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Vietnam Sleeper Train: Top Tips For Surviving [2024]

Find out all about taking a Vietnam sleeper train. Let’s talk about whether it is worth it, how to book, tips to survive, different berth types, my journeys, and what to expect on your sleeper train Vietnam!

If you are planning to travel around Vietnam then you have no doubt thought about taking a Vietnam sleeper train. Nearly covering the length of the country, a sleeper train in Vietnam is an excellent way to travel from point A to point B.

We nearly used them all through our backpacking Vietnam adventure. Though we were limited to where the train goes so had to take a couple of sleeper buses. We thoroughly enjoyed taking a sleeper train around Vietnam. Though I have certainly seen and heard of some crazy horror stories.

Personally, our horror stories went the opposite way, they were on the sleeper buses . So, ultimately that’s why we decided to take a sleeper train in Vietnam wherever possible. This is the more expensive option, but for the sake of our sanity, we decided it would be worth it.

It wasn’t an easy decision to come to. However, after much research, scary TripAdvisor reviews, and overanalyzing blog posts we took the plunge and purchased a train ticket using the Baolau online ticketing services.

So read on to find out everything you need to know about taking a Vietnam sleeper train. This includes what to expect, how comfortable it is, booking a sleeper train in Vietnam, costs, berth types, and more.

Booking a Vietnam Sleeper Train: What You Need To Know Before You Sleeper Train Vietnam

🚗 How I Book Cheap Transport In Vietnam: Baolau & 12.Go Asia

How To Book A Vietnam Sleeper Train

You’ll be surprised how easy it is to book a sleeper train in Vietnam. It used to be a bit more complicated back in the day. Though with the advancement of technology, it has now become a painless experience.

Buy Tickets Online: You can now purchase tickets online. It is a bit confusing as some websites still say you need to print out your ticket and swap it at the train station. Though no one wants to be stuck doing this! As a result, I booked all of my train journeys in Vietnam with Baolau . Their website says you don’t need to print off the ticket and instead just show it ticket on your phone to the attendant on the train.

This is what I did and never once had an issue. Though being a third-party agent there is a small additional fee built into the ticket cost, this is way easier and cheaper than having to go to the train station! I often use 12.Go Asia in other parts of Asia, but not in Vietnam for the above reason.

Buy Tickets From Vietnam Railways: Another option is buying your tickets directly with Vietnam Railways. You often can’t find the cheaper hard/soft seater tickets available on third-party websites as they are not a popular choice for travelers. Though if you are on a budget you can book directly with Vietnam Railways. Just make sure you use the Vietnam Railways legit website as there are plenty of knockoffs floating around. Alternatively, you can also purchase tickets at your nearest train station. You will find the tickets are slightly cheaper when you purchase directly because there isn’t a third party involved in marking up their share for processing the ticket.

Where To Take The Sleeper Train In Vietnam

Apart from operating the route between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City the sleeper trains in Vietnam also travel to many other parts of the country which can be seen on the map below.

Though to keep this post relatively short we will be concentrating on The Reunification Express which is the route from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa.

The Reunification Express (Hanoi To Ho Chi Minh And Vice Versa

The following is the timetable from Hanoi To Ho Chi Minh City and the stops it makes along the way:

The following is the timetable from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and the stops it makes along the way:

Other Sleeper Train Routes In Vietnam

Apart from the Reunification Express, there are a few other train routes you may find yourself taking on your journeys in Vietnam.

Hanoi To Lao Cai / Sapa : The sleeper train from Hanoi to Lao Cai for Sapa is a popular journey in Vietnam. For the most comfortable trip, I recommend booking a 4-berth soft sleeper, or if you have the funds, one of the luxury trains. This will ensure you get a good night’s sleep ready for a day of trekking in Sapa .

The main thing to remember when booking the train from Hanoi to Sapa is that the journey finishes in Lao Cai rather than Sapa. This means you will need to take some sort of transport for the remainder to Sapa town. The distance from Lao Cai to Sapa is 35 kilometers which will take you around 50 to 90 minutes to travel to Sapa depending on whether you book a minivan or a bus.

Ho Chi Minh To Phan Thiet / Mui Ne: Rather than getting off the train at Binh Thuan on the Reunification line, nearly 40 kilometers away from Mui Ne, you can instead take the train from Ho Chi Minh to Phan Thiet. Phan Thiet is just 24 kilometers away from Mui Ne and there will be plenty of taxis around at the station that can take you the distance.

Hanoi To Haiphong: Haiphong is the perfect gateway to exploring the amazing Cat Ba Island . You can travel this way by taking the train from Hanoi to Haiphong. Onboard there are air-conditioned soft seats, air-conditioned seats, and ordinary seats. Tickets cost a few dollars and the journey takes just over 2 hours.

Hanoi To Halong Bay: Even though Halong is a tourist hotspot then train from Hanoi to Halong bay is a more local experience. This is the perfect journey if you are wanting to get off the beaten track and experience local life. The trains are not anything fancy with just hard seats available, though when you arrive in Halong Bay there is a fancy new train station.

Costs Of A Sleeper Train Vietnam

Depending on who you book through will affect the costs of a sleeper train Vietnam. Obviously, your cheaper option is booking directly through Vietnam Railways online or you can also purchase tickets at your nearest train station.

Booking through a third party such as Baolau can be a couple of extra dollars, but can save a lot of hassle when it comes to printing your tickets.

You will find the majority of overnight journeys will cost you approximately $30.00 or so per person if you book the air conditioning soft sleeper lower berth, which is one of the best beds.

This can be quite a bit of money, considering buses can be found for about half this price. Though taking the train is a much more comfortable way to travel around Vietnam.

To get a better idea of pricing below are the approximate ticket costs from Hanoi to particular stops along the Reunification line depending on what type of ticket you decide to book. Prices are in USD rounded to the nearest 10 cents.

What Berth To Book

As above in our price table, you will see all the different types of tickets you can book. Be aware that even though you may book the same class twice it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be the same.

Quite a few trains have been refurbished in recent years making them a lot more comfortable. However this isn’t the case with all trains.

Hard Seat Or Soft Seat

The seats are the cheapest you will find, with a hard seat being one of the cheapest options available. This is good for shorter journeys, though I would think twice before booking one for an overnight train in Vietnam.

The hard seats are exactly as they sound. Usually, they are simply just wooden benches on the train. Your soft seats are cushioned chairs, a lot more comfortable on journeys.

I would only book this option for journeys less than a few hours long. Though if you are on a tight budget you may find this to be the best option for you.

You will also have a lot more opportunities to interact with the locals on board as you are not in cabins.

Hard Sleeper Or Soft Sleeper

The majority of travelers will choose a soft sleeper when taking a sleeper train in Vietnam, especially when their journey is overnight.

This is the most comfortable way to travel. Also, it is the safest with a smaller amount of people around you and lockable doors.

The only difference between the hard sleeper and soft sleeper berths is the number of people you will be sharing with. A hard sleeper sleeps 6 people whereas a soft sleeper sleeps, 4 people.

So contrary to the name you won’t be sleeping on a hard surface, you will just have less headroom if you want to sit upright.

Whichever sleeper you choose you will have an individual reading light, pillow, sheet, and duvet. You can either store your luggage under the lower bunk or in the compartment above the door.

Lower or Upper Berth

Lastly is the choice of booking a lower or upper berth. Most people seem to have a preference for this, including myself.

Lower Berth: The appeal of the lower berth is simply that it is a lot easier to get into. There is no climbing an awkward ladder, trying not to fall off while the train moves. The lower ones are also generally slightly bigger as they are permanent fixtures. The downside is there is a lot less privacy and you may find your upper bunk mates join you during the day so they can sit at the table.

Upper Berth : The upper berth is a lot more private and there will be no one trying to encroach on your space. You may also have the air conditioning blowing straight onto you so bring an extra jacket on board to keep warm!

Top tip: If you book your train via Baolau you can pick in advance whether you want a lower or upper berth.

Types Of Trains And Classes Onboard: First Class Sleeper Train Vietnam VS Hard Seats

The following is a list of trains that operate in Vietnam and the types of classes onboard which you can book tickets for:

SE1, SE2, SE3, and SE4: These are the best trains with air-conditioned 4-berth soft sleepers, air-conditioned 6-berth hard sleepers, and air-conditioned soft seats. SE3 and SE4 were refurbished in 2015 and SE1 and SE2 were refurbished in 2016. You will also find these trains offer privately run luxury first class sleeper train Vietnam by companies such as Livitrans and Violette.

SE5, SE6, SE9, and SE10: Onboard you will find air-conditioned 4-berth soft sleepers, air-conditioned 6-berth hard sleepers, air-conditioned soft seats, air-conditioned hard seats, and ordinary seats.

SE7 and SE8: These two trains only run at busy times such as Tet. Onboard you can find air-conditioned soft sleepers, air-conditioned hard sleepers, and air-conditioned soft seats.

SE19 and SE20: Onboard you will find air-conditioned soft sleepers, air-conditioned hard sleepers, air-conditioned soft seats, air-conditioned hard seats, and ordinary hard seats.

SE21 and SE22: Onboard you will find air-conditioned soft sleepers, air-conditioned hard sleepers, air-conditioned soft seats, and air-conditioned hard seats.

SE11, SE12, SE25, and SE26: You will only find these trains running on particular dates because they are seasonal operations.

Facilities On Board

In terms of facilities onboard the sleeper train Vietnam you have access to everything you need for an overnight journey. There are two toilets in each carriage, one Western-style and one squatter.

Though be aware these will be clean at the start of your journey, but we can’t promise the same the following day. There are no showers on board.

There is Wi-Fi onboard. However, do not expect it to work 100% of the way. Same thing if you have a local SIM card with data. In some parts of the country, you will have a hard time getting reception.

There is hot water on each carriage. This means cup noodles provide the perfect meal. You can buy food onboard as the cart walks around. Though in all honesty, I would recommend skipping this. As a result, you are best off purchasing food beforehand.

Many of the train stations have food vendors offering snacks like chips, lollies, and drinks. Though best to head to a restaurant beforehand and grab a few things takeaway. A banh mi is a great choice.

Can You Actually Sleep

Now if you are booking a Vietnam sleeper train you would presume that is in the hope that you can sleep on board. That way you wake up refreshed and ready to explore a new destination.

Personally, I had excellent nights of sleep on all of my Vietnam sleeper train journeys. Though I am the type of person who generally sleeps well on moving transport as I find the rocking puts me to sleep. We always made sure to book the forward-facing sleeper bed to prevent motion sickness as well.

It is relatively dark onboard and you can turn the announcement speaker down so you don’t get woken up. As you can see from the above timetable the train doesn’t actually stop that often. Though you will notice it speeding up and slowing down as you head in and out of towns.

Safety On The Train

Taking a train in Vietnam is probably one of the safest ways you can travel around. I mean the roads here are absolutely crazy so no surprises there. Though taking overnight bus journeys is particularly risky. Therefore take the train for the safest option for traveling from point A to point B.

The only time you really need to be concerned is theft onboard the actual train. Unfortunately, this is common in Vietnam so you will want to keep your valuables close to you. Chuck a lock on your bag to keep it safe and remember to lock the door to your cabin if you happen to book one.

Personally, I didn’t have any issues on the overnight train Vietnam. However, I did take the above precautions to keep safe. Sometimes common sense can make a big difference and prevents you from being a target.

Do’s And Don’ts Of The Vietnam Sleeper Train

Yes, there are rules you should follow when booking a sleeper train in Vietnam. This will ensure you respect the culture and have an excellent journey. A lot of things we normally do in Western cultures aren’t acceptable in others. So read on to find out the dos and don’ts of taking a Vietnam sleeper train.

Vietnam Sleeper Train Do’s

• Dress comfortably when traveling. I mean you don’t want to try to climb up to the upper berth wearing tight skinny jeans.
• Take all your essentials on board with just a day pack. Your main bag will be packed away and you don’t want to upset the other people in your cabin by having to pull everything out of your bag. So you will need your everyday items and valuables close.
• Keep your bags as safe as possible because petty theft is relatively common in Vietnam. This is especially the case if you are sleeping.
• The air conditioning can be super cold! Though this is pretty normal when traveling all around Southeast Asia, not just in Vietnam. Bring along that one hoodie or jacket you packed because trust me you will need it.
• Feel free to bring your own pillowcase or cover it in a T-shirt if you are concerned about cleanliness. The trains are only cleaned in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Therefore if you jump on halfway through you may discover your bed has already been slept in.
• Bring with you plenty of snacks, earplugs, an eyemask, water, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer. You will want these kept in your day bag for emergencies.
• Make sure you have some sort of entertainment. This will make your journey a lot less painful. Ensure devices are fully charged and if you have a power bank bring that along as well. If you are really onto it download some episodes of your favorite Netflix show. Just anything to kill time.

Vietnam Sleeper Train Don’t’s

• Not to sound like your mother, but don’t leave valuables lying around. As I said above petty theft is a common occurrence throughout Vietnam and if you are unaware or sleeping you quickly become the perfect victim.
• Research your journey and how long it will take. You will want enough food and water on board the bus to keep you going. I always found food vendors in Vietnam always happy to package items for takeaway.
• The name sleeper train doesn’t necessarily mean you need to take it at night. Plenty of sleeper trains in Vietnam operate during the daytime. Bonus, the daytime trips are generally a bit cheaper as well!
• Don’t give in to those pushy taxi drivers when you arrive at your next destination. Research in advance how much a taxi should cost and even walk slightly away from the train station where you are more likely to get a cheaper rate.
• Make sure not to leave booking your sleeper train last minute. They generally get booked up a few days in advance. This can change to a few weeks in advance during busy periods such as Tet new year.

My Vietnam Overnight Train Experiences

The following are a couple of my experiences taking a Vietnam overnight train. Hopefully, this will give you a good idea of what to expect and tips so you can have an easy and stress-free journey.

Hanoi To Hue

The first leg of our journey would take us from Hanoi to Hue . A 14-hour ride, departing at 8 pm and arriving at 10 am. The Baolau website had a variety of options to choose from and you can even pick your seats on a lot of trains.

We decided on a four-berth soft sleeper, lower bunks, on train SE19 seeing as it would be a long journey which cost 720000 VND and a small booking fee. An online ticket on a mobile phone can be used which also saved the hassle of printing one out.

The Hanoi Railway Station is located a twenty-minute or so walk away from the Old Quarter. So we strapped on our bags and began navigating our way between motorbikes, busy footpaths, and dodging cars.

Soon enough we arrived and managed to figure our way to our train and carriage with no help whatsoever, super proud.

When arriving at the station on the lower level head straight through where there will be a sign displaying what gate the train is departing from. Once you have found that head up the escalator on the left to the second floor, then through the door on either side of the building.

There should be electronic signs stating what carriages are in which direction and it is all quite easy to figure out.

Entering the carriage it was obvious it was not the most flash, but also it was not run down as all those horror stories I had previously read online made it sound. The four-berth cabin was simple, with basic wooden fixings, a small table, power sockets, and two lights.

When we arrived our two cabinmates were already there. They were two Vietnamese girls who literally said nothing and barely made a noise during the whole time they were on board.

The train departed at the exact minute stated and we soon enough fell asleep to the rocking movements. At approximately 10 pm loud music started playing and a woman came over the loudspeaker stating we had arrived in Ninh Binh.

It went quiet after that and we all fell back to sleep. Then, at 2 am the noise started again having arrived in Vinh and our two cabinmates departed, leaving James and me by ourselves for the remaining 8 hours.

After that I fell asleep quickly, dreaming of trains and buses obviously caused by the rocking sensations. It was a really good sleep, likely the same amount I would have had at a hostel. I slept without earplugs or headphones and was only waken at the stations. We purchased snacks at a supermarket in Hanoi so never tried the train food.

The bathrooms were kept clean throughout the trip, and most visits were stocked with toilet paper, though take your own supply just to be safe. The only bathroom major was the smell once in there, but you will want to get out of there as quickly as possible anyway.

The four berth soft sleeper cabin was extremely comfortable and had everything you would need, except wifi. It was clean and the only bug I saw was a lone mosquito, so no cockroaches, thank god. The sheets, duvet, and pillow were all clean and nicely folded up when we arrived.

Hue To Danang

We booked the tickets from Hue to Da Nang through the same ticketing website, costing 128000 VND. The train would depart at 10.35 am and arrive at 1 pm. So it was a fairly short ride. The reason why we booked the train was that I had read that it was the most scenic leg of the Vietnam Railway system. Through coastlines, forests, and rice fields.

After a brisk walk to the train station, we had to stay in the waiting room for about twenty minutes until they opened the door. We had booked 2 beds in a 4 berth soft sleeper booth. Train SE3, carriage 8, beds 13 & 14.

The train was only a mere ten minutes late and its arrival was announced with loud whistles and men waving yellow flags near the track. The SE3 train was one of those which had been refurbished, slightly more expensive than the older, original trains.

Appear the same from the outside but quite different on the inside. A lighter, fresher color scheme made the areas feel larger. The bathroom areas were also redone, with two basins and a separate toilet area. Fake flowers sat on the table and we were handed a bottle of water each.

The main disappointment with this train was that there was mesh covering the window. This meant that to see the most scenic part of the Vietnam railway system we had to also stare at small black dots, limiting the chance of getting any photos greatly.

Also, the rumored wifi available was nonexistent, so don’t bother booking the nicer trains just on the chance you will get internet.

FAQs About Sleeper Trains In Vietnam

Does vietnam have sleeper trains.

Yes, Vietnam has sleeper trains that run across the country. Sleeper trains are a popular way of traveling long distances in Vietnam, as they are comfortable, safe, and affordable.

What Is The Most Luxurious Train In Vietnam?

The most luxurious train in Vietnam is The Vietage, a private luxury train that runs between Da Nang and Quy Nhon. The Vietage offers a six-hour journey through the scenic landscapes and coastlines of Central Vietnam.

What Is The Difference Between First Class And Second Class Sleeper Train In Vietnam?

The difference between first-class and second-class sleeper trains in Vietnam is mainly in the number of beds, the comfort level, and the privacy of the cabins.

First-class sleeper cabins have four soft beds with thicker mattresses, pillows, and sheets. They also have a door that can be locked, reading lights, and electrical outlets. Second-class sleeper cabins have six hard beds with thinner mattresses, pillows, and sheets. They do not have a door, so they are more open and less secure.

How Far In Advance Should I Book A Train In Vietnam?

The best time to book a train ticket in Vietnam depends on the type of train, the class of cabin, and the season. Generally, it is advisable to book at least one or two days ahead of time for regular seats, as the trains can fill up quickly. 

However, for some trains and classes, such as soft sleepers or VIP berths, you may need to book at least one week in advance.

Do You Get Food On A Vietnam Train?

There are dining cars attached to the trains in Vietnam but the food on board is limited in choice and is usually overpriced. 

A food trolley goes back and forth selling pots of noodles, soup, snacks, and water. It is a good idea to buy your own food before you get on the train. 

Can You Drink On The Train In Vietnam?

There is no official rule that prohibits drinking alcohol on the train in Vietnam. However, you may want to be careful and respectful of other passengers and the train staff. 

Do Sleeper Trains In Vietnam Have Showers?

Most sleeper trains in Vietnam do not have showers. The only exception is the VIP berth on the Livitrans Express, which has a private bathroom with a shower. However, this option is very expensive and limited, as there are only two VIP cabins per train.

Should I Book A Overnight Train Vietnam

Honestly, I personally recommend a sleeper train as an excellent way to travel around Vietnam. You will get a comfortable and well-rested night’s sleep ensuring you arrive at your next destination refreshed and ready to explore. The one downside would be the price attached. Therefore if you are on a tight budget taking a sleeper bus would be the best option for you.

I also recommend using Baolau to book sleeper trains in Vietnam. You can book the exact ticket you want and the type of sleeper which is best for your needs. There is also no need to print your ticket off as you can just show it on your phone.

Any Questions? Let me know in the comments!

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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. So, if you click on it and purchase something, I get a small percentage at no extra cost to you. As always all opinions are my own and your support is much appreciated.Photo credit: “ 20180313_151952 ”( CC BY 2.0 ) by Rob Glover . “ Train to Hue ” ( CC BY 2.0 ) by Nick .

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32 Comments

Tasha Amy is a true backpacker at heart and has been discovering the world on a budget since 2015. Based in Gisborne, New Zealand she will spend many months each year traveling overseas as a solo female traveler before coming home and sharing her adventures online with you.

18 thoughts on “ Vietnam Sleeper Train: Top Tips For Surviving [2024] ”

Thanks for your comprehensive post. I’ve read about the pros and cons of the top and bottom bunk in the 4 person sleeper. I’m traveling with my husband overnight from Ninh Binh to Dong Hoi….What do you think about booking a top and bottom so we can have the best of both worlds and have an entire side to ourselves? Does the system allow you to book one of each??

I’m super glad you had clean restrooms because when I traveled the length of Vietnam on the trains, that was the only thing that really distressed me — and I’m not a clean freak. There were puddles everywhere and the smell… horrid. It was a really odd experience with cabin-mates I didn’t know but both men were polite and one even helped me get food from the trolley. Ran into a man from California traveling with Vietnamese relatives and he shared food and beer during the trip. I’ve heard that the food carts are a great way to get salmonella but I had absolutely zero issues eating from the trolley… still, your advice to pick up food before you go is wise. It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do it again…

Is it possible to buy a monthly pass?

Hi Barbara! Unfortunately I haven’t seen them offering monthly passes. Though I have seen this with sleeper buses offering ‘open tickets’ for any routes over a set period of time

Thank you so much very useful article. I was looking at the trains via Baolao from Hanoi to Sapa and I can see the night train departing at 22:00, but then there are different prices (it seems with different companies such as: Vietnam RW, Livitrans, Violette, Sapaly express etc.). What does it means? It’s the same train operated by different companies? What is it better to book? I cannot understand the differences from the website. Thank you so much in advance if you can help me

I’m on SE2 from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi right now, on soft sleeper cabin. Thank you so much for the info you shared here.

I’m looking to do the sleeper from HCM to Hanoi so I downloaded and registeren with Baolao…booking went ok, but I couldn’t see how to select the lowerer bunk. Can you give me a pointer😊

Thanks so much for all the valuable insights! We will be travelling as a family of four and will book a sleeper train now that I have read your review!

Hey Jakob! Yes I love the sleeper train! It will be an awesome experience for your family!

Is it guaranteed that when you book for 4 you end up being in the same sleeper together? Planning on booking for family of 4. Is the price given per person or for the whole 4. I think I saw the price as $108 AD. De Nang to Ninh Binh. Thanks

Hey Katie When you book on Baolau which I have linked above it will show you which berths are available on each carriage for the class you are wanting when you click book now. You can then select which beds for each person so you can all be together. If you are wanting a 4 berth for 4 people I recommend booking in advance. They show the price as per person, and are who I book all my train journeys in Vietnam with as it’s just so easy!

Excellent information-I really appreciate it. My husband and I, who are seniors would like a cabin to ourselves (because of snoring), can we book a 4 berth for ourselves (maybe paying for 4 seats?) or should we go through Livitrans or Violette to possibly get a 2 berth?

Well written and comprehensive. Thank you.

Hey Kevin! Glad you found it helpful!

We are 2 women travelling, would you recommend we buy 2 tickets each for the sleeper so we can have the whole 4 berth sleeper cabin to ourselves? Are the cabins generally full? Thanks

Hey Steph! This depends on how much you would appreciate your privacy. In general, I have found that the cabins are full on 90% of my journeys.

Hi, thank you so much for your useful article. It’s really great! Can I ask you if you can buy ticket from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi and any time go out and go in during the way? Thank you again

Hey Katerina, you are best to purchase tickets 2 to 3 days prior to your desired departure date. Though you will still be able to book the day before, but you will have less options of companies available.

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International travel to/from Vietnam

Why trains are the way to go.

Vietnam's air-conditioned trains are the best way for independent travellers to get around Vietnam.  You might even meet some Vietnamese people!  Inexperienced travellers think they'll save time using internal flights, but an overnight train from Hanoi to Hué or Danang actually saves time, because the train leaves Hanoi in the evening and arrives in Hué next morning, city centre to city centre.  It saves a hotel bill too.  But more than this, the train is a genuine Vietnamese experience, an integral part of your trip.

Air-conditioned trains link Hanoi, Hué, Danang, Nha Trang & Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).  The historic UNESCO-listed town of Hoi An is just 30 km by bus or taxi from Danang.  There are also trains from Hanoi to Haiphong (for Halong Bay) and Hanoi to Lao Cai (for the hill resort at Sapa).  See interactive route map of trains in Southeast Asia .

The view from the train

Rice fields, palm trees, water buffalo, Vietnamese towns and villages.  You get a real insight into Vietnam when you travel by train which you don't get from 35,000 feet.  If you people watch you'll get insights on board the train, too - the real Vietnam is as much inside as outside the train.  The most magical part of a Hanoi to Saigon train journey is between Hué & Danang where the train runs along the South China Sea, snaking from cliff to jungle-covered cliff past beaches and islands, then heads through the lush green mountains via the Hai Van Pass to reach Danang.  World class scenic!  In Vietnamese it's Đèo Hải Vân meaning Ocean Cloud Pass , and I can't think of a better name.  In the bright Vietnamese sun, the vivid blue skies, green waters and yellow beaches will take your breath away.  See the video, Hanoi-Saigon by train .

Ho Chi Minh or Saigon?

Since the end of the Vietnamese war, the official name for the conurbation as a whole has been Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).  However, the city centre is still officially called Saigon , which is the city's traditional historic name.  In fact, the city appears as Sai Gon in all Vietnamese railway timetables, it will say Sai Gon on your train ticket and as you can see from the photo, it actually says Sai Gon in big letters on the station itself.  The ruling elite may toe the line and call it Ho Chi Minh, but everyone else calls it Saigon.  So do what the locals do, call it Saigon!

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Useful country information

The reunification line.

Trains between Hanoi & Saigon are often referred to as the Reunification Express , although there are a range of trains on this route and no single train officially carries this title.  The line was completed by the French in 1936 and trains linked Hanoi with Saigon until 1954, when Vietnam was divided into north and south.  Trains resumed on 31 December 1976, unifying the country.  You too can travel the length of Vietnam on the reunification railway, an experience in itself.  Over the last decade the Hanoi-Saigon train service has steadily improved with more trains & newer more comfortable rolling stock.  Here are the principal trains, there are additional trains at peak times such as the Tet holiday period .

Schematic map of Vietnamese Railways routes .

Interactive map of Hanoi-Saigon Reunification Railway

Interactive map of train, bus & ferry routes in SE Asia .

Quick links :  Fares      Ticket advice      Buy tickets online     What are the trains like?      Recommended hotels

Timetable southbound 2024

Timetable northbound 2024, notes by train number.

These trains run every day, additional trains may run at busy periods.  You can check these times using dsvn.vn .

Hanoi to Saigon is 1,726km or 1,070 miles.  Map showing Saigon station .  Map showing Hanoi station .

If a 5am arrival in Saigon or Hanoi seems early, remember that in Southeast Asia it's usual to rise early and you'll find plenty of taxis available at this time.

SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4:   The best trains, with air-conditioned soft sleepers (4-berth), air-conditioned hard sleepers (6-berth), air-conditioned soft seats .

Trains SE3 & SE4 were equipped with smart refurbished cars in 2015, trains SE1 & SE2 got similar refurbished cars in 2016.  Trains SE1 & SE2 also have a handful of VIP 2-berth compartments (only about 4 per train).  SE1 & SE2 also convey privately-run Livitrans tourist sleepers between Hanoi, Hue & Danang.  Trains SE3 & SE4 also convey privately-run Violette Trains tourist sleepers between Hanoi, Hue & Danang, see the Livitrans & Violette section below .

SE5, SE6, SE9, SE10:   Air-conditioned soft sleepers (4-berth), air-conditioned hard sleepers (6-berth), air-conditioned soft seats , air-conditioned hard seats , ordinary hard seats .  Trains SE5 & SE6 were re-equipped with some of the latest modern seats cars & sleeping-cars in 2018.

SE7, SE8:  Only runs at busy times, check online if it's running a month or two ahead .  Air -con soft sleepers , air-con hard sleepers , air-con soft seats .

SE19, SE20:   Air-conditioned soft sleepers , air-conditioned hard sleepers , air-conditioned soft seats , air-conditioned hard seats , ordinary hard seats .

SE21, SE22: Air-conditioned soft sleepers , air-conditioned hard sleepers , air-conditioned soft seats , air-conditioned hard seats .

SE11, SE12, SE25, SE26:   On certain dates you'll find additional seasonal trains.  I have not shown them here.

SNT1, SNT2:   Air-con soft sleepers (both older & newer types), air-con hard sleepers (both older & newer types), air-con soft seats.  Ask for a 'chat luong cao' (newer higher quality) sleeper.  Also has privately-run Golden Trains sleepers attached.  If you use this train and get photos, please get in touch !

SPT1/2, PT3/4:   Air-con soft seats, also has various sleepers.

Livitrans, Violette, Lotus Train tourist sleepers, Hanoi-Hué-Danang:   Private company Violette Trains sells its own 4-berth soft sleepers on train SE1/SE2/SE3/SE4, private company Livitrans does the same on train SE3/SE4, private company Lotus Train doers so on SE19/SE20.  These cost around twice the price of normal Vietnamese Railways soft sleepers, although they are identical to the regular sleepers with some free snacks and different colour blankets, see the photos, information & advice below .

