Hanoi to Ha Long: every route, and the costs

The road from Hanoi to the Ha Long piers is about 160 km and takes two and a half hours. The operators’ own transfer is usually a shared limousine van that collects from Old Quarter hotels around 08:00. Whether that van is in your fare depends on the boat: of the 92 boats we publish, twelve include it on the operator’s own terms, and 21 others publish a per-person price, mostly US$20 to US$45 return.

How far is it, and how long does it take?

About 160 km, two and a half hours, on the expressway out towards Hai Phong and then the coastal stretch north to Ha Long.

That two and a half hours is the drive alone. A shared van spends its first stretch going round hotels: Renea’s, for example, collects from 07:30 to 08:00 and reaches the pier at 11:30–11:45. Our guide to what time Ha Long cruises board and return has the lounge and boarding times boat by boat.

Coming straight from Noi Bai airport needs its own arrangement. Several shared shuttles do not stop at the airport at all: Dragon Legend, Dragon’s Pearl and the three Indochine boats say so in writing, and send airport guests to a private car.

A handful of operators price the airport run directly. Cycad sells a shared seat from Noi Bai at 850,000 VND each way (about US$33), and private cars from the airport at 3,200,000 VND for four seats, 3,700,000 for seven and 5,200,000 for eleven, roughly US$125, US$144 and US$202. La Regina charges US$95 for a four-seat car from Hanoi or Noi Bai, and Hermes US$125–170 between Ha Long and Noi Bai. Flying into Cat Bi at Hai Phong shortens the road: Nostalgia quotes the 35 km from there at US$22 to US$65 a trip depending on the vehicle, La Regina US$65 a car, and Genesis Regal sells transfers from Noi Bai, Van Don and Cat Bi.

Which boats include the transfer from Hanoi?

Twelve of the 92, and the terms differ. Three Bhaya boats include a return shared limousine only when you book on the operator’s website. The four Indochina Junk boats in Bai Tu Long bundle a van into the packages on the operator’s site. Stellar of the Seas and Elite run a free shared limousine for up to nine, and Unicharm folds a shared bus into its per-person price. The last two, La Pandora and Cozy Bay Grand, sell a “from Hanoi” package that carries the shuttle; Cozy Bay Grand says it costs US$9–15 a person more than making your own way to the port.

Boats	What the operator offers	Hanoi pick-up	Back in Hanoi
Au Co, Bhaya Classic, Bhaya Soul	Shared limousine, return, included for bookings on the operator’s site; private car extra	08:00–08:30
Dragon Legend, Dragon’s Pearl, Prince, Red Dragon	Luxury van included in the operator’s packages	08:20–08:45	16:00–16:30
Stellar of the Seas and its sister Elite	Shared limousine free for up to nine; shared Sedona MPV US$10 each way	08:15–08:35	14:00 (Elite)
Cozy Bay Grand	Shuttle from 12 meeting points around the Old Quarter, in the from-Hanoi price	07:10–07:45	16:00
La Pandora	Return shuttle in the from-Hanoi package, from 37 Ngo Huyen
Unicharm	Shared bus included in the per-person price	08:00–08:30

Bhaya Classic and Dragon Legend are the two to look at first if a transfer in the price matters to you. On Dragon Legend’s run the return leg goes via Yen Duc village and its water-puppet show, which is why those four boats get guests back to Hanoi at 16:00–16:30, later than most.

The catch with “included” is the small print. Book a Bhaya boat through an agency and the free limousine may not come with it, and Cozy Bay Grand’s included shuttle is built into a higher fare.

What do the others charge for the shuttle?

Mostly US$10 to US$25 a person each way, or US$20 to US$45 return. Twenty-one boats publish a per-person shuttle price on their own sites, and grouped by operator they look like this.

