Ho Chi Minh to Hai Phong for Halong bay tours

Ho Chi Minh to Hai Phong for Halong bay tours is ideal for business man. Basically, all of business men have days off from Saturday to Sunday. So, time for travelling is limited. And certainly, they need to save time as much as possible. However, I know there are so many tourists prefer train or bus to experience Vietnam step by step. They are free to stop at any tourist attraction on the way. Today, let me share my knowledge about this.

Distance

Ho Chi Minh city (former name: Saigon) is located in Southeast of Vietnam with coordinates 10°48′N 106°39′E. People believe district 1 is center of tourist area. The distance from district 1 to Tan Son Nhat International airport is around 8 km. It takes you from 25 to 30 minutes drive to go.

Hai Phong city is located in the Northeast of Vietnam with coordinates 20°51′54.5″N 106°41′01.8″E. This is Class-1 municipality. Hai Phong has just launched Cat Bi International airport so it’s more convenient for tourists to travel.

In general, distance from Ho Chi Minh to Hai Phong is around 1,752km long.

How to get from Ho Chi Minh to Hai Phong

Both Ho Chi Minh and Hai Phong are big cities in Vietnam. Then I find no difficult to get transferred to and back. There are 3 main means of transportation to go.

Air plane

Air plane is always the best option that Hai Phong Tours recommend you to choose. You will save lots of time for transfering. Flight duration is about 2 hours from Tan Son Nhat international airport to Cat Bi international airport. There are 04 suppliers to choose: Vietjet Air, Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar, Bamboo Airways. If you just want to go from Ho Chi Minh to Hai Phong at any time, you have many options of departure time. But if you would like to do Halong bay tour on the same day, you need to present at meeting point at coffee shop at A1 gate before 11:00 – 11:30. Here are flights available:

Bamboo airways
Flight number: QH 1540

Departure time (SGN): 07:05

ETA (HPH): 09:05

Price: Eco – 599.000VND; Plus – 699.000VND; Business – 3.000.000VND (excluding VAT, surcharges)

Vietjet Air
Flight number: VJ270 (recommended)

Departure time (SGN): 05:45

ETA (HPH): 07:45

Price: Eco – 599.000VND; Skyboss – 3.000.000VND (excluding VAT, surcharges)

Vietnam Airlines
Flight number: VN 1180 + VN 1182 (VN 1180 is recommended)

Departure time (SGN): 06:00 + 08:25

ETA (HPH): 08:05 + 10:30

Price: from 899.000VND to 4.419.000VND (excluding VAT, surcharges)

Note: the VN 1182 looks ideal to make. But actually it’s aways delayed and landed in Hai Phong after 11:30. In this case, you will miss the tour and considerred noshow.

Train

If you go by train, you may need to transit in Hanoi then go to Hai Phong. Transfer duration is around 35 hours (1.45 days). Transfer cost is from US$32 to US$90 per person.

Bus

From Mien Dong bus station, you may catch bus to go directly to Hai Phong. This may take you 37 hours drive. (1.55 days). Transfer cost is around US$31-US$46 per person.

Where to stay in Hai Phong

Hai Phong now is developing especially in tourism. Number of hotels, hostels or resorts are rising more and more. Most of people know Hai Phong as heavy industry city. But in fact, a lot of contructions designed for tourism purpose. If tourists stay in Hai Phong city center, they may find some cheap hotels nearby Cat Bi international airport such as Punt hotel or F&F hotel. They charge you around US$30/room/night. But if you are looking for better room, please consider Lac Long hotel 3 star or Manoir des Art hotel 4 star. This 4 star hotel has outdoor swimming pool also. The Avani harbor view is also 4 star hotel in classic style. There are 2 five star hotels in city at the moment. They are Pearl River hotel and Mercure hotel.  The Mercure is located right in city center (Lach Tray street). But if you are business man and looking for more quite, Pearl River hotel gets the better points.

Tourists also have other option to stay in Hai Phong. Besides inland accommodation, they can stay on Lan Ha, Halong bay. Lan Ha area belongs to Hai Phong city. Then if you want to experience 1 or 2 nights on the bay onboard, please refer these tours:

• 3 Days Cat Ba island Halong bay combination
• 2 Days Cat Ba island Halong bay combination
• 2 Days Halong bay tour Lan Ha area
• 3 Days Halong bay tour Lan Ha area

Halong bay is coverred by thousands of islands and islets. Then it’s so calm and do not worry about wavy or seasick!

How to get back to Ho Chi Minh

Air plane

To get back to Ho Chi Minh city, the most convenient way is airplane. Tourist may have 2 options either fly back from Cat Bi international airport Hai Phong or Noi Bai international airport Hanoi. If you do day tour to Halong bay, time of arrival in Cat Bi international airport Hai Phong is around 18:00-19:00.  Then the VJ289 by Vietjetair departing at 21:50 or QH 1541 by Bamboo airway departing at 20:00 are ideal to pick up. Time of arrival in Hai Phong if you do overnight tour is around 13:00. If you fly from Hanoi, all of 04 suppliers Vietjet Air, Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar, Bamboo Airways are available to choose.

Train

If you go by train, please go to Hai Phong train station and by ticket. You also need to transit to Hanoi.

Bus

For bus transfer, please go to Niem Nghia or Cau Rao bus stations.

Time of departure from Niem Nghia: 06:00 and 07:00 everyday. There’s night bus from Cau Rao leaving at 02:00 provided by Xe Khach Ngoc Chong. All of them will go to Mien Dong station in Ho Chi Minh city.

I do hope the above share will be useful for your trip. If  you need more information, please leave your comment. I am happy to help you!

Thank you for reading.