Livitrans and Golden Trains tourist sleepers, Saigon-Nha Trang on trains SNT1 & SNT2, see the photo below .  Private companies Livitrans and Golden Trains offer their own soft sleepers between Saigon & Nha Trang on trains SNT1 & SNT2.  Fare $38 for a bed in a 4-berth sleeper, bookable at www.baolau.com or 12Go.Asia - look for the Golden Trains or Livitrans logo rather than VR logo in the search results.

How to get to Hoi An :  See the Hoi An section

How much does it cost ?

Train fares in Vietnam are cheap, and sleeper trains save hotel bills and the cost of taxis to/from airports way outside the cities.  The fares shown below are typical fares for the best carriages on the best trains, SE1, SE2, SE3 & SE4.

Fares vary by season, by train number (the less prestigious SE 5/6/7/8/21/22 are slightly cheaper) and by carriage type (fares for seats or berths in older car types are a bit cheaper).  The old system of charging foreigners higher fares than Vietnamese citizens was abolished way back in 2002.

For Livitrans & Violette Trains tourist sleeper fares, see the Livitrans & Violette section .

Children aged 0 to 4 travel free, children 5 to 9 travel at 25% off.  Children 10 and over pay full fare.

Fares are shown in 1000s of Vietnamese Dong.  £1 = approx 30,000 Dong.  $1 = 24,000 Dong.

Tickets & reservations

Do i need a reservation  can i stop off.

Yes and yes.  But you cannot buy an open ticket and hop on & off trains at random, as all trains require a reservation.

All tickets come printed with a specific date, train number, car number and reserved seat or berth number.  So you need a separate ticket for each individual train journey you make.  If you want to travel from Saigon to Hanoi (or vice versa) stopping off on the way, no problem, you simply need to book separate tickets for each stage of the journey, either bought in advance or bought at the station as you go.

Do I need to book in advance?

Booking opens 60 days before departure, and sometimes over 90 days before departure, at least for the end-to-end journey, for example Hanoi to Saigon on trains SE1 or SE3.  Shorter segments - for example Hanoi to Hue or Nha Trang to Saigon on the SE1 or SE3 - open later, with the really short hops only opening a week or two ahead.

At peak holiday periods such as Tet (Vietnamese new year, in late January or February) you should pre-book as soon as booking opens, but at other times it's not usually difficult to buy tickets at the station a few days in advance if you're not fussy about the exact date, train or class.  If you're booking for the same day or the following day, you might find the best quality SE trains full, but slower trains may have berths available, or perhaps you'll find the soft sleepers full, but hard sleepers available, so be prepared to be flexible.  However, you're unlikely to get stuck as there's usually something available to your destination even at fairly short notice.

If it's mission-critical to be on a specific train on a certain date in a certain class, I recommend pre-booking tickets online through 12Go.Asia or www.baolau.com , as shown below .

Can I buy all 4 berths to have a compartment to ourselves?

Privacy-loving westerners often ask this - even though they'll happily sleep with 300 strangers on a long haul flight.  Yes, you can pay for 4 tickets for sole occupancy of a 4-berth soft sleeper if you really want to, but you may need to politely but firmly repulse any attempt by other passengers to join you, or by staff to allocate passengers to your spare beds.  My advice is don't bother, you'll be safe and comfortable sharing a 4-berth soft sleeper and might meet some Vietnamese people this way, rather than sitting in isolation.

Vietnamese Railways offer 2-berth 'VIP' compartments on train SE1 & SE2, but only two such compartments per train, and only on SE1 & SE2, so best forget it unless you're very lucky.  The Livitrans & Violette Trains tourist sleepers offer 2-berth compartments, you could use those.

How to buy tickets online

Option 1, buy from 12go.asia.

12Go.Asia provides an excellent service for booking train tickets in Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia.  They show real-time availability of seats & berths, booking confirmation is instant and international credit cards are accepted.

You can now click an option to choose exact seats or berths from a seating plan, to make sure you're all together in one compartment.

12go sells tickets for both regular Vietnamese Railways trains and many privately-run cars such as Livitrans, Violette, Fansipan, Orient Express and Golden Trains.

Bookings can only be made when Vietnamese Railways open reservations, usually 60 days ahead for longer distances such as Hanoi-Saigon, perhaps only a week or two for shorter hops such as Hue-Danang.  So if the train you want is labelled unavailable come back later.  Livitrans & Golden Trains reservations may open further ahead.

12Go.Asia charge the official Vietnamese Railways price plus around 60,000 dong ($2.70) service fee per ticket plus around 4% of the price (perhaps $3 per ticket for Hanoi-Hue, for example) for online credit card payment.

You will be emailed an e-ticket which you can either print out or keep on your phone to show when boarding the train.  It's now really easy, as for regular Vietnamese Railways trains there is no need to collect tickets or have them sent anywhere, just show your e-ticket!

Children under 6 go free with no ticket required, unless you want to give them their own berth.  Children under 10 get 25% off berth prices or 50% off seat prices.  Children 10 & over pay full price.

If your bank card is rejected , don't assume it's 12go that's the problem.  They accept all cards from all countries, but your own bank may be blocking a Vietnamese transaction, so call them.

By default, they'll put all your party together in the same compartment, except where that's not possible if for example there are only a handful of berths left on the train.

Option 2, buy from www.baolau.com

Train & bus booking agency www.baolau.com offers easy online booking in plain English with international credit cards accepted.  The availability shown by Baolau is 'live' and seats are instantly confirmed.  In most cases you simply print your own tickets.  Feedback has been very positive, further feedback is always welcome .

Baolau's system now allows you to choose your exact seats or berths from a seating plan graphic.  This works for all regular Vietnam Railways seats & sleepers although not for the privately-run sleepers.

Tip:   To travel in a VIP 2-berth sleeper on train SE1 or SE2, first select 4-berth soft sleeper , then select berths in a 2-berth compartment on the berth plan graphic.  There are only two such compartments on the train.  The price will change to the 2-berth price after you proceed.

Baolau charge the official Vietnamese Railways price + 40,000 dong  ($1.80) service fee per ticket + 2.7% of the price (perhaps $1.40 per ticket for Hanoi-Hue, for example) for online credit card payment.

You will be emailed an e-ticket which you can either print out or keep on your phone to show when boarding the train.  It's now really easy, as for regular Vietnamese Railways trains there is no need to collect tickets or have them sent anywhere, just show your e-ticket.

Children under 6 free, aged 6 to 9 get 25% off berth prices, 50% off seat prices, 10 and over full price.

If your credit card is rejected , don't assume it's Baolau that's the problem.  They accept all cards from all countries, but your own bank may be blocking a Vietnamese transaction so call them.

Private sleepers on key routes:   As well as the regular Vietnamese Railways cars, Baolau also sells tickets for Violette & Livitrans on the Hanoi-Hue-Danang route, for Livitrans & Golden Trains on the Saigon-Nha Trang route, and for Fansipan, Orient Express, Sapaly, King Express & Chapa Express on the Hanoi-Lao Cai route.

Option 3, order from these agencies

You can also  order tickets through one of these reliable Vietnamese train booking agencies, obviously with a small fee or mark-up for their service:

VietnamImpressive: www.vietnamimpressive.com are a reliable Hanoi-based agency which specialises in train bookings and has the Vietnamese Railways ticketing system installed in their offices.  They get regular glowing reports from seat61 correspondents.  Indeed, I have used them myself and seen their offices in Hanoi, and met their MD.  They answer emails promptly and are very helpful.

International Rail Australia:   If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Asia or Africa, you can order Vietnamese train tickets using the contact & booking form at www.internationalrail.com.au .  This is a reliable Melbourne-based train specialist who can arrange tickets for you through their contacts in Vietnam.  Book at least 7-10 days before travel to allow them to turn around your booking.

Option 4, buy from Vietnamese Railways

Vietnamese Railways launched online booking in 2014 at dsvn.vn (DSVN = Duong Sat Viet Nam = Vietnamese Railways).  For English, click the UK flag top right.  Until 2022 it only accepted Vietnamese-issued credit cards, but it should now accept overseas cards.

Tip:   At the time I write this, DSVN are geo-blocking, it's crazy how many websites around the world now do this to reduce cyber attack risk.  If it says access denied simply set your VPN to a Vietnamese IP address.  Haven't got a VPN?  What is a VPN and why you need one .

How to use dsvn.vn

Go to dsvn.vn , click the UK flag for English and use the journey planner in the usual way.  In the search results, select a train, select a carriage with the class you want, and select an exact seat or berth and click to buy.  Soft sleepers are shown as a side view with 4 beds (two upper, two lower) in each compartment, hard sleepers are also shown as a side view with 6 berths per compartment, upper middle & lower.  Seats are shown as a top-down view with two-abreast seats either side of a centre aisle - it's obvious if you think about it.  You may need to fake a Vietnamese mobile phone number with a +84 country code if it rejects your real one.  If it doesn't accept your non-Vietnamese credit card, use 12go or Baolau instead, as explained above. .

Remember that the official Vietnamese Railways website is dsvn.vn :  vietnamrailways.net, vietnam-railway.com, vietnamrailway.com are not Vietnamese Railways themselves but travel agencies pretending to be.

Option 5, let Railbookers arrange a tour

The easiest option, though not the cheapest, is to let a professional tour company such as Railbookers organise your hotels, trains, transfers and stopovers as a package.  Railbookers offer several suggested tours of Vietnam including a journey from Hanoi to Saigon on the Reunification Railway with a stopover in Hoi An.  These can be customised to your own requirements, I recommend asking them to add a stopover in Hue.  As it's a package, they'll take care of you if for example anything disrupts one part of the trip.  They have offices in the UK, USA & Australia.

How to buy tickets at the station

It's easy to buy train tickets at the station when you get to Vietnam.  Trains are busy, but except at peak holiday times such as Tet , if you book a day or two ahead you'll usually find tickets available, even if your first choice of class or train is sold out.  Reservations were computerised in 2002 and you can buy tickets for most train journeys in Vietnam at Saigon and Hanoi booking offices.  So you can buy both a Saigon-Hue ticket and a Hue-Hanoi ticket in Saigon, for example.  However, at other stations such as Hue, Danang or Nha Trang, you may only be able to book journeys starting at that station.  At ticket offices, you pay in Vietnamese Dong, US dollars are not generally accepted, nor are non-Vietnamese credit cards.

Tip:   If you have internet access such as hotel WiFi, see for yourself what trains & classes are available on the Vietnamese Railways website dsvn.vn .  Then book online, selecting the option to collect tickets & pay at the station within 24 hours.  This avoids long conversations at the ticket counter about what trains & classes remain available and hurried decisions about which to choose.

Buying tickets in Hanoi

At Hanoi main station on Le Duan Street, enter by the main central doors and turn right through a narrow passageway to the ticket office, see the photo bottom right.  Go to the window marked Tourist .

Buying tickets in Saigon

At Saigon station, the smaller downstairs ticket office (shown below, centre picture) used to be for travel today, but now seems to handle advance bookings too.  There is a larger ticket office is upstairs, but recent reports suggest this is now only handling booking changes and you may even find it closed.  A numbered queuing system may be in operation, so look out for it.  Press the button and take a ticket from the small box at the entrance to the ticket office, take a seat and watch the screens which will show you which counter to go to when your number comes up.  Feedback on ticket purchase in Saigon is always appreciated!

Tip:   If you don't mind a 50,000 dong ($2.50) fee per ticket, buying at the city centre ticket agency at 275C Pham Ngu Lao saves you going to the station.  It's open 08:00-17:00 every day.  It can be tricky to spot, see the photo below on the far right.

Luggage, bikes & motorbikes

You take your bags - of whatever size - onto the train with you and store them near your seat or berth, so you have access to them throughout the journey.

Bikes and even motorbikes can be transported on Vietnamese trains for a fee, although they don't necessarily on the same train as you.  You take your bike or motorbike to the luggage office, pay the fee and hand it in.  If it's a motorbike, the fuel tank must be drained and empty.  They'll put a label on your bike and give you a receipt.  You travel on the train as normal.  At the other end you collect your bike from the station luggage office when it arrives, it usually travels on a separate train and it may take a day or two before it can be collected.  Feedback appreciated .

What are Vietnamese trains like ?

Air-conditioned soft sleepers.

Most visitors to Vietnam choose soft sleeper if their journey involves overnight travel.  Soft sleeper is a safe, pleasant and enjoyable way to go, especially on the best trains, SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4, SE5 & SE6 - although you should expect even newer cars to be a little tatty by western standards as they are intensively used.

Each soft sleeping-car has a corridor running down one side with seven 4-berth compartments opening off it, each of which can be securely locked from the inside. Each compartment has 4 berths, two upper and two lower.  Each berth has an individual reading light and is supplied with pillow, sheet and duvet.  By day you simply sit on the lower berths. You keep all your bags with you, there is luggage space beneath the bottom bunks and in the large recess above the compartment door.

The most modern cars used on trains SE1 to SE8 have a 2-pin power socket for recharging your mobile or camera, and you'll find a western-style toilet usually kept supplied with soap and toilet paper at one or both ends of the corridor.  Several windows on the corridor side open which is useful for photography, but the compartment windows don't open.  At night, there's a lock and usually an additional security catch on the door - flip out the security catch and the door can't be opened more than an inch or two even with a staff key.

There's a free water dispenser at the end of the corridor for both boiling and cold water, handy if you bring some powdered soup, instant coffee or hot chocolate with you, or buy some dried noodles from one of the stalls at the station.  A trolley service comes down the train serving snacks, coffee, soft drinks and beer, and at meal times a member of the train staff will sell you a meal ticket for around 35,000 dong (£1 or $1.60).  A set meal with mineral water will then be delivered to your compartment around half an hour later from the kitchen car.

See the section below about the Livitrans & Viollete tourist sleeping-cars attached to SE1 & SE2 between Hanoi, Hué & Danang.

Which trains have the best cars? Trains SE3 & SE4 received smartly-refurbished air-conditioned carriages branded '5-star' in January 2015, in red & blue with a broad white stripe.  Trains  SE1, SE2, SE5, SE6, SE7 & SE8 received similar refurbished cars in 2016.  Though there is no sign of any WiFi as originally reported in the press.  Newly-built '5-star' cars were delivered in 2017, in white with a thin red stripe & blue around the windows, these are now making their appearance on trains SE1 to SE6, see the photos below.  Vietnam Railways charge a fraction more to travel in the nicer, newer cars.

2-berth VIP soft sleepers on trains SE1 & SE2:   Soft sleepers usually have 4-berths per compartment, but since 2018 one of the most modern soft sleeper cars on trains SE1 & SE2 has two 2-berth VIP sleeper compartments, with two lower berths.  The fare includes non-alcoholic drinks and meals, served in your compartment.  The fare is round twice the price of normal 4-berth soft sleeper.  However, with only 2 such compartments on the whole train (just 4 beds) you need to book early -and be very lucky - to get one.

Air-conditioned hard sleepers

If the soft sleepers are full, or if you're in a group of 5 or 6 people, there's no reason why you shouldn't travel hard sleeper, especially if it's an overnight journey such as Hanoi to Hue with relatively little daytime element so you'll spend most of the time in your berth.  Hard sleeper compartments have 6 berths, lower, middle and top on each side, but apart from the extra two berths, the facilities are exactly the same as for soft sleepers in terms of power sockets, water dispenser, toilets, luggage space and meals.

Air-conditioned soft seats

These can be recommended for daytime journeys such as Hue to Danang or Hanoi to Vinh, but for overnight trips always book a soft or hard sleeper so you can sleep properly.  In the most modern cars used on the SE-numbered trains, you'll find power sockets in the wall for charging mobiles or cameras.

Air-conditioned hard seats

These have wooden seats in modern air-conditioned cars.  A bit hard on the rear for a long journey, but perfectly acceptable for a few hours.

Ordinary hard seats

Wooden seats in much older cars without air-con.  However, these cars have windows that open, which can be an advantage for photography. The photos below show an ordinary hard seats car on train LC3 from Hanoi to Lao Cai, similar cars operate on trains LC4, TN1 & TN2.

Livitrans , Violette, Lotus Train

Several private companies sell their own 4-berth soft sleeper compartments on trains SE1/SE2/SE3/SE4/SE19 between Hanoi, Hue & Danang, aimed at foreign tourists.  Livitrans offer soft sleepers on SE1/SE2 , Violette offer soft sleepers on SE1/SE2/SE3/SE4, Lotus Train on SE19/SE20.

You can book 4 places to have sole or dual occupancy on a whole 4-berth compartment if you like.  All these companies are fine with very little to choose between them, as their prices, sleeper compartments and service are very similar.

How much does it cost?

These privately-run soft sleepers cost roughly double the price of normal Vietnamese Railways soft sleepers.  Livitrans, Violette & Lotus Train charge similar prices.

Hanoi to Hue costs around US$75 one-way per person in a 4-berth air-conditioned soft sleeper.

Hanoi to Danang costs around US$85 one way per person in a 4-berth air-conditioned soft sleeper.

Is it worth paying double the price?

Not really.  Originally, these private companies used special carriages painted in their their own colour scheme, fitted with an interior superior to the regular sleeping-cars which DSVN (Vietnamese Railways) used at the time.  A few years ago, DSVN upgraded trains SE1/2/3/4 trains with comfortable modern sleeping-cars and it stopped these private companies using their own (older) cars.  Livitrans, Violette & Lotus now rent out one or more 4-berth compartments in one of DSVN's regular sleeping-cars and resell these berths with some free snacks and different bedding at much higher prices.  In high-season these companies might lease a whole car, on low-season departures the Violette accommodation can be as little as one 4-berth compartment within a standard DSVN sleeping-car full of Vietnamese travellers who are amused that a westerner has paid double to travel in an identical compartment in the same car, simply with purple blankets rather than brown ones and a few packets of free crisps.  If all the regular DSVN sleepers have sold out, these more expensive tourist cars can be useful, but don't expect them to be vastly superior to the regular Vietnamese Railways soft sleepers, as they are the same.

How to buy tickets

You can book Livitrans, Violette & Lotus Train tickets online at www.baolau.com & 12Go.Asia , look for the Livitrans, Violette or Lotus logos in the search results.

The Man in Seat 61 says , :Livitrans, Violette & Lotus Train now use exactly the same '5-star' air-conditioned soft sleepers that Vietnamese Railways (DSVN) themselves use on the SE1/2/3/4 trains, just compare the photos below with the photo of a refurbished regular DSVN soft sleeper above .  On some departures, it's not even a separate sleeping-car, just one or more 4-berth compartments in a standard DSVN sleeping-car occupied by normal Vietnamese travellers, with literally the only difference to justify the extra cost being the colour of the blankets and a few free snacks."

Golden Trains, Saigon to Nha Trang

The privately-run Golden Trains sleeping-car is a cut above the regular Vietnamese railways sleepers between Saigon (HCMC) and the beach resorts of Nha Trang.  It runs attached to the regular SNT1/SNT2 overnight train, see the timetable above .  It is similar to the Livitrans & Violette 4-berth sleepers shown above.

How to buy tickets:   You can buy Golden Trains tickets at www.baolau.com or 12Go.Asia - look for the Golden Trains logo rather than the VR logo in the search results.

Video : Hanoi to Saigon by train

This 9-minute video shows the 1,079 mile journey from Hanoi to Hue, Danang & Saigon on trains SE1 and SE3, showing the scenery, the food, the Livitrans sleeper from Hanoi to Danang and the regular DSVN soft sleeper from Danang to Saigon.  The video was made before the SE1 & SE3 were re-equipped with the smartly-refurbished cars in 2015-2016.

Getting to Hoi An

Hoi An is a historic UNESCO-listed town featuring on most visitor's itineraries, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hội_An .

Hoi An is 30 km south of Danang, but has no station of its own.  See location map .  To reach it, first take a train to Danang, see the Reunification Line section above ,

Then take a taxi or minivan from Danang to Hoi An taking 30-45 minutes.  There are several options:

Option 1, pre-book a minivan or taxi from Danang city centre to Hoi An at 12Go.Asia .  Shared minivans from USD 3 upwards, taxis from USD 15 upwards.

Option 2, take a taxi from Danang station to Hoi An, this costs around 350,000 dong (USD 15) depending on your negotiation skills.  There are always taxis waiting.

Option 3, local bus 01 used to link Danang and Hoi An before the pandemic, but it was then diverted away from the city centre and has not so far resumed.  But for the record in case it resumes, here is the original pre-pandemic information:  Bus 01 runs (or rather, ran) every 20 minutes between 05:00 & 17:30 every day, fare 20,000 dong + 10,000 dong for bags over 10Kg.  To take the bus, leave Danang station, cross the square and go into Hoang Hoa Tham road.  At the next intersection, turn left into Le Duan street.  The bus stop will be on your right, ignore the old bus stop next to house number 299, it is currently (temporarily?) moved to outside the shop at number 151 Le Duan street, indicated by a blue bus sign ( See location map ).  Bus number 1 is coloured yellow & runs to Hoi An every 20-30 minutes.  Board through the back door and take a seat.  The conductor will come through to collect your fare.  Have a 20,000 dong note handy (or 30,000 if you've luggage) as he won’t give change - the official price in May 2017 is 20,000 dong.  Smile and ignore any further requests for money as there is no difference in ticket price for locals and tourists - it's just 20,000 dong + 10,000 dong for a bag over 10Kg!  The bus reaches Hoi An bus station in about 1 hour, you can walk the remaining 2 km to Hoi An town centre.  Further feedback always appreciated .

Hanoi to Lao Cai & Sapa

Sapa is a hill station established by the French in 1922, and its beautiful scenery and colourful local tribal people make it popular with overseas visitors.  The best way to get there is by overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, then transfer by bus, car or taxi the final 38 km (24 miles) to Sapa.  There are 2 or 3 overnight sleeper trains between Hanoi & Lao Cai, you can book a regular Vietnamese Railways soft or hard sleeper or choose from a wide range of privately-run tourist sleeping-cars of a higher standard.  The line from Hanoi to Lao Cai was built by the French and opened in 1910 as part of the metre-gauge Vietnam to Kunming railway.  The Lao Cai to Kunming section was destroyed landslides in 2002, but onward train travel from Lao Cai to Kunming is possible again on a new standard-gauge railway opened in 2014, see the Hanoi to Kunming section below .  Hanoi to Lao Cai is 296 km (185 miles).  The timetables below are compiled from the timetables on Vietnamese Railways websites dsvn.vn & www.gahanoi.com.vn (in Vietnamese only).  Click here for a Vietnamese Railways route map .

Train timetable

Here are the fares are for the regular Vietnam Railways carriages.  For the privately-run tourist sleeping-cars, see the next section . 

£1 = approx 30,000 Dong.  $1 = 24,000 Dong

Children aged 0 to 4 travel free, children 5 to 9 get 25% off.  Children 10 & over pay full fare.

Upper berths cost slightly less than lower berths, but for simplicity only one price per class is shown above.

Which station in Hanoi?  

Buy tickets online at 12Go.Asia or www.baolau.com .

These are two reliable train & bus booking agencies, see the section above .  You usually print your own ticket.

12Go.Asia or www.baolau.com sell tickets for the regular Vietnamese Railways sleepers and also for the privately-run sleeping-cars operated by Fansipan, Orient Express, Sapaly (three of the best companies, see below ), King Express, Chapa Express.

www.baolau.com lets you select your exact seats or berths from a plan showing which seats & berths are available, so you can make sure you're all in the same compartment together.  This feature works for Vietnamese Railways seats & sleepers (but not the privately-run sleepers) as long as you book more than 72 hours ahead.

Buying at the station

You can buy tickets at the station when you get to Vietnam, assuming you want tickets for the regular Vietnamese Railways seats or sleepers, not tickets for the high-quality tourist sleepers .  Tickets to Lao Cai can be bought either at Hanoi's main station ticket office (easiest to reach), or at the 'B' station on the far side of the tracks which has its own ticket office.

Apart from peak holiday periods such as Tet (Vietnamese new year, in late January or early February), it's not difficult to book a soft sleeper a few days in advance or even on the day, especially if you can be flexible on your choice of departure date.  On weekdays you may find berths available even the day before, at weekends berths can be harder to get as that's when the locals travel.

At ticket offices, you pay in Vietnamese Dong.  If you're sure of your itinerary and it's important to be on a specific train on a specific date, then pre-book with 12Go.Asia or www.baolau.com .

Traveller Rob Damen travelled from Hanoi to Lao Cai and back:   "We just went to Hanoi station 2½ hours before departure and had no problem buying tickets.  We bought them at the small ticket window in the waiting area, for the price stated on the boards at the station.  Our train arrived about 45 minutes before departure so we had plenty of time to get comfy in our beds. Back from Lao Cai to Hanoi we took the daytime train [this no longer operates] and we were able to arrange soft seats.  In order to get the correct tickets I used your shortlist of Vietnamese words and made a note that I gave to the lady at the ticket window. She looked a bit surprised but she got the message so we got two soft seats for 168,000 dong each.  The ride took 11 hours which was quite long and we had a lot of young children in the coach so it was rather noisy.  The views from the train are not spectacular but that was ok, as we passed time playing games like yahtzee and some card games.  We arrived right on time at Hanoi Station.

Traveller Jens Kupsch travelled on the daytime LC4 train:   "We crossed the border from China around 07:30, and bought tickets to Hanoi at Lao Cai station about an hour ahead of departure.  It didn't seem to be a problem."

Arranging a transfer from Lao Cai to Sapa

The train to lao cai & sapa in pictures, hanoi to sapa by tourist sleeping-car.

In addition to the regular Vietnamese Railways (Duong Sat Viet Nam = DSVN) sleepers & seats, overnight trains SP1/2/3/4 between Hanoi & Lao Cai convey a bewildering range of privately-run sleeping-cars aimed at tourists.  Before forking out $33 for a bed in a privately-run sleeper rather than $16 for a bed in a regular Vietnamese Railways air-con soft sleeper, read the advice below.

All these private operators offer berths in shared 4-berth air-con soft sleeper compartments, some also offer berths in 2-berth air-con soft sleeper compartments, basically a 4-berth with the two upper berths unused, for more or less double the price.  If the allocation of 2-berth compartments has sold out you can pay for all 4 berths in a 4-berth, the price is pretty much the same.

The privately-run sleepers all have air-conditioning, fresh clean bedding, complimentary mineral water and (in some cases) snacks, and clean western-style toilets.  These private sleepers are all very comfortable, just remember that this is still Vietnam with Vietnamese standards, you'll enjoy the trip more if you don't turn up with unrealistic expectations of 5-star western-style luxury for $33!

Is paying for a privately-run sleeper worth it? 

Until about 2015, the various private sleeping-cars had remodelled interiors a cut above the regular Vietnamese Railways (DSVN) soft sleepers, and some were nicer than others.  For example, many had smartly wood-panelled interiors instead of the dated formica in DSVN's own sleepers.  And the private cars were all painted in the operator's own colours and branding, which made for a colourful train.

But in 2015 DSVN replaced its own cars with more modern air-conditioned sleeping-cars and revoked the operating licences for the private operators' older cars.  The private operators had to lease the new type of DSVN sleeping-car, with interiors exactly the same as those now used by DSVN themselves, see the photos below.  And the private car exteriors are now the same red white & blue as DSVN's own cars.  No more private branding, other than a sticker in the window stating who operates the car.

So has that sunk in?  If you pay $33 for a bed in a privately-run sleeper, you get exactly the same type of compartment with exactly the same décor as if you had paid $16 to travel in a regular Vietnamese Railways soft sleeper.

So what's the difference?  The private cars are staffed by the operator's own staff.  There's usually a vase of flowers on the table, and some small complimentary bottles of water.  Bedding is provided by the operator, so may be branded and maybe a bit better than the regular bedding in the DSVN cars.  Of course, you'll end up travelling with other western tourists rather than actual Vietnamese people, which you may consider an advantage or disadvantage depending on your point of view.  And the private cars may be kept slightly cleaner than the regular cars.

To quote one recent traveller , "I had a good look at both the SP3 & SP1. The tourist cars were easily identified because of the vase of plastic flowers and the complimentary bottles of water. But for all of them, everything else was identical to the VR [=DSVN] soft sleeper cars – cabin, bunks, sheets, pillows, etc."

Can I buy all 4 berths in a compartment to have a room to ourselves?   Yes, if you insist, if the very few compartments allocated for 2-berth occupancy are sold out as they often are.  But meeting fellow tourists and talking over a beer into the night is great fun.  Would I recommend paying double to miss all the fun and sit in glorious isolation?  No!

Video : Hanoi to Lao Cai by Orient Express

Note that this shows the earlier wood-panelled incarnation of the Orient Express, before the introduction of the new standard sleeping-cars across all private operators as well as Vietnamese Railways themselves.  But it gives you a good idea of the trip.

