Essential Hanoi Travel Guide: E-Visa, Must-Have Apps & Pro Tips!

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I was super excited about my Hanoi trip and wanted to put aside the online scam that happened when I boarded the flight.
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Let’s start from the beginning,

I was looking to visit an inexpensive country. After much research, I decided to visit Hanoi Vietnam.

But, I remained in doubt when choosing between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. I don’t want to travel in a rush and explore one city at a time. Furthermore, I have heard a lot about Hanoi’s streets, and how beautiful and congested they are at the same time. Thus, I wanted to experience them and decided to visit Hanoi.

Furthermore, in this Hanoi travel guide, I will help you with a reasonable flight search, the E-Visa process, the best stay, and many more travel tips.

Table of Contents

Finding the best flights from Delhi to Hanoi

I chose Vietnam Airlines, as I thought it would be the best choice for my trip to Vietnam. But, also keeping the price aspect in mind. Otherwise, whichever airline costs less, I prefer to choose that.

Fortunately, the Vietnam Airlines flight from Delhi to Hanoi was cheaper at around 13k.

It was a direct flight with a travel time of 4 hours 10 minutes, so I decided to book it.

I usually search on MakeMyTrip and Skyscanner, and I found a good deal on MakeMyTrip for the Delhi to Hanoi flight. In many cases, you can even find more affordable deals on Skyscanner, so don’t overlook searching there.

If you select a meal while booking the flight with Vietnam Airlines, it’s provided for free. My flight was at 11:35 p.m., and I received my meal around 12:40 a.m. Though, I was still hungry after a small airport meal.

The in-flight meal was delicious, enough to make you feel good, stomach filled, and a sound sleep if you got one.

Genuinely, I struggled to get a good sleep, despite the empty seats around me. I stretched out in different positions but couldn’t rest well. Meantime, the flight landed in Hanoi at 4:45 a.m. Vietnam time, just as I was still half-asleep.

How do you get a Vietnam E-Visa from India?

Indian citizens need a Vietnam E-Visa to visit the country. Indeed, you can always check Vietnam E-Visa eligible countries.

I want to begin by highlighting a mistake I made while applying for a Vietnam E-Visa:

I booked my flight before getting the Vietnam E-Visa, which kept me anxious and on edge.

This was my first solo international trip, and I’m used to booking flights first, which I did here too.

The following paragraph requires your more focus:

I wanted to visit Hanoi Vietnam on 27th January, and booked the onward flight ticket well before 15th January. Thereafter, I applied for a Vietnam E-Visa. Since the Tet holidays (The Lunar New Year) were nearing, all the E-Visa services would operate till 24th January.

Note – Every year, the date of the Tet holiday varies, so you can check before applying. Indeed, you can check the Tet date on the main E-Visa government website or Google search.

Unknowingly, I applied for a Vietnam E-Visa on 17th January from a third-party website. It seemed like the main government E-Visa website. The processing date I have set for was within 4 working days. The application cost me 55$, approximately, Rs. 4800/- Indian rupees.

I checked something for the E-Visa again after a day. I realized that I hadn’t updated the portrait photo correctly. Ultimately, there was a shadow in the background. I was smiling in the photo. The size of the photo was also incorrect.

Portrait Photo Requirement for Vietnam E-Visa

Indeed, after reading the requirements cautiously. The photo has to be:

without shadows
person without a smiling face
photo size 4×6 cm
size < 2MB

Vietnam E-Visa Portrait Photo Requirements — *left side portrait photo, right side passport page photo upload requirements*

I got very nervous and was confident, my application would get rejected.

Instantly, I thought about applying again. I know that until the results come, I will not have time to re-apply. E-Visa services will be closed due to the Tet holidays.

I was very worried as I had already booked the flight tickets and had to make it anyhow.

So, pre-assuming that the earlier applied application would get rejected, I decided to apply again.

Vietnam E-Visa Process

For Vietnam E-Visa, you need to fill up the basic details. These include:

The length of stay
Port of entry into Vietnam (the city)
Your passport’s photo
Portrait photo
Some other basic information

Once you submit all the required information, within 3-4 working days, you will get your Vietnam E-Visa. In some cases, which I read, it might take longer.

My Case

Hence, this time, I have applied from the Vietnam E-Visa government website. I adhered to all the rules and regulations. I checked them thoroughly. The cost of applying for a Vietnam E-Visa from the official government website was 25$, approximately, Rs. 2235/- Indian rupees.

So, here’s the entire scenario:

The results would come on the 22nd January for the application from the third-party website. And on 23rd January for the application made from the government website for E-Visa.

22nd January – The day came when I received an email that said, “Here’s your E-Visa for Vietnam“. I was a little shocked and happy! Mixed-reaction.

23rd January – I received an email from the government website, which said: “to download your E-Visa“.

I was stunned!!

I applied from two different websites and got a Vietnam E-Visa from both of them. Indeed, for the one earlier, I was not expecting it at all.

Your Vietnam E Visa would look like the example below, with your details filled in.

Conclusion

My first solo international Delhi to Hanoi trip was filled with learning.

