Visiting a foreign country can always seem daunting and even more so when traveling with kids. Many questions arise about visas, transportation, food, lodging, etc. We really enjoyed our visit to Hanoi, Vietnam. But, it also came with a lot of preparation and some anxiety. These were some tips for visiting Hanoi that we learned when we were planning our trip and during our stay.
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Before the Trip
Get Tourist Visas. Vietnam is one of the few countries we have visited that requires a tourist visa. One of the first things to do after tickets, tour and hotel reservations is to get a tourist visa.
I’m not a fan of doing these visas and wish many countries would do away with them or make it a lot easier. Luckily, Vietnam’s process was straightforward.
There are many agencies willing to do all the paperwork for you if you simply search for Vietnam visas. But, we weren’t comfortable giving all our information to private agencies that looked like travel agents. We applied for our visas using the Vietnam Immigration Department.
This was an electronic (E-Visa) issued to foreigners. It was a simple process of uploading our passport data page and picture. Cost was $25 USD per person. Keep these extra costs in mind.
We received a response and our E-Visa to print out within a couple of days. Be sure to bring the printed copy with you since immigration will ask for it at the Vietnam airport.
Check your passports. They must be valid for at least 6 months before its expiration. Some countries will reject entry.
Look into stopping over other cities to break up the flight. If you’re flying from the West Coast USA, look at airlines with stops in Tokyo, Taipei or Seoul. If you’re flying from Europe or the USA’s East Coast, look into Dubai or Abu Dhabi or even some European hubs for stopovers.
We flew Asiana Airlines which allowed us two 15-hour long layovers in Seoul. It gave us an opportunity to explore some of its major attractions, eat and shop. We have also added Seoul to places we want to return for an extended visit.
It was very clean, affordable, interesting and tourist-friendly. Read more on how to spend a long layover in Seoul, South Korea.
Check your vaccinations. Routine vaccinations (like Tdap/tetanus, Measles, chicken pox, influenza) should be current especially for kids. Go to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to see updated vaccinations they recommend for Vietnam. At the time of our travel, Hepatitis A/B and Typhoid were recommended especially if you’re adventurous eaters or visiting rural areas.
Check with your local travel clinics for the best-recommended vaccinations depending on where and when you travel. Visit them at least four weeks before your departure since some vaccinations have to be done a few weeks before you arrive at your destination.
Bring Bug Spray. Mosquitoes can be an issue depending on where and when you travel to Vietnam and especially if you’re spending a lot of time outdoors or plan to sleep outside.
We didn’t take any malaria pills since there was no risk of malaria in major cities including Hanoi. We did travel to rural areas but took extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites.
My family brought a lot of Repel Insect Repellant Mosquito Wipes with Deet. Our family religiously used these before going outdoors. Before leaving, we also sprayed our clothes with Sawyer Permethrin insect repellent. A single application lasts for six weeks or six washings. It was odorless too.
These precautions worked for us. My son usually gets bitten a little even with the using insect repellant wipes. We were in the rice fields at dusk and we had no bites.
Pack Lightly. We only brought carry-on luggage and personal items with us. Everything can fit with the use of our handy packing cubes which are always ver reliable. But, with all the great shopping in Hanoi, we came home with a duffel bag full of items.
Arriving At Hanoi
Pack patience. Be prepared to wait if you’re arriving late at night in Hanoi airport on a weekend. Our flight from Seoul arrived around 10 PM on a Friday. It seemed to be a popular time for other flight arrivals from nearby Asian countries. Everyone converged on the immigration lines that moved agonizing slow as officers checked both passports and visas.
The Hanoi Airport is actually very modern with a terminal for international flights and another one for domestic flights within Vietnam. There were many stores, restaurants and even a wonderful lounge with a shower if you have a Priority Pass card.
Get money at airport. Withdraw cash from the ATMs though some seemed to have a limit of 2,000,000 Vietnamese dong which was about $86 USD. You will be millionaires after your first withdrawal! If you need more, the currency exchange booths actually had great exchange rates with no commission charges.
