Welcome to our family-friendly guide to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. This was our very first stop in Vietnam with the kids and honestly, it was one of the biggest culture shocks of the trip — but also one of the most rewarding.

Hanoi is busy, chaotic, loud and exciting all at once. The traffic feels overwhelming at first, the footpaths are packed with scooters and food stalls, and the heat can hit hard if you try to do too much too quickly. But once you slow down and settle into the city’s rhythm, it becomes one of the most fascinating places to explore with kids.

We spent 3 nights in Hanoi followed by 2 nights in Ha Long Bay on a family-friendly cruise through Lan Ha Bay. For us, this felt like the perfect balance. Hanoi gave us the energy and culture, while Ha Long Bay gave us time to slow down and relax. We stayed at Splendid Star Grand Hotel in Hanoi, which is within walking distance of St. Joseph’s Cathedral, and it’s down a quiet alleyway too, and we didn’t hear much outside noise at all despite being so central in the Old Quarter

One thing we learned quickly is that Vietnam works best with kids when you don’t overpack your days. If this is your family’s first big Asian city, we’d recommend sticking to one or two main activities per day, especially during the hotter months.

Looking for more family-friendly tours and activities in Hanoi and Ha Long Bay? Browse our Hanoi and Ha Long Bay activities link below & we also have more details about the activities we enjoyed further down in this post!

These were the rough exchange rates during our trip:

• 100,000 VND ≈ $5.50 AUD
• 500,000 VND ≈ $27–28 AUD
• 1,000,000 VND ≈ $55 AUD

Doing a Cyclo tour turned out to be one of our favourite ways to see Hanoi with kids.
Instead of constantly stopping and navigating traffic on foot, you can sit back while your driver slowly takes you through the chaos of the Old Quarter.

You’ll pass:

• tiny laneways
• food stalls
• local markets
• motorbikes carrying almost anything imaginable
• French colonial buildings
• busy intersections that somehow still work

Most rides last around 30–60 minutes.
The average cost for a 2-seat Cyclo is around 200,000–300,000 VND per hour, but make sure you agree on the price before starting. This is where many tourists get caught out.
Late afternoon is a great time to do this once the city starts coming alive.

Hanoi Train Street is one of those places that feels surreal the first time you see it.
Tiny cafes line both sides of the tracks and then suddenly a train squeezes through the middle only centimetres away from where people are sitting.
It’s absolutely worth doing, but there are a few things parents should know before visiting.
First, it’s very touristy now and staff from different cafes will constantly try to direct you into their venues. Prices vary a lot between cafes, so always check menus before sitting down.
Second, it gets incredibly busy. You want to arrive at least 30 minutes before the train arrives if you want decent seating. The southern end is generally the best area to watch the train.
If travelling with younger kids, choose an upstairs cafe where possible so you feel more comfortable once the train passes.

Most cafes also prefer cash payments.

Hanoi Train Street Times

• 8:55am
• 11:40am
• 12:50pm
• 7:12pm
• 7:20pm
• 7:45pm
• 8:05pm
• 8:25pm
• 8:50pm
• 9:20pm
• 9:50pm

The Temple of Literature is Vietnam’s first national university and one of the calmer stops in Hanoi.
After the intensity of the Old Quarter, this felt much more peaceful with gardens, ponds and large open courtyards. It’s not somewhere you’ll spend hours with kids, but it works well as part of a half-day exploring the city.
Entry costs around 70,000 VND for adults and kids are free.

Hoàn Kiếm Lake became one of our favourite places to walk early in the morning.
Jet lag had us awake around 4am most mornings, but surprisingly, this ended up being one of the best times to experience Hanoi. You’ll see locals exercising, dancing, stretching and doing Tai Chi around the lake before the city fully wakes up. It feels completely different compared to the chaos later in the day. You can also walk across to Ngọc Sơn Temple while exploring the area.

St Joseph’s Cathedral is one of the most recognisable buildings in Hanoi.
The French Gothic architecture feels very different compared to the rest of the city and the surrounding laneways are packed with cafes and restaurants.
It’s definitely worth walking past while exploring the Old Quarter.
Parents should know this area is more tourist-focused, so cafes around here are generally more expensive than elsewhere in Hanoi.

Dong Xuan Market is loud, chaotic and a really interesting look into local Hanoi life.
This isn’t a polished tourist market.
It’s busy, cramped and full of everything from clothing stalls to local snacks and souvenirs.
If visiting with kids, we’d recommend going earlier in the day when it’s slightly easier to move around.
In the evenings, the surrounding streets become a buzzing food area.
Keep your expectations realistic though — it’s more about experiencing the atmosphere than shopping.

One of the best things we did early in our Hanoi stay was a gluten-free food tour with Nom Nom Travel. Because Chelsea has Celiac Disease, finding safe food in a new country felt overwhelming at first, so doing this tour helped us understand Vietnamese food much faster.
Our guide, Alex, was local to Hanoi and took us to several food stops throughout the Old Quarter.

The tour included:

• Pho
• Banh Mi
• Bún Bò Nam Bộ
• Vietnamese pancakes
• local dessert stops

The tour lasted around 3 hours and cost roughly $50 aud
Kids under 5 were free. Even if you don’t specifically need gluten-free options, we’d still recommend taking a food tour early in your Hanoi trip, as it helps kids gain confidence with Vietnamese food.