Phan Thiet & Miu Ne

The seaside resort of Phan Thiet is at the end of a 15 km branch line from Binh Thuan, a junction station on the main Saigon-Danang-Hue-Hanoi Reunification line, formerly known as Muong Man.  One or two direct trains run from Saigon to Phan Thiet, shown in the timetable below.  When you arrive at Phan Thiet station you'll find plenty of buses & taxis waiting to take you to the popular resort of Mui Né, 24 km northeast of Phan Thiet, a 25-30 minute drive.  Alternatively, you can take any mainline train from Saigon to Binh Thuan station and then a taxi to Pan Thiet (15.7 km) or Mui Né (38 km).  See Phan Thiet & Mui Ne map .   See Vietnam train route map .

* Train SPT3/SPT4 only runs on key holiday dates, check if it's running on a given date using www.baolau.com .

Train SPT1/SPT2 runs every day, with these classes:

- air-con soft seats in a regular car with 64 seats, shown as NML or A64LV at www.dsvn.vn or when booking on www.baolau.com .

- air-con soft seats in a VIP car with only 48 seats, shown as NML48 or A48LV at www.dsvn.vn or when booking on www.baolau.com .

- air-con soft sleeper used in day mode.

Bus or taxi connection Phan Thiet station to Mui Né:   Bus number 9 (the red bus) runs from the road outside Phan Thiet station to Mui Né every 20 minutes from 05:30 until 20:00, bus fare 6,000 dong ($0.30)  The bus runs the length of Mui Né stopping at various points all across the resort.  Alternatively, there are plenty of taxis, it's a 25-35 minute drive and will cost in the region of 230,000 dong ($12)

How to buy tickets:   Buy tickets at the station or at Saigon's city centre ticket office as shown here or book online at www.baolau.com .  If Baolau won't show the direct train, try booking online at the Vietnamese Railways site www.dsvn.vn , it may work or may reject your credit card, give it a go.

Alternative:   If the times of these direct trains don't suit you, simply take any mainline train between Saigon & Bin Thuan shown in the main Reunification line timetable above for around 170,000 dong (£6 or $8), then catch a taxi between Bin Thuan & Phan Thiet (15.7 km) or Mui Ne (38 km), cost to Mui Ne around 500,000 dong (£15 or $24), taxi journey around 1 hour.  You can book a Saigon to Phan Thiet train+taxi journey at www.baolau.com .

Traveller Andrew Stewart took the train from Phan Thiet back to Saigon and comments :  "It was a nice trip. Much better than the bus that I took to get there. So many roadworks on that road. It took 8hrs and 30mins from Saigon on the bus."

Hanoi, Hue or Danang to/from Phan Thiet or Mui Né

Simply take a train from Hanoi, Hue or Danang to Binh Thuan station as shown in the timetable above .  Then use a local taxi between Bin Thuan station and Phan Thiet (15.7km) or Mui Ne (38km).   A taxi between Bin Thuan and Mui Ne costs around 500,000 dong (£15 or $24) and takes around an hour.

Hanoi to Haiphong & Cat Ba

Trains link Hanoi with Haiphong, for ferries to Cat Ba island.  See route map .

All t hese Hanoi-Haiphong trains have air-conditioned soft seats.  Hanoi to Haiphong is 102 km (63 miles).

Hanoi Long Bien station is 3 km northeast of Hanoi main station, immediately south of the huge steel Long Bien bridge over the Red River (which was a target for American bombers on several occasions during the Vietnamese war).  The small road outside the station is only accessible to pedestrians, bicycles and motorbikes, not cars, so if your taxi drops you on the main road by the river, don't worry, it's just a 100m walk up the side road and round the bend to the station.  Map of Hanoi showing main & Long Bien stations . 

Hanoi's 'Train Street' :  These trains pass through Hanoi's famous train street between Hanoi main station & Long Bien.

How to buy tickets:   You can book online at www.baolau.com or 12Go.Asia .  Or buy at the station.

Ferries to Cat Ba Island:   There are various ferries from Haiphong to Cat Ba island.  You can book one of up to 6 departures per day at www.baolau.com .  This starts with a bus transfer from 41 Ben Bính, Minh Khai, Hong Bang in Haiphong which is 1.5 km 18-minute walk from Haiphong station, see walking route .

Hanoi's train street

Northern train street :  You may hear of a narrow street in Hanoi where trains squeeze through and street life magically makes way, while intrepid tourists sit in trackside cafes and take photos.  There have been occasional accidents and at times the street has been closed off with warning signs - you'll have to check whether it's currently open or not.  But of course you can always see it safely by train!  The street is between Hanoi main station and Hanoi's Long Bien station on the railway from Hanoi to Haiphong.  So you'll pass through this street if you take any train to or from Haiphong that starts/terminates at Hanoi main station, or you could simply take a train one stop between Hanoi main station and Long Bien station, see the timetable above .  Map of Hanoi showing location of both 'train streets' .

Southern train street :  There is also a less touristy, less well-know 'train street' to the south of Hanoi station, on the reunification line from Hanoi to Saigon.  All trains between Hanoi and all points south pass through this train street 1 minute after leaving or 1 minute before arriving at Hanoi main station.  You'll also find a selection of trackside cafes here.  Map of Hanoi showing stations & location of both 'train streets' .

Hanoi to Halong Bay by train

The beautiful Halong Bay is on many visitors' lists of Vietnam highlights to visit.  There are two ways to travel there from Hanoi:

Option 1, take a train from Hanoi to Haiphong as shown above , then use local buses between Haiphong and Halong. 

Option 2, a direct train runs between Hanoi and Halong as shown below.  This is a regular Vietnamese Railways train, not a tourist train, although there have been abortive attempts to run a tourist train between Hanoi & Halong in the last few years.  This loss-making regular train was reported in the Vietnamese media as slated for withdrawal in December 2013, but it's still in operation, a rustic 4-carriage train used by the locals and an experience!  Feedback would be appreciated.

* UPDATE 2024:  This train has not resumed post-pandemic.

Yen Vien station is in the suburbs of Hanoi, you'll need a taxi given the early start from Hanoi, although buses 10 or 54 run there from Long Bien bus station during the day.  Map showing location of Yen Vien station .

Fare:   70,000 dong (£2.50, $3), hard class seats only.

How to buy tickets:   You can easily check these times & buy tickets online in English at reliable ticketing agency www.baolau.com .

Feedback would be appreciated!

Traveller Matthias Meuller report (December 2016):   "The train runs!  It was one of my best trips ever.  It's a train for women who buy fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, herbs, chicken and so on cheap in the mountains and sell it on at a little market in Halong.  They take the goods by train from Mao Khe to Halong.  No tourists there!  You sit for two hours in the market and they want that you eat, drink, hold their babies.  It's wonderful, yet none of the travel agencies in Hanoi want to believe that this train exists.  I rode back to Hanoi with the train.  It takes 6 hours but it's wonderful, slung in a hammock, talking with the girls from the market, who count their money and play cards.  Buses link central Hanoi with Yen Vien station every 10 minutes."

Traveller Graham Phelan reports (October 2016):   "I took this train in October as I love train travel and didn’t want to take the tourist bus to Halong City - I would do anything to avoid tourists!  I took a taxi in the morning to Yen Vien station from my place in Hanoi, it wasn’t expensive just 166,000 VND (about €7) and cheaper if you’re leaving from Hanoi Old Town.  I was absolutely wrecked getting the morning train so I missed a lot of the landscapes on the way to Halong City but I enjoyed them on the way back!  People have to be aware that this train is not a comfortable train, you have to sit on a wooden seat!  So make sure you bring some entertainment, a small cushion if you can find one, some toilet roll and most importantly food!  This trip showed me the real Vietnam and it was a massive culture shock but I don’t regret it at all.  Also make sure to get your hotel or wherever you’re staying to book a taxi for you at the station as there are absolutely none there. On arrival back into Hanoi buses do run to go to the main city bus station, the cost is 7,000 VND, about €0.25. Or you can just do as I did and find a taxi on the street since they’re so cheap."

Traveller Ferry Quast reports (September 2016):   "Yes, the Hanoi-Halong train is running. It consists of 4 standard-gauge cars.  These cars are some of the oldest I've ever taken.  One had bench seats, the other 3 were empty and aimed at passengers with loads of vegetables and fruit [see the photo below].  For the first 2-3 hours the train was quite busy, but for the rest of the trip we were almost alone on the train.  It was very slow and we think that we never had more than 25 or 30 km/h.  Great experience if you want to get in touch with locals.  In contrast to the train, Ha Long's train station was the newest I've seen in Vietnam.  Reaching downtown Hanoi after arrival in Hanoi Vien Yen station shouldn't be a problem, there are still buses - until 10pm or so as locals told us."

Beijing & Nanning to Hanoi by train

There is a safe, comfortable & affordable overnight sleeper train between Beijing & Nanning every day, connecting with an equally safe & comfortable daily sleeper train between Nanning, Guilin & Beijing.  Twice a week, these two trains convey a direct soft sleeping-car between Hanoi & Beijing.  You can also use the Hanoi-Nanning sleeper train in conjunction with Nanning-Shanghai or Nanning-Guangzhou (for Hong Kong) trains.  After a brief spell in early 2015 reduced to twice a week, the Hanoi-Nanning train went back to running every day, and Beijing-Hanoi through cars have been restored, twice a week.

U pdate 2024:  International trains between China & Vietnam remain suspended post-pandemic.

Beijing - Nanning train Z5/Z6 runs every day in each direction, taking 1 night.

Nanning - Hanoi train T8701/T8702 runs every day in each direction, taking 1 night.

A through sleeping-car with 36 soft sleeper berths runs direct between Beijing & Hanoi leaving Beijing West on Thursdays & Sundays and leaving Hanoi on Tuesdays & Fridays, taking 2 nights.  It's attached to the Z5 then T8701 southbound, the T8702 & Z6 northbound.

So you can travel between Beijing and Hanoi any day of the week with a change of train at Nanning using two separate tickets OR you can travel between Beijing and Hanoi in a direct soft sleeper twice a week with just one ticket.

At the time I write this, e-visas aren't valid for entering or leaving Vietnam by train via Dong Dang (only for arriving or leaving at Dong Dang by road), so you either need a regular visa or use the 15-day visa exemption if available for your nationality.

Beijing to Hanoi is 2,996 km or 1,861 miles.  Nanning to Hanoi is 396km.   How to buy tickets .

Gia Lam station is 6km from Hanoi's main station, across the river.  Map of Hanoi showing Gia Lam station .

Southbound fares

(1)  Beijing to Nanning costs RMB 752 ($124 or £80) in a soft sleeper or RMB 473 ($78 or £50) in a hard sleeper, bought at the station or online with small extra fee from www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .

(2)  Nanning to Hanoi costs RMB 248 (£28 or $38) in a soft sleeper bought at the station or $35 + booking fee if you pre-book from outside China through agency www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .

(3)  Beijing to Hanoi using the direct twice-a-week sleeping-car costs $336 bought from www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .

Northbound fares

(1)  Hanoi to Nanning costs around CHF 31.53 = 750,000 dong (£22 or $36) in a soft sleeper. 

(2)  Nanning to Beijing costs RMB 752 ($124 or £80) in a soft sleeper or RMB 473 ($78 or £50) in a hard sleeper using a domestic Chinese ticket.

(3)  An international through ticket from Hanoi to Beijing costs CHF 293 (about $294) converted into dong, in a soft sleeper.

To buy southbound tickets from China to Hanoi

To buy tickets from Beijing, Guilin or Nanning to Hanoi in advance from outside China, you can book online from reliable ticketing agencies www.baolau.com or www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .  On Chinahighlights you'll find Hanoi listed under 'G' as Gia Lam, Hanoi .

On days when the direct through car runs Beijing to Hanoi you can book Beijing to Gia Lam, Hanoi as one ticket.  If you want to travel on the other 5 days of the week, simply book Beijing to Nanning on train Z5 then buy another separate ticket from Nanning to Gia Lam, Hanoi on train T8701.

What's the journey like?

The daily Z-category sleeper train between Beijing & Nanning has air-conditioned 4-berth soft sleepers, air-conditioned hard sleepers and a restaurant car serving freshly-cooked Chinese dishes.  It passes through some excellent scenery in southern China.  Exterior photo courtesy of Nandakumar Narasimhan, interior & scenery photos courtesy of Chris "Mzungu" Holden.

The sleeper train between Nanning & Hanoi

Hanoi gia lam station.

Gia Lam station ( see location map ) is a tiny suburban station across the river in northern Hanoi, a 20 minute taxi ride from the main station.  Why does the train to Nanning start here?  Its Chinese carriages are standard gauge 4' 8½", as used in Europe, China & North America.  Vietnam's railways are metre gauge, just over 3'.  A third rail has been laid as far as Gia Lam station, making the tracks dual gauge, allowing the Chinese train to run that far but no further.  You can see the three rails in the photo above.

Buying your ticket to Nanning, Guilin or Beijing :  At Hanoi main ('A') station on Le Duan street, go to the ticket counter for foreigners & international trains, open 07:00-17:30 daily.  You will need to show your passport and a valid visa for China.  You can pay in Vietnamese dong or (reportedly) US dollars.  Credit cards are not accepted, even though there's a MasterCard sign. 

Alternatively, tickets are also sold by Vietnam Hanoi Railways Tourist Company (Travel Agency - 152 Le Duan Street, Hanoi, email [email protected] or call (84-4) 3518-6782.  Again, you'll need to show your passport and Chinese visa to buy a ticket. 

If you're going to Nanning, it can help to know that Nanning is 'Nam Ninh' in Vietnamese.

Incidentally, Vietnamese Railways cannot book domestic trains within China, so don't bother asking for onward tickets from Nanning to Shanghai or Guangzhou or wherever.

Getting a Chinese visa in Hanoi

You'll need a visa to enter China, and indeed you will need to show your Chinese visa at Hanoi station when buying a train ticket to Beijing. In 2010 it was reported that the Chinese embassy in Hanoi wouldn't issue visas for anyone who wasn't a Vietnamese citizen or resident but in 2012 a later report says they now will.  If they won't, either get your visa in your home country before you leave, or arrange your Chinese visa in Hanoi through a suitable travel agency such as www.hanoibackpackershostel.com .

Traveller Peter Day reports :  Tickets (soft class only) are available from Window 7 at Hanoi main railway station.  There is a system in place where you get a number which indicates your place in the line - locals ignore it, you should too. Tickets are available to purchase in cash only, Vietnamese dong only as far as one could tell.  You go to the window first and the lady tells you how much, then you go get the cash and return to buy the tickets.  The cost of two tickets to Guilin was over 6 million dong, clearly Beijing would be more - getting that amount of dong out of ATMs is problematic because of limits on each transaction and number of daily withdrawals allowed.  We had to use 2 cards.  They check you have visas for China.

Traveller Alex Hartland reports :  "I booked my Hanoi-Beijing train ticket yesterday at Hanoi station.  I was sent from window 10 to window 1 to window 6 and finally window 8.  The woman at window 8 spoke pretty good English, but I don't think it's the standard window for Hanoi to Beijing bookings.  The paperwork took a while to process (about 45 minutes) and the final cost was 4,635,000 dong. She told me I could pay in dollars if I wanted to, but again not sure if this is standard procedure.  She checked my passport & Chinese visa, too."

Buying tickets in Beijing

You can't buy an international ticket to Hanoi at any Beijing station, or at normal ticket outlets either.  But here's how you can buy in person in Beijing.  If you have any further feedback, please email me !

Traveller Laurent Fintoni reports :  "I was told to go to Bei Feng Wo Lu (a street near Beijing West station) and look for a shop opposite the Tian You hotel. So I would say for anyone else, the easiest might be to get a cab or directions to Tian You hotel on Bei Feng Wo Lu.  Opposite the hotel is what looks like a travel agent, though when I went it had the shutters pulled down - however it was open, not quite sure why that was. The shop sign is blue, and you can tell you found it as there is a small window on the side of the shop's main doors which says they sell train tickets. However, you want the main shop not the window.  Once in there if you tell them you want to buy Beijing to Hanoi tickets, I had a sentence written in Chinese for me, she pulls out what seems to be the same form that Que Clothier mentions. The woman speaks no English, just point at the answers on the form and she does it all for you. I was charged only 1086 RMB without a 50 RMB charge, but not quite sure why as she answered in Chinese when I asked her if she wanted the charge.  Her form mentions the charge, making the price 1166, the same as Chris Emmerson reported.  She'll also point at a calendar and ask for dates as well as how many tickets.  There are about 3 banks within 100 to 200 metres of the shop on Bei Feng Wo Lu, all do currency exchange and have ATMs however none seem to change Travellers Cheques so be careful.  Once you pay her it's all done, it was really easy, the trickiest part is finding the shop, but with the Tian You Hotel being quite big (and having its name written in English on the front in big letters) it shouldn't be too difficult."

Traveller Chris "Mzungu" Holden reports (2011):  "I got my tickets from the same place as Laurent Fintoni [ see above ] got his.  It was easy to find, took me about 30mins to get the tickets from a helpful and friendly chap who spoke no English but pointed to the booking forms and a calendar when needed.  It cost me RMB 2,200 (2150+50 commission) from memory."

Buying tickets in Nanning

Tickets are sold at the station reservations office at Nanning main station, counter 16, but according to one recent report now counter 1.  It's not difficult to get places even on the day.

Travellers reports

Traveller Richard Brown travelled Nanning to Hanoi:   "We have just arrived in Ha Noi this morning, 30 December 2014. Several agents online offer booking services but most sources we could speak to told us the Nanning-Hanoi tickets must be booked in Nanning.  I am not sure that is the case but you definitely have to go to the train station to pick them up as they are not the typical Chinese train tickets.  They issued one ticket for the two of us.  Tickets are printed on multi-carbon paper using an antique pin-printer.

We can confirm that at Nanning main station, counter 1 is currently the one where you get the Ha Noi tickets. It is also labelled "English Speaking Counter" but the clerk could not speak English; she did get another clerk with reasonable English skills and, despite our Mandarin deficit, things went smoothly.  At least at this time of the year, I believe you could get tickets on the day of travel.  We booked our tickets on Saturday around 6:00pm for the Monday train.  They offered us tickets for the next day and there were probably berths available on Saturday but they close sales for same day tickets at around 4:00pm.

On Monday the train included several carriages with seats numbered 1-15 and then a separate string at the end numbered confusingly 4-1.  The end string were the sleeper cars. Only one of these carriages had passengers so I suspect there were plenty of empty berths. The sleeper carriages were the only ones that made the trip to Ha Noi from Pingxiang at the border.  The attendant in our carriage was selling water and the ubiquitous cups of dried noodles. Boiling water was of course free.

We arrived at Pingxiang at 10:00pm and the English announcement said we would be there for an hour and 40 minutes. Immigration and customs was routine. We all re-entered the carriage after about 20 minutes and waited. One or two passengers joined us from Pingxiang.  After about two hours we were off to Dong Dang.  After 20 minutes we arrived in Vietnam.  Clearing immigration and customs took about 45 minutes.  Even though it was literally the middle of the night a woman was changing US$ or RMB to VND and selling sim cards and snacks. The exchange seemed fair.

The train left Dong Dang and made no further stops until reaching Ha Noi.  I believe that the station we arrived was different than your site currently reports . I almost certain that we arrived at Ga Yen Vien Nam; our taxi ride took about 20 minutes and we paid 300,000 VND.  We knew were getting ripped off as we were told the "meter not working" story but we had few options at 6:00am local time. The roughly US$15 fare should have been about US$7 but we arrived unscathed.

One thing we learned in China is to expect the unexpected. None of what happened to us may happen tomorrow so anyone reading this should not take it as the gospel truth. But we found reading what others had experienced better prepared us for what came our way."

Traveller Steve Mercer reports from a northbound trip in 2013:   "This train was by far the best of them all.  There was carpet in the corridor & compartments. Plus there were free plastic shoes, although 5 sizes too small. Very handy.  The taxi dropped us off at the station but I have to admit it’s not immediately apparent where you go to check in or wait.  We went into the first waiting room, but a guard frantically shouted 'Nanning' at us and pointed at the correct waiting room.  Boarding the train was very organised.  We showed our passports before getting on and we also gave the Guard our tickets which he swapped for a credit card size card.  We would give this back at the end of the journey.  He then showed us to our berths. It was a good trip with no interruptions apart from the borders.  Just before the Vietnam border we were woken and told we must take all our bags with us.  This border point was a bit disorganised.  When you put your bag on the scanner belt it was set up so you had to turn around and fight your way through the crowd behind you to get to the other side of the scanner. Then you hand your passport in. It’s not a quick process as I was waiting for it to be handed back when he looked up and gestured us to go and sit down.  I’m always a bit reluctant to let my passport out of my sight, but it was all good.  They did them in batches and then called your name out to come and get them. However as we were the only Western foreigners there, he came and handed them to us.  It was then back on the train and off to the Chinese border.  This time someone came round and handed out the immigration cards for us to fill in than came round again to collect them and our passports.  We got off with all our bags and went into the immigration hall.  A bit more organised this one. I can’t remember but I’m not sure if they were scanned.  An immigration officer did some random checking of the bags though.  It was back on the train and wait for our passports to be returned before heading off to Nanning.  There were no more interruptions."

Traveller Melissa Jacka reports from a southbound trip in 2013:   "Tickets for the Nanning-Hanoi train were only available from Nanning train station, we got them about 20 hours in advance and following the advice on Seat 61 we went straight to counter 16 - the queue took about 20 minutes, and we had to show our passports and Vietnamese visa.  We had no problem getting soft sleeper tickets for a Sunday night train.  Adults were 190 RMB and the kids were 90 RMB.  As mentioned in earlier advice the beds were reallocated by the conductors.  Dinner in the dining car was simple, but fresh, tasty, clean and cheep - rice, chicken dish & beer for one was 30 RMB.  The train now leaves at 18:20 and arrives at around 05:30 the next day (but this includes winding the clock back 1 hour at the border), and includes two stops where you and your luggage get off the train, the first at about 21:30 and the second at about 00:30."

Nanning - Hanoi by bus

If the train is full or you prefer daytime travel, there are several daily buses between Nanning & Hanoi, using modern coaches and travelling by day.  Buses reportedly leave Nanning bus station at 08:30. 09:00 & 09:30, journey time 7-8 hours, fare around RMB 150 (£15 or $25).  The scenery is reported as well worth the trip!

Hong Kong to Hanoi by train

It's easy to travel between Hanoi & Hong Kong by train with a change of train in Nanning & Guangzhou. You can choose to make the journey in 2 nights & 1 day using the Hanoi-Nanning sleeper train and a Nanning-Guangzhou sleeper train, with a day exploring Nanning in between.  Or you can make the whole trip in under 24 hours using the Hanoi-Nanning sleeper train then a 300km/h high-speed train to Guangzhou and another high-speed train to Hong Kong.  It costs as little as $86 or so in total one-way, and it's a genuine overland travel experience.  Remember that you'll need a visa for China, so you'll need to satisfy any return/onward ticket requirements, which is usually more of a logistical headache than the actual travelling.  If you have any more information including fares for travelling via this route, please e-mail me .

Covid-19 update :  Travel to China remains restricted, international trains are suspended.

Hanoi ► Hong Kong classic option

The fare is around VND 568,000 ($30) with a comfy soft sleeper berth. 

There are several possible trains all running every day:  Train K1234 leaving Nanning at 17:50 and arriving Guangzhou main station at 07:25 next morning, train K398 leaving Nanning at 19:15 and arriving Guangzhou main station at 07:48, and train K1206 leaving Nanning at 22:50 and arriving at Guangzhou East station at 11:46 next day.  All these trains have soft & hard class sleepers.

The fare is about 285 RMB ($47) in a soft sleeper, or 184 RMB ($30) in a hard sleeper.

Hanoi ► Hong Kong high-speed option

Fare around VND 568,000 ($30) with a comfy soft sleeper berth. 

Hong Kong ► Hanoi classic option

The fare is about 285 RMB ($47) in a soft sleeper, or 185 RMB ($30) in a hard sleeper.

Hong Kong ► Hanoi high-speed option

To buy tickets starting in Hanoi, in advance over the internet

Step 1, arrange your Hanoi to Nanning ticket through either www.baolau.com or www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains , both are reputable agencies .  You can collect tickets from their offices in Hanoi, or have them delivered to your hotel in Vietnam.

Step 2, book the Nanning to Guangzhou train online using either www.baolau.com , www.china-diy-travel.com or www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .  You collect tickets from the ticket office at Nanning station.  Booking opens 60 days before departure.

Step 3, book from Guangzhou to Hong Kong West Kowloon as a second transaction at www.baolau.com or www.china-diy-travel.com with ticket collection at either Nanning or Guangzhou South stations, obviously it makes sense to pick up your Nanning-Guangzhou and Guangzhou-HK tickets together in Nanning.

Arranging tickets this way means you have the necessary proof of entry & exit to apply for a Chinese visa.

To buy tickets starting in Hanoi, in person

You can easily buy a Hanoi to Nanning ticket at the international booking counter at Hanoi main station on Le Duan street, reported as open 07:00-17:30 daily.  You'll almost always find places available, even on the day of departure.  It can help to know that for Nanning is 'Nam Ninh' in Vietnamese.  Alternatively, tickets are also sold in Hanoi by Vietnam Hanoi Railways Tourist Company (Travel Agency - 152 Le Duan Street, Hanoi, email [email protected] or call (84-4) 3518-6782.

You'll need to show your passport and Chinese visa when buying tickets , so arrange your Chinese visa first.  It's easiest to get a visa in your home country before you leave, but you can also get a visa in Hanoi.  It was reported back in 2010 that the Chinese embassy in Hanoi wouldn't issue visas for anyone who wasn't a Vietnamese citizen or resident, but since 2012 they apparently now will.  If they won't, you can still arrange a Chinese visa in Hanoi through a suitable travel agency such as www.hanoibackpackershostel.com .  Remember you will need to comply with any entry/onward ticket requirements when applying for a Chinese visa.

You can buy an onward ticket from Nanning to Guangzhou and Guangzhou to Hong Kong when you get to Nanning station, or you can arrange the Nanning to Guangzhou ticket online with reliable Chinese train ticket agency www.china-diy-travel.com and collect the ticket at the station in Nanning.

To buy tickets starting in Hong Kong, in advance over the internet

Step 1, arrange your Nanning to Hanoi train ticket, through agencies www.baolau.com or www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .  Pre-booking overcomes the annoying requirement for an onward ticket when applying for your Chinese visa.

Step 2, now book your train from Guangzhou to Nanning online at www.baolau.com or www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains or www.china-diy-travel.com .  Booking opens 60 days before departure and you can collect tickets at Guangzhou South station.

Step 3, now book your train from Hong Kong West Kowloon to Guangzhou at www.baolau.com or www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains or www.china-diy-travel.com and collect tickets at the station.  Or if using the slower intercity through trains from Hung Hom (Hong Kong) to Guangzhou East, book online at www.it3.mtr.com.hk .

To buy tickets starting in Hong Kong, in person

You can buy Hong Kong to Guangzhou and Guangzhou to Nanning tickets at the China railway office at Hung Hom railway station.  They may be able to do the Nanning to Hanoi ticket, but if not, buy it when you get to Nanning. 

Alternatively, you can buy tickets from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, Guangzhou to Nanning and (if they can do it) the Nanning to Hanoi at the CTS (China Travel Service) Central branch or CTS Mongkok branch in Hong Kong, as these two branches are equipped with the Chinese Railways ticketing system.  Again, if they cannot do the Nanning to Hanoi train, buy this when you get to Nanning at the station.

The Nanning to Hanoi train can easily be booked at Nanning station reservations office counter 16, though a more recent report says counter 1.  You'll usually find places available even on the day of travel.

Chinese visas

You'll need a Chinese visa to cross China between Hong Kong and Hanoi, either a transit visa or tourist visa.  The requirements vary depending on your nationality and where you apply for the visa, but you'll often have to prove you have a ticket into and out of China.  This can be a pain when you can only buy train tickets close to departure, or you plan to buy as you go, at the station on the day.  It can also lead to a 'Catch 22' if you plan to buy train tickets in Hanoi and need to show the visa to get the train tickets.  One way round this is to use a local Hong Kong or Vietnamese travel agency to sort all your tickets, using the agency's booking confirmation to get the visa, even though the agency can't get the tickets themselves until close to departure time.  The ultimate fall-back is that old favourite, buy the cheapest refundable airline ticket into & out of China, make a free-cancellation hotel booking for all of the nights you plan to be in China using a hotel site such as booking.com, use these to get your visa (which won't specify entry points or itinerary) then cancel everything.

What are the trains like?

Travellers' reports.

Traveller Hendryk went from Hong Kong to Hanoi:   "At the Hung Hom station in Hong Kong there's now a china-railway-office where you can book the tickets to Guangzhou East (190 HKD) and onwards to Nanning for between 268 HKD and 298 HKD, soft sleeper for the next day or later (same day was fully booked).  They charge a service fee of 200 HKD for that.  We took the 11:28 train to Guangzhou East and the 15:43 sleeper train to Nanning, it also departs from Guangzhou East, so no changing station necessary.  We arrived in Nanning at 7:07am.  We almost overslept, but a good sign to get off is when the stewards change your placeholder cards back to your ticket.  In Nanning as said above, it was very crowded in the train station, maybe because of that weekend.  At the counter number 16 (you should ask that before at the train info - no English signing anywhere) we had to wait for more than an hour but we got the soft sleeper tickets to Hanoi Gia Lam for 1.10.2012, departing 18:20, for 215 RMB each.  [2012]

Kunming to Hanoi by train

Until 2002 a twice-weekly metre-gauge sleeper train linked Kunming in China with Hanoi, but floods and landslides damaged the Chinese part of the line and it was discontinued.  However, a brand new standard-gauge Kunming-Hekou railway line was completed and in December 2014 trains ran once more between Kunming and the border town of Hekou.  It's possible once again to travel between Kunming and Hanoi by train, safely, comfortably and affordably, using a Chinese train from Kunming to the Chinese border town of Hekou, then a taxi a few km to the border post, walking across the border and on to Lao Cai station in Vietnam for a Vietnamese sleeper train to Hanoi.  Here's how.

