Riding a Vietnam sleeper train: what to expect and how to book

We spent 45 days backpacking Vietnam from HCMC to Hanoi with our kids and took a few Vietnam sleeper trains over that time. Here we share honest tips from our experiences to help you plan your own Vietnam train journey.

The North-South railway line, stretching almost two thousand kilometres through Vietnam, isn’t just a transport network, it’s also the symbol of a reunified and connected country. Although few travellers actually complete the whole route in one go, the epic thirty-six hour journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (in either direction) is one of the world’s most iconic railway journeys. In addition to the mainline, there are also separate lines heading out from Hanoi towards Haiphong (for Halong Bay), Lao Cai (for Sapa) and China.

For families visiting Vietnam, the railway line offers a convenient and comfortable option to hop from city to city, with an overnight sleeper journey finding its way onto many people’s list of must-do activities. We’ve taken several railway journeys as a family in Vietnam, including overnight sleepers, and we’ve put together a guide so that you too can take to the rails and experience this classic overland journey.

How to book your Vietnam sleeper train

Seats can be booked directly at the station but most tourists will find life easier if they book online. Our personal favourite website is Baolau, which is an excellent resource for booking tickets and also to research transport options across the whole of Southeast Asia.

It became our go-to transport website for plotting our route around Vietnam. After entering details of your journey, the website displays all available transport options (including train, bus, ferry and plane), timings and cost. Even if you’re not yet ready to book, it’s one of the best online resources to see what’s available, especially for trains (occasionally some bus options were missing, so we also used the 12Go website).

As Baolau has access to the official Vietnam Railways booking engine, it displays the live status of seat availability, allowing you to choose seats and receive instant confirmation. This is always a huge bonus for us as a travelling family; after our experience of sleeper trains in India, where confirmation was sometimes delayed and seat allocation seemingly handled at random, it’s a great peace of mind to know where you’ll be sitting.

International credit cards are accepted and we’ve never had any problems with using them on the site. After payment has been processed, you’ll receive an acknowledgement email immediately, then a confirmation email will usually arrive within an hour containing your pdf e-ticket, which can be used to board the train. There’s no need to print the e-ticket out, just make sure you’re able to display it on the your phone, tablet, etc.

One quirk to be aware of: the Baolau site uses the Vietnamese version of place names so, if you’re looking for (e.g.) Danang, it’ll be listed as ‘Da Nang’. If you’re accustomed to typing the first few letters into a search box, keep this in mind that typing ‘Dan…’ won’t bring back any results.

How far in advance can you book tickets?

The advance booking timeframes are slightly complicated in Vietnam, partly because there are relatively few trains actually running up and down the country, and most of them are serving the entire north-south route. Vietnam Railways don’t want someone booking a seat on a short hop (e.g. Danang to Hue), which would then make that seat unavailable for someone wanting to book for the entire HCMC-Hanoi leg.

As a result, priority is given to people booking longer journeys, and they can usually book up to 60-90 days in advance. The general rule is that the longer your journey, the longer in advance you’ll be able to book, but there isn’t really a definitive answer and the booking window criteria is quite opaque. Your best best is to check regularly or, better yet, sign up for the email alerts on the Baolau site for your chosen journey.

Unless you’re travelling at busy holiday periods (e.g. Tet festival), and are reasonably flexible on travel times, it’s usually possible to reserve an entire compartment or block of seats a few days before travel. However, if you’re travelling as a family and need a four-berth compartment to yourselves on an exact date/time, do try and book as far in advance as possible (at least seven or ten days). Incidentally, solo travellers can usually book seats or berths right up to departure time, it’s rare for an entire train to be completely full.

If you’re booking a very short leg (less than a few hours), don’t panic if no availability is shown several days beforehand. As long as they’re showing as ‘Reserved’ rather than ‘Sold out’, it probably means they’ll become available closer to your journey date.

Seating layout

There are four main types of seating class you’ll encounter on the Vietnamese trains:

• Four-berth soft sleeper. This is our preferred option in Vietnam and the one we always booked, even for journeys during the day. Ideal for a family of four, these have two sets of bunk beds.
• Six-berth hard sleeper. A great option if you’re a larger family, despite the name these compartments are almost identical to the four-berth variety, just with an extra layer of bunks.
• Two-berth luxury sleeper. Some of the normal Vietnamese trains have these options but they’re popular so book as far ahead as possible. On some tourist routes (particularly towards Sapa), various private companies hook their own carriages onto the train and offer high-spec, luxury travel targeted predominately at the high-end tourist market.
• ‘Normal’ seats. If you’re just doing a short daytime journey, you could consider the normal seats which are arranged in pairs (with two sets of four seats around a table in each carriage). They’re cheaper than the compartments but can get noisy, and they often feel crowded. If you’re travelling as a family, we’d suggest booking a compartment if possible, the extra privacy and space is worth the extra money.

What to expect onboard a Vietnam sleeper train

The four-berth compartments are arranged side-by-side in each carriage with a corridor running the length of the carriage. Each carriage has seven compartments, giving 28 berths in each one.

The food and drink options are fairly limited although it does depend which train you’re on. Some of the more prestigious trains (e.g. SE1 and SE2 which serve the entire north-south route) will have a small catering car at the end of the train, plus you can order food and drinks from your carriage via an app.

