Southbound timetable...
Hanoi ► Hué ► Danang ► Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) |
| Train number: | SE19 | SE1 | SE3 | SE5 | SE7 | TN1 | SNT1 | SPT1 |
0 km | Hanoi depart: | 14:30
day 1 | 19:00
day 1 | 23:00
day 1 | 15:45
day 1 | 06:15
day 1 | 10:05 | - | - |
116 km | Ninh Binh | 16:50
day 1 | | | | | 18:06
day 1 | 08:33
day 1 | 12:33 | - | - |
175 km | Thanh Hoa | 18:00
day 1 | 22:18
day 1 | | | 19:22
day 1 | 09:43
day 1 | 14:12 | - | - |
319 km | Vinh | 20:25
day 1 | 00:49
day 2 | 04:12
day 2 | 22:16
day 1 | 12:01
day 1 | 16:54 | - | - |
522 km | Dong Hoi | 01:15
day 2 | 04:43
day 2 | 08:01
day 2 | 02:46
day 2 | 15:55
day 1 | 21:51 | - | - |
688 km | Hué | 04:48
day 2 | 08:02
day 2 | 10:50
day 2 | 06:12
day 2 | 19:12
day 1 | 01:18 | - | - |
791 km | Danang (for Hoi An) arrive | 07:50
day 2 | 10:31
day 2 | 13:12
day 2 | 08:56
day 2 | 21:41
day 1 | 04:38 | - | - |
791 km | Danang (for Hoi An) depart | - | 10:46
day 2 | 13:24
day 2 | 09:11
day 2 | 21:56
day 1 | 04:58 | - | - |
928 km | Quang Ngai | - | 13:31
day 2 | | | 12:05
day 2 | 00:38
day 2 | 08:12 | - | - |
1,095 km | Dieu Tri (for Qui Nhon) | - | 16:28
day 2 | 18:32
day 2 | 15:09
day 2 | 03:35
day 2 | 12:26 | - | - |
1,315 km | Nha Trang | - | 20:33
day 2 | 22:08
day 2 | 19:45
day 2 | 07:42
day 2 | 16:58 | 19:00
day 1 | - |
- | Phan Thiet depart | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14:05
day 1 |
1,551 km | Muong Man (for Phan Thiet) | - | | | | | | | 11:44
day 2 | 22:23 | | | 14:40
day 1 |
1,726 km | Saigon arrive: | - | 04:10
day 3 | 05:00
day 3 | 04:40
day 3 | 15:05
day 2 | 03:03 | 03:56
day 2 | 18:40
day 1 |
All these trains run every day except trains SE7 & SE8. Hanoi to Saigon is 1,726km or 1,070 miles. Map of Saigon showing station. Map of Hanoi showing station.
SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4: These are the best trains. They have air-conditioned soft sleepers (4-berth), air-conditioned hard sleepers (6-berth) and air-conditioned soft seats.
SE5, SE6: These trains have air-conditioned hard sleepers, air-conditioned soft seats, air-conditioned hard seats, and ordinary hard seats. No soft sleepers!
SE7, SE8: SE7/8 only run at busy times, booking agencies will know if it's running a month or two ahead. Air-con soft sleepers (4-berth), air-con hard sleepers (6-berth), air-con soft seats.
SE19, SE20: Air-conditioned soft sleepers, air-conditioned hard sleepers, air-conditioned soft seats, air-conditioned hard seats, ordinary hard seats.
TN1, TN2: Air-conditioned hard sleepers (6-berth) & ordinary hard seats. No soft sleepers or soft seats.
SNT1, SNT2: Air-con soft sleepers (both older & newer types), air-con hard sleepers (both older & newer types), air-con soft seats. Ask for a 'chat luong cao' (newer higher quality) sleeper. Also has 'Golden Trains' high-quality sleepers attached.
