Living in Hanoi is the gift that keeps on giving. I came here 6 years ago to teach English "just for a year" and I still haven't left. Most people who live here never intend to stay as long as they do, but something about this city sucks you in.
Hanoi is the capital city, so it's a pretty lively place to live, with lots of visitors and a thrilling kind of chaos.
The people of Hanoi are early risers, and the roads are busy with bikes and cars from as early as 6am. You'll adjust to the sounds of the beeping horns of motorbikes, and the "Một – Hai – Ba – dzô" toasting chants will make you smile from ear to ear as you pass by the local Bia Hois.
Hanoi isn't a quiet place to live, but don't let that put you off. Look forward to the hour of peace from 12-1pm every day when the entire city sleeps for its afternoon nap! (A habit that I think all countries should adopt).
Whether it's the kindness and generosity of the locals, or the buzzing energy that surrounds you; Hanoi enchants you and quickly becomes your home away from home.
Short on time? Here's the cheat sheet
💭Living in Hanoi is a great option for those that want a vibrant city to call home.
🏠The best neighborhoods to live in are Tay Ho or Ba Dinh.
🛏️Start off by booking a hotel or vacation rental, like one at Crescendo Apartment, located in Tay Ho. This is a perfect place to apartment hunt and get a feel for living in Hanoi.
🤕Don't rely on luck alone. SafetyWing now offers 2 types of Nomad Insurance coverage options: Essentials for travelers and Complete for expats and digital nomads.
🛂Most foreigners who live here are English teachers, are digital nomads, or have found an international company to sponsor their visa.
💰Cost of living is affordable compared to other parts of the world. But why not earn travel rewards on all expenses with a Capital One Venture Card?
☂️Although the language can be really hard to learn and pollution a drag,
🏖️You'll love the excellent social scene and plenty of opportunities to make friends.
What's It Like Living as a Foreigner in Hanoi?
Being a foreigner living in Hanoi is a blend of exhilarating, caffeinated madness with (quite) small pockets of gentle calm and comfort all at once. There's never a dull moment in this expat life.
Making Friends
For me, one of the best and most inviting parts about living in Hanoi is the expat community.
Hanoi is full of unique individuals looking to build relationships and have fun and there are so many opportunities to meet people! Whether it's joining a sports team, taking part in classes or getting involved in local events, there's always something to do.
Join Facebook groups such as "Hanoi Beautiful", (women only); a great way to see what's happening in the community and to meet others!
Things to Do in Hanoi
There are many things to see and do in Hanoi: visit the Vietnam Military History Museum, stroll alongside Hoan Kiem Lake, or get an adrenaline rush watching the trains speed by while you sit dangerously close in one of the cafes on Train Street.
There are also a plethora of Bia Hois and lots of cheap beer to be drunk!
Many other destinations in North Vietnam are easy to visit too, such as Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa and Ninh Binh, too. These are great places to travel to if you have a long weekend.
Vietnamese Culture & Language
If you have local friends, it's a privilege to get involved in Vietnamese culture through celebrating their festivals like Tết Holiday (Lunar New Year). I absolutely love sharing their traditions and having the feeling of starting a fresh new year with good luck!
Vietnamese people are kind and trusting, and they will happily welcome you to join in with their family celebrations; in my experience, Vietnamese people love talking with and getting to know foreigners, as well as sharing their country and culture with us.
It's always a great idea to try to learn the language and the local people will appreciate you trying, but more and more Vietnamese people can speak English now, so there aren't too many language barriers. Learn your numbers and how to order a beer and a coffee, and you're grand!
But making the effort is always worth it and you'll be pleasantly surprised by how quickly you pick things up!
Depending on your goals, I recommend these apps/platforms for language learning:
- Drops: Use the free version of this app for 5-minutes of vocab lessons a day. This is good for improving vocab but little else.
- Mondly: If you want to have a little bit more practice, this app is similar to Duolingo but has less silly prompts and more realistic phrases and sentences.
- Babbel: Babbel is similar to Mondly but also teaches cultural tidbits during the language lesson.
- iTalki: If you're more serious about learning to speak the language, this platform allows you to have 1:1 or group lessons with native teachers.
General Cost of Living
Vietnam is a very affordable country to live in, especially compared to most western countries. The currency is Vietnamese Dong, and a little bit can go a long way out here.
Here's a rough breakdown of what you might spend on essentials in one month:
- Rent: roughly between 7,000,000 VND to 18,000,000 VND a month. Prices vary depending on size, location, etc. Many expats choose to have roommates to split the cost of rent.
- Travel related expenses: Motorbikes rule the roads out here. You can buy your own motorbike or you can pay 800,000 VND to 1,200,000 VND a month to rent a motorbike. *I recommend 'Chicks N' Bikes' in Hanoi for some great driving lessons! * You can also travel by Grab, which is the Southeast Asia version of Uber. It's easy to navigate and you can get a motorbike or a car. Depending on how far you travel, a GrabBike is between 13,000 VND to 60,000 VND for one trip and a GrabCar between 40,000 VND to 200,000VND.
