Hanoi to Cat Ba transfer – All you need to know
1. Go straight from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island – Hanoi to Cat Ba transfer:
The most time-saving way to travel from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island is to go straight. There are many high-quality tourist bus companies operating this route such as: Cat Ba Express, Interbus Lines, Fullmoon Party Bus, Good Morning Cat Ba, etc. The travel time is from 3.5 – 4 hours.
- Arcady Express: This is the new service run by Arcady which offers guests more options to transfer from Hanoi to Cat Ba Island. For more information, please refer to this guideline on Hanoi – Cat Ba Express.
- Cat Ba Express: There are 3 transfer to Cat Ba every day, departing at 7:30 am, 10:45 am, 14:00 pm. The coaches provide with full amenities including free Wifi, mineral water, pastries, cold towels.
- Universe Noble: The 34-seat car is equipped with comfortable reclining seat and very soft cushion. The car runs on the Hanoi – Hai Phong highway, goes to Tan Vu – Lach Huyen Bridge to Cat Hai Island and drops off passengers at Got ferry. Then, travelers with transfer by private high-speed train to Phu Long for 10 minutes. Ticket price is about 280,000 VND / way.
- Hoang Long Transportation: The car delivers you to Ding Vu Ferry in Hai Phong, the you keep getting in the company’s high-speed train for 25 minutes to Cai Vieng wharf (on Cat Ba island). Continue traveling by car of the company to the center of Cat Ba town. Ticket price is 240,000 VND / way.
-
Arcady Shuttle Bus – Photo from Arcady By shuttle coach of Arcady Cruise: Guests joining a Lan Ha Day 1 day tour with Arcady can easily get to Cat Ba Island as Lan Ha Bay is one of the top beautiful attractions in Cat Ba Island.
2. Follow the route Hanoi – Hai Phong – Cat Ba – Hanoi to Cat Ba transfer:
a. Move from Hanoi to Hai Phong:
Hanoi and Hai Phong both have airports, however, motorbikes or buses, trains are the most reasonable means of transportation for such a short distance.
- Motorbike: If traveling by motorbike, you will have to go to Highway 5A, the travel time is about 2 – 2.5 hours.
- Route 1: Take the Hanoi – Hai Phong highway
- Route 2: Go through Highway 5 and Highway 5B
- Passenger cars: You can refer to Hoang Long, Hai Au, Hoang Ngan, Huy Dat Cang transports, Ngoc Huyen bus, Hai Phong VT Bus, etc.
- Train: There are trains from Gia Lam and Long Bien stations in Hanoi to Hai Phong. Ticket price is about 60,000 – 90,000 VND. Travel time from 2.5 – 3 hours.
b. Move from Hai Phong to Cat Ba:
- Buy tickets of Hoang Long Transport Company to go from Hai Phong City to Cat Ba Town. The car departs from the company’s head office at: 4 Le Thanh Tong – Hai Phong, going to Dinh Vu Ferry for about 25 minutes. Then take a high-speed train of the company for 25 minutes to go to Cai Vieng Wharf (on Cat Ba Island). Continue travelling by car of the company to the center of Cat Ba town. Total travel time is about 1 hour, fares from 150,000 / person.
-
Got Pier – Photo from thanhnien You can buy the ferry tickets to Cat Ba Island at Dinh Vu Ferry in Hai Phong City. Upon arrival, continue to move to Got Pier on Cat Hai Island (about more than 7km) and then get on board of the ferry to Cai Vieng Wharf. From there, keep moving for about 40 minutes to the center of Cat Ba Town. The advantage of this way is that it is cheap but takes a lot of time, over 3 hours.
c. Special means of transportation to the island:
- High-speed train from Binh Pier: Ticket price is from 200,000 VND – 250,000 VND / person, travel time is about 45 minutes to Cat Ba Island.
- Crossing Tan Vu Bridge (the bridge connecting the Hanoi → Hai Phong Highway to Got pier in Cat Hai district): Tourists cross the bridge to Got Pier, take the ferry to Cai Vieng Wharf or the high speed train to Phu Long Wharf, then continue to move to the center of Cat Ba Island by bus.
* Note: The most economical way to go from Got Pier to Cai Vieng:
- Take a ferry from Got station with VND 12,000 / person, travel time from 20-30 minutes.
- Take the highway from Got to Phu Long (Cai Vieng): 50,000 VND / person, travel time only about 8-10 minutes.
3. Hanoi – Halong – Cat Ba:
a. Move from Hanoi – Halong:
Tourists tend to combine both Ha Long and Cat Ba on their journey so the transit point in Tuan Chau ferry regularly gets overloaded. Thus, you should book tickets early. The last ferry departs from Tuan Chau at 3pm daily, the fare is 220,000 VND / person.
-
Tuan Chau Ferry – Photo from tuanchau-halong.com. vn By bus:
Passenger bus to Ha Long departs from My Dinh Bus Station with the earliest departure from 6 am and the last trip at 5:00 pm. This bus drops you at Bai Chay Bus Station in Halong City and runs for every 5-15 minutes. Ticket price ranges from VND 120,000 / person – VND 180,000 / person.
- By motorbikes: you can refer to one of these two routes:
– From Hanoi City center: follow the National Road 5 to the junction of Sai Dong heading for Bac Ninh Province. From Bac Ninh, keep following the Road 18 to Pha Lai – Chi Linh – Dong Trieu – Uong Bi – Halong. The total distance is about 155km.
