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Travel in Viet Nam

passport & visas [ trains & planes ] xe ôms & taxis

Vietnam is a small enough country that exploring it from North to South is not impossible, or even terribly difficult. It's a quick flight (less than 2 hours) from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and a slow, intriguing journey via train.

Vietnam Railways runs the length of Vietnam, from Lao Cai at the China border down through Ninh Binh, Hue, Da Nang, Nha Trang and into Ho Chi Minh City. It's incredibly economical with one-way trips often costing less than half the price of a flight.

We took the train throughout the the north several times, riding the rails from Cao Lai to Hanoi and Hanoi to Tam Ky and back twice, and numerous trips between Thanh Hoa and Hanoi. In all of our trips, we never had any problems with service or theft. Trains are nearly always on-time; our longest wait was 15 minutes. Not bad for a railway system that is consistently full (which also means you should buy your tickets as early as possible).

The train offers a few choices for your travel and we've tried most of them. Here's our impression of each:
Soft sleepers: Available with or without air conditioning, the soft sleepers have four beds to each berth. The mattresses are thicker than the hard sleepers, but at twice the price, they aren't twice as comfortable. You will find the foreigners outnumber the locals here.
Hard sleepers: A preferred means of long-distance travel, the sleepers are comfortable enough and the my kids loved getting the upper beds. The beds get cheaper as you go up (level one is the most expensive, level 2 is a bit cheaper and level 3 is almost half the price of level beds.
Soft seats: Also available with or without air conditioning, I'd suggest that during the warm months you choose the air con, if possible. Otherwise, there are fans to keep the air moving and temps down. Bucket seats are comfy enough for several hours, but if you'll be on the train longer, it's easier on the kids to have beds to stretch out on.
Hard seats: Not for the faint of heart, the hard seats are wooden benches that are set up dinette-style through the train car. It feels more like a train for livestock and the seats are extremely uncomfortable. Every once in a while these are the only seats left; if that happens, make sure you have something comfortable to sit on. Your tailbone will thank you.

Vietnam Airlines is the airline in-country; it runs frequently between the capitol of Hanoi and HCMC with numerous cities/stops in between. Flights can be arranged to and from Da Lat, Hai Phong, Nha Trang, Vinh, Da Nang and a half-dozen more. Flights are a quick and economical way to travel from one area of the country to another. This is particularly useful when your itinerary goes from on end of the country to the other, but your flight home departs from your starting point.

Outside resources:


	cities: Sa Pa Ha Long Bay H� Nội Ninh Bình --Phát Diệm --Tam Cốc --Hoa Lu Thanh Hóa Sầm Sơn Huế Hội An Tam Kỳ Mỹ Lai


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Travel in Viet Nam

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