Boats	Shared shuttle, per person	Hanoi pick-up
Venezia	US$10 one way, US$20 return
La Regina Classic, Grand, Legend, Royal	US$18 each way	08:00–08:30
Hermes	US$20 each way	08:00–08:30
Majesty Prime	US$20 one way, US$35 return
Indochine, Indochine Grand, Indochine Premium	about US$25 one way, US$35 return	08:00–08:30
Doria	US$15 one way, US$30 return	08:45–09:15
Sena, Swan	US$30 return	07:45–08:30 (Swan)
Scarlet Pearl	US$35 return	08:00–08:30
Venus	US$40 a seat return	09:00–09:30
Orchid Classic, Luxury, Premium, Trendy	US$45 return	07:50–08:20
Emperor	US$45 return, door-to-door 8-seat van	08:00–08:30
Cycad	750,000 VND each way (about US$29)

A couple taking the Orchid shuttle pays US$90 for the road on top of the cabin. On a La Regina boat two seats there and back come to US$72. Hermes and Doria bring shuttle guests back to Hanoi at 15:30; Majesty Prime, Indochine and Orchid at 14:30.

Thirty-four of the 72 boats with published transfer terms say plainly that the transfer is not in the fare. Many of those, Paradise, Doris and Victory among them, still run a shared van you can add when you book. Heritage Line Ginger has no shared shuttle and offers private cars only, and Starlight quotes a private car at about US$80–120 one way.

Children ride cheaply on a few shuttles. Cycad carries children aged one to four free when they share a seat, Majesty Prime takes under-threes free on a lap, and Venus lets one child under five per booking travel free.

What time does the van collect you, and when are you back?

Around 08:00, and back in Hanoi around 14:30. Of the 52 boats that publish a Hanoi pick-up time, 26 give 08:00 and 42 fall between 07:45 and 08:30; the earliest is Cozy Bay Grand at 07:10 and the latest windows are Calypso’s and Venus’s, from 09:00 to 09:30. Thirty-one boats give a time back in Hanoi, from 14:00 to 16:30, with 14:30 the most common.

The harbour moves the return. Boats from Tuan Chau that publish one bring guests back at a median of 14:30 (22 boats). From the Ha Long International Cruise Port at Bai Chay the median is 16:00 (eight boats), pulled late by the four Indochina Junk boats and their stop at Yen Duc.

Fifty of those 72 boats name the Old Quarter or Hoan Kiem as the pick-up area. If your hotel is outside it, six of them (Diana, Hermes, Renea, Treasure, Victory and Victory Star) send you to the Opera House instead, and Mon Cheri uses 16 Thi Sach. Ask for the exact point when you book.

Two operators build a stop into the drive. Paradise’s shuttles, 16 or 29 seats, halt in Hai Duong. The Indochina Junk vans stop at Yen Duc on the way back.

Shuttle or private car?

For two to four people the shuttle; from about six, a private car costs about the same, and from seven it is cheaper. The difference is in how the price is counted: a shuttle seat is priced per person, a car per vehicle.

	Typical advertised price	Priced by	Journey
Cruise shuttle	US$10 to US$25 one way, on the operators’ own sites	the seat	2.5 h
Private car	1,600,000 to 2,800,000 VND (about US$62 to US$109)	the vehicle	2.5 h
Public bus	120,000 to 250,000 VND (about US$5 to US$10)	the seat	3.5 h or more

The shuttle range is the operators’ own; the car and bus ranges come from 13 and 7 of the sites we crawl, converted at Vietcombank’s transfer rate of 15 October 2026, 25,680 dong to the dollar. The operators’ own figures make the arithmetic concrete. Hermes sells a shared seat at US$20 each way and a seven-seat private car at US$125 each way: two people pay US$40 by shuttle, and six pay US$120, five dollars short of the car. La Regina charges US$18 a seat or US$95 for a four-seat car, so a party of four saves US$23 each way by sharing. The Elite and Stellar of the Seas operator rents a private Sedona MPV, up to five people, for US$50 each way, the same as five seats in their shared MPV.

A private car buys your own departure time and a drop at your own hotel. The public bus is the cheapest of the three and takes an hour or more longer.

Can you still take the seaplane or the train?

