.
Thanh Thuy hot spring resort is about 40 km from Viet Tri-city. Hot mineral water mines are exploited on an area of about one square kilometer along the Da River. The water here has a temperature of 37-43 degrees Celsius, the underground water source is about 130-160m deep, and the mineral springs have a beautiful effect, treat skin diseases and are good for the heart. Especially when coming here, visitors will be immersed in nature and enjoy the fresh air.
Hotels, homestays
The tourist attractions in Phu Tho are relatively far apart, so hotels and homestays are also built centrally near the destinations. 4-5 star hotels are most often in the center of Viet Tri city such as Muong Thanh Luxury Phu Tho, Garden Viet Tri. In addition, beautiful hotels include X2 Vibe Viet Tri Hotel, Saigon Phutho Hotel, SOJO Viet Tri… Room rates here are from 800,000 VND per night.
Some resorts in Thanh Thuy hot spring area: Thanh Thuy Helth Resort, Thanh Lam Resort. Xuan Son National Park has Homestay Xuan Son, homestay Lam, homestay Quynh Nga, and Thuc Nhu, concentrated in Du village, imbued with Dao ethnic culture and architecture. Here, visitors can breathe fresh air, experience the rustic lifestyle with the locals and especially enjoy the specialties.
Eat what
Viet Tri is also known as the city at the confluence of the Lo, Hong, and Da rivers, so the river cuisine here is diverse and fresh. Which, it is impossible to ignore the Da river lentil dish with firm, sweetmeat, and little bones. According to legend, this fish was formerly used to advance the king. In Viet Tri, salmon is grilled in batches, roasted with salt, cooked with sour bamboo shoots, and mixed with purple onions… Visitors can choose by themselves the fish swimming in the tank and then request processing.
Suggested places to eat salmon are Song Da Langfish restaurant in Happyland area, Gia Cam ward; Hac Tri fish shop on Lac Long Quan street; Long Gia Quan Hoa Vuong Street. In addition to salmon, the shops also serve a variety of Anh Vu fish, salmon, barbs or hill chicken, Ban pork…
Another specialty is Thanh Son sour meat, a specialty of the Muong people, including pork marinated with spices, hearing and then left to naturally ferment. This dish is rolled with fig leaves and dipped in chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce.
There are also fillings, and brushes usually available at the end of May and the beginning of June of the lunar calendar. These two types of fruit are used to braise fish or sauteed with sugar. Banana salad is a specialty of Lam Thao district, usually cooked from green pepper banana, pork ribs, galangal, soy sauce. The dish has a greasy and slightly acrid taste.
In addition to fish, delicious dishes in Viet Tri also have crab, swan, and goat hotpot… concentrated in Nguyen Du food street and Nong Trang Textile slope. Here are some suggested addresses:
– S99 river crab hot pot, Nong Trang Textile slope
– 8 dishes at Vinh Hanh restaurant, Nong Trang Textile slope
– Goat meat at Phu Thanh restaurant on Nguyen Du street, Anh Dung goat shop on Quang Trung street.
For young tourists, who love hot pot and grilled dishes, they can choose addresses such as Grilled charcoal 277, Tien Dung street (Van Lang park); Gogi house, Viet Lam building, Hung Vuong Avenue; Korean and grilled food at Kimpab House, Nguyen Du street; Thai Coco hot pot, Hung Vuong Avenue, next to Nguyen Du food street.