Halong Bay Place guide

Given the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, Halong Bay is renowned for its enchanting landscape of limestone islets. Meaning ‘Bay of Descending Dragons,” the popular archipelago is made up of 1,969 islands. Attracting millions of visitors per year, it is one of Vietnam’s famous tourist attractions and one of the biggest drivers of Hanoi tourism.

What to do: Day Cruises & Overnight Trips

There are many activities to do in and around Halong Bay. You can opt to take a day cruise from Hanoi, where you’ll get to kayak or raft around the limestone cliffs. Since Halong Bay is dotted with nearly 2,000 uninhabited limestone cliffs, the scenery and natural backdrop of the area is a sight worth seeing. 

If you want to spend the night on water, you can join an overnight cruise, which can include kayaking, cave and cliff visits, cooking or tai chi classes, and / or squid fishing! This is also great if you want to catch the sunrise, sunset, and moonlight on the sea as well. We recommend two liners for an overnight cruise: aboard the brand new Halong Bay Sapphire Cruise Ship or the boutique Royal Palace Halong Bay Cruise Ship.

Other sights: Soi Sim Island is another interesting destination in the area. Here you can swim or climb 389 steps to the very top and be treated to picturesque views. There is also a cave, known as Surprise Cave – the largest and most impressive in Halong Bay definitely worth a visit. 

Best time to go: Although you can come to this Hanoi bay all year-round, the best time to visit is from March to June. You can also visit during December when the weather is cool but dry. If you go from January to February, there may be slight drizzling. Try to avoid public holidays due to the large amounts of people.

How to get there: 

• Jump on a tour, like this Halong Bay Cruise from Hanoi
  
  
• To get from Hanoi to Halong Bay independently, you can take a bus from My Dinh Bus Station in Hanoi to Bai Chay. From Bai Chay, you can take a motorbike taxi to Ha Long City.
  
  
• You can also take a train from Hanoi to Hai Phong and from there (approximately 3 hours travel time), take a taxi or xe om (motorbike taxi) to the ferry station and purchase a bus-ferry-bus ticket to Cat Ba. If you take the first train at around 9:20am, you can make it from Hanoi to Cat Ba at around 4:00pm.