U pdate 2024 :  International trains between China & Vietnam remain suspended post-pandemic.

Kunming ► Hanoi

Step 1, travel from Kunming to Hekou North (= Hekoubei) by train.  There are several trains a day, for example the K9832 leaving Kunming at 09:29 arriving Hekou North at 15:53, and the K9822 leaving Kunming at 16:00 and arriving Hekou North at 21:44.   The fare is 70.5 RMB ($11) for a regular hard seat (comfortable enough) or RMB 182 ($30) with a seat in a soft sleeper.  There's even an overnight train with hard sleepers, departing 22:48 arriving 06:07.  You can check times & fares (and if you don't mind a few dollars booking fee, buy tickets) at www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .

Step 2, transfer from Hekou North station in China to Lai Cai station in Vietnam:  Either take a bus the several kilometres from Hekou North station to the Hekou border point for RMB 2, journey time 10-15 minutes, or take a taxi for around RMB 10-15, there will be plenty of taxis waiting at the station.  Walk across the border to the Vietnamese side (border controls can take up to an hour) then walk another 25 minutes or take a 5-minute taxi ride into Lao Cai, just 2.5km (1.5 miles) from the border post.  There are hotels in both Hekou and Lao Cai if you need them.

You may want to visit the pleasant hill station at Sapa for a day or two before going on to Hanoi, Sapa is just 40km from Lao Cai by taxi, bus or minibus, see details here .

Step 3, travel from Lao Cai to Hanoi by overnight sleeper train, see the train times & fares above . There are several sleeper trains every night, some with cheap DSVN (Vietnamese Railways) soft & hard sleepers and others with a variety of comfortable privately-run soft sleeping-cars with 2 & 4-berth compartments aimed at tourists.

If you use this route using the new trains, feedback & any photos would be much appreciated .

Hanoi ► Kunming

Step 1, travel from Hanoi to Lao Cai by overnight sleeper train, see the train times & fares above .  There are cheap DSVN (Vietnamese Railways) soft & hard sleepers and a variety of comfortable privately-run soft sleeping-cars with 2 & 4-berth compartments aimed at tourists.  You may want visit the pleasant hill station of Sapa for a day or two before going on into China, Sapa is 40km from Lai Cai by taxi, bus or minibus.

Step 2, transfer from Lao Cai station to Hekou.  Lao Cai is just 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the Chinese border.  You can walk (25 minutes) or take a taxi (5 minutes) from Lai Cai station to the border post and walk across into Hekou on the Chinese side.  Passing through both sets of customs takes about an hour.  In Hekou, the Hekou North (=Hekoubei) station is a few kilometres away.  You take a taxi for around RMB 10-15.

Step 3, travel from Hekou to Kunming by train.  There are several trains a day, for example you should easily make the K9694 leaving Hekou North station (= Hekoubei) at 16:16 arriving Kunming at 22:29.  The fare is 70.5 RMB ($11) for a regular hard seat (comfortable enough) or RMB 182 ($30) with a seat in a soft sleeper.  There's even a sleeper train to Kunming with hard sleepers, leaving Hekoubei at 23:20.  You can check times & fares (and if you don't mind a few dollars booking fee, buy tickets) at www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains .

For photos of the Hanoi to Lao Cai trains, see the section above .  Photos below courtesy of Jan Bockaert .

Traveller's reports

Traveller Jan Bockaert travelled from Hanoi to Kunming by train in December 2014:   "Two days ago, I took the train from Hanoi to Kunming in China over the new line from Hekoubei to Kunming. The trip went exactly as described on your site. 

Lonely Planet has some warnings about the border crossing from Lao Cai to Hekou. But it went butter smooth, very friendly and professional at both sides of the border. It took me about half an hour, an hour and a half if you factor in the time difference between China and Vietnam.

Hekou North [Hekoubei] station is quite far from the city centre, in the middle of nowhere. You can get a taxi from the border post to the station for 20 yuan, but the first driver I took asked 40. (about 5 euro) None of the drivers wanted to use the meter.

The station building isn’t finished yet. You can’t leave your luggage yet, and there is no shop in the station, although there was a small stand in front of the station. Part of the station crew was also still in training. The ticket office was open from 5:30 till 6:20 from 9:00 till 11:00 and from 14:30 till 16:30. The woman selling me the ticket spoke decent English.

I booked a hard seat at around 10 in the morning, and by the time we left, the compartment was fully booked. Most of the wagons seemed to be sleepers however.

The first part of the line goes (literally) trough some very spectacular mountains, i guess the first hour or so, about 80 percent of the trip went trough tunnels. The view on the other 20 percent of the line is very nice. Once you are out of the mountains, it gets dark quickly.

Europe to Vietnam by Trans-Siberian Railway

If you have the time (we're talking around two weeks), you can travel from London to Vietnam by train.

Step 1, London to Moscow by train .  There are daily departures via Brussels, Berlin & Warsaw.  The journey takes 2 nights, from around £250 one-way with sleeper.

Update 2024:  Trains to Russia are suspended due to Covid-19 and now sanctions .

Spend at least 1 night in Moscow.

Step 2, Moscow to Beijing by Trans-Siberian Railway .  Two direct trains every week all year round, 6 nights.  Fares from around £500 one-way with a bed in a 4-bed sleeper. 

Update 2024:  Moscow-Beijing trains remain suspended post-pandemic.

Spend at least 1 night in Beijing.

Step 3, Beijing to Hanoi by train .  There are two direct trains a week, 2 nights, about $320 or £220 one-way in soft sleeper.  Alternatively, there are daily trains with a change in Nanning.  Spend at least 1 night in Hanoi.

Update 2024:  Trains between China & Vietnam remain suspended post-pandemic.

How to plan & book this trip

There aren't any travel agencies who can arrange the whole trip, so you will need to plan it out and arrange each stage of the journey yourself.  It's an exercise in project management!  Unless time is no object, you should book the key sections in advance through various travel agencies.

Book London-Moscow as shown on the London to Russia page .

Book Moscow-Beijing through a local Russian agency such as Real Russia, as shown on the Trans-Siberian page . 

Book Beijing to Hanoi as shown above .

You'll need to pre-arrange visas for Belarus, Russia, possibly Mongolia, China & Vietnam, and in many ways complying with the various visa requirements (which sometimes require confirmed onward tickets to be held) is actually the biggest challenge, not buying the tickets, so check this out carefully using the relevant embassy websites.

Where do you start?  First, read through the seat61 pages linked above.  Then sketch out your itinerary using a simple spreadsheet like this , deciding where and for how long you want to stop off.  Next, check out the visa situation for each country.  Finally, follow the advice on each seat61 page to buy tickets for each train journey that you want to pre-book.

Buy at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Alternatively, you can download just the chapters or areas you need in .PDF format from the Lonely Planet Website , from around £2.99 or US$4.95 a chapter.

Hotels in Vietnam

In saigon:  continental hotel.

The famous and historic Continental Hotel is one of my favourite hotels worldwide, not merely a place to stay but a Saigon landmark since 1880.  Indeed, the Continental is the backdrop for much of the action in Graham Greene's novel 'The Quiet American', set in Saigon during the Franco-Vietnamese war.  If it's in your price range or if you can stretch your budget, the Continental is superbly located, right next to the Opera House in the centre of Saigon and a stone's throw from Saigon's distinctive town hall, post office and cathedral.  It's quiet, understated, clean and comfortable with high ceilings, marble floors and wood panelling, and not a corporate clone like so many chain hotels.  The breakfast buffet is good, and it has a pleasant central courtyard and bar if you prefer to eat or enjoy a beer al fresco.  There's free WiFi, too.  A double room costs around $140 (£88) per night.  Tripadvisor reviews .  Nearby, the famous Rex Hotel was where many American officers stayed during the Vietnam war.  If you prefer something more glitzy and glamorous, try the impressive Majestic Hotel , a mere parvenu dating from 1925 with many art nouveau features, located across the road from the Mekong river.

In Hanoi:  Budget:  Hanoi Trendy Hotel .  Top end:  Sofitel Metropole

A little budget gem, the Hanoi Trendy Hotel & Spa (formerly the Hanoi Art Hotel) may not be historic or grand, but it's an excellent low-cost choice from $45 a night for a room with toilet & shower, tea & coffee making facilities, free WiFi, safe, free mineral water, a great breakfast, and great staff at reception who really put themselves out to help you.  It's well located in central Hanoi, a short walk from the War Remnants Museum, a 10-15 minute taxi ride from Hanoi's main station.  Of course, at the luxury end of the scale we have Hanoi's most venerable and upmarket hotel, the luxurious and expensive Sofitel Metropole , which comes complete with outdoor swimming pool and lido bar.

In Hué:  Budget Than Thien Hotel , top end La Residence Hotel & Spa .

At the top end, look no further than La Residence Hotel & Spa , located in the former French governor's residence on the banks of the Perfume River.  For the budget-conscious, try the equally central Than Thien Hotel .  Both get great reviews.

In Sapa:  Victoria Hotel

The best hotel in Sapa, now renamed BB Resort & Spa, which even runs its own train from Hanoi, see the section here .  You'll find a real log fire burning in the lobby and restaurant, and they do an excellent breakfast buffet.  The hotel features an indoor swimming pool and adjacent spa, too.  If your budget can stretch, this is the place to stay!

You might also want to check Tripadvisor's recommendations:  Tripadvisor Vietnam hotels .

Flights to Vietnam

Overland travel by train & bus around Vietnam is an essential part of the experience, so once there, don't cheat and fly, stay on the ground!  But if a long-haul flight is unavoidable to reach Vietnam in the first place, check Opodo and also try the Skyscanner search tool to compare flight prices & routes worldwide across 600 airlines.

1)  Check flight prices at Opodo, www.opodo.com

2)  use skyscanner to compare flight prices & routes worldwide across 600 airlines.

3)  Lounge passes

Make the airport experience a little more bearable with a VIP lounge pass, it's not as expensive as you think!  See www.loungepass.com

Travel insurance & other tips

Always take out travel insurance.

Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover cancellation and loss of cash and belongings, up to a sensible limit.  An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy with Staysure.co.uk myself.  Here are some suggested insurers.  Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these links.

Get an eSIM with mobile data package

Don't rely on WiFi, download an eSIM with a mobile data package for the country you're visiting and stay connected.  Most newer mobile phones can download a virtual SIM card so you don't need to buy a physical SIM, including iPhone 11 & later, see device compatibility list .  Maya.net is a reliable eSIM data retailer with a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating and a range of packages including unlimited data .

Get a Curve card for foreign travel

Most banks give you a poor exchange rate, then add a foreign transaction fee on top.  A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month at time of writing.  The money you spend on your Curve card goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.

How it works:   1. Download the Curve app for iPhone or Android .  2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to the UK and most European addresses.  3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app, you can link up to two cards with the free version of Curve, I link my normal debit card and my normal credit card.  4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, exactly like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance in your own currency onto whichever debit or credit card is currently selected in the Curve app.  You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.

I have a Curve Blue card myself, it means I can buy a coffee on a foreign station on a card without being stung by fees and lousy exchange rates, just by tapping the Curve card on their card reader.  The money goes through Curve to my normal debit card and is taken directly from my account (in fact I have the Curve card set up as payment card on Apple Pay on my iPhone, so can double-click my phone, let it do Face ID then tap the reader with the phone - even easier than digging a card out).  I get a little commission if you sign up to Curve, but I recommend it here because I think it's great.  See details, download the app and get a Curve card , they'll give you £5 cashback through that link.

Get a VPN for safe browsing.  W hy you need a VPN

When you're travelling you often use free WiFi in public places which may not be secure.  A VPN encrypts your connection so it's always secure, even on unsecured WiFi.  It also means you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geoblocking which a surprising number of websites apply.  See VPNs & why you need one explained .  ExpressVPN is a best buy with a 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot ranking which I use myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using the links on this page, you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription.  I get a small commission to help support this site.

Carry an Anker powerbank

Tickets, reservations, vaccination records and Interrail or Eurail passes are often held digitally on your mobile phone, so it's vital to keep it charged.  I always carry an Anker powerbank which can recharge my phone several times over if I can't get to a power outlet.  Buy from Amazon.co.uk or from Buy from Amazon.com .

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What to expect on a first class Vietnam Sleeper Train

Last updated on April 7th, 2024

Are you planning to take a first class Vietnam sleeper train? In this guide we’re sharing how to book, cabin options, what to expect on the train, and our personal experience. In the United States, train travel isn’t a very common way to get across the country. So one of our bucket list items that we wanted to experience while in Vietnam was taking an overnight train ride. We boarded a 17 hour train from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang in a first class cabin. And it was an experience !

Watch the highs and lows of our experience on a first class Vietnam sleeper train from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang! 

We had an uninvited tiny guest, confusion with food, and not much sleep. But we also witnessed the beautiful countryside of Vietnam that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. The 17 hours were full of highs and lows, but overall, we are extremely glad we did it and made some memories we will never forget.  And in this guide our goal is to share everything you need to know before taking a Vietnam sleeper train. Like how we snagged a special two person first class cabin! We’re also giving a very honest take on what to expect, plus a list of items to bring with you and so much more.

Why should you take a sleeper train in Vietnam?

About vietnam’s reunification express train, train routes in vietnam, vietnam sleeper train cabin and seating options, how to book vietnam sleeper train tickets, what to expect on board a vietnam sleeper train.

• The best part of the Vietnam sleeper train: the scenery

Getting off at your destination

Frequently asked questions about vietnam sleeper trains, things to know for riding a vietnam sleeper train, what should you bring on a vietnam sleeper train.

Before we begin, we think it’s important to share why we think you should take a sleeper train in Vietnam. Throughout this guide we will share parts of our experience that may make you question taking one. But even though our experience wasn’t perfect, we are big fans of train travel.  We rode the train in Vietnam four times during our almost six weeks in the country. The first time was an overnight train from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, while the other times were quite a bit shorter.  Here are some pros (and cons!) to train travel in Vietnam!

• It can be a lot cheaper than taking a plane, tour, or limo (what they call a van) to different destinations. 
• You have much more space to spread out and walk around than an airplane.
• The scenery is amazing! You will get to see parts of Vietnam you wouldn’t have otherwise.
• For longer journeys, you can have a bed to sleep in, which beats the heck out of sleeping on a plane. It also covers your accommodation costs for the night!
• It is a unique experience and more of an adventure than flying.
• It can take you to some of the best cities to visit in Vietnam like Ho Chi Minh City , Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue, Ninh Binh , and Hanoi
• It can take a lot longer than flying, especially for the overnight routes. Ex: Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang was 17 hours by train vs. 1.5 hours by plane. Quite the difference! 
• Cleanliness can be questionable at times. We will share more about this later!

Vietnam’s train system was originally built by the French in the 1880s and has developed over the years.  The most well known train route in Vietnam is the Reunification Express , which is operated by Vietnam Railways. This isn’t a single train, but refers to one of the many trains that travel on the north-south route between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi .  Throughout the many years Vietnam was at war, the rail line was damaged thousands of times. After 1975, the Vietnamese government unleashed a major development project to repair the rail line. This achievement was a symbol of a reunified Vietnam, giving it the name the Reunification Express. Today, there are a variety of trains available in Vietnam, ranging from very basic to more luxurious . But for this guide, we’ll exclusively be covering the Reunification Express train, as that is the only one we have experience with.  The Reunification Express is considered to be the authentic, local way to travel by train in Vietnam. It is very basic, but offers a variety of seating options, has food, and multiple toilets. If you are looking for train options more catered to tourists, Lotus Train , Violette , and Vietage all have multiple routes in Vietnam.

The main route for the Reunification Express runs from south to north, from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, which takes between 33-36 hours! Along the way, the train stops in multiple other popular destinations, like Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue. And there are also separate lines that you can connect onto to reach other destinations! Curious where all you can go via train in Vietnam? You can see the full train route here , but below are some of the most popular train route options: Ho Chi Minh City to Hoi An: 17+ hour train ride to Da Nang, plus a 40 minute Grab/taxi ride Da Nang to Huế : 2.5-3.5 hours (This is said by many to be the most scenic train ride in Vietnam, as it goes through Hai Van Pass) Hanoi to Ninh Binh: 2 hours, 15 minutes Hanoi to Lào Cai (Sapa) : 8 hours Hanoi to Haiphong (Cat Ba Island) : 2.5-4 hours

There are a variety of different cabins and seating options on Vietnam sleeper trains. From the most basic, barebones hard seats, all the way to private cabins. In this section we will go over each option, plus our experience with most of them!

Hard seats are the cheapest ticket option on Vietnam trains. And they are what they sound like–a wooden bench with no padding. These benches are designed for three passengers, so you’ll be expected to share the bench with two others.  Some of the hard seat carriages have air conditioning, but not all. In the carriages without air conditioning, the windows can be opened.

Who this option is good for: Personally, we wouldn’t recommend this option if you can avoid it. While you’d save the most amount of money, sitting on a hard bench, even for a couple hours, would be pretty brutal. 

Soft Seats 

The next level up from hard seats are soft seats. These seats are basically like seats on an airplane. They have padding, a fold down tray table, and also recline a tiny bit. The train cars are set up with two seats on either side, with some sections having two groups of seats that face each other (with a table in between). There is luggage storage above the seats, so you can hopefully keep your foot area as open as possible. We sat in these when going to and from Ninh Binh to Hanoi and it worked fine! We were a bit spoiled by the sleeper cabins at this point, but for a shorter journey, it’s a great, cheap option.

Who this option is good for: We would suggest this seating option for any train ride under 4 hours, especially if during the day. It will give you a similar experience to being on a plane, but with more room to wander around the train. We wouldn’t suggest choosing this for an overnight train.

Hard Sleeper (6 berth)

The first type of sleeper cabins on Vietnam trains are hard sleeper cabins. These air conditioned cabins come with six beds, with three stacked on each side of the room. Despite the name, these aren’t wooden beds. You will get a thin mattress, sheet, pillow, and comforter. Each bed will likely have a reading light and outlet to charge electronics. When you book your ticket, you’ll be able to choose which bed you want.  There isn’t much space between the bed or roof above you, so if you’re claustrophobic these might be a tough option.

Who this option is good for: This would be a good overnight option for a group, if you want to all be together. If traveling alone or in a smaller group, we’d only suggest this if it’s the last sleeper option available for an overnight train. Having a bed, even with many strangers, is better than a seat! Beyond overnight trains, this could be a good option for longer day train rides, if you want to be able to stretch out.

Soft Sleeper (4 berth)

Soft sleeper cabins are similar to the hard sleeper, but have two bunk beds, sleeping four people instead of six. The amenities are about the same otherwise, except we hear that the mattresses can be a bit thicker than the hard sleeper.  When you book you choose which bed you want. Many people consider the upper bunk the better of the two options. It’s slightly quieter and you have more privacy, but you do have to climb up and down, which wouldn’t be very fun in the middle of the night.  The lower bunk is easier to get in and out of and you’ll have access to a table. But be prepared, your cabin mate might sit with you on your bed during the day to share the table with you. We had a soft sleeper on our train from Da Nang to Dong Hoi, which was almost 7 hours during the daytime. It was really nice to be able to lay down if we wanted or sit at the desk (we had bottom bunks) and work. Our cabin mates were very quiet and we hardly remembered that they were even above us!

Who this option is good for: This is a great overnight sleeper cabin option! With only four beds, you will sleep with less strangers (and they may not all be there the entire time). We also highly suggest this option for longer day trains. For a train 4 hours and above, this would be a lot more comfortable than the soft seats.

VIP (2 berth)

The VIP cabin is the prime cabin option for an overnight train in Vietnam. This cabin has only two beds, which means that you and your travel partner can have the entire cabin to yourself.  Similar to the other cabins, you’ll have two beds, sheets, comforter, and pillow. There were a handful of outlets, as well as multiple places to store our luggage. Ours came with some mugs and water bottles too! Because of its privacy, it is the most expensive option. We booked this cabin for our 17 hour overnight train from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang. And it was well worth the extra cost! Another important thing to know about this cabin is that it is not on all trains. It is only offered on a couple departure times and there are only a handful of these cabins on the train. Because of this, it has become a bit more difficult to book due to its limited quantity and higher demand. We’ll share our tips for snagging one in the next section of this guide!

Who this option is good for: This is the BEST option for taking a sleeper train in Vietnam. You will have the most amount of space, privacy, and comfort. 

Book online

While you can book your ticket directly through Vietnam Railways, we found the user experience to be lacking. We also could never figure out a way to book the VIP cabin on their website. Instead, we highly recommend booking your train on 12Go . This was our go-to website for booking trains, buses, and limos in Vietnam. 

On 12Go you can plug in your route, the date, and number of people and it will show you different options to get to your destination, including trains, planes, buses, and limos.  After your options appear, you’ll want to click on the train times that work best for you. When you click on it, the different seating options will populate below. One very important thing to know when booking a Vietnam train on 12Go is that the cabin names differ from what we listed above.  Soft seats: 2nd class AC seats Hard sleeper (6 berth): 2nd class sleeper Soft sleeper (4 berth): 1st class sleeper VIP: Cabin 2x

Want to book the VIP (Cabin 2x) on 12Go?

As we mentioned the VIP cabin can be harder to get, due to its limited availability. A couple tips for booking this cabin: First, this cabin is only available on specific train departures. We suggest looking through all of the train options for the day you want to go and seeing which train times have it. We have noticed that the latest trains usually do. We also recommend booking this cabin well in advance. We booked our cabin one month in advance , which at the time was as early as it would let us. It appears you can book it even further in advance now, so we’d recommend doing that if able.

Once you decide which cabin option you want, you can click book now and will go through the seat selection and checkout process. 12Go will then book your seat for you on the train. You will first get a receipt email from 12Go and then shortly after (it could be hours), you will get your actual confirmation and ticket. One perk of booking your train on 12Go is that you don’t need to print your ticket. You can simply show the electronic ticket to the staff. We were a bit confused by this and printed ours anyways, but our digital ticket would’ve worked just fine!

Buy your tickets at the train station

You can also buy your tickets at the train station. There is staff who can help you purchase your tickets. They may or may not speak much English though, so have Google Translate up and ready!  This will likely work fine if you’re just taking a day train. But if you’re taking an overnight train, we would highly advise against this. You will have the least amount of options and will likely end up in a chair for the night. 

How much do Vietnam sleeper trains cost?

The price of a Vietnam sleeper train depends heavily on the length of the journey and the type of cabin.  Here is what we spent for different journeys back in March 2023 (for two people):

• Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang (17 hours) in a VIP 2 person cabin: $189.13
• Da Nang to Dong Hoi (7 hours) in a soft sleeper: $44
• Hanoi to Ninh Binh (2.5 hours) in a soft sleeper: $29
• Ninh Binh to Hanoi (2.5 hours) in soft seats: $18

In the cabin

The Vietnam sleeper train cabins all have air conditioning, a trash can, reading lights, and outlets to charge things. The beds will come equipped with sheets, a pillow, and comforter.  For the VIP cabin, we had mugs, tea bags, and water bottles, which we believe is just a perk for these cabins.  All cabins will have storage under the beds for luggage, as well as above the door. We were a bit skeptical to use the storage above the door, out of fear that our luggage would fly down and hit us in the middle of the night. 

Our experience

During our overnight train, we really struggled to get the air conditioning to work properly. Sometimes it would come on and be really cold, but for the most part, our train was pretty warm. This may have just been a fluke, as our train rides later on were more comfortable. We also had a….”friend” join us in our cabin. As we were sitting in the room, before bed, we noticed a small roach climbing on the wall. This was quite possibly my worst fear going into the train ride, as I am terrified of roaches. But we knew it was a possibility because it is Southeast Asia and roaches are common. Let’s just say we didn’t sleep super great because of it. He vanished and we worried the whole night that he would crawl on us. We don’t say this to scare anyone out of riding the train, but just to make sure you’re prepared. There were no roaches spotted on our other three train rides in Vietnam, so we may have just gotten unlucky.

Toilets on the train

In each train car there will be one or two bathrooms. Depending on the car there will either be a squat toilet (hole in the ground), a western toilet, or both. There was a sink in the bathroom, but also a sink in the hallway, where you could brush your teeth at night. While the toilets started out with toilet paper, they did run out, so make sure to bring your own! (Which is a good rule in general in Vietnam…always carry toilet paper)

The bathrooms during our train ride started out pretty clean, but things got progressively worse over the ride. And at one point, one of the toilets in our car would not flush. It was very full. And the train rocks…so I think you can figure out what happened there. 😂 The bathrooms do get cleaned during the ride, but it isn’t very often. So keep your expectations low for this one!

Cell service

Your ticket might also claim there is Wi-Fi on board, but we didn’t experience Wi-Fi working. We had Vietnamese SIM cards, which gave us cell service in the country. We did have cell service for a good portion of the trip, but there were some sections where it would disappear. So don’t fully rely on having it!

Food on board 

For food on board you have a couple options. There is a restaurant car where you can go to purchase a meal or drinks or there is also a trolley cart that comes by every couple hours. The trolley car usually rotates between selling snacks, drinks, and cooked meals. The meals tended to be meat, rice, and veggies. You can also get coffee from this cart in the morning! Each train car also has a water station, where you can get hot water to make instant coffee, tea, or instant noodles. We highly recommend bringing your own food on board. A bánh mì you pick up in advance, instant noodles, and snacks would be a good option!

According to our ticket, we had a meal included. But we had packed some snack items, just in case that wasn’t true. And we are glad we did because we almost didn’t get a meal! Long story short, we had a conversation with a worker on the train that got lost in translation and it was interpreted that we did not want the meal. So when the meals got passed out, we got skipped and we figured we were out of luck. After inquiring about this, they were kind enough to bring us a meal (meat and veggies) which we really appreciated. If you also have a meal included, make sure to be very clear if they ask if you need food!

the scenery

Ok so the toilets were gross and you found a cockroach in your cabin…why would you want to do this? The answer is the scenery! Throughout the journey you’ll get to see so much of Vietnam that you wouldn’t see if traveling by plane. You’ll travel along the coast, through rice paddies, bustling cities, and tiny villages. Along the way you’ll be able to see water buffalo, palm trees, gorgeous beaches with sparkling blue water, and high mountain passes.  We left Ho Chi Minh City in the dark, but when we woke up, we got to watch the sunrise over the Vietnam countryside. It was magical! We spent the majority of the time on the train just staring out the window. 

As the train approaches each stop, the conductor will come over the speaker system and announce the next stop. They usually do this well in advance, starting at least an hour ahead of time. This gives you time to get your things together so you can be ready to get off. Staff know who gets off at what stop, so they will also come by your cabin and announce your stop is coming up.  At some stops the train isn’t stopped for very long, so make sure you’re ready and by the door to get off quickly. 

Are Vietnam sleeper trains clean? 

We have shared some of the less clean parts of the train, but overall the train was pretty clean. Our sheets seemed clean and our room itself didn’t have any trash on the floor. The hallways were kept pretty clean as well!  We have read that the trains get cleaned at the beginning and end of the line (for example Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi). So it was the cleanest when we first got on the train in Ho Chi Minh City. If you get on outside of these two cities, the train may not be as clean and your bedding might not be fresh. The train does get lightly cleaned along the ride, but it isn’t very frequent. We did see the train staff clean rooms a bit when people got off the train. They also came by and swept the floor once or twice. 

What is it like sleeping on a sleeper train in Vietnam? 

Even though the trains are called “sleeper” trains, with the engine noise, stops, other passengers moving about, and the rocking and jerking of the train, it’s sometimes difficult to actually sleep. If you’re a really deep sleeper, you may not have a ton of issues sleeping. For us, we did struggle a bit with the movement, fear of cockroaches, and the air conditioning not working right. But we went into our Vietnam sleeper train experience expecting to be uncomfortable at times, so for us, it wasn’t a huge deal. We made sure that we could rest for the rest of the day once arriving! As for the beds themselves, they are moderately soft and comfortable. Adam is 5’11” and he had just enough room in the bed.  

Are Vietnam sleeper trains safe?

We didn’t experience any sketchy or unsafe behavior on the train, but have read stories that in the past, people would come on at the stops and steal from passengers. However, this doesn’t happen very often anymore. We felt 100% safe on the train. But it’s still good to be aware of the potential risks and be alert. If you can, we highly suggest getting a private cabin and locking the door while you’re in the cabin.  If you don’t get a private cabin:

• Keep your belongs close and keep your valuables next to you
• Have one person stay in the room (if traveling with someone) when the other leaves
• If you have a lock on your luggage and keep it locked
• Keep your door locked 

Purchase your train tickets in advance

It’s best to buy your tickets in advance. If you wait until you get to the train station on the day of your departure, your options will likely be very limited.