– Noi Bai Airport – Bac Ninh – Highway 18A through Pha Lai – Sao Do – Dong Trieu – Uong Bi – Halong about 160km.
- By train: Halong Express Train departs from Gia Lam Station, takes about 5 hours to Halong, about 100,000 VND / way / person.
b. Move from Ha Long to Cat Ba Island:
From Tuan Chau Island, tourists can buy ferry tickets to Gia Luan on Cat Ba Island. From Gia Luan Wharf, travel for another 45 minutes along the road on the island to Cat Ba town. Travel expenses: for pedestrians: VND 70,000, for motorbikes: VND 90,000, for cars with less than 9 seats: VND 450,000, for cars with 9-15 seats: VND 500,000, for cars with 16-23 seats: VND 550,000.
In addition, if you want to travel by high-speed train, visitors only take about 20 minutes to go from Tuan Chau to Gia Luan wharf with the ticket price of 170,000 VND / person.
*The price is updated in 2019.
4. What to do in Cat Ba Island:
Welcome you to Cat Ba Island. The majestic island is just some steps away from you. Are you ready to take on an exploration with us? Let’s see top things to do in Cat Ba Island. For more instant support, please contact us via our:
- Hotline: +84 916 865 586
- Email: info@arcadycruise.com
See you soon in a trip to the Wonderland with Arcady Cruise.
Lan Ha Bay floating villages
Known as the sister of the wonderful Halong Bay, Lan Ha Bay also owns the impressive karst landscape with hundreds of towering karst islands and islets emerging from the emerald water. Thanks to its peaceful view and more private atmosphere, Lan Ha Bay has become more famous to visitors who wish to spend their vacation in a quieter place. Besides the scenic bay view, the enticing local life here also attracts a lot of visitors to come and discover the bay. In this article, we would like to introduce to you the most famous and worth-visiting Lan Ha Bay floating villages. Keep on exploring!
1. Cai Beo Floating Village – The oldest among Lan Ha Bay floating villages
a. Location:
Cai Beo Floating Village also known as Vung O Floating Village is located on Ngoc Island in Cat Ba Archipelago, Cat Hai District, Hai Phong City. The village used to be one of the largest ancient floating villages in the country in general and among Lan Ha Bay floating villages in particular in the prehistoric times. There are about 300 households living here whose life attaches closely with fish catching and farming activities. While cruising on a Lan Ha Bay 1 day tour, you can also find many locals raising fish on the bay.
b. What allures visitors when visiting Cai Beo Village:
From a distance, Cai Beo captivates visitors with its lush green water, undulating rocky mountains mixed with the blue sky creating a tranquil and picturesque picture. On the floating water, the fishing village consists of many boat houses linked together in groups. Not only the boats, there are floating houses on Cai Beo sitting close with each other by fish cages. From one house you can easily walk to other houses on a small bridge or on these cages.
An interesting suggestion to discover the village is to rent a boat and roam on water to explore the life among households here. You can learn how they conduct their life and raise fish on the bay. Besides, visitors can freely admire the poetic scenery of Lan Ha Bay and sample many special dishes made from fish, shrimp raised on the village. Having meals with friendly people in their house can be an ideal suggestion for you to get closer to the enticing local life of the floating village on Lan Ha Bay.
Furthermore, Cai Beo is considered one of the most important archaeological vestige sites in the coastal area and northeastern island of Vietnam, with 4 times of surveying and excavation by research teams.
2. Viet Hai Floating Village
Compared to other fishing villages, Viet Hai has a relatively small area of only about 141ha, with more than 70 households. However, the unique feature of Viet Hai is surrounded by four surfaces forests and limestone mountains creating a peaceful and poetic scenery here.
a. Location:
Viet Hai Ancient Village is a small fishing village, located deep in Cat Ba National Park, in Cat Hai island district, Hai Phong. With an area of about 141ha, with about 70 households living, Viet Hai has a pristine landscape, almost without the influence of human.
There are 2 ways to get to Viet Hai – one of Lan Ha Bay floating villages: take a boat through Lan Ha Bay to Viet Hai wharf or you can cross the pristine forest through Cat Ba National Park to enter the village.
b. A rustic and tranquil village:
Compared to other fishing villages in Cat Ba, so far Viet Hai retains the typical culture of the villages in the Northern Delta. The unique feature is that Viet Hai is separated from the outside and surrounded by surface forests and limestone mountains.
In recent years, Viet Hai has become an attractive community-based eco-tourist destination, especially for foreign tourists. Coming here, visitors can stay away from the daily bustling life, immerse in the peaceful, untouched space of nature and the forest.
More interestingly, visitors here can leisurely walk or rent bicycles to experience sightseeing, explore and learn about the life of indigenous people. Especially, you can join a trekking trip through Cat Ba National Park. For foreign tourists, you can try to cook rice with firewood, grow vegetables, harvest rice guided by local people.
A day staying with locals will help you understand more about the peaceful life on Lan Ha. If you are looking for somewhere off the beaten track, then Lan Ha Bay is the right destination for you. And don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any further information:
- Hotline: +84 916 865 586
- Email: info@arcadycruise.com
