Living in Hanoi with kids: schools, areas and costs

Last reviewed: November 2026 by Catherine from ISA. Fee ranges are indicative; always confirm with the school.

Living in Hanoi with kids works best when decisions are made in the right order: school first, then neighbourhood, then flat. Cross-city traffic makes a long school run hard to live with, and the international campuses most expat families use sit on the western and northern edges of the city, or across the Red River in Long Bien, rather than in the Old Quarter.

Below: the five areas families choose, the schools near each, 2026-27 fees and rents, visas for dependants, and the questions parents ask most: air quality and doctors.

Where do expat families live in Hanoi?

• Tay Ho (West Lake): the long-established expat district around the lake, with lanes of houses, serviced apartments and cafés. Raffles Medical runs its Hanoi clinic at 51 Xuan Dieu, in Tay Ho Ward.
• Ciputra: a gated township on the north-western side of West Lake. UNIS Hanoi's campus is inside it, at G9 Ciputra, Phu Thuong.
• Starlake and Tay Ho Tay: a newer planned district west of the lake. Westlink International School sits on Nguyen Huu Lieu, in the Tay Ho Tay urban area of Xuan Dinh Ward.
• Long Bien and Vinhomes Riverside: villas and canals across the Red River. BIS Hanoi is on Hoa Lan Road inside Vinhomes Riverside, Phuc Loi Ward.
• Ba Dinh: the government and embassy district between the Old Quarter and West Lake, central for work but a drive from every campus on this list.

Since 1 July 2025, under National Assembly Standing Committee Resolution 1656/NQ-UBTVQH15, Hanoi has 126 wards and communes, so addresses use new ward names: Dwight School Hanoi, for example, lists Dinh Cong Ward, "formerly Hoang Mai District". Match the ward on any lease to the school's address.

Areas, schools and rents at a glance

Rent bands for the first four areas are undated asking ranges from Hanoi lettings agency House in Hanoi, not official data; the Ba Dinh figure is Numbeo's crowdsourced average, updated in November 2025. Treat them as indicative.

Which international schools are near each area?

United Nations International School of Hanoi

UNIS Hanoi's campus is inside Ciputra, within reach of most of Tay Ho. Its 2026-27 schedule lists annual tuition of USD 33,330 for Grades 1 to 5 and USD 35,210 for Grades 6 to 8. New students pay a USD 600 application fee, a USD 1,500 tuition deposit (credited against fees) and a USD 1,750 enrolment fee. Tip: from the 2026-27 cycle the application fee stays valid for three consecutive years, useful if a posting date slips.

British International School Hanoi

BIS Hanoi, part of Nord Anglia Education, has its campus inside Vinhomes Riverside, so families who rent in the compound can avoid a cross-river school run. Its 2026-27 fees run up to VND 970.2 million for Years 12 and 13, and the school says they include uniforms, lunches, day trips, exams and after-school activities. On acceptance, primary and secondary families pay a VND 70.8 million registration fee and a refundable VND 23.6 million deposit. Its next open day is at 10am on 19 November 2026, and families who attend and apply on the day have the application fee waived, according to the school.

Concordia International School Hanoi

Concordia sits by Van Tri Golf Course in Tho Da, Thien Loc, north of the Red River, so test the river crossing at rush hour if you plan to live in Tay Ho or Starlake. Tuition for Grades 1 to 5 rose from VND 797.95 million in 2025-26 to VND 861.79 million in 2026-27, roughly 8%. Admissions are rolling: applicants from Grade 2 take the MAP reading and maths tests, give a writing sample and attend an interview, after a VND 10.8 million application fee.

Westlink International School

Westlink sits inside the Tay Ho Tay urban area, next to Starlake. It teaches the IB Primary Years and Middle Years programmes and runs a separate bilingual Middle Years track. Its 2026-27 fee page, which shows no currency symbol, lists 525,000,000 a year for Years 1 to 3 paid in full, a 2,500,000 placement test fee and a 21,000,000 enrolment application fee.

Further south, Dwight School Hanoi (Nguyen Xien Road) charges VND 825.3 million for Grades 1 to 5 in 2026-27, and BVIS Hanoi (Royal City, Nguyen Trai Street) charges VND 480.4 million for Year 1, including lunches, day trips and student health insurance.

How much does family life in Hanoi cost?

