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Halong Bay or LAN Ha Bay
Exploring a pre cruise to either Halong Bay or LAN Ha bay. Both look beautiful with Halong Bay being a bit more touristy. We are looking at either the heritage-line As the boats are small and upscale. 2 nights 3 days. Anyone have an opinion between the 2 bays?
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You may have already found this webs site, but I'll post a link. I found it searching for the difference between the two bays.
https://www.paradisevietnam.com/en/travel-guides/lan-ha-bay-vs-halong-bay
After reading it, I'd choose Ha Long Bay because I'm more interested in the caves than in kayaking, which seems to be big at Lan Ha Bay.
I'll be interested in what others have to say. I'm sure someone must have gone to Lan Ha Bay and can comment.
[Also, the two bays are close so you may be able to get the boat to take you to both of them if you're going to do two nights and three days.]
MikeHenderson thank you. This is an excellent article. I like your suggestion on seeing whether the boat will venture into the other bay if we do the Halong Bay.
If we are going on the Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia tour on 10/22/25 is it worth going a day earlier to Hanoi and doing a 1/2 day or full day tour of the bay?
You need at least a day.
If you have the time, I think it would be nice to have an overnight on a private boat on Ha Long Bay. When we went, I could not make flight arrangements that allowed us to have an overnight on the bay, so we did a day trip. You can see what we did at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2024-1Vietnam-01.htm
Scroll down a little bit and you will be at the section describing our trip to Ha Long Bay.
In any case, if you're going to fly all the way to Hanoi I don't think you should miss Ha Long Bay. It's really unique - and interesting.
We ended up booking an overnight in The Violet and am very much looking forward to this experience later this year.
I’d recommend doing both Ha Long Bay and an extra day in Hanoi. IMHO, you really only need one night in Ha Long Bay and there is limited time in Hanoi once the tour begins. So if you’re able to arrive a couple days early, I’d do one night in Ha Long Bay and a day in Hanoi. I HIGHLY recommend the 4.5 hour Backstreet Jeep Tour. You’ll go to places you won’t see with Tauck, including Train Street. The lunch they provided was fantastic! We did that tour on the same day that the Tauck tour began (we returned to the hotel in time for the welcome dinner). The Jeep tour and Ha Long Bay were highlights of our trip!
We’re doing the trip in January. We’re going to do a cruise (3 days/2nights) that starts the day after we arrive in Hanoi. The cruise includes both Ha Long Bay and La Han Bay as both of them look interesting and we’ll only be there once. We hope it will be a nice way to ease into the Tauck trip. After the cruise we have 1 and 1/2 days in Hanoi before the Tauck welcome dinner. Thanks for recommending the Back Street Jeep Tour. Sounds like fun. I’ll check it out.
@Stanfan - Try to see the Hanoi Train Street when a train comes through. You can do it in the evening.
Oops, I see that was already recommended to you.
I agree, Mike! Stanfan - If you do the Backstreet Jeep Food + Culture + Fun tour in the afternoon (and I believe in the evening as well), you’ll get to see the train pass by on Train Street and you’ll have a prime seat, drinks included! It was a real treat to see it!
Thank you, Mike and buonviaggio. Much appreciated.
Backstreet Jeep Tour- Per the kind suggestions of Mike and buonviaggio, we’re going to book a backstreet jeep tour that includes train street as part of our January trip. I notice on TripAdvisor that two companies, Vietnam Backstreet Tours and Hanoi Backstreet Tours, offer similar trips. Any preference between the two?
Thanks, Stanfan
Hi, Stanfan! We used Hanoi Backstreet Tours. I believe they were the originals to offer such a tour. So that’s the one I’d recommend based on our fabulous experience with them!
When we went to Vietnam, the people wanted us to know Vietnam is not a War, it is a Country
I served in Vietnam for 14 months, from June 1970 to August 1971, and I went back to see the people and the country.
I found it to be a friendly country.
[Some added info: I attended Infantry OCS in 1969 but was able to get a commission in the Signal Corps upon graduation. I had many friends from OCS who served in the Infantry, some who didn't make it back. But I don't see that as a reason not to go to the country.]
[If you'd like to read more about my service in Vietnam, go to https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2024-1Vietnam-01b.htm ]
Thanks, buonviaggio. Our Hanoi Backstreet Jeep Tour is booked
We did not do Halong Bay but the day before we did the Hanoi Backstreet Jeep tour which included egg coffee alongside the train passing by. Great tour with Riley for 2.5 hours or 4 hours if you wanted the street food tour included.
We are excitedly anticipating our upcoming Jan 2026 VCT trip. Thank you to all who have posted about excursions in Hanoi (and other trip insights). Prior to the tour we are doing the Backstreet Jeep Tour and overnight cruise on the Violet in Ha Long Bay. Do you have recommendations for what clothing to take on the cruise? We were planning to take a backpack and leave our luggage at the Metropole. Are there any activities on or off the boat? From MikeHenderson's report the weather appeared chilly. Any advice would be appreciated.
Definitely leave your luggage at hotel. They made it very easy. We only did the one night 2 day. So activities were hiking one morning. A few folks did get into a kayak one day. The Voliet boat is lovely.
Hi, we are going on the Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand tour October 2026. Arrive into Hanoi on the 12 th. Would love to see the Train street if possible how do we book or arrange that please? Anything else recommended to see/ try on our free day before official tour starts?
Mike and Dorthe
Contact the concierge at the hotel. They can arrange for a tour guide to take you.
But I heard that Hanoi was stopping tours there because of the danger. The concierge can tell you.
Hi, DortheHartmann!
We booked an Army Jeep tour with Hanoi Backstreet Tours which was fantastic - I highly recommend it!! It was one of the highlights of our trip. You will get to see things that you do not see with Tauck and the food was delicious! They took us to Train Street and got us prime seats to see the train pass through (and we got yummy beverages, too!). It was a lot of fun! I didn’t hear anything about Train Street being restricted but probably Backstreets would be able to tell you since it’s part of their tour. We did the Food + Culture + Fun tour. Well worth it and a great value!! I looked at their website and Train Street is still listed but it would be good to check with them to confirm.
We also did Ha Long Bay overnight which was a trip highlight as well and so worth it, but if you’re only arriving one day prior, you might not be able to do it unless you go just for the day. We actually did the Jeep tour the same day that the Tauck tour began, and we had enough time to get back to the hotel and get ready for the reception. Enjoy - this is a wonderful tour with great food, hotels, sights, history, culture and experiences!