After launching trailer of Kong: Skull Island, a lot of people are surprised the natural beauty of Vietnam. You can realize one of the most attractive destination: Ha Long Bay (Quang Ninh province).
This article, DiChungTaxi suggests some tips to travel to Ha Long Bay – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam.
Summary:
- What time you should travel to Halong Bay?
- Transportations to Halong Bay
- Accommodations in Halong Bay
- Transportations in Halong Bay
- Halong Bay tour boat and cruise ship
- Halong Bay Cuisine
- Sharing experience of Vietnamese traveling to Halong Bay within 2 days
What time you should travel to Ha Long Bay?
- Peak Season: from October to April
Anytime is a great time to visit Halong Bay but some months receive more visitors than the others. The peak season falls on December and January – the months that coincide with Christmas and New Year break. Other months that also see busy lines of travelers include October, November, February, March and April. During these months, the weather is also most suitable to visit Halong Bay.
- Off Season: from May to September
The period from May to September is often considered a low season for international travelers in Halong Bay. Besides the glowing sun – which makes it perfect for water based activities, the uncrowded beach and various cruise promotions are all attractive reasons for you to plan your holiday around this time of the year.
January is a high tourist season in Halong Bay. Although the weather is chilly, this is a wonderful time for travelers who want to avoid the sweaty summer of Vietnam.
Transportations to Halong Bay:
You have 3 options:
- Train from Hanoi to Halong: HALONG EXPRESS, departing from Gia Lam Station, and it takes about 5 hours to Halong (the longest time traveling).The price for a foreigner is 15 USD/ one way.
- Car: In My Dinh Station, Luong Yen Station, you can choose a car to Bai Chay Station, at a frequency of 20-30 minutes. Ticket price is about 100.000 – 200.000 VND upon your seat.
- Motorbike: The distance is about 170 km, so you can ride a motorbike to Ha Long.
– From Hanoi to Halong Bay: Hanoi to Sai Dong Fork via ‘5’ national highway -> Sai Dong to Bac Ninh via ‘1’ national highway -> Pha Lai -> Chi Linh -> Dong Trieu -> Uong Bi -> Halong
– From NoiBai international airport to Halong Bay: Noi Bai International Airport to Bac Ninh via Noi Bai – Bac Ninh Road -> Bac Ninh – Pha Lai – Sao Do – Dong Trieu – Uong Bi – Halong via National Highway 18A.
Accommodations in Halong
Halong bay is separated into 2 areas: Hon Gai and Bai Chay, which is connected by Bai Chay bridge. Bai Chay with long beach and ports is an attracted-tourist destination. And Hon Gai is the political center.
You should stay at Bai Chay for more conveniences. Hotels and motels are located in Vuon Dao street. The price is from 250.000 to 350.000 VND per night and will be more expensive in summer.
Transportation in Halong
DiChungTaxi highly recommends taxi and ship –regular-used vehicle in Halong.
With the taxi, you can pick up everywhere you go. Some firms in Halong areTaxi 886 – Móng Cái (033. 886 886); Hạ Long (033. 62 62 62); Hòn Gai (033. 84 84 84); Mai Linh (033. 628 628)… with 10.000VND/ km taxi fare.
To go around to see the beauty of Halong Bay, you should hire a ship. You can contact to Bai Chay tourism port (033. 846 592); Halong tourism port (033. 847 481); Duong Hai company (033. 845 042); Halong Bay service center (033. 844 631); Hai Au company (033. 824 779).
Halong Bay tour boat and cruise ship:
Many types of boat and ship you can choose at Bai Chay port. You can buy a ticket for 4 hours or 6 hours. If you travel with your friends & family, you can hire a boat/ ship privately.
- Ticket: 100.000 VND per person for 4 hours, 150.000 VND per person for 6 hours
- Hire ship/ boat: 1.500.000 – 1.700.000 VND per ship (42 seats), 4 hours or 6 hours depend on yours.
Otherwise, one more option is cruise ship which operated by tourism company, including 3-star, 4-star, 5-star ship.
Pay attention to:
- Halong bay tourism entrance ticket: 120.000 VND/ person (without ship ticket and cave entrance ticket).
- Other destination entrance ticket: 50.000 VND/ destination (Cua Van Floating Cultural Center, Ba Hang Cave, Luon Cave, Tien Ong Cave, Co Cave, Thay Cave, Cap La Cave, …)
Halong Bay Cuisine
Variety sea cuisine in Halong Bay will attract you for the first time. A lot of special food that you may not eat before such as Stone Crab (Cu Ky), peanut worms (Sa Sung), Mantis Shrimp, Clam (Ngán), Horseshoe crab (Sam Biển), …
Do not forget some specialty of Halong Bay such asDipped Squid with sticky rice, dipped squid with stuffed pancake, Gat Gu cake, Vietnamese fermented pork roll, “Nem Chao”, Tien Yen special duck, Hoanh Bo sticky rice wine, ….
Sharing experience of a Vietnamese traveling to Ha Long Bay within 2 days
Day 1: Traveling around Tuan Chau
7a.m: Departed Hanoi, arrived Halong at noon.
12p.m: Went to hotel, check-in and took a rest before lunch. You can book hotel’s meal or go out for lunch.
1.30 p.m: Went to Tuan Chau, bought a ticket and played in the afternoon.
4 p.m: Swam at Tuan Chau beach, highly recommend.
5 p.m: Back to Bai Chay, and went for dinner.
8 p.m: Walked on Bai Chay beach. You can hire a bicycle to go around, visit night market, and go shopping.
Day 2: Halong Bay travel
7 a.m: Had breakfast, prepared luggage, and check-out.
8 a.m: Went to Bai Chay port, bought a ticket to explore Halong Bay by ship/ boat (4-hour or 6-hour option). You can book your lunch on this ship or wait to finish the tour.
4-hour option:
Firstly, visit Thien Cung – Dau Go Cave. After that, the ship will take you to Ba Hang fishing village, across Cho Da island (like-a-dog shape), Dinh Huong island. Ba Hang fishing village has a lot of floating house, people go fishing and aquaculture year by year. You can travel around this village by Kayak.
12 p.m: you can see Ga Choi Island, and the ship after that will return to the port, finish this tour.
6-hour option:
Firstly, visit Sung Sot Cave, then back to Titov to swim, climb,… The tour includes: Thien Cung Cave, Ga Choi Island, Titov beach, goes further than 4-hour option, and finishes at 1.30 p.m.
2 p.m: Came back to Hanoi
If you spend more time in Halong, you can visit Co To Island, Bai Tho mountain, Tran Quoc Nghien temple, Quang Ninh museum, Yen Tu,…
After Kong: Skull Island which will be premiered on March 3, 2017, Halong Bay will be “HOT” destination, if you intend to travel this time, you should make your reservation of transportation, hotel, ship ticket,… Hope you have a good trip to Halong Bay with DiChungTaxi tips.