- Food: If you like to cook at home, you might pay between 2,000,000 VND to 4,000,000 VND a month on your groceries. This hugely depends on what groceries you are buying and how often you are cooking at home! If you go to the local minimarts and supermarkets, it'll be much cheaper. You'll see local women selling fresh fruit and vegetables in markets or along the roadsides too for very affordable prices! If you prefer to eat out and eat local food such as bun cha, pho or com binh dan, you'll spend between 40,000 VND to 100,000 VND per meal.
- Health insurance: Your employer should pay your insurance for you, (or it will come out of your salary). But if you prefer to purchase your own, you'll spend between 100,000 VND to 500,000 VND a month.
Recommended Neighborhoods / Areas to Live
Hanoi is a really big city, which might feel overwhelming when you first start your apartment hunt. Although there are plenty of neighborhoods to choose from, these are the most common and most recommended areas to live in Hanoi.
Tay Ho District
Most expats live in Tay Ho which surrounds a lake called West Lake. You will see lots of foreigners around this area! This area is full of international restaurants, cafes and gyms. English is also widely spoken here. It's a really beautiful place to live and easy to find your way around.
📍Before you sign a lease, get a feel for the area by staying a few nights in an apartment or a hotel. I recommend:
- Budget Option: KAT Home: This studio apartment offers everything you'd need for a comfortable stay just steps from West Lake.
- Mid-Tier Option: Crescendo Apartment: If you're craving a little bit more space, this building offers 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom apartments on the other side of the lake.
- Luxury Option: Five Star West Lake: These serviced apartments come with additional amenities like a swimming pool, free bicycles, and a spa.
Ba Dinh district
Another expat area is Ba Dinh. It sits between Tay Ho and the Old Quarter, (the backpacking hub). Similarly to Tay Ho, you can find lots of international businesses here. However, there are a lot more local people living in this district.
This is the place that expats live in when they still want to be close to home comforts but they want to feel more immersed in living in Vietnam.
📍Before you sign a lease, get a feel for the area by staying a few nights in an apartment or a hotel. I recommend:
- Budget Option: The Sono Hotel: You'll have to forego having your own kitchen but your stay does include a buffet breakfast.
- Mid-Tier Option: Thien Thai Hotel: Just like the budget option, this hotel doesn't offer rooms with a kitchen but for those that don't like to cook, you'll enjoy breakfast and free afternoon tea (often much more than just tea in Vietnam).
- Luxury Option: HOTEL de LAGOM: This luxury hotel also offers food, a swimming pool, and large rooms suitable for families.
Other Districts
There are other districts to live in, too. Foreigners choose to live elsewhere usually to be closer to their work or to international schools such as UNIS which is located in the area of Ciputra, or VinSchool which has many locations such as Times City and Royal City.
Visa & Residency Options
Curious how to move to Vietnam?
If you have a degree and a trusted job lined up, then it is usually straightforward to get a visa. Most employers will arrange your work permit and business visa / Temporary Residence Card for you. To do this, they expect you to have:
- A notarised degree, (notarised by the Embassy in your home country and the Vietnamese Embassy).
- A notarised TEFL certificate, (again, notarised by the Embassy in your home country and the Vietnamese Embassy). This is if you don't have a PGCE or a degree in Education.
- Your work will organise for you to do a full health check at a hospital.
- You will also need your landlord to submit confirmation that you are living at your address to the Police to sign and stamp.
If you don't have a job when you initially arrive in Vietnam, most countries can now get a tourist visa on arrival.
Teaching English is the most common job for foreigners here but certainly not your only option. There are many big international companies based in either Hanoi or in Ho Chi Minh City for those not interested in teaching.
The digital nomad community is also really big in Vietnam, with most of them living on tourist visas and doing "visa runs" to continuously renew their stay.
Other Useful Tips
Your employer should help you to open a bank account out here, and they are generally pretty simple to understand. Banks like StandardChartered are useful because you can transfer money internationally through your phone!
Wise is another good option as an international, online bank if you don't want to open a local one. Just be sure your employer can pay you this way first!
You can buy a cheap sim card for your mobile phone, (I use Viettel) and top up data and texts through your banking app for about 100,000 VND every 2-4 weeks.
What I Wish I Knew Before Moving Here
Of course, there are cons to living in Hanoi. The number one complaint that you'll hear is about air pollution. Unfortunately, Hanoi is one of the most polluted cities in the world right now! Thankfully, the local people are recognising this issue, but the city has a long way to go to overcome this.
You will need to wear a face mask to protect yourself when driving around on a bike.
Don't be like me and move out here with a couple of crop tops and a few pairs of shorts because the winter months are pretty cold! Be prepared with a thick coat, as well as a scarf and gloves if you're going to be driving a motorbike in these colder months!
Despite this, the cold weather provides a much needed break from the scorching hot temperatures Hanoi has at other times of the year! This is something you won't get the farther south you move in the country where it's endless summer all year long.
Interested in living in other cities in Vietnam? Learn more about living in:
Could you see yourself living here?
Hanoi is truly such a wonderful city full of culture, chaos, very strong coffees, friendly conversations, loud noises and delicious food. I've lived here as an English teacher for over 6 years and I have no regrets.
Personally, if I hadn't taken this massive leap and moved to Hanoi, I know I wouldn't be the person I am today, and I very much like her. Living and working in Hanoi really is a life-changing experience and there are so many opportunities around every corner. Could you see yourself living here?
Here photo courtesy of depositphotos.com
.png)
.png)
