EmVietnam sleeper trains are a must-do experience. Whether you’re heading from the beauty of the central region up to the vibrant capital Hanoi, or out into mountainous Sapa, this is an opportunity to have an experience that would be out of reach for many people in other parts of the world.
As a long, thin country, Vietnam is uniquely suited to these long-distance train rides. However, not everything about taking the train in Vietnam is straight forward! This guide will take you through how to make the most of the amazing experience of Vietnam sleeper trains.
History of Vietnam’s railway
The train line stretches from Ho Chi Minh City in the south up to the capital Hanoi in the north. It continues on to Lao Cai, the nearest major city to Sapa, where you can find Mount Fansipan, the highest peak in Indochina.
The train line is known as the Reunification Express, and was first built by French colonialists in 1899. It played a major role in the Vietnam War, and was heavily damaged. It was restored in 1976 after the fall of Saigon. The railway was promoted as a symbol of Vietnamese unity as the north and south of Vietnam were joined together.
When I visited Vietnam in 2010, the only way to travel on the railway was on Vietnamese rail carriages, and it was not a recommended journey! The journey was known to be long and deeply uncomfortable. However, nearly 15 years later, it couldn’t be more different, at least in terms of comfort. It’s still very long!
How to travel on Vietnam sleeper trains
Throughout this guide, I’ll talk through the different types of train and berth available, how to get food, what the toilet situation is like and how I chose the trains I did. I’ll also talk through my experiences on the two routes I used for Vietnam sleeper trains. Finally, I’ll give a verdict on whether each one was worth it!
How long is the journey on Vietnam sleeper trains
This obviously depends on the route! For the most popular routes for Vietnam sleeper trains:
What is the timetable? How frequent are the trains?
The reality is that the timetable is pretty sparse. There are usually only a couple of departures each day for Vietnam sleeper trains. In most cases, only one of them will offer good timings.
The timings I would recommend are:
- Da Nang – Hanoi – 18.05 to 11.46 (SE20)
- Hanoi – Da Nang – 19.20 to 11.33 (SE3)
- Hanoi – Sapa – 22.00 to 6.10 (SP3)
- Sapa – Hanoi
- Ho Chi Minh – Da Nang – 19.00 to 12.42 (SE4)
- Da Nang – Ho Chi Minh – 12.47 – 6.50am (SE1)
You can find all train timings on this helpful website. For each route, it will show multiple departures at the same time. This shows you which private companies are also running carriages on this route (e.g. Chapa Express, Lotus Express)
Carriage types
Vietnam’s rail system is unusual in that it has two types of carriage:
- Carriages run by Vietnam Rail as part of the Reunification Express. These offer a number of different seat/berth types, but are understood to offer lower quality than the alternative private carriages
- Carriages run by private companies. These are attached to the existing Vietnam Rail carriages, and therefore run on the same timetable. However, they are run by private companies and generally offer a higher standard of travel. It’s worth noting though that there are differences in quality between the private companies. You should do your research on which is right for you.
Seat and berth types on Vietnam sleeper trains
There are a number of different options when it comes to ticket types on Vietnam’s railways.
Vietnam rail
- Hard seat – a wooden seat
- Soft seat – a typical leather train seat, with 2 seats together on either side of an aisle
- Hard sleeper – a 6 berth sleeper cabin, with 3 bunks on either side of the cabin
- Soft sleeper – a 4 berth sleeper cabin, which is more comfortable than a hard berth e.g. softer mattress.
Private companies:
- 4 berth cabin – similar to a Vietnam Rail soft sleeper, these have two bunks on either side of the cabin. There will be a small table in the middle. There is limited space under the bottom bunks for luggage and some space above the door as well. They have pillows and duvets, power sockets for each bunk and usually nightlights on each bunk. There is a fold-down step to help you get to the top bunk, but it’s still a bit of a struggle.
- 2 berth cabins – these vary across the companies, but are primarily the same cabin as the 4 berth but with the two top bunks folded back. This gives a lot more space and light, and in my experience meant that the aircon was more efficient. To book this cabin, you have to book both bunks even if you are a solo traveller.
Through luck, I ended up staying in both of these cabin types!
- VIP cabins
Some of trains going up to Sapa also offer other cabin types, including VIP cabins that have better decor and amenities. For example, the Chapa Express offered Suite Cabins, which only had two bunks (rather than the top bunks folded back). They also had their new Premium Cabin, which I got to peek into when I got chatting to one of the people staying in it. It’s even more beautiful than the regular Chapa Express, with crisp white linens, better mattresses and an even more spacious toilet.