Get to the train station early 

You’ll want to get to the train station with plenty of time to spare, just in case there is an issue with your ticket, the train, etc. We got to the train about an hour in advance, which was more than enough time. At the station there is a seating area, some food options, and restrooms.

Try to arrange your ride from the train station beforehand 

As soon as you walk out of the train station you will see lots of taxi drivers waiting to take people where they need to go. These taxis are an option, however getting into a random taxi could be walking into a scam. If you’re staying at a hotel or homestay, we recommend asking them to arrange a pick up for you. You can also order a Grab ride once you arrive. We decided to just get a Grab and it was more expensive than the taxi our hotel quoted us. So we would suggest having them coordinate for you if you can!

Pack a day bag

To avoid having to drag your big suitcase out every time you need something, try to keep your most used/daily items in a smaller bag!

Your train will likely be late

Our train arrived a bit later than was advertised and we’ve read this is a common occurrence. Because of this, don’t plan a tight schedule soon after arriving at your destination, in case you arrive late.

You’ll need cash to purchase food and drinks on the train. 

Ear plugs and eye mask

To give yourself a better chance of sleeping success, pack ear plugs and an eye mask! Ear plugs will help drown out the noise and an eye mask will help with blocking the light. 

While our cabin’s air conditioning didn’t stay on for very long, when it was on it was very cold. We recommend bringing a jacket to stay warm in case your cabin is very cold.

Water bottle

It is not safe to drink tap water in Vietnam, so make sure to bring water bottles. You can buy these on the train, but it would be easier to have your own. We love using our hydroflask water bottle ! It allows us to carry more filtered water than if we just carried plastic bottles.

Check out all the other items we suggest packing for a trip to Vietnam in our ultimate Vietnam packing list !

Snacks & easy food items

Even if your ticket has a meal, we would suggest bringing your own food, so you can eat on your own schedule. Packing bánh mì would be a delicious meal and as we mentioned, there is hot water on the train so Cup of Noodles are a good choice too. Some snacks that are easy to bring are sesame candy (mè xửng), crispy rice (cơm cháy), chips, and fresh and dried fruits. 

Outlet adapter

Make sure you bring an outlet adapter so you can charge your phone and other electronics!

Toilet paper

Possibly the most important item to bring with you on the Vietnam sleeper trains is toilet paper. You’re playing a dangerous game if you don’t bring your own!

Body wipes and hand sanitizer

You won’t find a shower on these trains, so if you want to clean yourself up a bit, be sure to take some body wipes . We also suggest some hand sanitizer as well! 

Travel sheets 

If you don’t feel comfortable sleeping on the sheets you can always bring some travel sheets with you. We had planned to bring this, but didn’t have enough space in our backpacks.

Entertainment 

Especially on the overnight trains in Vietnam, you’ll also want to have some forms of entertainment. Be sure to download some podcasts, movies, and music, or have a deck of cards with you. 

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Train travel in Vietnam

Vietnam has a very extensive and good rail network from Ho Chi Minh City (South) to Lao Cai, the station for visiting Sapa in the north of Vietnam. Traveling by train through Vietnam is a lot easier than taking the bus. Although it can be slower than by bus, you have much more space and it is safer. The tracks and trains are a bit outdated, but it’s a great way to explore Vietnam. Especially the night trains, with air conditioning and beds, are a better alternative than the long bus routes.

On this page you will learn the following about traveling by train in Vietnam:

Why travel by train through Vietnam

The trains and classes.

• Buy a train ticket in Vietnam

Train times

Train stations in vietnam, the most popular train routes in vietnam.

Traveling by train in Vietnam is really an unforgettable local experience. The biggest advantage of this means of transport is the reasonable price and safety. The fare is half a flight and only slightly more expensive than the bus. The slow train goes through mountains, forests, valleys and even along the ocean, allowing you to enjoy the authentic natural view of Vietnam. Moreover, it is an interesting way to travel by train for a few hours to make friends with the locals and get a better picture of their daily lives.

The railways of the Vietnam Railways run along the coast and connect Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong with train connections to the Chinese border. The government is modernizing the network and the trains themselves. Trains with SE are often new and faster trains. Trains that are referred to as TN are the obsolete trains. Moreover, it is an interesting way to travel by train for a few hours to make friends with the locals and get a better picture of their daily lives.

The options

You can usually choose from a hard seat or a soft seat and a hard sleeper or a soft sleeper . And then with or without air conditioning . The hard seats are the cheapest class and are often full of locals.

You can take your luggage into the wagon and put it in racks above your head or under the seat. Some travelers secure their luggage to the rack with a bicycle lock. It is even possible to take your motorcycle on the train.

Like many countries, Vietnam also has the option of using night trains, which saves an overnight stay in a hotel and a day’s travel and is often a better alternative than a long bus trip. The fastest route from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is approximately thirty hours. The train runs fairly slowly; often around 50 km / h through the landscape.

Buying a train ticket in Vietnam

Train tickets are generally more expensive than the bus, but cheaper than a domestic flight. The price of tickets depends on your train and which class you book. Hard seats is the cheapest and least comfortable option. Soft sleeper is suitable for long distances at night, but also more expensive (recommended!). For a ride from Hanoi to Hue you pay around 500,000 Dong, which is around $ 22. Often, the earlier you book the tickets, the cheaper the price.

Because the trains in Vietnam always have a limited amount of soft sleepers, it is wise to book train tickets as early as possible. Train tickets are usually available from 60 days before departure (sometimes 90 days in advance).

Where to book a train ticket

Tickets are available at stations and travel agencies, hotels and online via the Vietnam Railways website , Bao Lau and 12go.asia .

Several Reunification Express trains depart daily from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Train times change regularly, so check the departure times on the Vietnam Railways website.

Vietnamese trains are not always on time. There is often a delay, sometimes a few hours. Do not plan your connecting flight without a significant pause between the arrival of the train and your next departure. The weather can also cause train delays. Conditions are changing rapidly and they do not announce delays or cancellations in advance.

The most popular train stations in Vietnam are:

Train stations in North Vietnam

• Lao Cai (near Sapa)

Train stations in Central Vietnam

• Dong Hoi (near Phong Nha)
• Dieu Tri (near Quy Nhon)

Train stations in South Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh City

From Hue to Da Nang

The most beautiful train route is from Da Nang to Hue along the famous Hai Van Pass. On one side you have a beautiful view of the ocean and on the other side the mountain pass. A good alternative if you prefer not to drive the motorcycle over the pass.

From Hanoi to Sapa (Lao Cai)

In the past it was even the only way to get to Sapa from Hanoi, but now you have a good road and great bus connections. It is now still the most popular train connection for tourists in Vietnam. You arrive at the train station of Lao Cai, where you drive the last 40km to Sapa by taxi, bus or minibus.

From Nha Trang to Quy Nhon

Not a popular train route, but a very beautiful one is from Nha Trang to Quy Nhon. This train route rises almost the entire journey along the ocean.

From Ho Chi Minh City to Mui Ne (Phan Thiet)

This 4-hour train journey takes you past beautiful rice fields to Phan Thiet. From the station it is a short 20km to Mui Ne.

Trains are much safer than buses. Trains also don’t run fast, so you don’t have to worry about accidents. Minor crime is rare on Vietnamese trains. Thieves occasionally try to get things through the window when the train is stopped. Always keep your bag close by and attach or tie it to something, especially at night.

• Book a ticket in advance to choose the best seat!
• Bring some food for a late evening meal or snack in between if you are afraid of food quality on the train.
• A towel can be used as a blanket and keeps you warm during the long journey.
• If you sleep on a hard or soft chair, bring a neck pillow.
• Do not bring too much luggage; you cannot sleep well while you watch over your belongings all the time.
• Take small change to pay for the taxi from the station and for food on the train.
• If there are problems with your seat or the food, do not hesitate to report it to the conductor.
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Traveling and Exploring in Northern Vietnam

Train Travel in Vietnam → FULL Guide ☀️

1. Vietnam Train Travel 2. Historical Background 3. Types of Trains 4. Planning a Journey 5. Onboard Experience 6. Practical Travel Tips 7. Vietnam by Rail 8. Future Outlook 9. Railway Stations 10. FAQ+ Answers 🎫 Book Train Tickets

🚉 Train Travel in Vietnam – Complete Guide:

▶️ 1. introduction to train travel in vietnam:.

Vietnam stands as a captivating destination, steeped in a rich tapestry of history, adorned with breathtaking natural wonders, and vibrant with cultural treasures waiting to be discovered. Amidst the modern hustle and bustle of transportation options , there exists a timeless allure to embarking on a journey through Vietnam’s picturesque landscapes by train. In this comprehensive guide, we extend an invitation to travelers worldwide to immerse themselves in the enchanting world of train travel in Vietnam —a journey that seamlessly intertwines the past with the present, promising unforgettable experiences and insights into this captivating destination.

Overview of Vietnam’s Extensive Rail Network

• As one of Southeast Asia’s most expansive railway systems, Vietnam’s rail network spans over 2,600 kilometers, weaving its way through verdant countryside, bustling urban centers, and picturesque coastal regions. From the historic capital of Hanoi in the north to the vibrant metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City in the south, the railway network connects key destinations, offering travelers glimpses into Vietnam’s rich tapestry of culture, history, and natural beauty.

The Importance and Timeless Appeal of Train Travel in Vietnam

• Trains hold a special place in the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, symbolizing not only a mode of transportation but also serving as a testament to the country’s resilience, progress, and enduring spirit. For travelers, the allure of train travel in Vietnam lies in its ability to provide an immersive and authentic experience, allowing passengers to witness the captivating beauty of the country’s landscapes unfold outside their windows while forging connections with fellow travelers from all walks of life. Whether it’s the rhythmic clickety-clack of the train wheels or the ever-changing scenery passing by, each moment onboard embodies the essence of exploration and adventure.

Purpose and Scope of this Comprehensive Guide

• The purpose of this guide is to serve as a trusted companion for those embarking on a journey through Vietnam by train , offering valuable insights, practical tips, and recommendations to enhance every aspect of the experience. From planning your routes and booking tickets to navigating onboard amenities and uncovering hidden gems along the way, our aim is to empower travelers to embark on a memorable adventure through the heart of Vietnam’s railway network. With a wealth of information at your fingertips, you’ll be well-equipped to make the most of your journey and create lasting memories as you traverse this captivating country by train.

▶️ 2. Historical Background of Vietnam Railway:

The narrative of Vietnam’s railways unfolds as a tapestry woven with strands of innovation, resilience, and advancement. Its inception dates back to the late 19th century, under French colonial rule, with the laying of the first railway line between Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and My Tho in 1881. This marked the genesis of a transformative chapter in the nation’s transportation history.

Significance of Trains in Vietnam’s History and Culture

• As the need for connectivity burgeoned, subsequent decades witnessed the sprawling expansion of Vietnam’s railway network, spanning from the towering peaks of the north to the fertile plains of the south. Railways emerged as vital arteries, knitting together communities, fostering commerce, and molding the country’s identity. Trains, entrenched in the collective consciousness of generations, embody narratives of fortitude, solidarity, and perseverance for the Vietnamese people. In times of turmoil, they carried the flame of optimism, kindling dreams of a brighter horizon amid shadows of uncertainty.

Evolution of Vietnam’s Train Infrastructure

• Beyond their pragmatic role, trains have woven themselves into the fabric of Vietnam’s cultural ethos. From the iconic locomotives enshrined in literature and art to the rhythmic heartbeat of trains resonating through bustling terminals, the railway has become an inseparable facet of Vietnamese identity—a symbol of progress intertwined with tradition. The trajectory of Vietnam’s train infrastructure has been one of continuous evolution, adapting to the demands of a swiftly evolving society. From the era of steam-powered locomotives to the sleek, high-speed trains of the present day, technological advancements have propelled the country’s railways into the modern era, enriching efficiency, safety, and passenger comfort.
• Investments in modernization endeavors, such as electrification schemes and the introduction of state-of-the-art rolling stock, have not only elevated service standards but also laid the groundwork for future expansion and development. As Vietnam steers its course towards progress, the railway stands as a steadfast ally, guiding the nation towards a promising tomorrow.

▶️ 3. Types of Trains in Vietnam:

Vietnam’s railway network offers a wide range of train classes and categories to suit every traveler’s preferences. From budget-conscious backpackers to luxury-seeking adventurers, there’s a train option for everyone.

1. Standard Classes Overview

• Discover the various standard classes available, including economy and first-class cabins, catering to different budgets and comfort levels.

2. Luxury Sleeper Trains

• Indulge in the epitome of luxury with sleeper cabins in luxury trains, offering spacious seating and exclusive amenities for a truly indulgent journey.

3. Immersive Sleeper Trains Experience

• Explore the convenience and comfort of sleeper trains, featuring cozy berths and deluxe compartments, allowing travelers to rest and rejuvenate amidst Vietnam’s breathtaking landscapes.

Distinguishing Local vs. Long – Distance Trains

Understand the differences between local and long-distance trains in terms of route length, amenities, and passenger demographics, to choose the ideal option for your journey.

1. Local Trains: Short Routes for Commuters

• Experience the simplicity of local trains, operating on shorter routes and offering basic facilities catering primarily to local passengers and short-distance travelers.

2. Long-Distance Trains: Extensive Routes for Comfort

• Embark on extended journeys with long-distance trains, equipped with a wider range of amenities including sleeper compartments and dining cars for a comfortable and convenient travel experience.

Comparing Seating and Sleeper Options

Explore the variety of seating and sleeper options available aboard Vietnam’s trains, from standard seats to spacious cabins, ensuring a comfortable and enjoyable journey for passengers of all preferences.

1. Seating Arrangements: Comfort and Affordability

• Find the perfect balance between comfort and affordability with a range of seating arrangements including standard seats and reclining chairs.

2. Sleeper Berths: Rest and Recharge

• Opt for sleeper berths for overnight journeys, featuring cozy bunks and spacious cabins with amenities such as bedding and personal storage space, ensuring a restful journey amidst Vietnam’s stunning vistas.

⭐⭐ Search and book train e-tickets in Vietnam easily online on Baolau ➜ or 12go.asia ➜ ⭐⭐

▶️ 4. Planning Your Vietnam Rail Journey:

Exploring Vietnam’s vast and diverse landscapes via rail beckons travelers to uncover hidden gems and cultural marvels. Before embarking on your adventure, carefully select destinations and routes that resonate with your interests and desires.

1. Discovering Captivating Destinations

• Vietnam presents a myriad of captivating destinations accessible by train, from the vibrant streets of Hanoi to the tranquil shores of Da Nang or the gateway to Sapa town in Lao Cai . Tailor your itinerary to match your preferences, whether you’re drawn to historical landmarks, nature’s wonders, or culinary delights.

2. Ticket Booking Options: Online vs. Stations

• When it comes to booking tickets for your Vietnamese rail journey, you have two primary options: online platforms ( Baolau ➜ or 12go.asia ➜ ) or railway stations. Online platforms offer convenience and flexibility, enabling you to browse schedules, compare prices, and reserve seats or berths from the comfort of your home. Alternatively, purchasing tickets directly from railway stations provides the opportunity for face-to-face interaction and personalized assistance from ticket agents, albeit requiring more time and effort.

3. Understanding Ticket Classes and Fares

• Navigating ticket classes and fare structures is crucial for a smooth journey. Vietnamese trains typically offer a range of classes, from economy to first-class cabins, each with its own amenities and price points. Fare structures vary based on factors such as distance, class, and seasonality. Familiarize yourself with fare rules, including refund policies and ticket validity periods, to avoid surprises during your travels.

4. Tips for Optimal Seat or Berth Selection

Enhance your rail experience by securing the best seats or berths with these helpful tips:

• Book in advance: Secure your preferred seats or berths by booking well ahead of popular travel dates.
• Choose off-peak times: Opt for off-peak hours or seasons for increased availability and potential fare savings.
• Consider upgrades: Upgrade to a higher class or sleeper berth for added comfort and amenities if your budget allows.
• Stay flexible: Maintain flexibility with travel dates and times to maximize seat or berth options.

▶️ 5. Onboard Experience: Comfort and Convenience

Embark on a journey of comfort and convenience as you step onto Vietnam’s trains. Whether it’s a short commute or an overnight adventure, expect a host of facilities and amenities tailored to enhance your travel experience.

1. Facilities and Amenities

Vietnam’s trains are equipped with everything you need for a comfortable journey, from spacious seating areas and clean restrooms to air conditioning and power outlets. For overnight trips, cozy sleeper compartments offer privacy, bedding, and storage space for a restful night’s sleep amidst Vietnam’s captivating landscapes.

2. Culinary Delights

Indulge in Vietnam’s mouthwatering cuisine onboard with dining cars and snack carts offering a variety of savory treats and hearty meals. From steaming bowls of pho to refreshing Vietnamese coffee, satisfy your cravings as you traverse the country’s scenic railways.

3. Social and Entertainment

Experience the social aspect of train travel by striking up conversations with fellow passengers, swapping travel stories, or simply admiring the passing landscapes. Look forward to onboard entertainment options like movies, music, and games, ensuring a lively journey whether you’re traveling solo or with companions.

4. Safety and Security

While train travel in Vietnam is generally safe, it’s essential to remain vigilant. Keep your belongings secure, familiarize yourself with emergency procedures, and follow instructions from train staff in case of an emergency. With these precautions in mind, enjoy peace of mind as you embark on your Vietnamese rail adventure.

▶️ 6. Essential Packing Tips for Train Journeys

Embarking on a journey through Vietnam’s picturesque landscapes via train requires thoughtful packing to ensure comfort and convenience.

Consider including the following essentials:

• 1. Lightweight Luggage or Backpack: Opt for luggage or backpacks that are easy to carry and maneuver, particularly when navigating crowded platforms and train compartments.
• 2. Comfortable Clothing: Dress in layers to accommodate fluctuating temperatures onboard and at various stops along your journey.
• 3. Snacks and Water: Pack snacks and beverages to stave off hunger and thirst during your travels, as onboard dining options may be limited.
• 4. Travel-sized Toiletries: Bring essential toiletries such as hand sanitizer, tissues, and wet wipes to freshen up during your journey.
• 5. Entertainment: Pack books, magazines, or electronic devices loaded with movies or music to keep yourself entertained during long stretches of travel.

Navigating Language Barriers:

While English is commonly spoken in tourist areas and on trains, communicating with locals and train staff may pose challenges, especially in remote regions. To overcome language barriers:

• 1. Learn Basic Vietnamese Phrases: Familiarize yourself with essential phrases such as greetings, directions, and common questions to facilitate communication with locals and train staff.
• 2. Use Translation Apps: Download translation apps on your smartphone to bridge the language gap and facilitate real-time communication.
• 3. Carry a Phrasebook: Bring along a pocket-sized phrasebook or language guide for quick reference when in need of assistance or clarification.

Dealing with Delays and Cancellations:

While Vietnam’s trains generally adhere to schedules, delays and cancellations can occur due to various factors. To handle such situations:

• 1. Stay Informed: Keep abreast of updates or announcements regarding delays or cancellations via station monitors, announcements, or official railway websites.
• 2. Be Flexible: Remain flexible with your travel plans and be prepared to adjust your itinerary if necessary.
• 3. Seek Assistance: Approach train staff or station personnel for assistance in rebooking or finding alternative transportation options if your train is delayed or canceled.

Interacting with Fellow Passengers and Train Staff:

Train travel in Vietnam offers opportunities for interaction and camaraderie. To make the most of these social experiences:

• 1. Strike up Conversations: Initiate conversations with fellow passengers to share insights, travel tips, or stories.
• 2. Respect Cultural Norms: Be mindful of cultural differences and customs when interacting with locals and train staff, showing respect and consideration.
• 3. Express Gratitude: Show appreciation to train staff for their assistance and hospitality throughout your journey, whether through a thank you or a small gesture of appreciation.

▶️ 7. Exploring Vietnam by Rail:

Vietnam’s expansive railway network serves as a gateway to the country’s diverse landscapes, rich culture, and captivating history. Whether you’re an admirer of nature, a history enthusiast, or simply in search of an authentic travel experience, Vietnam offers a train route tailored to every taste.

• 1. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City : Embark on a journey from the bustling capital of Hanoi to the vibrant metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City. Traverse picturesque countryside, encounter historic landmarks, and explore charming towns along this iconic route.
• 2. Da Nang to Hue (Hai Van Pass): Experience the allure of the legendary Hai Van Pass as you journey between Da Nang and Hue. Wind through lush mountains, marvel at breathtaking coastal vistas, and immerse yourself in the natural beauty of central Vietnam.
• 3. Hanoi to Lao Cai – Sapa : Set out on a scenic adventure from Hanoi to Sapa, where you’ll be treated to awe-inspiring views of terraced rice fields, verdant valleys, and mist-shrouded mountains in this enchanting region of northern Vietnam.

Scenic Views and Landmarks Along the Way

• As you traverse Vietnam’s stunning landscapes by rail, prepare to be enchanted by a tapestry of scenic views and iconic landmarks gracing the horizon at every turn. From the majestic peaks of the Truong Son Mountain Range to the tranquil waters in central – southern coast, each leg of your journey offers a unique glimpse into Vietnam’s natural splendor and cultural heritage.

Recommended Stops and Side Trips

No exploration of Vietnam is complete without delving into its charming towns, bustling markets, and historical sites en route. Consider adding these stops and side trips to your rail adventure:

• Hue : Immerse yourself in the grandeur of Hue, home to ancient citadels, ornate palaces, and historic pagodas, offering a glimpse into Vietnam’s royal legacy.
• Hoi An : Discover the allure of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its lantern-lit streets, ancient temples, and vibrant markets, offering a treasure trove of cultural heritage and culinary delights.
• Nha Trang : Unwind on the pristine beaches of Nha Trang, where sun-soaked shores, exhilarating water sports, and delectable seafood await, promising a blissful retreat along Vietnam’s coastline.

Cultural Insights Gained from Train Travel

• One of the most enriching aspects of exploring Vietnam by rail is the opportunity to immerse yourself in local culture and connect with communities along the way. From engaging in conversations with fellow travelers to sampling regional delicacies at onboard dining cars, train travel provides invaluable insights into the daily lives, traditions, and customs of the Vietnamese people. As you traverse Vietnam’s diverse landscapes and vibrant cities by rail, prepare to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the country’s rich cultural tapestry and enduring spirit.

▶️ 8. Future Prospects and Developments:

Vietnam’s railway heritage is embracing a new era of progress and innovation. With a rising demand for efficient and eco-friendly travel solutions, the Vietnamese government is spearheading ambitious modernization endeavors to revitalize the nation’s railway infrastructure.

Investments in electrification projects, track enhancements, and the adoption of high-speed rail technologies are poised to bolster safety, reliability, and efficiency across the railway network. These initiatives not only elevate the passenger experience but also foster economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Prospects for Expansion and Enhancement

Looking forward, Vietnam’s railway network is primed for expansion and refinement, with strategic plans to extend existing routes and introduce novel lines to serve previously overlooked areas. Potential expansions include:

• Expansion of high-speed rail networks: Envisaged extensions of high-speed rail links between key cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang promise reduced travel durations and heightened connectivity.
• Development of regional rail corridors: Innovative initiatives to establish regional rail corridors bridging urban hubs with rural locales aim to stimulate economic development and societal progress in remote regions.
• Integration with diverse transportation modes: Holistic efforts to augment multimodal transportation networks, amalgamating railways with other modes like buses, taxis, and bicycles, aim to provide seamless, end-to-end connectivity for passengers.

Projected Trends in Train Travel

• Surging passenger demand: With upgraded infrastructure and expanded route networks, train travel is expected to surge in popularity among both domestic and international travelers.
• Embrace of sustainable transit: Heightened environmental consciousness and a preference for sustainable travel options are anticipated to drive more individuals toward train travel, celebrated for its lower carbon footprint compared to other modes of transit.
• Enhanced passenger experience: Investments in contemporary amenities, onboard services, and digital advancements are forecasted to enrich the passenger journey, rendering train travel more comfortable, convenient, and enjoyable for passengers of all demographics.

▶️ 9. The biggest and frequented railway stations in Vietnam:

Hanoi railway station (ga hà nội):.

Nestled in the heart of Vietnam’s bustling capital, Hanoi Railway Station stands as a vital lifeline for travelers journeying across the country. As one of the busiest and most pivotal railway hubs, it serves as the inaugural point for countless North-South train expeditions. Offering an array of amenities and services, from ticket counters to waiting areas and dining options, this station ensures a seamless start to any adventure.

Saigon Railway Station (Ga Sài Gòn):

Amidst the vibrant energy of Ho Chi Minh City lies the Saigon Railway Station, a cornerstone of transportation in southern Vietnam . Positioned strategically and boasting an extensive network of rail connections, it acts as a gateway to the renowned Mekong Delta region and beyond. Here, travelers can avail themselves of a plethora of conveniences, including ticketing offices, luggage storage facilities, and dining establishments.

Da Nang Railway Station (Ga Đà Nẵng):

As a pivotal hub in central Vietnam, Da Nang Railway Station links major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with efficiency and modernity. Renowned for its contemporary facilities and strategic location, it caters to travelers with a variety of amenities, including ticketing services, comfortable waiting areas, and delectable food stalls.

Nha Trang Railway Station (Ga Nha Trang):

Nestled along the picturesque coastline of central Vietnam , Nha Trang Railway Station beckons travelers to explore the region’s idyllic beaches and vibrant nightlife. Serving as a convenient stopover for adventurers, it offers essential services such as ticket counters, luggage storage facilities, and easy access to transportation options.

Hue Railway Station (Ga Huế):

Set amidst the historic charm of Hue, this railway station serves as a gateway to the imperial city’s rich cultural tapestry and ancient landmarks. Travelers passing through can enjoy the convenience of essential amenities, including ticketing facilities, comfortable waiting rooms, and seamless access to local transportation.

Lao Cai Railway Station (Ga Lào Cai):

Located near the border with China in northern Vietnam, Lao Cai Railway Station stands as a crucial transit point for those venturing to the scenic town of Sapa and the surrounding mountains. While offering basic services and facilities, it serves as a convenient starting point for exploration, allowing travelers to immerse themselves in the region’s natural splendor and ethnic minority cultures.

❓ FAQ + Useful Tips – Train Travel in Vietnam:

1. how reliable is train travel in vietnam.

• Train travel in Vietnam is generally reliable, with the railway system continuously improving its services and infrastructure. While delays may occur occasionally due to factors such as maintenance work or unforeseen circumstances, overall, trains adhere to their schedules quite well, ensuring a smooth journey for passengers.

2. What types of trains are available for travel in Vietnam?

• Vietnam offers a variety of trains catering to different preferences and budgets. From standard seating options to sleeper cabins with varying levels of comfort and luxury, travelers can choose the type of train that best suits their needs and preferences.

3. How far in advance should I book train tickets in Vietnam?

• It is advisable to book train tickets in advance, especially during peak travel seasons or for popular routes. Booking tickets early ensures availability and allows you to secure preferred seats or berths for your journey.

4. Are there any scenic routes for train travel in Vietnam?

• Yes, Vietnam boasts several scenic train routes that offer breathtaking views of the country’s landscapes. Routes like the journey from Hanoi to Lao Cai , passing through the mountainous regions of Sapa, or the route along the coastline from Hue to Da Nang offer stunning vistas that make the journey memorable.

5. How is the food onboard Vietnamese trains?

• Most Vietnamese trains feature onboard dining options, offering a variety of local dishes and beverages for passengers to enjoy during their journey. While the selection may vary depending on the train class and route, passengers can typically expect to find a range of tasty and affordable meals.

6. Are overnight trains comfortable for sleeping?

• Overnight trains in Vietnam offer varying levels of comfort, depending on the class and type of sleeper berth chosen. Higher-class sleeper cabins generally provide more comfort and amenities, including bedding, privacy curtains, and storage space, ensuring a restful night’s sleep for passengers.

7. Can I bring luggage on Vietnamese trains?

• Yes, passengers are allowed to bring luggage onboard Vietnamese trains, although there may be restrictions on the size and weight of luggage depending on the class of travel. Most trains offer luggage storage areas within the compartments or designated spaces for larger bags.

8. Are there facilities for passengers with disabilities on Vietnamese trains?

• While efforts have been made to improve accessibility on Vietnamese trains, facilities for passengers with disabilities may vary depending on the train and route. Passengers with specific needs are advised to contact the railway authorities in advance to inquire about available accommodations.

9. How is the safety record of train travel in Vietnam?

• Train travel in Vietnam has a generally good safety record, with safety measures in place to ensure the well-being of passengers. Trains are equipped with safety features, and staff are trained to handle emergencies effectively, providing passengers with peace of mind during their journey.

10. Can I purchase train tickets online in Vietnam?

• Yes, several online platforms offer the convenience of booking train tickets in Vietnam from the comfort of your home. Websites like Baolau ➜ or 12go.asia ➜ allow travelers to browse schedules, compare prices, and reserve tickets for their desired routes online.

11. What amenities are available onboard Vietnamese trains?

• Vietnamese trains offer a range of amenities to enhance the travel experience for passengers. These may include comfortable seating, air conditioning, clean restrooms, power outlets for charging devices, and onboard dining options serving local cuisine.