Buy SIM cards. There were several vendors at the airport selling SIM cards for unlocked phones. Prices were quite reasonable. For example, 60 Gb for 300,000 dong ($13 USD). Though, this limited it to 2 Gb per day max but good for a month. Compare the plans and get ones that fit your length of stay and data usage. We highly recommend and have used the Airalo eSIM all over the world.
Getting to Hanoi from the airport. The Noi Bai International airport is located about 28 miles (45 km) from Hanoi. There were public buses but stop operating at a certain time and I wouldn’t recommend taking especially if you’re not familiar with the stops. They also run only during certain times.
There were licensed taxis available. Look for reputable ones like Mai Linh, Taxi Group and ABC. Beware of metered scams where they take the longer route than usual to charge visitors more. Agree on the metered rate beforehand.
We highly recommend pre-booking a car with Hanoi Transport Service online. They picked our family of four up in a huge air-conditioned van. The driver was waiting for us outside the baggage claim area with our name. It was about $17 one-way. There is a 10% discount if booking a round trip.
Download the Grab App. Unfortunately, Hanoi doesn’t have a subway system but they do have public buses and many taxis. We didn’t ride either one but were able to get around easily. We extensively used the ride sharing Grab app to get around including on the way back to the airport. It was easy to use and works much like Uber and Lyft.
We entered our destination. Most of the drivers didn’t speak English and they showed us our destination to verify on their phone. We didn’t pay via PayPal or credit card but paid in cash. Prices were so cheap – with 1 to 2 miles of travel for about $1 USD.
Eating in Hanoi
Hanoi is known for their delicious cuisine and street food. These were some of the restaurants we liked and recommend:
Bun cha Huong Lien aka Bun Cha Obama – If you’re a fan of Anthony Bourdain’s show and that special episode with President Obama, this is the place. We all had the Bun cha and it was delicious and cheap.
My husband got the Obama special which included a Hanoi beer and a seafood eggroll for less than $6 US. They actually enclosed the tables, chairs and utensils in a glass case here.
Lake View Side Restaurant & Café – Located across from Hoan Kiem Lake, we enjoyed the food here and the reasonable prices. The spring rolls and prawns were delicious. We loved their fruit juices too.
Nha Hang Ngon – This was our go to restaurant and we ate here several times because they had delicious food, cheap prices and it was around the corner from our hotel. My husband and daughter liked the Bun Cha here more. Every food we ordered from the stir fried dishes to the egg rolls were great. It’s located in what looked like an old colonial house with a large courtyard below.
We weren’t too adventurous with trying out the street food due to our limited time and fear of getting sick and not being able to do anything. My teenagers are also picky eaters.
If you’re braver than we are and have more time and flexibility, go on one of the street food tours. They’ve vetted the vendors and know what and where to eat. But, do use your judgment wisely like no eating of raw food or making sure cooked food is hot and not displayed out for awhile. We ate only fruits we peeled ourselves.
Drinking Coffee in Hanoi
There is a large café and coffee culture in Hanoi. We found many coffee shops on almost every block. Unfortunately, many of the small local coffee shops around our area in the French District didn’t sell pastries.
But, we found plenty of coffee shops around the Old Quarter. Look for some shops saying they use purified or filtered water. We also enjoyed going into the chain/franchise shops like Highlands or Cong Caphe.
Be sure to order egg coffee. This Hanoi specialty came about after a shortage of fresh milk and whisked egg yolk was used as a substitute. There are hot and cold versions of it.
Many call it “liquid tiramisu”. The egg coffee was too sweet for all of us. We really loved the iced cold coconut coffee and the regular sweetened with condensed milk Vietnamese coffee.
Order the fresh fruit juices too especially the ones in season during your visit. Our servers always recommended mango and coconut juices during our summer visit.
Drink only bottled water. Vietnam is a developing country and tap water isn’t the safest to use or drink. Traveler’s diarrhea is real and likely. There were plenty of bottled water and were cheap. Buy them at supermarkets, hotels and convenience stores.
Be careful about drinking beverages with the ice. Some coffee places To be on the ultra-safe side especially with kids, use bottled or purified water to clean toothbrushes and for rinsing too. I also tell my kids not to swallow water when showering too.
