Hanoi Old Quarter Walking Tour Review

Walking tours are my favorite way to get to know a new city, particularly if they focus in one one specific neighborhood. Hanoi in particular is one of those cities that’s worth walking around and exploring!

Of course, the most exciting neighborhood in Hanoi is the Old Quarter, the center of the city and where all the best food, shopping, and people-watching can be found.

Here’s my review of a walking tour that I went on when I visited Hanoi in November 2023.

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Book a Tour

Interested in booking your own tour? I’ve put together a collection of suggested Hanoi walking tours here.

My Tour Experience

GuruWalk is a good resource for finding walking tours run by locals, especially if you’re on a budget. Most of the tours offered are “pay what you want,” as the tour guides work for tips rather than a set fee.

Hanoi has lots of free GuruWalk tours available, focusing on different kinds of topics. I wanted something general, to get a quick overview of the city and northern Vietnam as a whole, so I chose the “Introduction to Hanoi Tour.”

I signed up for a 3 hour small group walking tour for Hanoi’s Old Quarter with Sang. We learned about the history of Vietnam and a little of how Hanoi developed through recent years during the Vietnam War and up until the recent economic boom.

Sang showed us local temples, two markets, some fascinating old buildings and some important landmarks.

We also tried an egg coffee! Absolutely delicious and I highly recommend getting one if you come to Hanoi. We got ours at Cafe Dinh, which is run by the granddaughter of the fellow who invented the egg coffee in the 1940s.

Overall it was a fun tour and I enjoyed getting to explore Hanoi with a small group. We did have to pay for entrance tickets and food, but it wasn’t much (under $10 USD, I think).

After the tour, I went to a banh mi (sandwich) place with two Australians from the group and tried a spicy chicken sandwich. Tasted absolutely delicious, and the conversation with my tour mates was fun, too.

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Explore More

More adventures in Southeast Asia:

• Visiting Mulberries Organic Silk Farm in Phonsavan, Laos
• 3 weeks in Borneo: Mulu National Park, day 1
• Three days at the Elephant Conservation Center in Sayaboury, Laos
• From Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by train