Otherwise, a limited trolley service is occasionally pushed along the corridor, selling cold drinks, crisps and biscuits. It’s fine for an emergency top-up but quite uninspiring. Try to bring your own supplies if possible. Unlike in some other countries, the trains don’t stop at intermediate stations for very long, so there’s never really enough time to jump off and buy a proper meal. Similarly, it’s rare to see independent food vendors at the stations or find someone trying to sell items directly to you from the platform.

At the end of some of the carriages, you might find a hot and cold water dispenser, handy for making some noodles or if you have your own tea/coffee ingredients.

Inside the compartment itself, there’s plenty of luggage space, especially if you’ve packed light and just have backpacks. There’s a spacious recess about the doors in which you can fit bags and it’s also a handy space for those on the top bunk to store anything they might need throughout the journey. Otherwise, smaller backpacks and bags will easily slide under the bottom bunks. You’ll also spot a few metal hooks next to the beds that will take the weight of a plastic bag or two filled with snacks.

For any charging needs, there are two power points under the fixed table and they’re handily placed for when you’re in the bed and need some power.

Above the door are an array of switches and knobs, some of which work, although some don’t. They control the ceiling lights and the loudspeaker used for announcements (we’d suggest turning this off unless you feel the Vietnamese announcements will be of use). As far as we could tell, the air-conditioning wasn’t controlled within the compartment itself and was instead set for the whole carriage. On the whole, the temperature in the compartment was set to a sensible level, but make sure you have a sarong or blanket handy. Pillows and blankets are provided, and white sheets are draped over each bunk.

Our kids slept up on the top bunk, partly because they asked to and partly because us parents didn’t feel too confident in climbing up to the top. The only ‘ladder’ is a tiny ledge which barely has enough space for a child’s foot. Unless you’re quite nimble, getting up and down is a bit tricky. One up there though, the boys seemed quite secure, with railings keeping them in place.

All compartments have locks on the inside, giving extra peace of mind. We’d suggest using them as the guards are fond of bursting in without knocking.

There are small lights next to each bunk in case you have time for some reading after the kids have passed out.

But what about the toilets?

It’s something we’re asked about a lot; what are the toilets like? The quick answer is that they’re fine, nothing special, but we’ve seen a lot worse.

Situated at the end of each carriage, they’re of the ‘western’ variety (i.e. not squat and drop) and were kept in pretty clean condition, although you won’t want to linger. They’re arguably in need of an upgrade and refurbishment, and space is always an issue, but we were relieved to find solid locks, toilet paper (bring your own in case it runs out), and a working flush.

Back out in the corridor, there’s a neat and spacious pair of sinks where you can wash your hands and brush your teeth. The soap dispensers were out of action on our trains though, so we were grateful for the hand sanitiser we’d packed.

How clean are the trains?

A solid 6 out of 10. They’re not spotless by any means, and it’s best not to look under the bunks but, on the whole, we had no complaints. One annoyance is that if you join the train midway through its journey, and passengers have just left the compartment, there’s no time for any staff member to clean. On one occasion we had to tidy up ourselves a little, which wasn’t ideal.

Do we recommend?

Yes, we completely recommend you take the chance to jump onboard and experience a sleeper train, it’s easily the best way to travel around the country.

For travelling families, they work best if you can select one that leaves mid-afternoon so you get to see some of the scenery before the sun sets. The stations aren’t the best part of the experience, often hot, crowded, with a severe lack of seating and information, although some are better than others. Ninh Binh was the best, Nha Trang the worst. Try to avoid arriving too early as the stations are not the best places to kill time.

Onboard, the private compartments are a lovely way to travel and make for a cosy experience for the whole family. The beds are narrow but comfortable and the rickety track bed makes the train rock from side to side, which takes some getting used to but eventually rocks you off to sleep.

Tips for your Vietnam sleeper train

• Don’t arrive too early at the station; they’re not the comfiest places and seating is limited.
• Bring your own snacks onboard, food options aren’t amazing.
• Aim for a train that departs early afternoon if you’re travelling a long distance overnight, it’ll give you the best views and help you avoid having to kill too much time before your train leaves.
• Take a couple of plastic bags in case you need to perform a quick tidy of your compartment when you get in.
• You probably have them already in your day bag, but check your stocks of toilet paper and hand-sanitiser.
• There’s a timetable at the end of each carriage, so you can keep track of progress.
• Have an offline Google Maps of the route so you can see where you are.
• There’s no wifi, so bring a few board games and books for longer journeys.
• Bring backpacks if you can, rather than hard suitcases; they’ll fit into the luggage space easier.
• Keep an eye out for the signs on the platform that tell you approximately where your carriage will stop before boarding.

Final thoughts on riding a Vietnam sleeper train

A sleeper train journey is one of our favourite travel experiences, and Vietnam does them better than most. Especially if your journey takes place in the daylight, you’re guaranteed a front row seat for some amazing views as the country slowly drifts past your window.

As a family, you’ll appreciate paying extra for the private compartments, definitely worth the extra cost compared to a normal seat. The extra privacy makes the journey pass by that much quicker and, if you’re anything like us, you might be slightly disappointed when the loudspeaker crackles into life announcing the arrival at your next destination.

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