12. How long does it take to travel by train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City?

• The journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City by train typically takes approximately 30 to 35 hours, depending on the route and type of train. While it may be a long journey, passengers have the opportunity to witness the diverse landscapes of Vietnam along the way.

13. Are there English-speaking staff onboard Vietnamese trains?

• While English-speaking staff may not be available on all Vietnamese trains, personnel at major stations and ticket counters usually have some proficiency in English. Additionally, basic signage and announcements in English are commonly provided onboard for the convenience of international travelers.

14. Can I bring pets onboard Vietnamese trains?

• Pet policies vary depending on the train operator and route. In general, small pets may be allowed onboard if they are kept in a carrier and do not disturb other passengers. However, it is recommended to check with the railway authorities in advance to confirm the specific pet policy for your journey.

15. How can I get assistance if I encounter any issues?

• If you encounter any issues or require assistance during your train journey in Vietnam, you can approach train staff or station personnel for help. They are trained to assist passengers with various needs, including ticketing inquiries, luggage assistance, and emergency situations, ensuring a safe and comfortable journey for all travelers.

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Train Travel Vietnam: Complete Guide and Routes in 2024

If your travel experiences have been confined to buses and airplanes, you're missing out on one of the most enchanting ways to explore the world: the train. Not only increasingly budget-friendly, but a scenic train journey can even feel like a vacation in itself. If you're planning a trip to Vietnam, this guide will provide you with everything you need to know about train travel in Vietnam and will help answer all your questions.

1. Focus on Vietnamese railways

2. why choose a vietnam train trip, 3. the most beautiful train journeys in vietnam, 4. how to choose your seat on a train in vietnam, 5. how to book your train ticket.

A true colonial heritage, the Vietnamese railway system was introduced to Vietnam at the time of French domination. Construction of the North-South railway began in 1899 and took more than 30 years to complete. On October 2, 1936, the entire 1726 km Hanoi – Saigon line was officially put into service. It was and remains today  the only railway line connecting Hanoi and Saigon . Unfortunately, during the war years in the 20th century, fighting against occupying foreign forces with relentless bombing by the Americans almost marked the end of the railway.

Rebuilding the crumbling network quickly became a priority after the country's reunification in 1975. The heavily damaged and war-torn North-South line was restored and  returned to service in 1976 . It was then renamed  “Reunification Express”  as a symbol of Vietnamese unity.

Vietnam train map 

The “Reunification Express” line is operated by Vietnam Railways (VNR), a Vietnamese state company. With a length of 2600 km, the Vietnam train serves almost all cities and provinces in Vietnam, including many cultural and tourist destinations from north to south. Find the train map in Vietnam here: 

Before traveling by train in Vietnam, it is important to note that Vietnamese rail is not as modern and developed as that in your country. With  a speed of 50 to 60km/h , it will take you more than 30 hours to travel from Hanoi to Saigon.

Some lines are even nicknamed  “Vietnam TGV” , the humorous tone of which can be understood in the sense of “Great Vibration Train”. This results from metric railways, namely narrow tracks with a gauge of 1m kept since the colonial period, which are now becoming out of date. But then, is the Vietnam train really worth trying? What are the assets that make up its picturesque reputation today?

In the modern world, speed is often more valued, but this is not always the case in travel. Sometimes the best way to get the most out of a travel experience is to...slow down a little. Sit back, relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery through the wagon window. Thus, the trip becomes  a moment of relaxation  rather than a stressful journey between home and the destination.

All the splendor of the trip lies in its incredible landscapes. Many railway lines cross mountains, forests, valleys which offer  incredibly breathtaking and charming panoramas . The train even travels on paths where other means of transport cannot go. You will therefore have an up-close and personal view of the hidden parts of Vietnam which are exclusively accessible to you. In addition, its fairly slow speed allows you to enjoy the spectacular view outside while taking photos or videos to remember the unforgettable moments you spent during your Vietnam train trip.

Therefore, this is the reason why the train is still a popular and highly demanded option for many travelers, although the interprovincial bus system and especially domestic flights have been significantly improved in recent years. On the other hand,  the affordable price  is another reason to choose the railway for traveling. Compared to the price of flights, train tickets are much cheaper, costing around half or a third less than the price of a plane ticket, depending on the route.

And finally,  great security  is also an advantage of this means of transport. The railway system in Vietnam has recently been significantly rebuilt and developed to accommodate new innovations in the railway industry worldwide. Thus, security conditions are much better than before. Additionally, the train in Vietnam is not a fast means of transportation and there is only one train running on a railway, so the accident rate for the train is tiny.

3.1 Hanoi Sapa night train

Sapa is a hill station in Lao Cai province established by the French in 1922. The line from Hanoi to Lao Cai was built by the French and opened in 1910 as part of the Vietnam-Kunming meter gauge railway. The stunning scenery and colorful local tribes of  misty Sapa  make it a popular stop on many visitors' itineraries. If you want to save a night on accommodation, one of the best ways to get there is to take the  Hanoi Sapa night train . There are  2 sleeper trains  between Hanoi and Sapa each day.

SP1 and SP2: This train offers private sleeping cars for tourists, served by companies such as Fansipan, Livitrans, Orient Express and The Pumpkin Express. 

SP3 and SP4: Much of this train consists of private sleeping cars, including Sapaly, Chapa, Laman and Victoria Express. The latter is one of the most luxurious trains on the Hanoi – Sapa route, accommodating 40 passengers with luxury cabins, bar and restaurant.

3.2 Train Hanoi Hue

The Imperial City of Hue  is an attractive destination in Vietnam to discover its historical and cultural heritage, pristine beaches, beautiful landscapes and unique cuisine. The Hanoi Hue train can take around  14 hours  and costs from  $36 to $80 . Every day, there are  5 trains  serving this line including Vietnam Railways night or day trains and luxury tourist train companies such as Livitrans (SE3 and SE4), Laman (SE19), Lotus (SE19 and SE20) and Violette (SE1 and SE3). The latter companies generally offer the   Hanoi Hue night train  with high-end services. 

3.3 Train Saigon Nha Trang  

Being known as one of the best seaside resorts in Vietnam,  the coastal city of Nha Trang  is undoubtedly a must-see stop when passing through the central region. It is accessible from Saigon by a train journey of  8 to 9 hours . There are  6 trains per day  on this line, which are operated by Vietnam Railways and Livitrans (SNT1 and SNT2). The ticket price varies between  $30 to $40 .

3.4 Trains like no other  

Rack railway in dalat.

It is known that  the romantic city of Dalat  is home to the most beautiful train station in Vietnam with Art Deco style in its architectural structure and its striking resemblance to Deauville train station. But few people know that it once had  one of the rarest cog railways in the world . This is a railway track system with a third central toothed rail between the running rails. This rail engages with a toothed wheel under the locomotive, providing traction for the very steep slopes between Dalat and Thap Cham (of Ninh Thuan province) while preventing the train from sliding too quickly when descending.

This railway line, with  a length of 84 km , was one of the rarest railways in the world because at the time there were only two tracks of this type, one in Dalat and the other in Switzerland. : the Jungfraujoch route. The steam locomotives used were manufactured in Switzerland and were among the most modern in the world.

However, the rack railway became obsolete after the Reunification of the country in 1975 because the track was almost destroyed during the war. The line was then gradually dismantled and its infrastructure was used to repair the heavily damaged north-south Reunification line. At the same time, the old steam locomotives, meanwhile, began their return to their homeland in 1990 and were then restored to their former glory on the Furka rack railway in the Alps. Today, a small section of the rack railway and a steam locomotive are still on display in Dalat Station. From there,  a 7km line connecting Dalat – Trai Mat , but with the regular track, is put into service for tourists. 

Luxury train “Indochina” Danang – Quy Nhon

Welcoming passengers from  July  1  ,  2020 , the new The Vietage train line connecting  Danang Station and Dieu Tri Station (Quy Nhon)  is remarkable because of its interior decoration whose design is not without recall the context of old Indochinese films. The cabin is decorated with wooden floors, combined with traditional yellow rattan seats.

The Vietage train departs from Danang Station every morning for  a 6-hour journey  to Quy Nhon and returns to Danang every evening. Designed for maximum passenger comfort and privacy, in addition to 12 seats, Vietage also offers a range of services such as restaurants, bars and relaxing massages.

There are four main categories of Vietnam train tickets:

• Hard seat : Mainly used for day trips, this is the cheapest and least comfortable ticket type.
• Soft seat : mainly used for day trips, these seats are more comfortable and more expensive than hard seats
• Hard berth : used for the Vietnam night train, it has three levels of beds (six per compartment). Prices vary depending on the level of the berth (the ones closest to the top are the cheapest). These compartments do not have a door.
• Soft sleeper : used for the Vietnam night train, it has two levels of beds (four per compartment). All bunk beds are charged the same rate.

Some  private companies  such as Victoria Express, Orient Express, Livitrans, Violette, Laman and several others rent compartments from Vietnam Railways then better equip them, provide services and resell tickets to tourists. These companies offer private sleeping cars with superior quality berths intended for tourists. They also provide private compartments of 2 soft berths. The  Vietnam sleeper train  has air conditioning, clean beds, free mineral water and (in some cases) snacks and clean Western-style toilets.

If you are looking for an unforgettable adventure in the north of Vietnam, you should check out our Top 8 Best North Vietnam Tours ! And if love trekking, check out  Top 10 Best Vietnam Trekking & Hiking Tours !!

If you want to buy a  train ticket online , go to the official website of Vietnam Railways:  dsvn.vn  In the search results, select a train, select a carriage with the desired class and click to buy. You may need to fill out a Vietnamese cell phone number with a country code. And it definitely won't accept your non-Vietnamese credit card.

If this seems too complex for you, it is easy to buy  Vietnam train tickets directly  at the station when you arrive in Vietnam. However, trains are always busy, especially during rush hours, holidays like Tet, and holidays. It is therefore recommended to book your ticket a few days in advance.

Alternatively, you can travel with  a local travel agency in Vietnam  who will take care of your reservations and transfers to and from the station.

There you have it, you have a general overview of Vietnam rail transport, we hope that this practical information will help you in organizing your future Vietnam train trip, which will prove to be unusual and unforgettable.

Sources: dsvn.vn , momo.vn

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This 2-week tour offers an overview of the three regions of the country in the shape of an 'S.' To the north, you will visit Hanoi, the thousand-year-old capital, and the maritime and land of Halong Bay. You will also make an excursion to the splendid mountains of Sapa. In the center, you will explore the ancient imperial city of Hue and the old town of Hoi An before concluding your trip in the south by visiting Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. Here are our program suggestions for a 14-day tour in Vietnam.

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Vietnam Sleeper Train Guide: All You Need To Know to Ride a Vietnam Sleeper Train

Taking a sleeper train in Vietnam is a popular method of transportation for locals and tourists. This guide will tell you all you need to know to decide if a Vietnam Sleeper Train is for you.

Vietnam is a large and diverse country and one of the easiest ways to travel through Vietnam is to take sleeper trains.

The Vietnam train system was first established in the 1880s by the French colonist. It was then further developed by the current day Vietnamese government.

Due to its extensive routes, convenient timing and cheap prices, Vietnam sleeper trains are extremely popular among locals and tourists and often the choice of transportation since they are safe and fast.

I personally took sleeper trains in Vietnam and have an interesting experience to share.

In this guide I will tell you all you need to know about Vietnam sleeper trains and help you decide if you should take a sleeper train in Vietnam during your travels.

This blog contains occasional affiliate links, where I receive a small commission on sales of the products/hotels that are linked at no additional cost to you. In addition, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases .

Where Can You Go With a Vietnam Sleeper Train?

The Vietnam rail system is over 1600 miles (2600 km) long, covering the country from North to South. The route is extensive and is perfect for long distance travel within the country.

The Vietnam Rail System covers all major cities in Vietnam, and it even connects to the Chinese rail system in southern China.

The main cross country route is operated by the state owned Vietnam Railways with the Reunification train going through the main route. There are several private luxury train companies that cater to tourists.

You can see the Vietnam rail system map below and some of the major cities that are covered by the Vietnam train system include:

• Lao Cai (near Sapa)
• Ho Chi Minh City

If the train doesn’t go exactly where you need it to go, you can easily take a bus or taxi from the train station to the smaller towns (for example, there is no train station in Hoi An, so you would take the train to Da Nang then take a bus or taxi to Hoi An).

You can pretty much get everywhere that you would want to visit in Vietnam with the rail system and sleeper trains. This extensive railroad network makes it extremely appealing to take trains around Vietnam.

How do You Buy Vietnam Sleeper Train tickets?

It is easy to book Vietnam Sleeper Train tickets and there are several ways of doing it!

Booking Vietnam Sleeper Train tickets online

I am a huge fan of booking things online and one of the best and most reliable website to book Vietnam sleeper train tickets is 12go .

I really like the fact this website shows you all the options and time and it comes with review scores. This was very useful when we were trying to decide which train to take from Hanoi to Sapa. It also allowed me to see all the different train options and prices.

Booking Vietnam Sleeper Train Directly with Train Company

If you know exactly which train you want to take (since there are third party luxury trains), you can contact these train companies directly via their website. Generally you will end up speaking with a representative on Whatsapp and they will send you a link to pay.

This is a great option for someone who know exactly what train they need to take and you get a more personalized experience and customer service. We booked directly with Lotus Train for our trip from Hanoi to Lao Cai (Sapa).

Read Next : A complete Sapa Itinerary to see the best things in Sapa

Buy Tickets from Train Station

You can certain buy train tickets in Vietnam from a train station (if you happen to be in that city). However you should get Google Translate ready just in case the ticket staff doesn’t speak English or speak well enough to explain to you all the different options.

Asking Your Hotel to Book

You can ask your hotel reception desk to help you book a sleeper train in Vietnam.

However depending on the hotel, you may or may not be provided with all the options (in terms of which train company, berth class, etc).

You could also run into the risk of popular train routes being sold out if you book last minutes. We did not ask our hotels to help us with train booking, but it is something you can certain try.

What is the Best Sleeper Train in Vietnam?

It can be confusing to figure out Vietnam sleeper trains when you first start looking at it.

Since 12Go gives you different options of train choices when you are looking at particular routes, you may be under the impression that there are all these different trains running on the same route at the same time.

In reality, for the most part, there really is just one train running on a particular route (the official stated-owned Vietnam Reunification Train). What happens is that the different private train companies would own a few luxury cabins that are attached to the Vietnam Railways Train.

From the outside it is all one long train, but the inside can be quite different.

Different train companies decorate their cabins differently and provide different amenities.

The “regular” Vietnam sleeper trains that the general public take tends to be the state owned Reunification Express Train. The cabins are generally older and with fewer “luxury” options in terms of accommodation.

If you want the authentic local experience or if you are on a budget, it is perfectly fine to take the Vietnam Reunification Express sleeper train.

However if you are willing to spend a little more for a better and more comfortable experience, or if you simply just want more privacy, then there are a few luxury sleeper trains in Vietnam that are catered specifically to foreign tourists.

Note that not all of these luxury trains cabins are available on every single route, you will most likely to find these on longer and more popular touristy routes like from Hanoi to Lao Cai (Sapa).

I did extensive research when deciding what sleeper train to take in Vietnam because I did read some horror stories. I used 12Go , Google Review and Tripadvisor and looked at reviews of a particular train.

Some of the most popular luxury tourist train companies include Chapa Express , Lotus Train , Laman Express , Livitrans Express , Fansipan Express , Orient Express , Sapaly Express and King Express .

When reading the reviews from the websites mentioned above, the majority of the train companies have a score of 3 (out of 5) on Tripadvisor and 3.5 (out of 5) on 12Go and reviews are generally mixed. Some reviews will say the train was fine whereas others say the train was loud and there were cockroaches.

However the two companies that actually stood out to me were Chapa Express and Lotus Train . They both had consistently better review scores and I personally took Lotus Train which was pretty good.

If you do need to take the Reunification Express Train, you should try to take SE1 – SE8 as they have air-conditioned sleeper cabins and soft seats.

Vietnam Sleeper Train Cabin Types

There are different classes of seats, beds and cabin types on Vietnam trains. Each class come with different prices and obviously the higher the class and more expensive, the more comfortable your journey would be.

Hard Seats on Vietnam Trains

Hard Seats are the cheapest and lowest class of seats on Vietnam trains. As the name implies, the seats are hard and you are expected to share the wooden or plastic seat with other people.

If you have a very low budget and are only taking the train for a short period of time, perhaps you can try the hard seats on a Vietnam train. But expect crowd and people sitting very close to you and there may not be AC.

Soft Seats on Vietnam Trains

An upgrade from hard seats are the soft seats on a Vietnam train.

This class of seats are more expensive than the hard seats and they are good for day time journey.

You will find electric outlets in the soft seat carriage and there should be AC or fans depending on the particular train.

If you are not taking an overnight train and the journey is less than 5 hours, soft seats would be a good option for you. It is similar to any other soft seats on trains that you would take in Europe or Asia.

Hard Sleeper on Vietnam Trains

Hard sleepers are air conditioned 6 bed (6 berth) cabins on Vietnam sleeper train.

In each of the private cabins, you will have 2 rows of 3 bunk “beds” with a hard “mattress”.

If you are tall, you might not want to book the hard sleeper as you can imagine they need to fit 3 levels of “beds” per row, that does not leave a lot of room for a tall person to sit up.

Soft Sleeper On Vietnam Trains

Soft Sleeper class is the highest class of tickets on Vietnam Trains.

In general these are 4 berth (beds) cabins with 2 beds per bunk. The mattresses are softer and are comfortable enough where you won’t feel too much discomfort.

If you want to be really fancy, you can even book the 2 berth VIP cabins (we did on our Lotus train ) where you can have more space and privacy. With the 2 berth VIP Cabins you also have more space to put your luggage since instead of a bed above you, now you can have a luggage rack instead.

If you are planning to travel long distances and overnight, I would definitely recommend soft sleeper trains in Vietnam. For day time travel I think soft seats are good but you can of course still book a soft sleeper train so you can lie down and chill.

Upper Bunk vs. Lower Bunk on Vietnam Sleeper Trains

If you are in a 4 berth or 6 berth cabin on a Vietnam sleeper train, another choice you’d have to make is what bunk you want to take.

In general the lower bunk is slightly cheaper (like USD 3 difference) than the upper bunk.

The pro of having a lower bunk is the ease of getting on and off bed, and you don’t have to climb down in the middle of the night on a shaky train.

However if you have a lower bunk, there is less privacy and people will most likely sit on your bunk when it’s not sleeping time yet.

Read Next : How to spend 10 days in Vietnam

How Much Do Vietnam Sleeper Trains Cost?

How much a Vietnam sleeper train cost ultimately is dependent on 1) Distance 2) Class 3) train type.

For the purpose of illustration, I will use an example of one way train ride between Hanoi and Da Nang for one person.

This train is a 16 hour train ride between Hanoi and Da Nang.

• Soft Seat (Vietnam Railways train): USD 27 per adult
• 6 berth in cabin (Vietnam Railways train): USD 46 per adult
• 4 berth in cabin (Vietnam Railways train): USD 55 per adult
• 4 berth VIP on luxury train : USD 70-75 per adult

Another example is the train between Hanoi and Lao Cai (Sapa) . Keep in mind the train ride between Hanoi and Lao Cai is about 7.5 hours.

• Soft Seat (Vietnam Railways train): N/A
• 6 berth in cabin (Vietnam Railways train): N/A
• 4 berth in cabin (Vietnam Railways train): USD 15-20 per adult
• 2 berth in cabin (Vietnam Railways Train): USD 26 per adult
• 4 berth VIP on luxury train : USD 30-35 per adult

The above two sample routes should give you a pretty good idea of the cost of a long distance Vietnam sleeper train per adult. It is not hard to see why sleeper trains are so popular in Vietnam among locals and tourists. You get to save on one night hotel and save time!

For detailed pricing on your route, you will need to look at 12go to see what route and class options you’d like.

Vietnam Sleeper Train Facilities, Drinks and Food on Board

In general you can expect decent facilities onboard a Vietnam Sleeper Train, especially a luxury train car.

Your sleeper train cabin should come with beds, bedding, blankets, pillow, lights/ light switches, AC, window (cannot be opened), electric socket and wifi.

There are one to two bathrooms in each train cart (shared bathroom with 4-6 cabins). There is no shower in the bathrooms but there are soap and toilet paper. But I did read that some more local routes do not have toilet paper potentially so it is always better to bring your own just in case.

The bathrooms also tend to get dirty after a few hours as more people start using it, so try to use the bathroom as early as possible.

The luxury train cabins always provide you with snack and free bottles of water. The snack we got included fruits, potato chips and cookies. We also were given canned coffee and water which was a nice touch.

Food and hot drinks are also sold by staff once you board the train. But if you want banh mi or some really good food, it is best to bring your own.

What Luggage Size Can Fit on a Vietnam Sleeper Train?

I will start this by saying the private cabins are not very large, especially if you are in a 4 or 6 berth cabin.

You can put your luggage under the lower bunk or on the luggage rack above the beds.

However, there is only limited amount of space, so if you are having a check-in size luggage, you should probably reconsider if it would fit under the lower bunk, especially if you are in a 6 person room.

Your best bet is to pack light, with a duffle bag, hiking backpack or a small carry-on size luggage.

If you have a check in size luggage you probably won’t even be able to open it on the floor of the cabin to take out things.

Is Vietnam Sleeper Train Clean?

You will get mixed answers when you read reviews about cleanliness of Vietnam Sleeper Train.

In general train cabins are cleaned at destination stops (like in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City). All the bedding and covers will be newly changed. But if you get on the train in the middle of a route like from a smaller city, then the bedding and covers won’t be fresh.

The train I took was relatively clean, although I did find some stains on the bed sheet/ duvet although I couldn’t tell if they are just old stains that cannot be washed off.

Some reviews of Vietnam Sleeper Trains mention they saw cockroaches but we did not see any of that!

Is Vietnam Sleeper Train Safe?

Vietnam Sleeper Trains are pretty safe, even for solo female travelers.

If you are in a shared sleeper cabin with strangers, the only potential risk is petty theft. To avoid getting things stollen, it is best to have a lock on your luggage and sleep with your valuables (next to the pillow or in the blanket).

Train travel in Vietnam in general is pretty safe, you don’t have to worry about accidents as much as with a bus.

Your biggest concern would actually be if you can fall asleep or not (see next section!)

Can You Actually Sleep on a Vietnam Sleeper Train? How Comfortable are Vietnam Sleeper Trains?

The short answer is you can sleep on a Vietnam Sleeper Train if you are a heavy sleeper. If you are a light sleeper, probably not.

The train is very loud with crazy swinging movement, so if you are bothered by noise and movement, you will have a hard time falling and staying asleep.

This is not including potentially having terrible cabin-mate who either refuses to turn off the light or start talking/ making lots of noises as I read on other blogs.

In terms of comfort, the soft sleeper berth is actually pretty comfortable. It is not super soft but it’s not hard either, so you most likely won’t wake up with a lower back ache.

But if you are very tall, then you might have issue stretching your legs fully. I am 5’6 (165cm) and I was just able to stretch my legs (and touch the end of the bed which is a wall). If you are 180cm or 6 feet tall, you would definitely have some issues.

In short if you can sleep through fire alarms and earth quakes, then I think you will be fine sleeping on a Vietnam Sleeper train. Or you can always take some alcohol or sleeping pills before getting onboard.

What Should I Bring on a Vietnam Sleeper Train?

Vietnam Sleeper Trains can be a decent experience if you bring the right things with you.

Small Luggage : As mentioned above, bring a small carry-on size luggage or backpack instead of large suitcase.

Ear Plugs : I am a pretty heavy sleeper but I definitely benefited from having ear plugs since the train was so loud.

Converter/ Phone Charger : Each berth has its own electric socket, so I could easily charge my phone but needed a converter and phone plug.

Disposable Bed Cover/ Pillow Case : I read reviews before my trip that beddings may or may not be changed on a Vietnam Sleeper Train, so to prepare for the worst, I bought these disposable one time use duet cover and pillow case . I’m glad I did! They worked great and made me feel clean (and warm).

Long sleeve/ PJ pants : The AC on these Vietnam Sleeper Trains can be quite strong, so if you want to make sure you are warm, consider bringing long sleeve PJ shirt and pants.

Body Wipes & Dry Shampoo : There is no shower on Vietnam Sleeper Trains, if you need to clean yourself, consider getting some body wipes and dry shampoo. I used these when I did Inca Trail (3 nights) in Peru, and they worked great!

Eye Mask : If you are planning to share a cabin with random strangers, it is probably a good idea to bring an eye mask in case one of your cabin mates decides to keep the lights on all night.

Toilet Paper : Always bring toilet paper with you on Vietnam trains since toilet paper do get used up half way through the trip.

Other Things to Know About Vietnam Sleeper Train (and Train Station)

• You may not need a physical ticket: depends on the train company, you can just show your booking confirmation or electronic tickets in order to board\
• You should get to the train station 45 minutes before departure time
• There are usually staff that can help you find the right track/ train cabin
• Train stations also show routes and track number so it’s pretty easy to find where you need to go
• You should try to arrange pick up transportation at the arrival station ahead of time to avoid taxi scams
• Bring cash with you if you are planning to buy drinks and snack on the train (aside from the free ones you get with the luxury trains)
• I recommend booking sleeper train tickets ahead of time (at least 1-2 weeks in advance). Some popular routes do get sold out on luxury trains so book early to avoid disappointments

Our Personal Experience Taking a Vietnam Sleeper Train

During our most recent Central and Northern Vietnam trip, we took a Vietnam Sleeper Train from Hanoi to Lao Cai (Sapa).

Why We Took a Vietnam Sleeper Train

The reason we decided to take a sleeper train is because the train leaves Hanoi at 10pm and arrives in Sapa around 6am, which save us on travel time. It is also more economical as we don’t need to pay for one night hotel.

We also heard horror stories of night sleeper buses in Vietnam, so we decided sleeper trains were probably safer, although we did take a sleeper bus back from Sapa to Hanoi during the day, which was fine!

Booking our Vietnam Sleeper Train Ticket

We booked our Vietnam Sleeper Train ticket directly with the train company (Lotus Train) and got personalized customer service support via WhatsApp.

On the day of travel, their customer support person sent us train tickets via WhatsApp and told us we did not need to print anything out. We were also given direction to arrive at the Hanoi train station 45 minutes before departure and where to go once we arrive at the Hanoi Station.

Arriving at Hanoi Train Station & Boarding the train

We arrived at the Hanoi Train Station 1 hour before departure time (although it wasn’t necessary). Following the direction given by the train company, it was pretty easy to find the departure hall.

The station displayed all the departure trains and track, and there were actually people from another train company helping to answer questions.

There is no elevator at Hanoi Train Station so we had to carry our luggage up and down the stairs to the actual platform.

On the platform there were more train staff that checked our electronic ticket (from Whatsapp) and led us to our train cabin. They did not actually scan our train ticket QR code.

The lady that helped us also helped put our luggage under the bed and afterwards nobody came to check our tickets again.

Our train had overhead space, luggage space under the bed and there were free bottles of water, cans of coffee, orange, Lay’s Chips and cookies on the small table next to our beds.

We were supposed to have wifi but I did not actually find free wifi but 4G cellular data worked well on the train.

The Sleeper Train Experience

Each cabin has a door that can be locked. Since we had a 2 person VIP cabin, it was just me and my friend so we decided to lock the door and change into our “PJs” (tights for trekking in Sapa the next day).

We checked out the cabin and bed to make sure there were no bugs and took out our disposable bed sheet and pillow cover.

We quickly used the bathroom at the end of the train car, waited for the train to depart (which was on time at 10pm) and decided to go to bed.

The train was very shaky and we felt like we were swinging as we tried to sleep. The train was also super loud but I had ear plugs so it actually wasn’t too bad.

Perhaps because we were quite tired from our whole day of traveling, we both fell asleep pretty easily. The train does randomly accelerate and stopped at a few stations along the way. We also passed by residential streets as we departed from the station so maybe we were one of those trains that go on the famous “train street”.

I did wake up several times from the crazy movement , and as my friend put it “it was like sleeping on a galloping horse”. When I did wake up I found my phone and glasses all fell on the floor due to the movement of the train.

Since our train was supposed to arrive at 6am, the train staff came by around 5:30am to see if we wanted to buy any drinks or snack.

Then starting around 5:40am, the train speaker started playing loud cheery music to wake everyone up and get people ready to get off the train.

Overall our train car had 5-6 cabins, most were 4 berths rooms except one or 2 rooms that had 2 people. Our train car only had foreigners, there was no Vietnamese locals in this train car.

Overall the Sleeper Train we took from Hanoi to Lao Cai (Sapa) was fine, it served its purpose, got us there safely and I was able to sleep a few hours.

Should I Book a Sleeper Train in Vietnam?

Vietnam Sleeper Train is not for everyone. You would like the Vietnam Sleeper Train if you can check off some of the boxes below:

• You can sleep through noise, crazy movements and lights
• You are on a tight budget and want to save money on accommodation and transportation
• You are on a tight schedule and want to save time getting to places
• You want to have an unique experience of sleeping on a Vietnam sleeper train
• You don’t mind sharing a small space with strangers or you are traveling with 2-3 other people or kids and can book the entire cabin (if you have 2 people, you can just book up the entire cabin and pay for 4 people)

If you need a lot of comfort, a hot shower or if you are a light sleeper, you probably should not book a sleeper train in Vietnam.