Nom Nom Travel have provided a 10% discount code for Family Footloose travel community. Use cose FOOTLOOSE10. Valid from bookings from 1 December 2026 – 1 December 2027. Book via the Nom Nom website

If you only try one Pho place in Hanoi, make it this one.
This was genuinely the best chicken Pho we ate in Vietnam.
They offer both soup and dry noodle options, but the soup version is gluten-free.
Parents should know it’s cash only, has limited seating, and feels very local. We originally visited as part of our food tour but would absolutely return.

The Hanoi Cafe was one of our favourite breakfast spots in Hanoi.
After a few days of Vietnamese breakfasts, it was nice having familiar options like:

• smoothie bowls
• pancakes
• smashed avocado

We paid around $34 AUD for three brunch-style meals which felt very reasonable.

Banh Mi 25 is one of the busiest Banh Mi spots in Hanoi and works really well for families needing something quick and easy. Service is fast, the menu is simple and it’s easy to customise fillings for kids.
It does get crowded though, so takeaway is often easier.

Another great quick stop while exploring the Old Quarter. Fresh baguettes made to order and an easy option for picky eaters. Perfect if you need something fast between activities.

Noodle & Roll became a great backup option when we wanted something easy and reliable.

They offer:

• spring rolls
• noodle bowls
• vegetarian dishes
• pancakes
• traditional Vietnamese meals

There’s also a small upstairs terrace overlooking the street.

This is a great local place to try Bún Chả with kids. The grilled pork, noodles and herbs all come separately which actually works really well for families because kids can build their own bowls. It feels authentic without being too intimidating.

The Note Coffee is one of those quirky Hanoi cafes kids genuinely love.
The walls are completely covered in colourful sticky notes from travellers around the world, and you can leave your own note too. It’s more about the experience than the actual drinks. One thing parents should know is that it gets very busy later in the day. We visited in the afternoon and the only seats left were on the 5th floor. The views over the lake were fantastic, but there was no air conditioning upstairs.

There were a few activities we didn’t quite have time for, but still had on our shortlist:

• Bat Trang Pottery Workshop
• Hanoi Incense Village
• Hat Making Tour

Most can be booked directly or through Klook or Get your Guide.

After the intensity of Hanoi, Ha Long Bay felt like a complete reset.
We chose a 2-night, 3-day cruise with Mon Chéri through Lan Ha Bay because it felt more family-friendly compared to many of the other cruise options. Our room setup included adjoining balcony rooms, which worked really well with older kids.

The cruise also had:

• a small pool
• Western food options
• buffet + set menu meals
• kayaking
• cooking classes
• swimming stops

For families, we’d strongly recommend doing 2 nights if your budget allows.
The drive from Hanoi takes around 2.5–3 hours each way, so a 1-night cruise can feel very rushed.

With 2 nights, you get:

• more downtime
• more activities
• the Cat Ba Island day trip
• quieter kayaking locations
• less pressure to constantly move

We paid around $2,000 AUD total for our family of four for the 2-night Mon Chéri cruise.
That included accommodation, activities and meals, but not alcohol or soft drinks.
At first, it felt expensive for Vietnam, but once onboard, the value made much more sense.

A few things surprised us. First, the port area is chaos. Hundreds of cruise boats crowd the area, and quality varies massively between operators. Second, the water isn’t tropical blue. It’s greener and brackish, and you’ll occasionally notice rubbish floating through parts of the bay. Cruises run on very strict schedules, so meals, activities and transfers all happen at set times, so families needing flexibility should prepare for that.

You board a smaller tender boat for around an hour before reaching the main cruise ship.
Once onboard, lunch is served almost immediately. The afternoon was very relaxed.
We kayaked through Lan Ha Bay, the kids jumped off the back of the boat into the water and we cruised past the limestone islands. Sunset on the rooftop deck was one of the highlights of the whole trip. That evening the kids joined a spring roll cooking class before dinner.

There was also:

• complimentary sunset snacks
• 2-for-1 cocktail happy hour
• squid fishing later in the evening

Dinner was a 5-course set menu and proper kids meals were available too.
One thing that really stood out was the service. We had the same waiter for the entire cruise and he was incredible with the kids, even making napkin animals during meals. They also handled gluten-free meals extremely well.

The second day involved a smaller day boat transfer to Cat Ba Island.
The trip takes about 1.5 hours, so we’d definitely recommend bringing activities for kids, as phone reception can be patchy. Once arriving at Cat Ba Island, families can either ride bikes or take golf buggies. There are smaller bikes available for kids. We chose the bikes and rode through rice fields and caves.

The ride itself is relatively flat and manageable for most families.
At Hat Vei Village, the kids loved doing a fish massage while we learnt more about local island life.
After lunch, we headed to a much quieter bay area for kayaking and swimming.
This part of the trip actually felt far more peaceful than the main sections of Ha Long Bay.
That evening followed a similar schedule with another cooking class, dinner and squid fishing.

On the final morning we visited Trung Trang Cave on Cat Ba Island.
This was definitely the busiest part of the cruise.
Multiple tour groups arrive around the same time and it can feel crowded inside.
You take a short bus ride to the cave entrance before climbing stairs and walking through the cave system.The walk takes around 15–20 minutes.
It’s worth doing, but compared to some of the caves we’ve visited in Phong Nha and even Margaret River back home in Australia, it wasn’t the standout part of the trip.
Still, it was a good final activity before returning to Hanoi.

Map of Hanoi