Self-sufficient Ha Long travel experience for first-timers

If you are looking for a self-sufficient and economical trip to Ha Long, please refer to the following article!

1. Where is Ha Long?

Ha Long is a city located in the center of Quang Ninh province

Ha Long is a city located in the center of Quang Ninh province, 165 km east of the center of Hanoi. Ha Long is named after Ha Long Bay, a bay located south of the city and a famous natural heritage of Vietnam. In addition, the name “Ha Long” (Chinese: 下龍) also means “dragon flying down”.

2. Which season and month is the best time to travel to Ha Long?

Traveling to Ha Long in early or late summer is the most reasonable!

Ha Long is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Quang Ninh.

Traveling to Ha Long in the summer is the best because this season has quite ideal weather. The period from May to August is sunny from early morning to late in the day and little rain.

If you do not want to be crowded, you should go from April to May or from August to September. At this time, Ha Long tours do not have many tourists, so Ha Long will not be crowded.

If you come to Ha Long from June to July, the service fee will be higher than usual because there are many tourists and you have to book the hotel long before arriving in Ha Long. Therefore, you should travel to Ha Long in early or late summer is the most reasonable!

3. How to move to Ha Long?

When traveling in Ha Long, there are 4 means of transportation that you can choose: car, motorbike, plane and train. You should book a cheap Ha Long tour, the tour company will take care of everything for you

You can choose 1 of the 4 means above to move

Here is a detailed guide on the route and means of transportation if you want to have a self-sufficient and economical trip in Ha Long:

Traveling to Ha Long by car: You should rent a car to My Dinh bus station after getting off the plane and then catch the car to Ha Long. The first trip is at 6 am and the last one is at 5 pm, about 5 – 15 minutes there will be 1 trip. The price of the sleeper bus is 200,000 VND/ticket, the seat car is 100,000 VND/ticket. You should choose a sleeper bus because you will have time to rest after a long flight to start an interesting trip in Ha Long.

Traveling to Ha Long by motorbike: You can rent a motorbike to go from Ha Long to Hanoi. Rent a car for 1 day ranges from 100,000 – 150,000 VND, the price will be cheaper if you rent for many days. 1 of 2 routes you can choose:

• Route 1: Hanoi – Bac Ninh follow Highway 18 and then continue to move to Pha Lai – Chi Linh – Dong Trieu – Uong Bi – Ha Long.
• Route 2: Noi Bai Airport – Bac Ninh, continue to follow QL18A to Pha Lai – Sao Do – Dong Trieu – Uong Bi – Ha Long.

Traveling to Ha Long by train: The ticket price is only about 100,000 VND if you depart from Hanoi, but it will take you about 5 hours to reach Ha Long. This vehicle is not suitable for a short trip to Ha Long.

Traveling to Ha Long by plane: There are 2 airports near Ha Long, Cat Bi and Van Don. If you go on a group tour, you are covered. If you go on your own, you should hunt for tickets to save money. This vehicle is suitable for a short trip to Ha Long.

If traveling with family, you should choose to go by car. If you go from Hanoi, you have 3 means of transportation: car, motorbike or train. If you come from Saigon, it is most convenient to take a plane. As for backpacking, the vehicle you should choose is a motorbike.

4. How to move in Ha Long 

In the Ha Long city area, there are many suitable means of transportation. There are 3 popular ways, including: Renting a motorbike, taxi or calling a technology car. However, to be more proactive and save on journeys, it is best to rent a self-driving motorbike. There are 5 motorbike rental locations in Ha Long that you can refer to:

• Kim’s Motorbike
  Phone: 0879 698 886
  Address: No. 86 Vuon Dao, Bai Chay Ward, Ha Long City Car rental price: 70,000 VND – 120,000 VND/day
  Scooter rental price: 120,000 VND -160,000 VND/day
• Nest Travel
  Phone: 0979 826 098
  Address: SN106, Building S7, Sunrise Apartment, D. Hoang Quoc Viet, Ha Long City Car rental price: 100,000 VND/day
  Car rental price: 100,000 VND/day
• Minh’s
  Phone: 0987 628 336
  Address: No. 10 Hoang Quoc Viet, Bai Chay, Ha Long City Car rental price: 130,000 VND/day
  Scooter rental price: 90,000 VND – 180,000 VND/day
• Sun World Quang Ninh
  Phone: 094 469 75 55
  Address: Sun World, Ha Long, Bai Chay, Ha Long City Car rental price: 100,000 VND/day
  Scooter rental price: 100,000 VND/day
• Minh Thanh
  Phone: 0986 322 292
  Address: Doc Agarwood Group 5, Area 2, Ha Long City Car rental price: 80,000 VND – 100,000 VND/day
  Scooter rental price: 130,000 VND – 140,000 VND/day
• Tan Truong Phat Travel
  Phone: 0972 656 965
  Address: Hai Long, Hong Hai, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Car rental price: 130,000 VND/day
  Scooter rental price: 150,000 VND/day