I am glad I experienced a sleeper train in Vietnam and it saved us a lot of time during our trip and I would probably take one again in the future.

Best Vietnam Booking Resources

If you found this article useful, please consider using the links below to book your hotels and tours. We earn a small fee from referring you at no cost to you . With your support we can continue to provide useful information for travelers like you to plan that perfect trip to Vietnam.

Best hotel booking sites for Vietnam : this or this Best tours booking sites for Vietnam : this or this Best travel insurance <- covers more than 1 country for the duration of your time abroad. Best train and bus booking site

Other Vietnam Travel Resources

Are you planning a trip to Vietnam? Not sure where to start? Then check out my other Vietnam travel content to get an inspiration:

• 10 Day Essential Vietnam Itinerary
• 1 Day Hoi An Itinerary and Travel Guide
• How to get a Vietnam E-Visa
• Best things to do in Sapa in 2 days
• 2 Days in Hue – A complete Hue travel guide and itinerary
• Visiting Golden Hand Bridge in Ba Na Hills
• Is Halong Bay Cruise Worth it? A Complete Halong Bay Cruise Guide
• What to do and see in Cat Cat Village in Sapa
• 3 Weeks Thailand and Vietnam itinerary
• 2 Week Southeast Asia Itinerary (With 4 Alternative Itineraries and Routes)

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• The ultimate luxury train experience in Central Vietnam

When it comes to bucket-list travel experiences, taking a trip on a luxury train is right up there. There’s just something about travelling by train that’s filled with nostalgia and romance; evocative of simpler, slower days gone by. The sound of the train on the tracks, the rhythmic pace, and the ability to gaze out at the countryside, lost in thought, contributes to a vintage experience few wouldn’t want to savour. Add gourmet dining, VIP treatment and facilities, and you’re sure to arrive at your destination feeling refreshed, pampered and inspired.

Source: thevietagetrain

Want to experience a first-class train ride through stunning Central Vietnam landscapes, without having to overnight? Be transported back in time on The Vietage, a luxury train ride that goes between two of Vietnam’s best beach destinations, Danang and Quy Nhon.

The Vietage 

Starting in Danang in the morning and returning in the evening, the 318-kilometre (six-hour) journey takes you along part of the country’s historic “reunification line”, passing through Tra Kieu, Tam Ky, and Quang Ngai stations. On the way, you’ll get to admire the beauty of Central Vietnam, with its vivid green rice paddies, verdant mountains and sparkling coastline.

When CNN named this train ride among Asia's six most amazing rail journeys, they said: "The scenery is as peaceful as it is lush: water buffaloes graze in wide-open fields, humble villages flit by and impossibly green fields beg to be photographed."

The Vietage was started by the Anatara hotel group in 2020, originally as a service for their hotel guests to move between two of their properties − Anantara Hoi An Resort and Anantara Quy Nhon Villas, remote beachfront villas with their own plunge pools. The Vietage is actually a rail carriage on a regular train, which has been refurbished into luxury cabins and operates every day of the week. And it’s open for anyone to enjoy, not only Anatara guests. Exclusivity is assured, as numbers are capped at 12 passengers between six double cabins, window seats guaranteed.

The VIP treatment 

You’ll be greeted on the platform with a welcome drink, and treated like royalty for the entire trip. For your fare, you also get free-flowing drinks (including wine and beer, bubbly, soft drinks, mocktails, cocktails, tea or coffee), head-and-neck massages with a window view, and a three-course gourmet meal inspired by French and Vietnamese cuisine. Luxury treats, such as champagne, caviar, foie gras and lavish cheese platters, are on hand if you pre-order. In addition, many ingredients are locally sourced specialities. Think pepper from Phu Quoc Island, onions from Ly Son island, and so on.

And all of this plays out in beautiful spacious, surroundings. The wooden Art Deco interiors nod to the colonial era, with a caramel colour palette and rattan screens adding calm cohesion to the look. The seats in the private cabins can be converted into beds, for anyone wanting a nap. There’s a swanky horseshoe-shaped bar with a wine cellar and marble countertops, where the top-quality refreshments are served in style. Travelling with kids? There’s a kids’ menu as well as activities to keep them entertained en route.

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Sjourney – The First Luxury Train Travel in Vietnam

Indulge in spectacular journey, sjourney – journey beyond your imagination.

Sjourney introduces the sole and first-ever luxury train journey across Vietnam, opening an adventure to indulge in the beauty of cultural coalescence, contemporary art, people, and natural landscapes. The train travels along the S-shaped strip of land, departing from Hanoi Capital, stopping at numerous majestic destinations and arriving lastly in Ho Chi Minh City. Each destination is meticulously planned with exclusive experiences. “Anticipating before the question” is our motto, which aims to genuinely make your trip convenient and relaxing. We look forward to welcoming you on board!

Experiences

Heritage & Culture

Sjourney is a distinctive artistic journey with a unique, elegant blend of cultural hues. Passengers can admire Vietnam from a unique perspective. We anticipate every moment of the trip to be an exceptional and everlasting memory.

The Sjourney train bears the mark of Indochine style – symbolizing the harmonious blend of classical Asian culture and the modern, romantic allure of French culture. Wherever you may come from, you can expect a sense of familiarity within the Vietnamese identity, which is the gift of cultural influences throughout the length of history. The journey allows you to enjoy it from your own unique perspective.

Vietnamese cuisine is known for its variety of fresh foods and abundance of regional spices. Therefore, Sjourney is not only a trip of cultural discovery but also a unique culinary experience.

With fresh local ingredients everyday, our talented chefs will deliver a sophisticated culinary experience with a diverse menu ranging from Western to Asian dishes. The menu is changed daily depending on the destination. We are always ready to accommodate personal preferences, dietary habits, and individual requests.

Onboarding the Sjourney trip, travelers not only have a well-deserved rest but also experience exclusive performances . Visitors immerse themselves in Vietnamese art imbued with national identity.

Explore Vietnam like never before with Sjourney, the leading luxury train experience in the country. Be the first to indulge in a journey that seamlessly weaves together Vietnamese culture, contemporary art, diverse communities, and stunning landscapes…

1. Explore Vietnam like never before with Sjourney, the leading luxury train experience in the country. Be the first to indulge in a journey that seamlessly weaves together Vietnamese culture, contemporary art, diverse communities, and stunning landscapes.

2. Vietnam Railways was honored by Lonely Planet Travel Guide and Tripadvisor as one of the 10 most beautiful railways in the world.

3. Uncover Vietnam’s wonders: 7 days of immersive experiences, diverse landscapes, and World Heritage treasures.

4. Sjourney curates immersive experiences that blend the vibrant tapestry of global culture with the unique soul of Vietnam. From captivating performances and contemporary art to delectable cuisine, each journey is meticulously crafted to reflect the essence of a place, tailored to your personal desires.

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Traveling by Train in Vietnam: Our Guide

An interesting option to cross Vietnam (or just to cover a part) is to take the train: which is certainly the oldest and most famous means of transport in Vietnam. From the trains you can enjoy breathtaking views and have an authentic experience in contact with the local population.

Vietnam’s shape is perfect for going from north to south, or viceversa, and you certainly won’t get lost anywhere. Moreover, traveling by train has other advantages, especially if you’re in a rush and want to slowly enjoy the atmosphere of the trip in order to discover the country.

How to book and buy a train ticket in Vietnam

Traveling by train within Vietnam is a different and stimulating experience, even though many young travelers prefer to cross the country seated on an old motorbike or in a bus.

After deciding how to travel and where to go, to buy a ticket you can go to one of the ticket offices found inside the station. Remember to bring your passport with you, because it will be required in order to buy your ticket or confirm your booking and information on your ticket.

Buying a ticket in a Vietnamese station could be complicated if you can’t find anyone who speaks a little English. It happened to me! No reason to panic. There will be someone who’ll know a few words in French and you’ll certainly manage to make yourself understood with gestures and some help.

Nevertheless, if you want to avoid finding yourself in long, enigmatic situations and risk missing your train, you can opt for making your purchase online before leaving, such as on Baolau .

The other advantage of booking online is that you can buy your ticket ahead of time without having to go to the station twice!

Classes and seat types on Vietnamese trains: soft and hard seat

In Vietnam there are different types of trains, indicated by the initials SE, TN or STN. The SE1, SE2, SE3 and SE4 are the best trains. Depending on the train you choose, there could be some or all types of coaches.

As in Europe, in Vietnam too the most comfortable class is first class. The first class wagons are furnished with the most comfortable seats, air conditioning, and power outlets. For night trains running long routes, in first class there are compartments with bunk beds, a private sink, a table, bedding and covers.

Included in the price you’ll also get a meal, something similar to those of the airlines. Another excellent thing about Vietnamese trains are that kids under 5 years old travel for free.

Supposing it’s a 7 hour trip, the price for a journey of this type could cost you about 20 American Dollars.

Second class offers a few more comforts (such as beds, or chairs that are less comfortable than those in first class). In third class you’ll instead find rigid wooden seats.

In general, in Vietnam you have to choose your seat and category. You can choose a hard seat, which as the name would suggest is a rather uncomfortable chair, usually made of wood. These seats are usually chosen by the Vietnamese since they’re the cheapest ones.

Or you could choose a soft seat, or slightly more comfortable chair that might recline but not as far as a bed, which is certainly less comfortable than a bed but good for a trip that isn’t too long. For short routes you can also decide to travel like a local and sit in a hard seat.

For more intensive trips choose a sleeper – bunks that vary between hard and soft depending on the number of bunks in the same compartment or carriage.

Keep in mind that they’ll try to sell you bunks with 4 spots and air conditioning, or in other words, the most expensive ones. If you’ve read this article, you’ll definitely know to ask for a different type of seat that would be cheaper.

There are also luxury trains that travel through Vietnam.

Train itineraries in Vietnam

Below I’ll recommend three splendid train itineraries that start from Hanoi .

From Hanoi to Sapa: 296 km in 8 hours

Traveling from Hanoi to Sapa by train is a spectacular experience during your trip in Vietnam . You’ll travel comfortably and at a low price. There are different options you could choose from, leaving Hanoi at night. The end of the line is Lao Cai , a town at the border with China, and from there you can continue on to Sapa with a minibus.

Depending on the station, the trains could be full of tourists, since Sapa is a popular mountain town. At the end of the year, for example, there shouldn’t be huge crowds, while from the end of the year to March I’d recommend that you book your train ahead of time. You can do so via internet, through Baolau , for example.

You’ll be surprised by the number of trains that travel the Hanoi-Sapa route: SapalyTtrain, King Express, Fanxipan, OrientalExpress and others. Really, these companies have only one or two carriages which when put together make up one single train. The offerings, both in terms of price and services onboard are more or less the same.

2. From Hanoi to Halong Bay

As I said in this article , there are many ways to get to Halong Bay, but there’s only one train which is still rather unknown that connects Hanoi to the bay.

In fact, you could avoid the many agencies offering complete packages with transfers and itineraries, and leaving from Yen Vien station, get to Halong. It’s a local train and count on just a few cars with wooden benches. Try it only if you want to have a fascinating experience far from the crowds.

3. From Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City

Have you ever heard of the Reunification Express? This is the train that crosses the whole of Vietnam, from north to south or from south to north, from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi or viceversa . The Reunification Express is the country’s historic train that covers more than 1000 kilometers for a total of 34 hours of travel.

It might not be the cheapest or fastest way to cross Vietnam, but it is definitely the most fascinating way of seeing the entire country, crossing through villages, beaches, mountains, rice paddies and cities in the company of other travelers, but especially many Vietnamese who’ll get on at the countless stations in between. You shouldn’t make the trip all at once.

How does the Reunification Express work? You should choose which stations you want to get off at to visit, and buy tickets for those specific ones. In fact, it allows you to get off at the station you choose and get back on the train the next day for your next destination, without a time limit – except that of your visa.

Just the departure from Hanoi will already present a fascinating scene when you find yourself in the Old Quarter with your mouth open, among cramped alleyways suspended between various eras and thousands of colors.

The price of a ticket varies depending on the intermediate stops you decide to make between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. For example, the route between Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh could cost about 20 Dollars and so on.

Final advices

Although Vietnam is not a dangerous country, as is the case with all of southeast Asia, I recommend that you travel safely by respecting a few small precautions. With a little good sense you can travel anywhere!

Traveling slowly by local means on unusual routes means pleasant encounters that are also often noisy. This is something to consider even depending on which seat you choose on the train. It’s nothing to worry about however, traveling by train will be an experience that will remain indelible in your memory.

I also recommend that you bring along some food for long trips, even though there will certainly be Vietnamese that will come aboard the train and will offer you something to buy.

Here’s a detailed map of the rail network in Southeast Asia.

About The Author

Elena Muscas

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Because the world is too small for strangers.

The luxury train experience in Vietnam you never knew

11 Sep 2023

By Morgan Awyong

As the global perspective on leisure travel recalibrates following an extended pause, slow travel is emerging as a beguiling option. Offering an unhurried pace for more in-depth discoveries, this form of travel serves as a welcome sanctuary from the world's accelerating tempo, as we gradually return to pre-pandemic normalcy. In line with the time-honoured saying, slow travel isn’t about the destination – it’s all about the journey.

Unveiling the elegance of slow travel: The Vietage odyssey

Taking the concept of opulent travel to heart, The Vietage offers a luxurious railway experience through the scenic vistas of central Vietnam. Initially conceived for the exclusive clientele of Anantara resorts in Hoi An and Quy Nhon, this 12-seater carriage is seamlessly integrated with the Reunification Express, which traverses the distance between Ho Chi Minh City Saigon and Hanoi. 

While the train service originally debuted in 2000, it faced a temporary hiatus due to the global pandemic. Operations joyfully resumed in April 2022, positioning The Vietage as an attraction in Vietnam only a select few have heard about.

The Vietage is Vietnam’s only luxury train service, going between Danang and Quy Ngon. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Navigating through Vietnam’s scenic canvas: a voyage in grandeur

Clad in woven rattan and soft upholstery, The Vietage is a plush invite for those seeking such slow escapes – particularly if you’re looking for unique things to do in Vietnam. 

It takes you on a six-hour ride through the central landscapes of Vietnam, passing provinces like Quang Nam and Quang Ngai before reaching the coastal city of Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh. Along the way, you will see breathtaking scenes of paddy fields, lotus lakes and long mountains, interrupted by small pockets of township where locals buzz through on their motorbikes. This leisurely voyage captures the essence of romantic train travel through its charming local vignettes, serving as a quintessential and picturesque chapter in any Vietnam itinerary.

Travellers can expect an unadulterated view of the passing scenery through central Vietnam. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Boasting a thoughtfully-planned journey with curated experiences on board, the luxury train truly lived up to its promise. From dedicated staff greeting you at the railway station to guide you aboard, to small service touches like welcome drinks and pastries, every segment of the rail ride felt expertly tailored to elevate the experience.

The attentive, butler-like approach was not only a delightful treat at the Danang station but proved indispensable at Quy Nhon for the return trip, where the lack of English signage and announcements could otherwise have been a barrier for non-Vietnamese speakers. What stood out most, however, was the impeccable balance the staff maintained throughout the six-hour journey – offering assistance without ever becoming intrusive, a hallmark of truly intuitive service.

The refurbished cabin leads inward to an endless bar in the luxury train. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Upon boarding, I was gracefully escorted to my assigned seat, which was part of a thoughtfully designed configuration: six pairs of generous, face-to-face seats, divided evenly on either side of the cabin. A small table situated between each pair of seats provided just enough distance for privacy among strangers while also allowing for intimate conversations between couples and friends. Enhancing this sense of seclusion, woven rattan screens tastefully separated each seating area. Under each seat, a comprehensive amenity kit awaited, complete with a blanket, neck pillow, slippers, eye masks, and even a compact freshening-up kit.

An amenity kit below the soft seats aboard the luxury train offered comfort items such as a neck pillow, eye mask, slippers, toothbrush, toothpaste. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Designing personal havens: the art of travel perfected

Positioned at the very heart of the cabin, the bar serves as an inviting haven for guests, offering an endless flow of meticulously crafted beverages. While gourmet meals are conveniently served at your comfortable seat, you have the flexibility to enjoy drinks either there or at the bar – a lively locus for social interaction and engaging conversations with the amiable staff.

On the return trip, I was particularly delighted to engage in enlightening conversations with Tien and Thao. Both were more than happy to offer insights into the provinces we passed through, as well as to share their own personal experiences. The cabin's design includes windows that span its entire length, ensuring you won't miss any of the captivating scenery even as you indulge in delightful banter or sip your drinks. To my pleasant surprise, nestled within this gently traversing haven, I encountered some of the best cocktails in Vietnam. Observing the staff meticulously muddle and finesse each creation, while savouring the complex flavours against the backdrop of the passing landscape, elevated the experience to something truly incomparable.

The bar on the luxury train serves up craft cocktails, beers, wines, and an enviable list of coffee specialties. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

At various moments during the journey, I would find myself relishing specially-prepared meals right at my seat. Concocted by the resort's expert chefs and freshly prepared onboard, the sumptuous three-course menu showcased local ingredients, creating an intimate connection with the region's unique terroir. It was, without a doubt, a dining experience that will remain etched in my memory.

The inclusive three-course meal is lovingly prepared by resort chefs and plated by staff of The Vietage. Here is the Braised Wagyu Neck with Shredded Carrots, Zucchini and Green Tea, with Sesame Jus. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Selecting a drink from the speciality menu proved to be a challenge, thanks to its comprehensive range of both international and local flavours. Find regional beers, effervescent bubblies, wines and spirits , the selection also included a tea and coffee menu that could easily outclass any cafe. Among these myriad choices, The Cafe Tonic emerged as a transformative experience for

Feel free to pair the free-flow of drinks onboard The Vietage with the passing scenery. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Just when you believe the experience has reached its peak, a 30-minute massage awaits you at a time slot tailored to your preference. Conveniently located beyond the bar and before the train's connecting corridor, the intimate therapy room is staffed by a skilled onboard masseur. Settle into the ergonomic massage chair, close your eyes, and let the combination of the train's gentle rocking and the therapist's expert touch lull you into profound relaxation. It's as if you've been invited to indulge in a spacation , without ever leaving the comfort of the train.

Enjoy a mix of sceneries, from rice fields and mountains to small townships in central Vietnam. (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

A confluence of luxuries: beyond the monetary value

At a one-way ticket price of US$350 (approximately S$500), The Vietage offers unparalleled value, particularly when compared to other luxurious train experiences. This wonderful journey serves as an idyllic scenic escape through Vietnam's less-explored regions, complete with an inclusive three-course gourmet meal, a free flow of fine wines, crafted cocktails, and other beverages. Add to that a soothing massage and a series of delightful surprises, which I'll leave for you to discover. Although six hours might initially seem lengthy, the duration felt fleeting amidst the captivating scenery of Vietnam. Even on the return trip, when the evening concealed the vistas, my enriching conversations with the attentive staff continued to make the experience deeply engaging and memorable.

Butler service, an extensive menu, picturesque sceneries in Vietnam - what more could one ask for? (Photo: Morgan Awyong)

Setting a new benchmark for Vietnam’s train travel: a legacy in the making

Although Vietnam may not traditionally be celebrated for its railway services – given that the century-old Reunification Express has seen minimal upgrades – The Vietage by Anantara presents a paradigm shift. This train experience is a national treasure in the making, offering unmatched luxury that promises to redefine perceptions of rail travel within this enchanting country.

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Best time to visit The best time to visit Vietnam largely depends on what you want to see and do. While the country is delightful year-round, the dry season from December to April is often considered the most comfortable for travelling. This period is excellent for all kinds of activities and offers the clearest skies and pleasant temperatures.

Currency The official currency of Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong (VND). You can buy currencies at real-time exchange rates and  collect your currencies at Changi Airport using Changi Recommends FX .

Transportation Getting around Vietnam is relatively straightforward, with options ranging from taxis and buses in the cities to domestic flights for long distances. Trains are also a romantic and scenic way to travel, especially if you're considering The Vietage for an unforgettable and luxurious railway experience.

Book Now Ready to embark on your Vietnam adventure? You can fly into major cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, or Da Nang.  Book your tickets to Vietnam now  and make sure to check out all the wonderful things to do in Vietnam!

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Vietnam Coracle

Train Travel in Vietnam: A Guide

First published July 2023 |  Words and photos by Vietnam Coracle

Tom Divers is the founder and creator of Vietnam Coracle. He’s lived, travelled and worked in Vietnam since 2005. Born in London, he travelled from an early age, visiting over 40 countries (he first visited Vietnam in 1999). Now, whenever he has the opportunity to make a trip, he rarely looks beyond Vietnam’s borders and his trusty motorbike, Stavros . Read more about Tom on the About Page , Vietnam Times and ASE Podcast .

Train journeys in Vietnam are more than just a means of getting from A to B: they are an experience. On Vietnam’s railways, travellers get a genuine sense of the country and start to appreciate nation-defining characteristics, such as changes in the landscape, climate, food and accent from one region to another. Unlike taking a domestic flight, train travel is richly rewarding, providing travellers with a social, culinary and cultural experience. Taking the train in Vietnam is nothing like it is in Europe, North America, Japan or China: rail travel in Vietnam is low-tech, slow, informal, and exciting. What’s more, train travel is relatively cheap, comfortable, efficient and easy to book. If you enjoy journeys and the act of travel, you’ll almost certainly enjoy travelling by train in Vietnam.

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[ Back Top ]

TRAIN TRAVEL IN VIETNAM

A Guide to Riding the Railways

This guide is intended to provide travellers with a practical overview of how to travel by train in Vietnam and why it’s a rewarding travel experience. I’ve included information about train routes, booking tickets, classes of travel, food and much more in order to paint a picture of what train travel is like in Vietnam. On my map I’ve marked all rail routes and major stations, as well as some of the most scenic sections of track. You can book train tickets directly from this page using the Baolau.com search boxes and links. (For excellent historical information about Vietnam’s railways, read ‘Railways & Tramways of Việt Nam’ by Tim Doling.)

Routes & Schedules

Booking Tickets

Seating & Sleeping

Food & Drink

The Journey

Related Guides

Please Support Vietnam Coracle Make a donation or become a patron if you enjoy this website. Vietnam Coracle is totally free & independent. I do not receive payment for anything I write. Thank you, Tom

[ Back to Contents ]

Train Routes & Stations in Vietnam

ROUTES & SCHEDULES :

Vietnam Railways operates a main south-north line and several spur lines. There are dozens of potential routes and station stops across the nation: use my train map for an overview. Schedules, times and ticket prices are easy to search, browse and book using the Baolau.com search box below, or vnr.com (the Vietnam Railways website), or at any major train station where the national train schedule is displayed on large billboards.

Reunification Express ( Transindochinois ):

Vietnam’s main railway line runs from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in the south all the way to Hanoi in the north, stopping at over 20 stations along the way. Roughly following the coast for over 1,700km, the south-north line connects almost all major coastal cities between Saigon and Hanoi ( see map ). This line is known today as the ‘Reunification Express’, and in French colonial times it was called the Transindochinois . There are at least 6 trains every day in both directions on the ‘Reunification Express’ between Saigon and Hanoi. The journey between the two cities takes more than 32 hours. In addition, several other trains ply specific sections of the south-north main line, stopping at smaller stations as well as major ones. You can easily check schedules, times and ticket prices by using the Baolau.com search box below or vnr.com or at any major train station.

Spur Lines:

In addition to the main south-north ‘Reunification Express’ route, several spur lines branch off to other destinations. These include: Hanoi→Hải Phòng , Hanoi→Lào Cai , Hanoi→Lạng Sơn , Hanoi→Hạ Long, Hanoi→Thái Nguyên, and Saigon→Phan Thiết . However, schedules on these spur line routes are irregular and subject to change, particularly in the post-pandemic period. Check schedules, times and ticket prices using the Baolau.com search box below or vnr.com or ask at the relevant train stations.

* Always book train tickets at least a few days in advance or more if travelling during public holidays or on weekends

SEARCH TRAIN ROUTES & SCHEDULES :

BOOKING TICKETS :

Booking train tickets is now very easy and efficient. You can book tickets directly from this page on almost all train routes in Vietnam by using the Baolau.com search box below. Type in your departure and arrival stations and the date of travel and click ‘Search’. This opens a new page with all train times and prices in all classes for that day and that route. Choose your train time and class then click ‘Book Now’. Next, choose your exact carriage, seat or sleeping birth on the train map, enter your details and make payment online. You’ll receive an e-ticket with a QR code in your email inbox which you can show to station staff on your phone before boarding the train. Your ticket has a carriage number and seat/bed number on it.

Alternatively, you can book tickets in-person at any train station, but not much English is spoken, or you can use vnr.com (the Vietnam Railways website) to make a booking, but their site is not as good or as easy to use as Baolau.com . (Note that there’s a small service charge with Baolau.com , but this is a very small price to pay for the convenience of using their system.)

BOOK TRAIN TICKETS :

SEATING & SLEEPING :

There are 4 ‘classes’ of seating and sleeping on Vietnam’s railways (see below for descriptions and photos of each one). Which class you choose depends on the length of the journey you’re taking and on your budget. Most trains on most routes (even shorter spur routes, such as Saigon→Phan Thiết and Hanoi→Lào Cai ) offer both seating and sleeping compartments. As a general rule, seating is fine for daytime journeys under 8 hours, but sleeping compartments are better for night trains or any journey over 8 hours. The 4 classes are:

• Hard Seat (fan)
• Soft Seat (air-con)
• 6-Bed Sleeper (air-con)
• 4-Bed Sleeper (air-con)

SEARCH TRAIN TICKETS :

[ Back to Classes ]

Hard Seat :

Typically the last couple of carriages on a train, the hard seat class is the cheapest and sparsest available on Vietnam’s railways. The wooden seats are absolutely fine for shorter journeys, such as Hanoi→Hải Phòng or Hanoi→Lạng Sơn . But on longer trips the carriages, which are fan-cooled, not air-conditioned, can become stuffy and uncomfortable. However, the ambience is informal and social: families with kids playing in the aisles, picnics on the floors, and chickens in cardboard boxes. On short hops this can be a good experience; on long-hauls it can be a test of endurance.

Soft Seat :

Soft, coach-style seating on reclinable chairs in an air-conditioned carriage, the soft seat class is ideal for daytime journeys of a few hours or more. Comfortable, cool, bright and spacious, most passengers will be fine in one of the soft seats for any medium-length journey. The windows are large, the ceilings are high and the air-con is effective. Ticket prices are reasonable and more affordable than sleeping compartments, but if you’re travelling overnight, don’t expect to get too much sleep in a soft seat. For daytime journeys on routes such as Huế→Đà Nẵng, Saigon→Nha Trang, Quy Nhơn→Đà Nẵng, soft seat class is all you need.

6-Bed Sleeper :

Separate air-conditioned compartments of 6-beds connected by a common aisle, this class allows passengers to lie down in comfort, but it can feel a little cramped if all 6 beds are occupied. The beds are arranged in two rows of bunks. Try to avoid taking the top bunk bed, which has very little space between the bed and the ceiling and can be mildly claustrophobic on long journeys. On night journeys, the middle bunk is best for sleeping, but on day journeys, the bottom bunk is best for comfort, because you can sit-up or lie-down and see out of the window. In my opinion, 6-bed sleeper class is good for shorter overnight journeys, such as Hanoi→Lào Cai or Saigon→Nha Trang. There is also good potential for social interaction as you are sharing quite an intimate space with 5 other passengers. Clean linen, a blanket and a pillow are provided.

4-Bed Sleeper :

The most comfortable class on Vietnam’s trains, these sleeper compartments have 4 beds in a private cabin arranged in two rows of bunks. The beds are comfy, the air-con is powerful (bring a sweater), there’s plenty of space on the top and bottom bunks, and it’s a cozy place to be for a long rail journey. Clean linen, blankets and pillows are provided, there’s a power outlet and USB charger for electrical devices, and each bed has its own reading light. Although the bottom bunk is slightly more expensive, if your main concern is sleeping, you should opt for the top bunk . This is because when your head is on the pillow on the bottom bunk you can hear and feel every bump on the tracks. My advice is: on a long night train, book the top bunk and enjoy a decent night’s sleep; for long journeys during the day, the bottom bunk is better for looking out the window, sitting at the table and working on your laptop. For long-haul rail journeys in Vietnam, such as Saigon→Đà Nẵng, Hanoi→Huế, or Saigon→Hanoi, the 4-bed sleeper class is by far the most comfortable and romantic.

FOOD & DRINK :

Eating and drinking on Vietnamese trains is nothing like it is on European or North American railways. Vietnam’s dining culture is sophisticated, regionally diverse, highly social, affordable, and oftentimes very informal. This is as much the case on the railways as it is in normal, everyday life. Most trains have a dining car (usually towards the back on the train), food and drink trolleys which regularly ply the aisles in all classes, and a hot water dispenser at the end of every carriage. In addition, passengers are allowed (and the majority do) to bring their own home-cooked picnic food onboard for the journey. If that weren’t enough, vendors board trains at stations, walking up and down carriages shouting their wares – hot, local specialities – for a brief few minutes before the train departs. Finally, all stations have at least one coffee shop, a convenience store and food outlet.