What’s the toilet situation on Vietnam sleeper trains?
All the private carriages on Vietnam sleeper trains have fairly luxurious western style toilets. That means a proper ceramic toilet, unlike the nasty metal ones often found on UK trains. There were toilet cubicles at either end of each carriage.
There were also fairly luxurious sinks on both trains I took. Rather than having a sink in the toilet cubicle, these were separated out to allow more space for people to e.g. wash faces, brush teeth before settling down for the night. They both had hand soap.
If you are taking the Vietnam Rail carriages, the toilet situation is likely to be a bit more hit and miss. I have read that each carriage has one western and one squat toilet, but can’t confirm this from personal experience.
Top tip: bring toilet paper. While both trains I took had this to start, it had run out by the end of the journey (and after about an hour on the Lotus Express. It wasn’t replaced on either train, which felt like a weird oversight compared to the luxury experience the companies offered in other regards.
What’s the food situation on Vietnam sleeper trains?
Let’s face it, you’re going to be on your Vietnam sleeper trains for a while. Especially if you’re travelling on the Hanoi-Da Nang route! It’s going to be difficult to carry enough food and water for a 19 hour journey, so it’s important to know what your onboard options are.
Both the Chapa Express and Lotus Express offered snack bags, which were in the cabins on arrival. For the Lotus Express, these were fairly substantial: there was a breakfast bag (see picture below) and about 3 different types of snack on the table. They also provided a bottle of water for each person, with more available from the steward, and offered free beer.
The Chapa Express was a shorter journey, and therefore offered a little less. We had a couple of snacks on the table, and a banana and croissant. They also provided water.
The Vietnam sleeper trains also have a cart that comes around offering coffee and tea. These arrived in the evening and first thing in the morning on the Lotus Express. On the Chapa Express the cart came by after departure, and the steward took coffee orders for the morning given that the journey was much shorter.
The Lotus Express also had a dinner cart, which came by offering rice and typical Vietnamese food.
How to choose which company to use?
For the routes from Da Nang to Hanoi, and Hanoi to Sapa, there are many private companies running train carriages attached to the Vietnam Rail trains, and choosing the right one can feel really overwhelming!
The private companies differ in quality and price, and ultimately you’ll need to work out the right balance for you.
I read lots of reviews before I chose my companies, including on 12goAsia, Trip Advisor and Google, and I also watched videos on Instagram and Tiktok. Blogs with people’s detailed experiences were also really useful.
I ended up settling on the Lotus Express for my trip from Da Nang to Ninh Binh (the route which continues to Hanoi) and the Chapa Express for Hanoi to Sapa.
Top tip: When I looked into reviews of Vietnam sleeper trains, many companies had really bad reviews. But when I looked a bit deeper, many of them related to the motion of the train. This is obviously out of the control of the private company, because it relates to the tracks themselves. Once I realised this, it became easier to ignore what initially looked like very poor reviews.
My experience on Vietnam sleeper trains
The Lotus Express from Da Nang to Ninh Binh
I chose the Lotus Express because it has lots of positive reviews, and I’d seen lots of detailed videos and blogs talking about the experience.
Boarding
You board the train at around 5.30pm at Da Nang’s train station (about 30 minutes before departure). There is a shop just outside where you can buy any snacks you want before you enter as well. I was in a four berth cabin and was joined by two French women shortly after I boarded, and we were told that there wouldn’t be a fourth person. Although it wasn’t possible to specify when booking, I was lucky to get a bottom bunk.
The cabin
The cabin was clean, with the signature Lotus Express bedding. It’s not as shiny as it once was – to be honest, it felt like it needed a bit of an upgrade. The walls were a bit scratched, and the bedding felt faded.
There is a bit of space under the bottom bunks to put backpacks, and some space above the top bunk as well. With a more square backpack, I struggled to get mine under, and once there were 3 of us in the cabin it felt very crowded with luggage!
We found excellent snacks on our table – the breakfast bags were really substantial and there were a lot of other snacks as well. There was a reading light and a socket on each bunk, and a socket below the middle table as well.
