Đền Quán Thánh

The experience

A Taoist temple at 190 Quán Thánh, founded in the reign of Lý Thái Tổ (1010–1028) and dedicated to Trấn Vũ, deity of the north — one of the four temples set at the cardinal points to guard the capital. Its centrepiece is a black bronze Trấn Vũ cast in 1677 under Lê Hy Tông, 3.96m tall and around 3,600kg, the second-largest bronze statue in Vietnam, shown with his serpent and turtle. The master craftsman was Trùm Trọng of the nearby foundry village of Ngũ Xã. A 1.15m bronze bell was poured in the same casting.

Three and a half tonnes of 1677 bronze at the top of West Lake, for the price of a coffee.

What a membership adds.

Everything above is free: the name, the photo, the rating, the exact spot. What members get is the part you can't Google: the sourced insider tip for this place (what to order, when to go, what to skip), every day of your trips unlocked in full with the insider tip on every researched stop, and the concierge at full strength, answering with your own insider tips, no daily meter.