Vietnam Train Guide 2027: Sleeper Fares and Luxury Trains

A Vietnam train trip almost always means the Reunification Express, the name for every passenger train on the 1,726 km line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The Hanoi to Saigon train takes about 33 hours. Hanoi to Da Nang takes about 15 hours and costs 651,000 dong in a soft seat or 1,294,000 for a lower berth in a four-bed soft sleeper. Book on dsvn.vn.

Vietnam train routes and journey times

"Reunification Express" is a nickname, not one service. Five trains a day run the full length, and the long-distance ones carry SE numbers: odd numbers go south, even numbers go north. A second line runs north-west from Hanoi to Lao Cai, the station for Sapa. Hanoi's Train Street, the row of cafes beside the tracks, is a different thing altogether: our Hanoi Train Street page covers when trains pass and whether it is open.

Hanoi Station on Le Duan Street, where most long-distance trains start.

The average speed is about 50 km/h. It is a single metre-gauge track from the French era, so trains wait in sidings for each other. Allow an hour or two of delay on anything over 12 hours.

Ninh Binh is the one short hop worth a day train, and the Hanoi to Ninh Binh guide weighs it against the bus. Sapa has no station: the sleeper stops at Lao Cai, about an hour short by road, and the Hanoi to Sapa travel guide covers that last leg.

Vietnam sleeper train classes: soft seat, hard sleeper, soft sleeper

Vietnam Railways sells four classes. The names are literal translations and confuse everyone.

• Hard seat. Thinly padded benches, sometimes no air conditioning. Fine for an hour.
• Soft seat. A reclining seat in an open air-conditioned carriage, like a coach. Good for daytime trips under six hours, such as Hue to Da Nang.
• Hard sleeper. Six berths, three a side. The top bunk is cheapest and sits close to the ceiling, where you cannot sit up.
• Soft sleeper. Four berths, two a side, a small table, a door that locks. This is what most visitors book for a night train.

Lower berths cost more because you can sit on them by day. Two people can buy all four berths for privacy and still pay less than most private carriages.

The view from an upper berth: two lower bunks and the table under the window.

Vietnam train ticket prices in 2026

These are the regular Vietnam Railways fares on SE1 to SE4, one way, from Seat 61's 2026 fare tables (updated June 2026). SE5 to SE8 are slightly cheaper. Children under 5 travel free and children 5 to 9 pay 75%. At Tet, surcharges of 50% to 100% are common.

One oddity: the same trip can cost less going north. Seat 61 lists Da Nang to Hanoi at 567,000 dong in a soft seat and 1,137,000 for a lower soft berth, about an eighth under the southbound fare.

A Hanoi to Da Nang flight booked weeks ahead costs 700,000 to 1,100,000 dong. The train saves a hotel night, not much money.

Luxury train Vietnam options, and what they cost

Private carriages on the regular trains

Lotus, Violette, Livitrans and Laman rent carriages on the Hanoi to Hue and Da Nang trains, mostly SE1 to SE4 and SE19 and SE20. Same four-berth layout, better bedding, free snacks, about US$75 to Hue and US$85 to Da Nang, roughly double the regular soft sleeper. You cannot choose your berth number. On the Sapa line, Chapa Express, Sapaly and Laman sell four-berth cabins for about US$45 to $65.

The Vietage

Anantara hitches two restored carriages, each with six cabins and 12 seats, to regular trains on the coast. One runs Da Nang to Quy Nhon in about six hours, the other Nha Trang to Quy Nhon in about five. VnExpress put the Nha Trang leg at US$450 a person in August 2025, with afternoon tea, drinks and a 15-minute massage included. Anantara does not publish fares, and resellers quote anything from US$340 to $450 for 2026.

SJourney

Vietnam's first cruise-style train launched in December 2024. The main trip runs Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City over eight days; four-day trips cover Hanoi, Sapa and Ha Long, or Ho Chi Minh City and Hoi An. Standard cabins start at about 200 million dong, around US$7,600, VnExpress reported in July 2026. New suites from October 2026 cost US$32,000 and US$64,000.

Most people need none of these. A regular lower soft berth is clean, air-conditioned and half the private-carriage price.

How to book Vietnam train tickets

1. Go to dsvn.vn, the Vietnam Railways site, and switch it to English at the top right.
2. Search your stations and date. Long journeys open about 60 days ahead, short hops sometimes only a week or two ahead.
3. Pick the train, carriage and berth on the seat map.
4. Pay by card. Foreign cards fail often. If yours is refused and you are already in Vietnam, the pay-later option gives you 24 hours to pay at a station or post office; otherwise an agency adds 5% to 10%.
5. Keep the e-ticket QR code on your phone, and a screenshot in case the signal drops. At the starting station the train is usually on the platform 30 to 60 minutes early.