In addition to going to the bay or the islands, Ha Long also has other attractive places that you must visit. Here are some famous places to have fun in Ha Long:

• Tuan Chau Island
  With a beautiful, poetic space to Tuan Chau Island, you will have the opportunity to participate in a water music show, have fun at an outdoor amusement park or a dinosaur park full of fun and novelty.
• Quang Ninh Museum
  This is considered a miniature Quang Ninh model and is a famous and beautiful check-in point. Coming to Quang Ninh museum, you can discover the culture of Ha Long people, as well as the most typical features of this mining land.

• Sun World Ha Long Park
  This is a new entertainment area that was put into operation not long ago, including 5 main areas: dragon park, tornado park, Sun World beach, Ba Deo amusement park and food and shopping area.
• Beach Fire
  This is the largest artificial beach in Ha Long attracting many tourists by its beautiful scenery, more than 1000m long coastline, fresh and cool air. Here there are many fun activities that you can experience such as surfing by canoe, driving on the sea or enjoying fresh seafood at restaurants.
• Cuu Van fishing village
  As one of the famous fishing villages in Ha Long, it has a calm but vibrant beauty. Sunrise and sunset are great times for you to see the sea. Why don’t you make a trip to Ha Long!
• Ha Long Bay
  You can visit beautiful destinations such as: Dragon Eye Island, an island located in the south of Ha Long, possessing a wild and mysterious beauty because it has not been exploited for tourism. If you want to come here, you have to ask people for directions because most tours do not have a schedule to Dragon Eye Island, Sung Sot cave, Dau Go cave, Thien Cung cave, Trong Mai island…Ha Long is a city in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. The city is named after Ha Long Bay, the bay located to the south of the city and a famous natural heritage of Vietnam. The name “Ha Long” (Chinese: 下龍) means “dragon flying down”. This city was established on December 27, 1993.

6. Events and festivals in Ha Long

Carnaval with many vibrant colors

Ha Long is one of the tourist destinations in Vietnam with many events and festivals taking place. The most passionate festival is Sundance Festival – the largest food and dance festival in the North, taking place in May.

In 2 days, April 30 and May 1, there is also a Carnaval festival or a great Sun Pool Party. In July, there will be a sunrise festival with a series of interesting activities.

Ha Long also impresses with a series of large and small events such as Fashion Voyage fashion events, Wonder Fashion Show … or cultural and sports events such as Sao Mai 2019, Vietnam Professional Golf Tournament – VPGA Tour,. ..and there are other large and small conferences and seminars.

7. Experiences when traveling in Ha Long 

Experiences when traveling in Ha Long

• Kayaking: This is one of the activities that visitors are looking forward to. You will be sitting on a tiny Kayak, swimming in the middle of the water by yourself, immersing yourself in nature and the majestic scenery here between the mountains and the clouds.
• Overnight on the yacht: This is also an activity you can try once if you visit Ha Long. Here, visitors will be able to welcome the dawn with 4 sides of the sea, no more smoke or noise of the city.

• See Ha Long Bay from a seaplane: Coming to this experience, you have the opportunity to see the majestic and poetic scenery of Ha Long through a view like a bird flying overhead, this is a relatively new form of experience. new.

8. What to eat when traveling to Ha Long?

Ha Long specialties

Coming to Ha Long, you must definitely enjoy the following specialties:

• Squid rolls: This is a special dish of Ha Long. You can easily find squid rolls in markets. Coming to Ha Long, you must definitely enjoy this hot squid dish!

• Peanut worms:Many people will be afraid to see the worm because it has a worm-like shape. People often dry this baby or cook soup. This one is quite rare, so its price is very high, about 4 million VND/kg.

• Mantis shrimp: Similar in shape to shrimp but with more legs. The surface can process many dishes and is loved by many diners.

• Thunder crab: 

9. Necessary notes when traveling to Ha Long

Here are some notes when traveling to Ha Long:

• You should travel to Ha Long in early or late summer because this is the most beautiful time because there is a lot of sunny weather, little rain.
• In order to have an economical trip to Ha Long, when buying an overnight ticket on the cruise, do not bring food because it will be charged very high.
• You should choose to travel by tour if you are not familiar with Ha Long tourism. If you are a person near or knowledgeable about Ha Long tourism, self-sufficient travel will be more interesting.
• It is not recommended to go during stormy times because you will not be able to experience fun activities on the sea.
• You cannot go on a cruise or visit other destinations in winter because the weather is often rainy.

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