Livitrans private tourist sleeping-cars, Hanoi-Hué-Danang: Trains SE1 & SE2 have one or two tourist sleeping-cars attached between Hanoi, Hue & Danang run by private company Livitrans, see the photos & information below. These have 4-berth sleepers of a higher standard than the regular ones, but higher fares. See www.livitrans.com for fares & online booking.
Golden Trains private tourist sleeping-cars, Saigon-Nha Trang: Trains SNT1 & SNT2 have 'Golden Trains' tourist sleeping-cars attached between Saigon and Nha Trang. These have 4-berth soft sleepers of a higher quality than the regular sleepers
Northbound timetable...
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) ► Danang ► Hué ► Hanoi |
Train number: | SE2 | SE4 | SE20 | SE6 | SE8 | TN2 | SNT2 | SPT2 |
Saigon depart: | 19:00
day 1 | 23:00
day 1 | - | 15:45
day 1 | 06:30
day 1 | 10:05 | 20:00
day 1 | 06:50
day 1 |
Muong Man (for Phan Thiet) | | | | | - | 19:07
day 1 | 09:45
day 1 | 14:14 | | | 10 27
day 1 |
Phan Thiet arrive | | | | | - | | | | | | | | | 11:00
day 1 |
Nha Trang | 02:36
day 2 | 05:38
day 2 | - | 23:54
day 1 | 13:28
day 1 | 18:24 | 05:10
day 2 | - |
Dieu Tri (for Qui Nhon) | 06:29
day 2 | 09:26
day 2 | - | 04:20
day 2 | 17:25
day 1 | 23:32 | - | - |
Quang Ngai | 09:16
day 2 | | | - | 07:22
day 2 | 20:34
day 1 | 03:21 | - | - |
Danang (for Hoi An) arrive | 11:51
day 2 | 14:30
day 2 | - | 10:18
day 2 | 23:12
day 1 | 06:38 | - | - |
Danang (for Hoi An) depart | 12:06
day 2 | 14:42
day 2 | 16:50
day 1 | 10:34
day 2 | 23:27
day 1 | 06:58 | - | - |
Hué | 14:48
day 2 | 17:11
day 2 | 19:49
day 1 | 13:26
day 2 | 02:12
day 2 | 10:38 | - | - |
Dong Hoi | 17:56
day 2 | 20:08
day 2 | 23:35
day 1 | 17:14
day 2 | 05:33
day 2 | 14:06 | - | - |
Vinh | 21:42
day 2 | 23:46
day 2 | 04:52
day 2 | 22:13
day 2 | 09:31
day 2 | 19:12 | - | - |
Thanh Hoa | 00:19
day 3 | | | 07:19
day 2 | 01:01
day 3 | 11:59
day 2 | 22:49 | - | - |
Ninh Binh | | | | | 08:57
day 2 | 02:28
day 3 | 13:10
day 2 | 00:11 | - | - |
Hanoi arrive: | 04:02
day 3 | 05:00
day 3 | 11:25
day 2 | 04:45
day 3 | 15:28
day 2 | 03:05 | - | - |
How to get to to Hoi An...
Hoi An it features on many visitor's itineraries. It's about 30 km south of Danang, but has no railway station, so take a train to Danang, then a bus or taxi. There are regular buses, minibuses & taxis from Danang to Hoi An taking between 45 minutes and an hour. The bus fare is about US$3, a taxi will cost in the region of US$9-15 depending on your negotiation skills. See map.
How to get to Phan Thiet
The seaside town of Phan Thiet is on a 15km-long branch line from Muong Man. There's a daily direct train between Saigon & Pan Thiet shown in the timetable above, or you can take any mainline train to Muong Man station and then a taxi to Pan Thiet. Pan Thiet is 15.7 km by taxi from Muong Man. For heading north from Pan Thiet, take a taxi to Muong man station. See area map.
How much does it cost?