Private carriages are not sold on dsvn.vn, and station counters take cash in dong only. In Hanoi most long-distance trains leave from the main station on Le Duan Street; the Hanoi railway station guide covers the entrances and waiting rooms.

The best stretch: Hue to Da Nang over the Hai Van Pass

The 103 km between Hue and Da Nang is why many people take a train at all. At Lang Co the line leaves the highway, climbs round the Hai Van headland on a ledge above the sea and ducks through a string of short tunnels. The good part lasts about 45 minutes.

Sit on the sea side: the left heading south, the right heading north. The Hai Van Pass train guide lists every daylight train, including the slow heritage service that stops at Lang Co.

The Hai Van stretch, about 45 minutes of the best railway in Vietnam.

The long-distance trains do not all see it. Heading south, the three evening sleepers from Hanoi leave Hue between 08:04 and 09:40 and reach Da Nang between 10:36 and 12:12, so you get the pass in daylight from your berth. Heading north, most trains from Saigon cross at night. The two exceptions are SE4 and SE2, which leave Da Nang at 12:38 and 13:33.

That pair is the useful bit. SE4 and SE2 then run on to Dong Hoi, arriving at 18:25 and 19:18, so one ticket gets you the Hai Van coast and Phong Nha by dinner. Going on to Hanoi, the Da Nang to Hanoi sleeper train guide has the rest of the northbound times.

Stopping at Dong Hoi for Phong Nha

Phong Nha has no station. Dong Hoi, 522 km south of Hanoi and 166 km north of Hue, is the stop, about 45 km from the village by road.

The night trains from Hanoi arrive early, and the 2026 timetable makes the choice for you. SE3 leaves Hanoi at 19:20 and reaches Dong Hoi at 05:03, SE19 leaves at 19:45 and arrives at 05:52, and SE1 leaves at 20:50 and arrives at 06:42. SE1 is the gentlest: you get breakfast in town instead of an hour on a bench in a quiet station.

Dong Hoi station, about 45 km by road from Phong Nha.

The local bus to Phong Nha costs 35,000 dong and takes about 90 minutes, but it leaves from the town centre, about 1.5 km from the railway station. A taxi or Grab takes about an hour for 400,000 to 450,000 dong. The Phong Nha train station guide has the other options.

All three Hanoi night trains land before the Elephant Cave and Ma Da Valley trek starts its pickups at around 8:00 AM, and the trek includes pickup in Dong Hoi as well as Phong Nha. Give the office your train number when you book. It costs VND 1,950,000, about US$74 (checked November 2026), runs daily and takes children from 9. You walk into Elephant Cave, swim in Ma Da Lake, eat a grilled lunch by the water and, when the water is low enough, finish with a 600 m swim through Tra Ang cave. In the autumn high-water months, ask about the swim when you book.

Food, wifi, toilets and safety on board

A trolley comes through with coffee, beer, snacks and instant noodles. At mealtimes staff sell a rice meal for about 35,000 dong and bring it to your berth half an hour later. Every sleeper corridor has free hot water. Bring fruit and bread for anything longer.

The trolley comes through with drinks, snacks and noodles.

There is no wifi, and the phone signal drops in the mountains and tunnels. Newer sleeper cars have a two-pin socket in each compartment. Toilets are at the carriage ends, Western-style in sleeper cars, squat on older ones, and the weakest part of the trip by some distance. Bring paper.

The train keeps you off Highway 1, which is why most people feel safer on it than on a night bus. Lock the compartment at night and sleep with your passport under the pillow. From September to November, typhoons and floods can stop the line for days; in late October 2025, Vietnam Railways suspended services between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City during the central floods.

Train, bus or plane?

Take the train for night journeys of 8 to 16 hours, for Hue to Da Nang, and for Phong Nha. Fly Hanoi to Saigon: the train takes 33 hours and a soft sleeper costs about what a flight does. A sleeper bus is a little cheaper and reaches places with no station, such as Hoi An, but the bunks are short and the ride rough. Our Vietnam sleeper bus guide compares the two.

Does Vietnam have a bullet train?

Not yet. The planned North-South high-speed line, about 1,541 km at a design speed of 350 km/h, would cut Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to about 5.5 hours. In September 2026 the government said construction should start in December 2027. Until then, the 33-hour metre-gauge line is the only way to do it by rail.