Housing and school fees are what move the budget. Numbeo's crowdsourced figures, last updated in November 2025, put a family of four at about USD 1,643 a month before rent. The same source gives an average of VND 20.6 million a month for a three-bedroom flat in the city centre and VND 14.3 million outside it, with basic utilities for an 85 m² flat at about VND 1.8 million.

School fees dwarf those numbers. UNIS Hanoi invoices in US dollars, while BIS Hanoi, BVIS Hanoi, Concordia and Dwight publish fees in Vietnamese dong, so your exposure depends on your salary currency. One-off charges add up: at Dwight a new family pays VND 68.6 million in application and enrolment fees and tuition deposit, plus a refundable VND 45 million security deposit. Our breakdown of international school fees in Hanoi compares more schools by stage.

On the housing side, House in Hanoi says a deposit is usually one month's rent and rent is generally paid every three months, so plan for four months of rent up front.

Visas and residence for your children

A visa-free visit will not cover a school year. UK government guidance says British passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 45 days and that an e-visa allows 90 days with multiple entries. Anyone coming to work needs a work permit, and parents sponsoring visas for family members are told to contact the local Immigration Department office. Ask HR to file the children's visas alongside your permit and confirm the timeline before booking flights.

Is Hanoi good for kids? Air quality and healthcare

Air quality is the issue to plan around. IQAir reported that Hanoi's average PM2.5 concentration in 2025 was 45.9 µg/m³, about nine times the WHO annual guideline. IQAir also notes that air quality in Vietnam is usually worse in the October to February dry season, and links bad spells in Hanoi to the burning of rice straw on the city's outskirts. Ask each school how it filters classroom air and at what reading it moves breaks and sport indoors, and budget for purifiers at home.

International-standard care is available across the city. Hanoi French Hospital, at 1 Phuong Mai Street, has emergency doctors on site around the clock and a paediatrics and neonatology department. Vinmec runs a hospital at Times City, and Raffles Medical's Tay Ho clinic opens seven days a week and offers school enrolment health checks.

When does the school year run in Hanoi?

International schools follow a northern-hemisphere calendar. UNIS Hanoi and Dwight both opened 2026-27 on 12 August 2026; Dwight's calendar shows a Tet holiday from 4 to 12 February 2027 and a last day on 9 June 2027. Watch age cut-offs if you compare British schools: BIS Hanoi groups children born from 1 September to 31 August, while BVIS Hanoi uses the calendar year, so in 2026-27 a child born in October 2020 sits in Year 1 at BIS Hanoi but in Year 2 at BVIS Hanoi.

Checklist before you sign a lease

1. Secure a school place, or a confirmed waiting-list position, before choosing an area.
2. Drive the school run at 7am on a weekday from the flat you like.
3. Ask each school for its 2027-28 fees and exactly what they include (lunch, bus, uniform, exams).
4. Add one-off fees and refundable deposits to your relocation budget.

Compare schools across Hanoi

Once you know which side of the city suits your commute, compare the best international schools in Hanoi by curriculum, fees and location, then visit two or three.

More guides to schools in Hanoi

• How to choose an international school in Hanoi
• International school admissions in Hanoi
• International school fees in Hanoi
• Bilingual schools in Hanoi
• best international schools in Hanoi

Further reading: what living in Bangkok with kids costs, British schools in Hanoi compared by curriculum and fees.

Frequently asked questions

Where do most expat families with children live in Hanoi?

Most choose Tay Ho around West Lake, the Ciputra township, Starlake and Tay Ho Tay, or Vinhomes Riverside in Long Bien. The school usually decides: UNIS Hanoi is inside Ciputra, Westlink is in Tay Ho Tay and BIS Hanoi is inside Vinhomes Riverside. Ba Dinh is central for embassy and government jobs but means a longer drive to these campuses.

Is Hanoi a good place to live with young children?

It can be, provided you plan for the air. IQAir put Hanoi's 2025 average PM2.5 at 45.9 µg/m³, about nine times the WHO guideline, and IQAir says Vietnam's October to February dry season is usually worse. International clinics and hospitals, such as Hanoi French Hospital with round-the-clock emergency doctors and a paediatrics department, make routine and urgent care straightforward.

How much does a family need per month to live in Hanoi?

Numbeo's crowdsourced data, updated in November 2025, put a family of four at about USD 1,643 a month before rent. A three-bedroom city-centre flat averaged about VND 20.6 million a month, while serviced or gated-compound housing in expat areas costs more. School fees are the biggest item: UNIS Hanoi charges USD 33,330 a year for Grades 1 to 5 in 2026-27.