Overview
50 minutes
Mobile ticket
Skip the lines and the hassle with this book ahead service that includes Water Puppet entrance tickets. Choose from several showtimes to fit your travel schedule. Arrive at the theater 15 minutes before showtime and prepare to experience one of Vietnam's most memorable traditional art forms live on stage.
Additional Info
Wheelchair accessible
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
What To Expect
Thang Long Water Puppet
Water Puppetry is a traditional art form with distinctive culture identity of Vietnam. It came into existence, developed and diversified over a thousand years ago in the Red River Delta. Thanks to unique performances on the water, this puppetry art is famous and highly appreciated all over the world. In early days, water puppetry showed the daily life of villagers such as farming, fishing, romance and children playing. Now, the topics of the plays are also picked from ancient legends, myths and historic stages. Book your tickets, then the tickets and program flyer, complete with the details of program, will be delivered to your hotel. Just bring your tickets and enjoy the show.
Lake of the Restored Sword (Hoan Kiem Lake)
Entrance Tickets for Thang Long Water Puppet Theater
Options
Standard Class Show
(Seats row from N-O-P-Q-R) Duration: 1 hour
Deluxe Class Show
(Seats Row H-I-K-L-M) Duration: 55 minutes
VIP Class show
(Seats row from A-B-C-D-E-G) Duration: 50 minutes
What‘s Included
All Fees and Taxes
Coffee and/or Tea
Meeting points
Thang Long Water Puppet
57B Dinh Tien Hoang Street, Hanoi Vietnam
End points
This activity ends back at the meeting point.
Cancellation Policy
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
Reviews
254 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
A must see in Hanoi
Connie C,Apr 8, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00This is definitely an interesting experience. We booked VIP and were in the second row. We also rented the translators so we could hear the folk stories. I would recommend.
Water puppet show
chris j,Mar 13, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Lovely show depicting Vietnamese culture and history,worth seeing. But book early if you have limited time in hanoi as tickets sell fast.
Unusual and charming theatre experience
traveler11239,Mar 5, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00totally unexpected. Whimsical, charming, unlike anything I've ever seen! Tickets sell out the day before so plan your time to see the show you want. Only about an hour long.
Terrible Experience. Dubious Practices. Great Show.
S2426IYmaxs,Dec 28, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
1.00I booked the tickets for this show prior to my trip to Hanoi. I was excited to see this show. I purchased the VIP tickets for the front row because I wanted to see the puppets up close, be enveloped by the accompanying orchestra, and truly enjoy the experience. I arrived 30 minutes in advance. It wasnt until 10 minutes before the show started, when the theatre finally started scanning tickets to let people in, that they informed me that Trip Advisor had overbooked the show and we would not be given the VIP seats we paid for. Instead of being front row for this amazing show of a decade long practice, we were seated 15 rows back, 3-4 rows from the back of the theatre. Instead of an immersive experience seeing the puppets up close, with even the joyous splash as the dragons thrashed around the pool, we were squinting in our seats with a wall of 20-30 cell phones raising up covering our view as the people in front of us recorded the play. While the Puppet Show itself was wonderful and entertaining (what little of it I was able to watch), the experience was miserable and severely cut down on my ability to enjoy the experience. On top of that I reached out to get a refund and was ignored by the Tripadvisor Vendors. I suspect this is a regularly occurring practice to book the theatre full. Advice: find a better way to see the show besides this page.
Must-see show in Hanoi
brewerc2024,Nov 6, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00A typical experience for tourists in Hanoi. It is advisable to buy tickets in advance, as several performances are offered every day.
Fun
Nicole K,Nov 4, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Fun time for friends or family. The theater is easily walking distance from any spot in the old quarter and the show was great fun, especially when you know the history
Not my thing but enjoyed it immensely!
robertlL4066ML,Nov 3, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00Lovely, unique experience. The water puppets were fun, but for me the musicians made the show. I would go again just for the musical artistry! Some confusion between the crowds trying to enter and exit - we stood in the toilet line for a while, thinking it was for the theatre! Stay left as you enter, and go up the stairs. We’d purchased our tickets in advance, which was a big help. Paid a few dollars more for the ‘best’ seats, and worth every dong. Seats are comfortable enough, but a little tight for 6 footers.
Amazing show
457malakh,Oct 9, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Amazing show—definitely worth visiting! It’s important, though, to learn a bit about it beforehand. When I first attended, I couldn’t understand much because I basically an original Arabic speaker. Later, after doing some research on ChatGPT, I discovered that the show tells the history of Vietnam, which turned out to be fascinating and deeply captivating. The performance traces life from the beginning of time and is traditionally held during the rice harvest season. It’s truly a remarkable experience—especially for visitors from other parts of the world. For me, it’s an absolute must-see!
An important experience
Owlcreek22,Sep 29, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00Very talented puppeteers and very delightful to watch. Forty minutes was just the right length. For us it was a perfect rainy day activity
Excellent service
anthonyoE8564PT,Sep 26, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Thanks so much PAVAN, NEHESH, SOHAM, MAKRAND for such amazing and wonderful services you do offer it's really my pleasure meeting and seeing that all my expectations are meet thanks really for wonderful services at the kitchen ihope with this it will be astory for me to tell what the kind of services HYATT offers
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