Check the Weather. Weather can play a big part on your overall experience in many trips and even more so in places like Hanoi where most of the attractions are outdoors. Rainy season in northern Vietnam is from May to October with July to September being the wettest months with possible storms. It is also hot and humid. November to April is cooler and drier.
Locals have told us that the dry season offers much better and comfortable weather but is also high tourist season. Our summer trip in early July was extremely hot and humid and with more Vietnamese tourists.
While we had mostly dry weather in Hanoi during our week there, that wasn’t the case with other places. As I mentioned in my previous post, the highlight of our trip was supposed to be our Halong Bay cruise. Unfortunately, that was cancelled due to a storm and the bay was three hours from Hanoi.
If you’re planning a multi-day Halong Bay cruise especially during the summer, please learn from our mistakes. Check the weather consistently a week before your trip up to a few days before you cruise.
If the weather starts to look dreary, have a backup plan for day trips from Hanoi or squeeze in a one day Halong Bay cruise. We would have happily gone for one day than not going at all.
Ask the tour operators on their refund policies if cruises are canceled due to weather. Will they refund and/or reschedule immediately? The cruise company refunded us in full but we heard from another tourist whose agency tried to give them only half of their money back.
Visiting Temples. Dress appropriately and conservatively when visiting pagodas and temples. You will likely visit one when in Hanoi. We saw many signs along the entrances to cover shoulders and knees when entering these sacred places. This was the case with Ho Chi Minh mausoleum too.
Wear below-the-knee skirts and dresses or trousers. My daughter and I brought sarongs to cover our shorts and carried light cardigans to cover our shoulders which also came in handy at cold air-conditioned indoor places. Some temples loaned clothing cover-ups to visitors.
Other Things to Pack
Sunscreen. The sun was quite intense in Hanoi and during our day trips. Bring a high SPF solution and apply liberally. Since we were only doing carry-on baggage, we had several sunscreen lotion
Hat. My wide-brimmed hat was a lifesaver walking around Hanoi and especially during our boating trip in Trang An. Don’t forget to bring hats for the kids too. Some tour companies offer the conical hats to borrow or to keep as a souvenir.
Lightweight rain jacket. If you’re coming during the rainy season or summer, you never know when it’s going to start pouring. We’ve always found the jackets work so much better than umbrellas.
Cortisone Cream. These have really helped when mosquitoes and insects on previous trips bit my son. It helped with the swelling, aches, and reduces with the itchiness.
Rayon/Polyester type clothing. We love these types of clothing because they’re more comfortable in hot weather compared to cotton. They were also easier to dry in case you need to wash them by hand. My teen son and husband love athletic shirts made of polyester especially from Under Armour.
Travel Pillow. My travel pillow really comes in handy during flights but it was also very useful during our day trips from Hanoi. Many of the trips were on either buses or large vans. It really helped to have something to lean on during those long rides while still battling jet lag.
Medication. It always helps to pack digestive issue remedies like anti-diarrhea medications (e.g. Immodium) and stomachache solutions like Tums or Pepto Bismol in tablet forms if you get sick from eating the food or from drinking tap water. Pack some Tylenol or Advil too if you’re someone who gets headaches with intense heat.
Where to Stay in Hanoi
There are many affordable lodging options in Hanoi. We liked that some of them accommodated families with two or more kids. While we loved our stay in Hilton Garden Inn near the French Quarter, I would have also enjoyed staying in the Old Quarter area or near the Hoan Kiem Lake.
Where to stay in Hanoi
- Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi – We stayed at this hotel for six nights and really enjoyed it. We had adjoining rooms with the kids. The rooms were spacious. The location was in the French Quarter area surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Their buffet breakfast was delicious with so many varieties. The hotel staff were all so friendly and treated us so well. Bonus to have a free washing machine and dryer. The price is great for everything it offers.
- Hilton Hanoi Opera – This hotel was in such a great location next to the Opera House and within walking distance from Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter. We checked out the lobby and it was beautiful. If you’re here during the summer, there is a pool.
*See other hotels to stay in Hanoi.
*Read about things to do in Hanoi and our one week itinerary.
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