Hanoikids

Hanoikids is one of the most rewarding ways to see Hanoi, and one of the most unusual. It is a voluntary English tour-guiding club run by young Hanoi students who love their city and want to share its culture and traditions with visitors. The tours are free, and the club describes its aim as bringing a local perspective to travellers' experience of the city.

The club is large and well established. It has more than 900 members, which makes it one of the biggest student clubs in Hanoi, and its guides have led more than 21,000 tours of the city's typical sights. It has collected thousands of five-star reviews and has won Tripadvisor's Certificate of Excellence over many years. It also has more than 77,000 likes and followers on Facebook and lists GP Travel as its main partner. For visitors, the attraction is the chance to spend a few hours with a young local and ask the questions a guidebook cannot answer.

There are two main tours. The City Tour lasts about three hours and wanders through the maze of the city, on foot or by taxi, to typical Hanoi sights. The Food Tour lasts about two hours and focuses on tasting local food and seeing the city's daily life. Tours are conducted in English only, and guides usually pick you up from your hotel.

Bookings are made through the Book Tours page on the club's website, and it is wise to request a date well in advance, as the guides are volunteers. Although the guiding is free, budget for any entrance fees, food and taxis on the day, and note that the club welcomes optional donations through its website. Agree the plan with your guides at the start so everyone knows what to expect.

Check the club's notices before you book: in autumn 2026 it warned that the Ho Chi Minh complex would be temporarily closed from 4 September to 2 November 2026, which affects tours that include the mausoleum. Hanoikids suits solo travellers, couples, families and students, and anyone who wants a personal, informal introduction to Hanoi from the people who live there.