As is the case in most culinary contexts in Vietnam, travellers with an adventurous palate, few dietary quibbles, and an open mind will get the most out of their dining experience on Vietnamese trains. Leave your preconceived ideas of dining etiquette, cleanliness and ‘morality’ at home.

There are several ways to eat and order food on trains. If you bring your own picnic , you may consume it at your seat or sleeping birth, but not in the dining car. The dining cars (some of which are fairly grimy) only seat about a dozen passengers and they can become quite rowdy and cramped at mealtimes. However, there’s something undeniably romantic about railway dining cars. Sit down and order a drink (coffee, soda, beer), a snack (hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper, fresh green, sour mango) or a meal (hot phở or hủ tiếu noodles or steamed rice with stir-fried vegetables, meat, fish and soup) and watch the landscape roll by.

Alternatively, wait for the meal trolleys to reach your seat or sleeping compartment. Fresh rice meals ( cơm ) are served from a large ‘hot trolley’, including a huge vat of piping hot steamed rice and half a dozen dishes to choose from. These are all on display, so passengers can easily point and order. Typically you’ll find the following dishes: stewed pork ( thịt kho ), marinated pork cutlet ( sườn ), pork rolled in aromatic betel leaves ( chả lá lốt ), fried fish ( cá chiên ), and fried spring rolls ( nem rán ). Prices are 50,000-100,000vnd ($2-$4) per meal. Although there aren’t really any vegetarian or vegan options, you can try saying Tôi ăn chay (I’m vegetarian). All the food is freshly cooked, unlike the factory-prepared, vacuumed-packed items sold on UK trains, for example.

In addition, regional specialities are loaded onto the train at different stops along its route and then sold to passengers. This is a remarkable, unique, endearing and very Vietnamese aspect of railway dining. Some examples are: steamed whole corn on the cob at Long Khánh station from the fields outside your window; wonderfully exotic dragon fruit at Bình Thuận station from the plantations you can see from the train; bánh nậm (delicate steamed rice cakes) at Huế station; and nem chua (delicious cured pork sausages) at Thanh Hóa station.

THE TRAINS :

Trains on the main south-north line between Saigon and Hanoi are large and long, usually 10-15 carriages in length with capacity for several hundreds of passengers. Trains on spur line routes are generally shorter, sometimes only 3-4 carriages in length, depending on the route. The trains are pulled along the rails by enormous diesel locomotives resembling the ones you might see in an old Soviet propaganda poster. I don’t know enough about trains to name or date the carriages and engines, but I suspect they’re not particularly modern; many are probably reused carriages from old Chinese and Russian trains, but that’s only a guess.

The carriages, painted white, blue and red on the exterior, are wide, high and spacious and the level of cleanliness is acceptable, if not exceptional. Most of the carriages are functional and coach-like, but sometimes they can be cozy and very comfortable. Some of the dining cars are romantic-looking wooden compartments, like something from the U.S. Pacific Railroad in the 1870s, but others are bleak and utilitarian in appearance. The dining car tends to become the train’s ‘pub’ on long journeys: loud, drunk men, cigarette smoke and a boisterous atmosphere.

Toilets vary considerably from carriage to carriage, regardless of what class you’re in, so it’s worth walking up and down the train to find the ones in best condition. There are both ‘sit-down’ toilets and ‘squat’ toilets. Wash basins are located at the end of each carriage and are fine for washing hands and brushing teeth.

Staff range from young twenty-somethings to old, weathered-looking ‘lifers’, who’ve been working on the rails for 40 years. The railway is state-run and I would guess wages aren’t high, nor is it a glamourous job. It shouldn’t be a surprise, therefore, that some staff, particularly older ones, can be rather brusque with foreign passengers. However, smiling and patience go a long way in Vietnam and I’ve met some remarkably kind, gracious and helpful staff on Vietnam’s trains. The general level of ‘customer service’ is informal, polite and well-meaning.

BOOK YOUR TRAIN JOURNEY :

THE JOURNEY :

Departing from train stations in Vietnam is always exciting, but particularly on early morning departures or night trains. There’s an atmosphere on the platform: the sound of the locomotive humming as if steeling itself for the long journey ahead; the flow of people through the station entrance and into the carriages; the sense of expectation; the hoot of the horn before departure; and the slow, grinding shift of motion echoing from carriage to carriage as the train crawls out of the station. Moving through the city at processional speed everything stops to let the train by, watch it go, honour it as it passes: traffic on the city’s busy arteries comes to a standstill at level crossings, pedestrians look up from their meals, stop their work, look out of windows trying to catch a glimpse of the train as it parades by.

Unlike highways, the railway passes through rural areas without anything between the track and the landscape. On the south-north main line in particular, because of Vietnam’s unique geography with the coastal plains to the east and the Trường Sơn Mountains to the west, the scenery is often sublime. There are moments when the track echoes the coast and the train comes within metres of the ocean; at other times, the railway detours inland through bright rice paddies with purple mountains looming behind. On long train journeys in Vietnam you get a real sense of the size, scale and topography of the nation. The train travels at just 50-80kmph – an ‘understandable’ speed – which allows you to study the landscapes in detail. Whether lying in your sleeping birth gazing out the window at an ocean vista, sitting at a wooden table in the dining car with a coffee as a monsoon shower passes over the train, or reclining in your seat staring at a waterway winding into the mountains, there’s some sensational scenery to be seen on Vietnam’s railways.

Train travel in Vietnam can be a social experience, even if travelling alone. Sharing a sleeping cabin for many hours with several strangers is an inherently intimate situation which lends itself to social interaction with your fellow passengers. I’ve met people on Vietnam’s trains many times. One of the endearing qualities of Vietnamese life is the informality of social situations. The train is no different. Children play in the aisles, teenagers huddle on top bunks with their phones, business people tap away at their laptops, extended families of eight people bundle into 4-bed compartments for a picnic lunch of grilled chicken and sticky rice, while older men stand in the narrow gap between carriages puffing on cigarettes. The charm and social cohesion you often see and experience with Vietnamese street life also takes place on Vietnam’s railways.

Taking the train in Vietnam is much more than a means of transportation: it’s an experience, and one which, for travellers, can begin to illuminate aspects of Vietnamese life and culture. From the landscapes outside the window you get an impression of the terrain and geography of Vietnam; from the passengers that come and go from your cabin you get a sense of different regional accents; from the local speciality food sold on the train at different sections of the route you get an idea of the culinary diversity of Vietnamese cuisine; from the weather – the sun that bakes the carriages, the rain that lashes the train – you begin to understand Vietnam’s complex climate from southern to central to northern regions; and you even get a sense of history from the French colonial-era stations, the Cham temples at Tam Kỳ and Diêu Trì, and the multitude of pagodas and churches you see along the way. All this is in addition to the universal magic of travelling by train, such as lying down in your bunk bed and being rocked to sleep by the rhythmic rattle of the rails and occasional howling of the horn in the night.

BOOK A TRAIN JOURNEY IN VIETNAM :

* Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my content is always free and independent. I’ve written this guide because I want to: I like train travel in Vietnam and I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements and my About Page

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Questions, updates and trip reports are all welcome. However, please keep comments polite and on-topic. See commenting etiquette for details.

Im looking to train journey in vietnam.is it possible to get a train journey sllowing me to stop at a town enroute for a few days n continue my journey???thank you

Hi Raymond,

Just buy your train tickets separately for each leg of your journey. For example, buy a ticket from Ho Chi Minh to Danang, then buy your ticket from Danang to Hue, etc.

Hi tom.. many thanks for taking time to reply to me much appreciated. Ray,

Been waiting several weeks for the Baolau prices to load for the dates I want to travel–still says “not yet open”– but they have been up the whole time on the Vietnam Railways website. Also curious, the times and fares differ fairly dramatically from Baolau to VR for the exact same dates and routes. In an email response from Baolau, they said that the times and fares can be different and to check schedules carefully before travelling. I would like to use Baolau based on your hearty recommendation AND the fares appear (who knows why!) to be about 3x cheaper, but I am wary because of the discrepancies. May be best to just book directly through the carrier and not try to get a deal…?

Hi Jennifer,

I’ve never had any problem booking with Baolau before. It is generally more user-friendly than the Vietnam Railways website, especially for travellers without prior experience of Vietnam.

What time period are you trying to book for? If it is a public holiday, then that might be the reason for the discrepancies in fares.

April 13 us quite close to the King Hung holiday, which is April 18 in 2024, so that might be a reason why there’s conflicting information on trains and prices, however that seems unlikely.

Hi, we are an older well travelled couple, I do all the planning and organizing and am thinking of grabbing our backpacks, flying into Vietnam and just hitting the road (tracks)? We both travel light, this sounds like a fun holiday for us. What do others think?

Sounds like a good idea to me!

Thank you for this well written and detailed article. My husband and I are planning our first trip to Viet Nam. As we always try to build trips around train travel, you’ve provided the foundation for our trip.

Thank you! I hope you and your husband enjoy your trip.

There are also a couple of 2 sleeper cabins on SE2 between HCM and Hanoi.

Oh great. I’ve seen the 2 bed sleeper cabins a couple of times, but didn’t know it’s specifically the SE2 train that has them.

Wonderful, well written article – informative, but also conveying so much emotion about the experience

Thank you, Greg! Glad you enjoyed it.

Really nice piece Tom – makes me determined to return to the rails after far too much flying in Vietnam. The train’s are always a memorable experience ! May I recommend that Hanoi – Nanning route which I’ve used several times now if only for the border pantomime !

Thanks, David.

I’ve always wanted to try the rail journey across the border into China, but haven’t done it yet, although I have been to the last stop in Vietnam, at Dong Dang – great station!

Overnight Train in Vietnam – Our Experience with The First Class Sleeper

About the train

How comfortable was and a bit about the facilities, how to buy the tickets, tips for a nice overnight train journey.

Usually the night train has up to 11 coaches. And most of the time they are fully booked. What I liked a lot is that you can choose the seat based on your budget as well as your comfort level. There are hard seats, soft seats, room with 6 beds and room with 4 beds. The prices start from VND300000/ person (€12/person) up to VND900000/ person (€36/person).

Because it was an entirely night journey we opted for the first class sleeper, 2 beds in a room with 4. We chose a bunk bed to be able to see which bed is best to sleep in. 🙂 We paid for the top bed VND759000 (€30) and for the lower one a bit more, VND807000 (€32).

But overall I think it was really worth it as we didn’t pay for a hotel room.

The cabin we had (that was in the last coach) had a normal size, big enough for 4 people. There is storage room for the luggage both in the lower and upper part of the room and the beds are long enough, at least for our height.

The mattress was comfortable, I think the bed sheets were used before but they were still clean (the train came from Hanoi). A pillow and a blanket are available and if you don’t come with your own I can guarantee you that you are going to use them.

Because we decide quite spontaneous about our next destination we prefer buying the tickets online. The site we used in Vietnam was Baolau. It has the same prices as the Vietnamese railway company and gave us the opportunity to choose the seats.

The only difference is that we needed to pay about €6 for both of us for a service fee and a processing fee. But it was a real time saving. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese railway website does not allow you to pay by card but you can always purchase the tickets directly from the train station.

• Dress yourself well for a good sleep, choose long sleeves. It becomes cold during the night especially in the upper bed.
• Use earplugs if your sleep is light. There are people coming and going especially in the train stations.
• There is no WiFi in the train. So make sure you have movies already in your computer.
• Bring some snacks and water with you. The food options are limited.
• Be patient and don’t get crazy if delays occur. At the end it is not only about the destination, it is also about the journey. 🙂

Create the moments you want to remember!

Train Transportation Vietnam Asia Da Nang Nha Trang Night train

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Trains in Vietnam

What is the railway like in vietnam.

In Vietnam, all railways are government run but they have allowed private companies to furnish and service luxury cars which are attached to the state trains. Tracks span the length of the country and generally run near the coast which can make for nice views. Nearly all major tourist destinations can be reached by train and in most cases it is faster than taking the bus and certainly more relaxing. One of the only popular places unreachable by train is Dalat in the central highlands which one can get to by train or plane. Short delays are not uncommon but often trains are able to make up the lost time and arrive on time.

Where can I find train schedules?

All information and scheduling can be found on our website and if you believe something is missing please let us know. We get our information updated in real time from the railway to ensure accuracy and you can find train schedules, costs, travel times and train types by entering your desired origin and destination into the search bar. Please note that for some routes we do not display results for the 3rd Class hard seats. If you really want to travel via hard seat, you may contact us and we will check availability.

What are railway stations like in Vietnam?

Vietnamese train stations often consist of little more than a ticket office and a waiting room which many European travelers will find quite bare and basic in terms of amenities (for American travelers it will not be all that different from your average Amtrak station). Recently free wifi has been deployed to most major stations and ticket QR codes are often being scanned directly from smart phones, so the process is rapidly modernizing. With the exceptions of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, few stations have food or convenience stores inside but you should be able to find anything you need in the area directly surrounding the station. Trains stop only shortly at most stations so your chances to purchase items once on board will be limited. The railway is not known it either its gourmet or affordable food and drink.

Can we leave things at the station for storage?

Luggage storage varies from station to station and at many the “luggage storage” is handled by the women selling drinks in the corner. When organizing your travel we would not recommend on planning to store your luggage at the station for any significant amount of time.

How does the boarding work?

Boarding procedures are subject to many variables such as station, staff, time of day, etc. At times you may have to show your e-ticket to access the platform and then the conductor will scan it onboard the train and at other times you can board without showing your ticket before having it scanned once you are underway. It is possible to board at a station that comes after your initial departure point and you can get off the train at an earlier station but please note that no tickets are ‘hop on, hop off’ tickets. The process for private trains is a bit different. We will send you a PDF voucher with your confirmation code and you need to present that at the operator's window at the station or office near by. The voucher will contain directions to the ticket pick up location.

How long in advance can I book a ticket?

Most routes on Vietnam Railways open 60 to 30 days before departure. Longer routes such as Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City will open closer to 60 days in advance while shorter routes such as Hue to Danang may open closer to 30 days prior to departure. This can vary by the type of seat/berth you wish to book. Private trains are open 60 days in advance. In the future, we plan to offer advanced reservations to allow you to book before the routes are open and then we will complete the booking for you as soon as they are available but at the moment we are not able to do this. If you plan on traveling in Vietnam around the Tet holidays which will take place during the last week of January and first week of February, tickets sales may open as early as the first week of November and we recommend booking as soon as possible.

When will I receive my tickets?

If you made your booking more than 96 hours prior to departure your tickets will be automatically reserved for Vietnam Railways and the booking will be completed by our staff as soon as possible. Bookings on Vietnam Railways made within 96 hours and bookings for all private trains are sent directly to our staff for completion. Please keep in mind that there is likely a 7-8 hour time difference between where you are reading this and Vietnam, so it could be several hours before your tickets are sent. If you have not recieved your tickets after 12 hours it would be wise to check your spam folder before contacting us.

What if my tickets are unavailable after I pay?

During the summer high season and a few other times throughout the year, tickets booked at the last minute can become sold out before we have a chance to complete your order. It happens in less than 1% of cases. For Vietnam Railways we will email you a list of possible options and as soon as you reply we will book your alternative. If there is no alternative we will refund you in full. For the private railways we will automatically switch you to a provider of equal price and comfort level should your desired train become unavailable. There is nothing you need to do in this case, we will simply book the available train for you and send you an email notifying of the change. We promise that there will be no noticeable difference in quality of service for the new booking.

Traveling with Children

On Vietnam Railways, children under 6 free, aged 6 to 9 get a 25% discount for sleeping berths and seats, 10 and over full price. Children are only free if they share a seat/berth with you. For this case you do not need a ticket for the child just be prepared to show their passport to prove age when boarding. If you want the child to have their own seat you will need to book a ticket for them as normal and we will apply a discount of 25%. There are no discounts on the private train services.

Where is the luggage kept in the train?

You can carry your luggage onto the cars and keep it above you or on special racks or underneath your seat. Some travelers secure their bags to the rack with a bicycle lock.

Is there a baggage limitation?

There is no hard limit to the amount of baggage you can bring on the train and you may be surprised by the amount that some Vietnamese families will take with them but be reasonable. Boarding and disembarking from the train can be quite rushed and hectic and unlike other countries, there are no carts and no one to help you with your luggage.

Is it possible to transport a bicycle / motorbike?

Yes, on many trains it is possible to transport a bicycle or motorbike. It is best if you can go the station the day prior to departure to make the arrangements at the luggage office. We can not give reliable advice on the cost of transport as it depends on the size of the bike and the mood of the staff. In most cases the price will be very negotiable.

Should you arrive at the station and find that it is not possible to transport your motorbike on the train for which you have already booked you will need to buy a new ticket on a train that can do the transport and cancel your booking in person at the station. After canceling please inform us as the refund can only be sent to the agent who made the booking and then we will send to you.

What should I do if there are heavy rains at the moment?

Weather can cause train delays. Conditions change fast, and the operators do not make announcements in advance concerning delays/cancellation. Should we receive a notice from an operator, we will, of course, pass that on to you ASAP but your best course of action is to go to the operator as planned and ask them for a refund/alternative ticket if needed.

Will the train arrive on time?

Vietnamese trains are not always on time. Often there is a delay, sometimes several hours. Do not plan your connecting flight without a significant break between train arrival and your next departure.

What kinds of classes are available?

There are 3 main types of carriages: 1st Class Sleeper, 2nd Class Sleeper AC and 2nd Class AC Seats Only. Hard seats are available upon special request but it is not advisable for most journeys.

1st Class Sleeper

First Class Sleeper is the highest class on Vietnam Railways and each car is made up of 7 cabins with four berths. You will be provided with pillows and sheets and the cabin should have ample reading lights and electrical outlets. The berths are hardly luxury mattresses but you should be able to sleep without discomfort. During the day, it’s usual for people to sit on the bottom beds and trolleys with food and drinks will come by from time to time. There is luggage storage under the bottom bunk and a large space above the door for additional items. First class cars will have restrooms at one or both ends and they should be stocked with toilet paper and relatively clean at least for the initial departure.

2nd Class Sleeper AC

The 2nd Class Sleeper AC cars on Vietnam Railways have all of the same amenities as the First Class Sleepers except that instead of 4 soft berths in each cabin there are 6 hard berths. The hard berths might be a bit uncomfortable for some and there is not a lot of space between them which may lead to taller travelers feeling a bit cramped. As with 1st Class Sleepers, 2nd Class is always air conditioned, possibly too well air conditioned, so be prepared for that.

2nd Class AC Seats Only

2nd Class AC Seats Only are soft seats which can best be described as well used airplane seats. There will be limited luggage space under your seat or overhead and often tickets are sold for “seats” on the floor of the isle where people will sit on small stools. We do not recommend booking a soft seat for an overnight journey but for daytime trips they are perfectly acceptable. The cars will have a couple of power outlets spaced along the walls and toilets at either end. The toilets are separated from the air-conditioned part of the car and the area outside of them serves as a default smoking section. The bathroom is an Asian style squat toilet which is basically a hole in the floor. There will not be toilette paper so bring your own.

Disabled passengers

Disabled passengers are invited to contact us directly as the availability of services varies between routes and is generally inconsistent. We are happy to check with the railway upon request.

• Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh

Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

• Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville
• Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh
• Siem Reap to Sihanoukville
• Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
• Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh
• Sihanoukville to Siem Reap

Beijing to Shanghai

• Shanghai to Beijing

Delhi to Jaipur

• Jaipur to Delhi

Luang Prabang to Hanoi

Luang prabang to vang vieng.

• Luang Prabang to Vientiane
• Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang

Vientiane to Luang Prabang

Kuala lumpur to penang.

• Kuala Lumpur to Singapore
• Langkawi to Penang

Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap

• Penang to Kuala Lumpur
• Penang to Langkawi
• Bagan to Mandalay
• Bagan to Yangon

Mandalay to Bagan

• Mandalay to Yangon

Yangon to Bagan

Yangon to mandalay.

• Cebu to Manila
• El Nido to Puerto Princesa
• Manila to Cebu
• Puerto Princesa to El Nido

Singapore to Kuala Lumpur

Colombo to galle, colombo to kandy.

• Galle to Colombo
• Kandy to Colombo

Da Nang to Hanoi

Da nang to hoi an, da nang to hue.

• Dong Hoi to Hanoi
• Halong Bay to Hanoi
• Hanoi to Da Nang
• Hanoi to Dong Hoi
• Hanoi to Halong Bay
• Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
• Hanoi to Hue
• Hanoi to Luang Prabang
• Hanoi to Sapa
• Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi
• Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang

Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh

• Hoi An to Da Nang
• Hue to Da Nang
• Hue to Hanoi
• Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh
• Sapa to Hanoi

Travel by Train in Vietnam

Long and narrow, Vietnam hugs the eastern coastline of the Indochina Peninsula, giving this country an enviable coastline on the South China Sea that runs for 3,444 kilometers (2,140 miles). Filled with impressive beaches, lush jungles, and bustling cities, Vietnam has a great contrast of things to see and do, making this the ideal touring destination. Traveling from one city to another is usually considered to be fastest by plane, but air travel has its drawbacks. It’s expensive and really you don’t get to experience the beauty of this amazing country, and, when you add everything up, getting between cities is not always significantly faster by plane. For these reasons and more, train travel in Vietnam is highly recommended!

Read about: • Where to Buy Your Tickets for Train Travel in Vietnam • Classes on Trains in Vietnam • Private Cars • Sleeper Train in Vietnam

Is it Safe to Travel by Train in Vietnam?

Trains, their lines, and the railway stations are all operated by the national carrier, Vietnam Railways, and although the entire system is getting old it is considered to be a safe and reliable way to travel around Vietnam. And it’s comfortable and relaxing too; with air conditioning as standard, much of the train line runs along the coast, providing its passengers with wonderful views of the coast itself, and a look at both rural and urban life across the country… something you certainly cannot experience when traveling by airplane! And there’s the cultural immersion too, as you’ll have the chance to travel alongside local Vietnamese people.

There’s an interesting twist to travel by train in Vietnam, because although the system is owned and operated by the government, private companies are allowed to operate luxury cars that attached to the state trains. So, although it’s still a state-operated train, there could be one or more luxurious cars attached to it which is great if you want a higher level of comfort. More on those below.

And if you’re wondering whether your belongings will be safe onboard, the answer is yes, generally they will be as petty crime is uncommon. To be on the safe side, some passengers do lock their luggage up by using a bicycle lock for example, and attaching it to the seat or rack.

Where to Buy Your Tickets for Train Travel in Vietnam

There are several options available to you when buying your Vietnam train tickets. You can go direct to Vietnam Railways, whether that’s buying them at the station or online, however, there are some issues with this. First, we would not recommend buying direct from the station if you are traveling within a few days. Not all trains will become fully booked, so there’s a good chance that you will be able to find a space but, it may not be exactly what you wanted. During holidays however – especially Tet which is around the end of January beginning of February – you must book in advance as the trains do get fully booked weeks ahead. During this period, tickets can go on sale as early as November, while the norm for advance ticket sales is between 30 and 60 days.

Vietnam Railways also has an online booking website, but problems with using foreign (i.e. non-Vietnamese) credit cards have been reported, so you may not be able to book using their website. If you do take a look at their website be aware that there are several similar sites that are actually operated by travel agencies, so be sure you’re in the right place. It should be www.vr.com.vn .

Our recommendation would be to use 12Go . They charge a very minimal service fee to cover their operating costs, but for that slight extra cost you’re getting a great service. 12Go shows live availability and tickets can be booked as and when Vietnam Railways opens reservations for each journey. And, as well as selling standard Vietnam Railways tickets, they also have many of the privately-run luxury cars available for sale as well. This is a great service to use if you like to compare all the options and different costs before booking, as you can clearly see what’s available and what it will cost you.

Classes on Trains in Vietnam

As mentioned above, all of the trains are operated by Vietnam Railways but some will have private cars on them for a more luxurious travel experience and although these do offer roughly the same as each other, there will be some slight differences. If you’re keen to book a berth on one of these private cars, you can see all of the options available to you on 12Go where the level of service and comfort will be clearly described and you’ll have the chance to see what other passengers have commented.

Private cars aside, the cars operated by Vietnam Railways will generally fall into four main ticket classes. These are: hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper and soft sleeper, and there may also be the option to pay for air conditioned, or non-air conditioned. As you would expect, the harder seats and berths are always cheaper, but if you’re going on a lengthy journey, the softer ones are highly recommended. One drawback with hard seats is that because it is the cheapest option, these cars are usually crammed full of people and can be very smoky.

Air conditioning will probably not be available on slower trains – those categorized as TN, while the SE trains are the nicest and fastest and will have air-con.

Private Cars

Of course, if you opt to travel on a private car you’ll get quite a different experience. There are several major companies operating on the longer train routes in Vietnam including Orient Express Trains, Livitrans, and Violette, and you can book them as you would any other ticket on 12Go . Livitrans and Violette are known for being more affordable than Orient Express, so do check the differences in price when booking. As well as being more comfortable, the private cars have more facilities onboard, including a steward and food.

Sleeper Train in Vietnam

Sleeper Trains are quite common in Vietnam because of the long distances between cities. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, for example, is a particularly popular route which, even on Express trains takes somewhere between 32 and 35 hours. You have the option to purchase just a seat for that trip but we really wouldn’t recommend it. Opt for a sleeper berth, whether it’s in one of the private cars or a standard First or Second class Vietnam Railways car and you’ll have a lot more space and comfort and a far better chance of getting some sleep along the way!

You should also be aware of the difference between First and Second class berths. In First class you will get a ‘soft’ bed usually in a cabin with 4 berths. If you’re traveling alone this likely means you will be sharing your cabin with strangers, but if you’re traveling as a family or a group you can request the same cabin for all four of you.

Second class sleepers have ‘hard’ beds and there will be six per cabin. The cabins are air conditioned, as in First class, but they do feel more cramped. If you’re someone who prefers a bit more space around you, or you’re taller than average, you may be better going for First class or private berths. Bed sheets and pillows are provided in both classes, but for extra comfort you may want to bring something of your own to sleep on.

Sleeper Trains in Vietnam are a very popular way to get around and prices can vary quite a lot, even when comparing tickets for a single train. For example, there’s sometimes only a few dollars difference between First Class and Second Class Sleepers, so paying just a little more for First class could be a good idea, and, there are sometimes great prices on the private sleeper trains as well, so be sure to check carefully when you’re booking.

Travel by train in Vietnam is a great way to get around the country and it’s reasonably priced too when you consider you’ll be saving the cost of a night in a hotel if you’re on a sleeper train. With trains being more direct – city center to city center – you could also argue that traveling by train is more convenient than flying as it avoids you having to transfer from the airport into the city. And then there’s the cultural immersion that you just don’t get on a flight, and the amazing scenery you’ll get to see up close and personal. Book your train travel in Vietnam today and get ready to start your next adventure!

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Savour the journey

Flavour and culture come together to create an experience that is simply irresistible aboard The Vietage by Anantara. Explore the beauty of Central Vietnam and savour beloved local specialities alongside international favourites, all served with the grace of Indochine hospitality.

For journeys between Da Nang and Quy Nhon, expect a culinary exploration through the flavours of the region on this first-class train in Vietnam. Discover braised Wagyu neck with sesame jus on your plate or enjoy a fresh Quy Nhon seafood salad with our signature Nuoc Cham sauce. Menu for Journeys between Da Nang & Quy Nhon If your journey takes you between Nha Trang and Quy Nhon, indulge in our luxury afternoon tea featuring local caviar, Vietnamese artisanal cheeses, and a selection of cold cuts meticulously crafted by our chefs. Menu for Journeys between Nha Trang & Quy Nhon Outside of your gastronomic experience, sturgeon caviar and a local and French cheese platter are available for pre-order.

In the realm of luxury travel aboard The Vietage by Anantara, the gastronomic journey extends beyond culinary delights as we meticulously curate an exquisite selection of beverages to complement your journey, ensuring each moment is adorned with sophistication and refinement.

The Vietage by Anantara’s well-stocked bar ensure your glass is always full. Enjoy selected free-flow wines, beers, cocktails, mocktails, soft drinks, coffee, and premium Vietnamese tea, or pre-order Champagne for something special. For a taste of the locale, sample classic Vietnamese iced coffee brewed from beans hand-picked in the Central Highlands. Don’t miss the chance to savour a selection of exclusive teas from Epicurean Sao, a growing tea brand made in Vietnam. Additionally, indulge in Vietnamese handcrafted gin that incorporates traditional distillation technology.

We have curated a lively and exclusive experience with The Vietage by Anantara’s special cocktail selection, along with uniquely crafted healthy mocktails created by our Resident Mixologists.

• Three-course gourmet dining for journeys between Da Nang and Quy Nhon
• Luxury afternoon tea featuring local caviar for journeys between Nha Trang and Quy Nhon
• Light snacks throughout the journey
• Selected free-flow wines, cocktails, mocktails, beers, soft drinks, Vietnamese tea and coffee
• Speciality treats and drinks can be pre-ordered
• Train-themed kids’ menu

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