Private cabin
While I had a lovely chat with the two French women, I ended up getting really lucky with a private cabin to myself. The carriage wasn’t full, and after departure the steward came around and offered a cash upgrade. This was around £15 and I jumped at the opportunity – it would’ve cost around £150/180e/$190 on top of my single ticket to book the two berth cabin up front.
Top tip: if you are interested in having the VIP/2 berth cabin, but not sure: wait and see if an upgrade is available after departure, as this will be much cheaper!
The beds were as comfortable as any narrow bed on a train is going to get, and the bedding was clean. However, the train itself is extremely noisy! Bring earplugs if you have them. Note that we were also woken up at around 7am by the coffee cart going past and banging on all the doors!
I had a great experience on this trip. The journey time was long, but this meant that there was time to settle in and enjoy the experience. It’s dark when you leave, but once you wake up you get to watch the beautiful scenery of north Vietnam going past. There’s plenty of time to wash your face and teeth and have breakfast without feeling rushed, and it arrives at a reasonable time. I was lucky and my hotel room was ready when I arrived at about 10.30am.
Verdict
The Vietnam sleeper trains are a great way to travel through this part of Vietnam, and certainly a much more unique experience than taking a flight. It does also feel like you can get a good enough sleep to actually say you’ve saved on a night’s accommodation/saved the travel time during the day.
Heading to Ninh Binh? Check out my post Ninh Binh: The most amazing things to do in this stunning area
The Chapa Express from Hanoi to Sapa
I chose the Chapa Express as it had excellent reviews, and was less expensive than the top reviewed company (VicSapa). While I didn’t get to use it, one of their key selling points is their lounge at Lao Cai station – if you are travelling from Sapa to Hanoi, this gives you the opportunity to shower before boarding.
Boarding
The Chapa Express boarded at about 9.30pm. I was once again with a group of French people – 3 siblings this time. We were lucky that they were on an organised tour so only had their overnight bags rather than their big packs – this made the full cabin much less crowded.
The cabin
In contrast to the dated Lotus Express, the Chapa Express was stunningly beautiful. It felt luxurious, with cabins decorated in fabrics made by local groups living around Sapa. Even the walls were beautiful fabric!
I was in a four bed berth in their ‘Deluxe Cabin’, and it was stunning. But I also got to peek into their newer cabins, which are ‘Premium Cabins’ – these took things to another level and truly felt like a boutique hotel. I snuck in to use their even nicer toilets a couple of times…!
This train was much more popular and all the cabins in my carriage were full. It was very busy to start off, as everyone wanted to get settled as soon as possible before going to sleep – I had to wait for the toilet and sinks a few times.
Once we’d departed, we got to go past Hanoi’s famous Train Street, which was a real experience having sat there for a coffee the day before! There was also the chance to get a tea or a coffee from the cart, or to pre-order for the morning.
The sleeping experience
My cabin settled down to sleep fairly quickly, given that the journey was only six hours. Again, I was lucky to have a bottom bunk and the bedding was much nicer than on the Lotus Express. I did try the complementary earplugs but they didn’t work for me (or anyone else in my cabin) so I quickly switched to my own and fell asleep.
We woke up early at around 5am. It then got very busy as the full carriage wanted to go to the bathroom, wash teeth and faces and get ready. We tucked into the breakfast and my pre-ordered coffee arrived. Given the time of the morning, the scenery was much less spectacular as it was still quite misty out, but we did get to see a bit of countryside before arriving at Lao Cai station.
Arrival
Lao Cai is about a 45 minute drive from Sapa itself. I had pre-booked a transfer with Chapa Express, and like almost everyone else I got into a minivan and settled in for the winding journey. However, there was also a local bus that you could take for a lot less money (and a lot less comfort)
Verdict:
The level of comfort and luxury on the Chapa Express was so much higher than on the Lotus Express, and made this a really special experience. However, I’m not sure I’d do it again – the short journey time meant I didn’t get enough sleep. We arrived in Sapa at around 7.30am and my hotel room wasn’t ready until midday – I was so tired I felt like I lost most of the day anyway as there’s not much to do so early in the morning.
If I was going to do this journey again, I’d do what I did on the way back: take a comfortable VIP bus either early or late in the day so that I still had some time in my chosen city, but slept in my bed rather than on the train. The bus is also significantly cheaper.
However, if you function better on limited sleep than I do, this journey is certainly an incredible experience.
Have you taken the sleeper train in Vietnam? Let me know in the comments about your experience!
Heading to Hoi An? Check out my posts on Hoi An:
