Hanoi Bat Trang Pottery Village Tour

Bat Trang village, the most ancient and famous pottery village of Vietnam, continues to work today and is constantly developing. It is said that, the village took its first name from Bach Tho guild (a guild of Kaolin potters) and then it became Bat Trang guild (a guild of bowls and kilns). According to the legend, pottery production began in Bat Trang in the Ly Dynasty. Previous to this the villagers remember that their native village was in Bo Bat (or Bach Bat), in Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province. What happened was that some people from Bo Bat village took a boat trip on the Red River to trade. When they arrived at the nearby capital of Thang Long, they found some waste but fertile land and stayed there for a night. That night, one of them had a dream of being invited by Neptune to visit the water palace. Understanding the poor circumstances of the man, Neptune sent some workers to build him a splendid house of clay. Long afterwards, also in his dream, his children used to eat the clay, but the wall never collapsed. This man told his dream to the group, who considering it to be a good omen, decided to settle on this land and establish a new village. Although this legend is not convincing evidence for the date of establishment of Bat Trang village, some archeological data shows that many of the Ly Dynasty’s relics are decorated with blue enamel pottery. A more reliable document is the "Du Dia Chi" of Nguyen Trai, a great politician, strategist, diplomat and poet, compiled in early Le Dynasty, which stated that in each tribute to the Chinese Dynasty, Bát Tràng had to provide 70 sets of dishes and bowls, which indicates that by that time, the Bát Tràng pottery was quite sophisticated. Nowadays many temples and pagodas still preserve lamps and incense burners, with dragons and phoenix, clouds and flowers decorated in blue, with the name, address and date of production in Bat Tràng in the 16th century. There are also other foreign documents giving information about Bát Tràng pottery in the 16th to 17th centuries, for example Ancient Asian Pottery by Pujio Koiama. Anyway all information considered, we can estimate that Bat Trang village existed, as a suburb of Thang Long capital, as a handicraft village some 500 years ago.

Itinerary (No Meals):

The famous village is situated approx. 15km outside of Hanoi, surrounded by fertile farmland. Watch the artisans forming, painting and glazing their products, which are then baked for several days in huge kilns.

Package include: Private transfer with English speaking guide, entrance fee for sightseeing.

(Driver and Tour Guide tipping is at passenger own discretion)

 Pickup Time : 0800Hrs OR 1300Hrs

Tour Starts Time : 0830Hrs OR 1330Hrs

Duration : 3Hrs

Tour price: $ 60 usd for max 6 pax

For booking: Email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it