How to get to Halong Bay from Hanoi (Vietnam)

Halong Bay is the main natural attraction of Vietnam and is among the most picturesque places on our planet. This bay with three thousand small green islands is located in the northern part of Vietnam, not far from the capital of this country. Therefore, getting to Halong Bay from Hanoi is the easiest and fastest option for travelers. Below on the page you will find information about the distance between Hanoi and Halong Bay, all modes of transport between these objects, timetables and the cost of buses, minibuses and taxis from Hanoi to Halong Bay.

If you do not want to spend your time reading, you can simply use the search form below. Just enter your desired date and click “Find Tickets”. In the results you can see the schedule of transport and its cost, read reviews about transport companies and see the place of landing and disembarking on the map. Also there you have the opportunity to choose 1 of 10 supported languages, as well as currency – local or any of the 25 others.

Distance between Hanoi and Halong Bay

Since Halong Bay is located in Tonkin Gulf and covers an area of ​​more than one and a half thousand square kilometers, the distance to the bay from the capital of Vietnam can be measured only conditionally. Sea excursions to Halong Bay traditionally begin in the area of ​​the homonymous city of Halong, which is located on the coast of Gulf of Tonkin, 125 km in a straight line to the east of Hanoi (78 miles). The road distance from the center of the capital of Vietnam to the city of Halong is 159 km (99 miles). The minimum distance from Hanoi to the resort island of Tuan Chau is 156 km or 97 miles. Tuan Chau island – it is the new tourist center of the city of Halong, and from there most of the sea excursions to Halong bay leave.

Distance between Hanoi and Halong Bay

How to get to Halong Bay from Hanoi by bus

If you want to get from Halo Bay to Hanoi as cheap as possible, you should use the morning bus Grouptour (Sapa). The cost of a trip from the Hanoi SSB bus station to the Bai Chay bus station (a resort city in the Halong Bay area) is only 7.3 USD (170,000 VND). This is really a low price for a 4 hour journey on a standard air conditioned bus. However, there is only one bus per day for such a low price – at 08:00 in the morning. This transport company also offers the maximum number of comfortable VIP minibuses throughout the day along a similar route (more on this in the next section of the article).

The cheapest bus from Hanoi to Halong Bay (from 7 USD)

Another inexpensive option to get from Hanoi to Halong Bay is The SinhTourist bus. This is a regular intercity bus at 07:45 am, which takes you 4 hours and 15 minutes to your destination. The bus leaves from Hanoi Sinh corporate bus stop in Hanoi and arrives at the company’s signature stop in the southern part of Tuan Chau island, where you can easily find a boat or vessel of any class for a tour of Halong Bay. The cost of the bus is 12 USD or 271,000 Vietnamese dong (VND). The advantage of this bus is the possibility of a refund for a ticket without a fee in cases where your plans have changed and you can not use the service of this transport company.

Low cost bus The SinhTourist takes you from Hanoi to Halong Bay

Minibuses from Hanoi to Halong Bay

The transport company Grouptour (Sapa) offers to get from Hanoi to Halong Bay on a more comfortable transport – VIP minibuses for 7-8 passengers. These minibuses with wide and soft seats depart from Hanoi every hour from 07:30 to 17:30. At the same time, the departure point is the same as that of this company’s cheap morning bus – Hanoi SSB bus station. But the final point of the route you can choose from two options – bus station in Bai Chay or Tuan Chau SSB bus station, which is located in the area of ​​1.5-km bridge to the resort island Tuan Chau, from where boats and yachts depart to Halong Bay. The location of all these stations you can see on the map. To do this, click on the point of departure or the point of arrival of the flight that interests you in the search results.

Comfortable VIP minibus of VIP Grouptour from Hanoi to Halong Bay

Regardless of the drop-off point, the cost of a trip by VIP minibus is 340,000 VND (a little less than 15 USD). The planned trip time is 4 hours, but the bus may arrive a little faster or with a slight delay. A similar service is offered by the GreenLion Bus company, whose VIP minibuses are no less comfortable, but at the same time they will take you directly to the island of Town Chau, to the passenger port area. Among the shortcomings of this proposal, we can note only 1 bus per day, which leaves from the company stop in Hanoi – Hanoi GreenLion. The cost of a trip by minibus of this company is 15 USD or 340,000 VND.

GreenLion Bus minibus is another way to get from Hanoi to Halong Bay

The fastest, but also the most expensive option of a trip by minibus from Hanoi to Halong Bay is offered by Rosa Eco Bus. The minibuses of this company belong to the business class, i.e. they are even more comfortable than VIP minibuses of other transport companies from Hanoi. The trip from the capital to Tuan Chau Island is 3 hours and 40 minutes, and the bus station in Bai Chay is 3 hours and 50 minutes. In this case, the cost of a trip to the specified end points is 23 USD and 24 USD respectively (540,000 and 546,000 VND).

Taxi from Hanoi to Halong Bay

If for some reason you are not satisfied with the conditions of buses and VIP minibuses from Hanoi to Halong Bay, you can always take a taxi service along this route. It is better to choose transport companies specializing in this area, all the more so in some cases the cost of the trip will be even lower than the journey by minibus. Using the search form at the top of the page, you can easily find about a dozen offers for as low as 84 USD (1.94 million VND) for a 4-seater car. At the same time, the cost of a trip for each passenger is 21 USD, which is even cheaper than the price of a trip by minibuses of one of the companies.

Taxi and business class minibus Hanoi-Halong from company Rosa Eco Bus

And if you are traveling in a large group, you can order a minivan or minibus for 7 or 16 passengers for 96 USD and 101 USD, respectively. In the first case, the cost of the trip for each passenger will be 13.7 USD, and in the second, less than 7 USD, i.e. cheaper than the cheapest bus to Halong Bay from Hanoi. At the same time, the advantage of a taxi compared to buses and minibuses will be the delivery of you from a hotel in Hanoi to a hotel in the Halong Bay area or a pier in the Halong Bay area in Vietnam. In the search results you can find other options for taxis, which differ in cost, capacity of cars and travel time.

Thus, it is not difficult to find a suitable transport for you to travel to Halong Bay from the capital of Vietnam. All the proposed options, except taxis, have much in common: the branded stops of all these bus companies are located close to each other, in the same area in the central part of Hanoi. Therefore, the choice of a particular minibus or bus will largely be determined by the cost, departure time from the capital and the terminal station that is more suitable for you. When choosing a taxi from Hanoi to Halong Bay, you can independently decide from where and where you will go and what departure time is convenient for you. Enjoy your trips and excursions in the picturesque Halong Bay.