Hanoi Free Walking Tours

Hanoi Free Walking Tours is a non-profit, student-run organisation that has been guiding visitors around the city since late 2012. Its slogan is free but professional, and the idea is simple: young local guides show travellers their city, and visitors gain a personal guide with local knowledge. The organisation has also operated in Ho Chi Minh City.

The tours are private, so you are not joining a large group. The main options are half-day walks. The Hanoi Old Quarter Private Walking Tour explores the historic 36 guild streets. The Hanoi War Sites Private Walking Tour focuses on the city's twentieth-century history and includes Hoa Lo Prison, together with the Military History Museum on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, or the French Quarter on Mondays and Fridays when the museum is not part of the route. A third half-day tour covers the Ho Chi Minh complex and the Temple of Literature.

There are also longer and more specialised options, including a Hanoi Full Day Tour and a Hanoi Street Food Experience. The website is available in English, Vietnamese and French, and bookings are made through its online booking system. The organisation reports more than 700 Tripadvisor reviews, most of them five stars, and has more than seven years of experience in free tours in the city.

As with other free guiding services, the guiding itself costs nothing, but you should budget for entrance tickets, transport and any food and drink on the day, and it is courteous to cover your guide's costs too. Book well in advance and confirm the meeting point and timing by phone or message before the day. Remember that the Ho Chi Minh complex has seasonal closures, including a maintenance closure in autumn, so choose another route if it is shut when you visit.

These tours suit independent travellers who want a guide without paying for a commercial tour, families who prefer a private group, and anyone keen to talk to young Vietnamese about their city. The war sites route in particular adds context to sights such as Hoa Lo Prison that can be hard to interpret alone.