Notably important:

Apply for a Visa/E-Visa first when you get that in hand, then book your flight tickets and hotel/hostel stay.
Try to apply from the official government website for an E-Visa. You can consider third-party websites when you’re in urgent need and don’t have enough time left. They would charge according to the need and urgency but will get your work done.
Always read the requirements thoroughly before applying for an E-Visa. Even smaller details can lead to rejection, and you need to apply again.

This is the utmost important thing to know when planning for Hanoi Vietnam. It will ultimately help you plan better and you won’t repeat the blunders.

Where to stay when traveling to Hanoi?

Since I was traveling on a budget, I preferred to stay in a Hostel. Though wherever I travel, my preference remains hostel at first.

I searched and found Hanoi Old Quarters to be an ideal location for backpackers. It’s also an excellent area to see the charm of Hanoi.

Hence, I started to find hostel options and came across many on the Hostelworld.

I decided to book the Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel because it has a lot of positive reviews. People seem to love this hostel. So, I chose to stay here.

Old Quarter View Hanoi Hostel

I booked for the first two nights in a 10-bed-mixed dorm from the Hostelworld. So, I needed to pay a small amount of Rs. 304/- to confirm my booking. The rest needed to pay at the hostel reception in Vietnamese Dong.

The price for the first 2 nights at the hostel was around Rs. 1900/- for which I paid Rs. 304/- online in Indian rupees and the rest I needed to pay there.

Initially, I was unsure whether to stay in the same hostel or not. When I finally decided to stay in the same hostel.

I had to book this way, as the hostel was packed. So I had to adjust wherever I found dorm bed vacant.

10-bed mixed dorm for first 2 nights
12-bed mixed dorm for the next night
6-bed mixed dorm for the remaining two nights

Sounds unusual right!

Hostelworld Group Chat Feature

Hostelworld has an additional feature. It lets you join a group chat with fellow guests staying during your dates in Hanoi.

Post check-out, after 3 days, the group will ultimately disappear for you.

However, after using the group interaction feature, I found that it works instantly.

Like for example: If you want to share a grab and have asked if somebody wants to split the grab. If someone interested saw it right away and replied, it would work. Otherwise, most of the chats went unnoticed and un-replied.

Though you can anyways try.

Hanoi Weather

Since I was traveling to Hanoi Vietnam during the Tet time in January. It would remain cold in the morning and evening, and hotter in the afternoon as the sun came out.

You can check the Hanoi weather online and predict how the it will be during your stay in Hanoi.

Fortunately, the weather conditions were the same in both Delhi and Hanoi during this time. Thus, there was no major temperature gap.

But, since it’s a tropical region, summers can be very humid in this area.

Time Gap between India and Vietnam

The time in Vietnam is 1 hr 30 minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time (IST).

For example: If it’s 10 a.m in India, it will be 11:30 a.m. in Vietnam.

How much Vietnam currency to carry from India?

You can carry some amount so that you can manage to reach from Airport to your stay. There will be a lot of better options to exchange Indian currency in the city center.

I carried 50,00,000 lakh Vietnamese Dong (VND), roughly around Rs. 17,342/- Indian rupees from India.

But you can carry a smaller amount. Get that exchanged in the city because there you would get better exchange rates than the Airport.

Also, keep Indian currency handy with you somewhere in your bag, so you can easily convert it when you need it.

Must-Have Apps in your phone

Grab
Clev Calc
Klook
Hostelworld

What is Grab?

In India, you have Ola and Uber. Similarly, in Southeast Asian countries, you’ll find Grab.

Simply, you can type in the pick-up and end destination and choose the type of vehicle accordingly.

You can download Grab and keep it handy, you might be required to use Grab in some of the cases.

Clev Calc

ClevCalc is a handy app that helps convert currencies, making it easier to understand how much you’re actually spending.

Vietnam’s currency, the Vietnamese Dong (VND), has high numerical values, which can be a bit overwhelming at first. Seeing the amount I paid in VND definitely made my heart skip a beat!

If you’re coming from a country with smaller currency values, imagine being asked to pay 60,000 VND. This might feel like a heart attack!

But once you check the conversion, you’ll realize it’s much more reasonable.

For example, I paid 60,000 VND for an egg coffee, and when I converted it to Indian Rupees, it was just ₹204—a sigh of relief!

This app is incredibly useful for keeping track of your spending in your home currency. It helps you budget better. It also helps you avoid unnecessary stress while traveling.

Is Klook even required?

Klook is a handy app for booking activities in Hanoi, including tours, buses, trains, and cruises.

You can even get an E-SIM from Klook. It’s hassle-free, with all the information you need in one place—no need to search elsewhere!

Hostelworld

You can consider Hostelworld to book your stay. However, there are other options like booking.com or other websites. Precisely to search for hostels, I prefer to use Hostelworld. For confirmation, I need to pay a small amount to confirm my booking. Then, the remaining amount has to be paid when I arrive at the hostel.

Additionally, a free cancellation is allowed till a certain date before check-in. And, as I said, you can interact in the group and make friends to explore together before you arrive at the destination.

Hence, I find it extremely useful.