Traveling during pilgrimage and festival seasons.

Although pilgrimage tours only account for about 10% of the total number of Tet holiday tours offered by travel companies, they are an indispensable part of post-Tet tours and are usually organized to last until the end of the third lunar month.

People had to inch their way up to Huong Tich Cave during the 2014 Huong Pagoda Festival. - Photo: Tien Thanh

Pilgrimage tours are often organized to combine sightseeing in various localities, visiting scenic spots and temples, and participating in cultural and religious festivals and events.

Few but indispensable.

Although pilgrimage tours begin before the Lunar New Year, they tend to be more active after the holiday. Most of the customers during this time are overseas Vietnamese or those who couldn't arrange tours during the holiday and want to combine visiting temples with sightseeing. These customers are typically 40 years old and older, Buddhists, and small business owners who, after a busy year, want to combine sightseeing and visiting Buddhist sites to pray for a prosperous and successful year.

The director of a travel company said that in recent days, the number of overseas Vietnamese registering for tours with their families has increased by more than double digits compared to the same period last year. Most pilgrimage tours from the South mainly head to the northern provinces, visiting festivals at Huong Pagoda, Bai Dinh Pagoda, Yen Tu Pagoda, and typical rural markets in the Northern and highland regions. Central Vietnam tours visit famous temples in Da Nang, and enjoy and participate in the Lantern Festival in Hoi An. Tours visiting ten temples in the Mekong Delta always combine a visit to Ba Chua Xu Pagoda in Chau Doc...

Pilgrimage tours are quite diverse, ranging from 1 to 5 days, mostly visiting famous landmarks and temples. Many travel companies are also offering discounts for tourists who book in advance, including budget tours with air travel at prices around 40% off the regular tour price... According to surveys at travel companies, the price of pilgrimage tours this year has not increased compared to last year.

Where does the pilgrimage tour go?

Among pilgrimage tours to the North, Ninh Binh is the most popular choice for many travel companies and pilgrims at the beginning of the year because it has many suitable destinations such as the Trang An ecological cave complex (including Trang An, Tam Coc, and Hoa Lu ancient capital), Cuc Phuong National Park, Bai Dinh Pagoda, and Tam Coc - Bich Dong.

The Huong Pagoda Festival is one of the biggest festivals of the year, always overcrowded with Buddhists from all over the country. The Yen Tu Festival – one of the major Buddhist centers in Vietnamese history, the birthplace of the Truc Lam Zen sect of the Vietnamese people – also attracts a considerable number of tourists.

Central Vietnam is also a popular choice for tourists because, in addition to visiting temples in Da Nang and Hue, there are opportunities for relaxation, beach activities, and sightseeing in diverse locations such as Ba Na Hills and Hoi An. According to travel companies, if you don't book a hotel room in advance (standard around 2 stars) near Ba Chua Xu Temple, tourists will have to accept room rates of 800,000 - 900,000 VND per night, much higher than the 400,000-450,000 VND if booked before Tet (Lunar New Year).

For Catholic visitors, Phat Diem Cathedral, La Vang Sanctuary, Nha Trang Cathedral... are famous destinations that attract many Catholic pilgrims during the spring. Pilgrims choosing La Vang Sanctuary also have the opportunity to visit other famous tourist destinations in Thua Thien - Hue and Quang Binh provinces, especially Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park.

Meanwhile, nearby overseas pilgrimage tours include Thailand, visiting the Emerald Buddha Temple (Wat Phra Kaew) in Bangkok, or exploring one of Thailand's three great national treasures, the Bangkok Grand Palace, located in the northeast corner. Other options include Myanmar, specifically the Shwedagon Pagoda, the famous golden pagoda considered the center of Myanmar Buddhism, located in Yangon. Further afield, people travel to Japan, where the custom of visiting temples at the beginning of the year, such as the Jinza shrines, often involves a large ceremony to pray and ward off bad luck. Many also undertake longer journeys to India, or connecting India to Nepal, often referred to as pilgrimage tours – journeys of spirituality.

According to the Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Nguyen Van Tuan, the tourism industry plans to develop three spiritual tourism routes in the North: Hanoi - Con Son, Kiet Bac (Hai Duong) - Dong Trieu, Yen Tu (Quang Ninh) - Trang An, Bai Dinh (Ninh Binh); Hanoi - Huong Pagoda - Tam Truc, Ba Sao (Ha Nam) - Trang An, Bai Dinh (Ninh Binh) - Tran Temple (Nam Dinh); and the ancient Vietnamese capital route: Hung Temple (Phu Tho) - Hanoi - Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh) - Ho Dynasty Citadel (Thanh Hoa) - Hue Ancient Capital.

According to the News