Train fares in Vietnam are cheap, and sleeper trains save on hotel bills as well as the cost of taxis to & from airports way outside the cities they serve. The fares shown below are typical fares for the SE1, SE2, SE7 & SE8, fares actually vary slightly by season, and fares for the slightly faster SE3 & SE4 are a fraction higher. Fares for the 'SNT' trains are about the same, fares for the slower 'TN' trains are significantly cheaper. Incidentally, the old system of charging foreigners higher fares than Vietnamese citizens was abolished in 2002.
Children aged 0 to 4 travel free, children 5 to 9 travel at half fare. Children10 and over must pay full fare.
Fares are shown here in 1000s of Vietnamese Dong. £1 = approx 32,900 Dong. $1 = 20,500 Dong.
see live updated
Exchange Rate
Fares from Hanoi to: | Soft seat | Hard sleeper | Soft sleeper |
air-con | air-con lower berth | air-con middle berth | air-con top berth | air-con lower berth | air-con upper berth |
Ninh Binh | 77 | 114 | 110 | 92 | 120 | 120 |
Thanh Hoa | 117 | 172 | 165 | 140 | 182 | 180 |
Vinh | 214 | 314 | 300 | 255 | 330 | 328 |
Dong Hoi | 370 | 542 | 520 | 440 | 573 | 556 |
Hue | 486 | 780 | 745 | 632 | 822 | 813 |
Danang | 560 | 862 | 825 | 700 | 910 | 900 |
Quang Ngai | 626 | 920 | 880 | 747 | 972 | 960 |
Dieu Tri | 740 | 1086 | 1040 | 882 | 1147 | 1135 |
Nha Trang | 920 | 1487 | 1424 | 1208 | 1570 | 1554 |
Muong man | 1045 | 1598 | 1530 | 1298 | 1688 | 1670 |
Saigon | 1108 | 1630 | 1560 | 1324 | 1720 | 1702 |
Fares from Saigon to: | Soft seat | Hard sleeper | Soft sleeper |
air-con | air-con lower berth | air-con middle berth | air-con top berth | air-con lower berth | air-con upper berth |
Phan Thiet | 135 | - | - | - | - | - |
Nha Trang | 277 | 475 | 455 | 386 | 502 | 496 |
Danang | 630 | 1002 | 960 | 814 | 1058 | 1046 |
Hue | 668 | 1083 | 1036 | 880 | 1144 | 1130 |
Hanoi | 1108 | 1630 | 1560 | 1324 | 1720 | 1702 |
Fares from Hué to: | Soft seat | Hard sleeper | Soft sleeper |
air-con | air-con lower berth | air-con middle berth | air-con top berth | air-con lower berth | air-con upper berth |
Hanoi | 486 | 780 | 745 | 632 | 822 | 813 |
Saigon | 667 | 1008 | 964 | 818 | 1062 | 1052 |
Danang | 70 | 108 | 103 | 88 | 114 | 113 |
Nha Trang | 404 | 593 | 568 | 482 | 626 | 619 |
Fares from Danang to: | Soft seat | Hard sleeper | Soft sleeper |
air-con | air-con lower berth | air-con middle berth | air-con top berth | air-con lower berth | air-con upper berth |
Hanoi | 560 | 862 | 825 | 700 | 910 | 900 |
Saigon | 630 | 954 | 913 | 775 | 1008 | 997 |
Hue | 70 | 108 | 103 | 88 | 114 | 113 |
Nha Trang | 337 | 495 | 474 | 402 | 523 | 517 |
Fares from Nha Trang to: | Soft seat | Hard sleeper | Soft sleeper |
air-con | air-con lower berth | air-con middle berth | air-con top berth | air-con lower berth | air-con upper berth |
Hanoi | 920 | 1487 | 1424 | 1208 | 1570 | 1554 |
Saigon | 220 | 360 | 345 | 294 | 367 | 357 |
Danang | 337 | 495 | 474 | 402 | 523 | 517 |
Hue | 404 | 593 | 568 | 482 | 626 | 619 |
How to buy tickets...