From Hue to Da Nang - Train Ride Along the Coast

During my two week trip across Vietnam, I visited 6 cities. To make the most out of my trip, I flew in and out of most of the cities to cut down on travel time. That is, except for my trip from Hue to Da Nang. While both cities do have airports, I’ve been told that the train ride between the two cities hug the coastline and offers one of the most spectacular views from a train. Since I’ve always loved trains and the ride itself was only 2.5 hours, I figured it’d be a great opportunity to try another type of transportation on my trip.

Initially, I tried to book my train tickets in advance through my hotel. When I asked, I was told that they’re not able to do that for me before I checked in since it requires my passport information. I ended up using Baolau.com to buy my tickets online. The tickets cost 93,000 Dongs ($8.52 CAD) for two coach seats and 15,000 Dongs ($0.85 CAD) processing fees. The e-tickets were emailed to me within the hour and I had no troubles using it.

The Hue train station was only 1 KM from our hotel but we figured that we’d grab some food outside the train station. I had this image of a busy train station but when I got there, the building was nearly empty and did not have any air conditioning. We went to Mr. Pho Cafe across from the station to sit down and have breakfast. It’s a typical local spot with plastic table and chairs outside, under a covered area. Mr. Pho was actually there and turned on all the fans for us. He had an English menu, maps of of cities that’s on the train’s route as well as snacks/beverages/toiletries for your travels. He also used his own cellphone to helped me call my hotel for me and arrange a driver to pick us up from the train station. I had emailed my hotel but they' were really slow with their replies.

While we’re waiting, we ordered an omelette bahn mi and a beef pho. After we ordered, Mr. Pho brought out a pot of tea and told us that we can sit here and used the wifi until our train arrives. He told us to relax because you can hear the train announcement from where we’re sitting. To be honest, I would probably skip the beef pho. It kind of look and taste like 2 packages of instant pho cooked with some beef and cabbages. I would definitely have the omelette bahn mi again. The omelette had some onions added to it and it was piping hot, sandwiched between fresh baguette.

The station announced our train was arriving about 15 minutes prior to it’s actual arrival and indeed, you can hear that from Mr. Pho’s. When you go into the station, you simply show your e-ticket and the staff will let you on to the platform and will even point you to the area to wait that’s the closest to your seat. It’s a small station and there is a police station on the platform itself so it’s quite safe.

We got to our seats without any trouble at all. There were overhead compartments to store our luggage and the train had air conditioning. After about an hour and a half, a lady came by with a food trolley for rice/vermicelli/fish cakes/meats. We were still full from breakfast so we didn’t order anything. The entire ride was pretty quiet with the exception of these random variety show clips that would play on the TV monitors…

During the train ride, we cut through the back alley way of small houses, rice fields and hugged the coast line to see the sandy beaches, mountains and cliffs. It was a relaxing and easy way to see a variety of landscape in Vietnam inside an air conditioned cabin. When it’s 50 degrees outside, you learn to appreciate things like that. If you’re considering taking the train from Hue to Da Nang, I would say just do it. There’s nothing to regret.

I will end with a quick note. When you exit the train station, you will be bombarded with people who are asking you if you need a ride into town or to Hoi An. My hotel charged me a premium (300,000 Dongs/$16.95 CAD) but the average private car ride from Hoi An to Da Nang should be about 200,000 Dongs/$11.30 CAD without any negotiation. I would imagine that the ride from Da Nang to Hoi An would be of similar cost.