Job Discussion Forums

jg · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:12 pm Post subject: Hanoi to Danang, train or plane?

Hello, I am planning my summer escape from China, and i am curious about how long the train trip is from Hanoi to Danang, and is it very scenic?

Or, is there a discount airline that flies within Vietnam between these two cities? I am afraid the price of flight between Danang and Hanoi will be too steep for me. I actually am more interested in Hoi An but Danang seems to be the closest city with an airport.

Thanks for any help you can give me!!!

James

Paul John · Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Posts: 52

I don't have first hand experience experience relating to the HN-DN trip, but I regularly do the route between HCMC and Qui Nhon, a comparable distance*.

Internal air travel is quite cheap in Vietnam: I pay about VND500,000 (US $32) each way between HCMC and QN, a distance of around 700 kms. By train (first class soft seat) I pay VND220,000 (US $14) each way.

I prefer travelling by train, but the air fare is cheap enough that I usually fly because it cuts 10 hours off the travelling time (1 hour each way vs 11 hours each way), effectively giving me an extra 24 hours of holiday for a mere $36 more.

If you are travelling by train, check the departure time from HN and the arrival time in DN. That will give you an idea of how much time you spend travelling at night. The best scenery in the world won't be very inspiring if you're viewing it at night. Smile

*NOTE: this is off the top of my head. I'm only guessing at the distance between HN and DN.

mr.pete · Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 26

Whereabouts in China? I think you can probably get direct flights to Danang from Hong Kong or Macau. Pacific do HCMC - Macau. You can also fly direct from Singapore or Bangkok to Danang, I think.

Pacific Airlines (according to press reports) are close to shutting down skint, but if they are stil going, then any flights they do which are covered by VNA are only about US$10 cheaper than VNA.

Regarding scenery between the centre and Hanoi - it's a long old journey to do by day, but if you took a sleeper train from Hanoi, you would be going around the Hai Van pass between Hue and Danang by day, which is beautiful, I disagree with Paul re soft seat - take soft berth every time!!!