Neither is an option. Hai Au Aviation stopped its seaplane flights over Ha Long Bay from 1 April 2026, and passenger trains on the line from Hanoi were suspended in 2020.

Lao Dong reported the seaplane announcement on 5 March 2026 and Thanh Nien the next day, Thanh Nien adding that the company was changing the direction of its business. Its homepage, read on 7 October 2026, advertises a Falcon 2000S private jet based at Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City and no seaplane anywhere. Fifteen travel sites we crawled between August and October 2026 still described a forty-five minute flight from Noi Bai to Tuan Chau, so check the date on any page that offers one.

For the train, Lao Dong reported on 18 July 2024 that the Yen Vien to Ha Long line had been idle since services stopped in 2020 as a COVID-19 measure, and Dan Tri found Ha Long station still without trains in July 2025. When it ran, Lao Dong put the trip at about seven hours, against two and a half by road.

Which harbour is your driver going to?

Tuan Chau Marina for 68 of the 92 boats we publish, by our count on 15 October 2026. Twenty-two use the Ha Long International Cruise Port at Bai Chay, one Hon Gai Pier and one Beo Harbour in Cat Ba town.

Departure point	Boats
Tuan Chau Marina	68
Ha Long International Cruise Port	22
Hon Gai Pier	1
Beo Harbour, Cat Ba town	1

Choosing Lan Ha does not change the drive. Forty-four of the 46 Lan Ha boats board at Tuan Chau, on the Ha Long side; Ambassador Signature leaves from the Bai Chay port, and Venezia’s guests board by tender at Beo Harbour. Bai Tu Long is the bay that shifts the drop-off: twelve of its fifteen boats use the Bai Chay port and Paloma uses Hon Gai Pier. Our page on which harbour you leave from covers each one.

What goes wrong on the road

Waiting is one thing guests describe. A guest on Heritage Binh Chuan wrote that their “transfer was delayed both ways” and that the waiting lounge had no working air conditioning, adding that “you could be stuck there for two hours”. A guest on Sea Stars described “waiting for 40minutes in cold before we were picked up”.

Another is proportion. A guest on Capella put it plainly: “We spent more time traveling from / to Hanoi than in the boat.” Take the most common operator times: pick-up at 08:00, boarding at 12:00, ashore at 11:00 the next day and back in Hanoi at 14:30. That is about seven and a half hours between hotel and boat for twenty-three hours aboard. Our page on two days or three weighs what the second night buys.

The catch with doing it yourself

Booking your own car can be cheaper for a group, and it makes the time you reach the pier your problem. On an operator’s van, a late arrival is the operator’s to manage. In your own car, traffic at Hai Duong is yours, and the lounge times in the operators’ timetables leave about half an hour before boarding. Build in two spare hours and treat them as part of the fare.

The shuttle fares on this page are what each operator printed when we read its site, between August and October 2026, and Vietnamese transport prices move. Confirm the price, the pick-up point and whether it is per seat or per car in writing before you pay.

Common questions

Is the transfer from Hanoi included in a Ha Long cruise? On twelve of the 92 boats we publish, yes, on the operator’s own terms. The three Bhaya boats include it only for bookings on the operator’s site, and the four Indochina Junk boats in Bai Tu Long include it in the operator’s packages. On most other boats it is an extra, usually US$30 to US$45 a person return for a shared limousine. Check your booking confirmation says “transfer included” before you assume it.

What time is pick-up in Hanoi? Usually 08:00, and on four boats in five between 07:45 and 08:30. The van goes round Old Quarter hotels first, so be in the lobby at the start of your window. Six boats, from four operators, send guests staying outside the Old Quarter to the Opera House. Our boarding times guide has the rest of the day.

What time will I be back in Hanoi? Around 14:30 for most Tuan Chau boats, and nearer 16:00 for boats from the Ha Long International Cruise Port. Do not book an evening flight or train out of Hanoi for that afternoon without leaving a wide margin.

Shuttle or private car? Two people, shuttle: on Hermes that is US$40 each way against US$125 for a seven-seat car. Six people, a private car, which by then costs about the same as the seats and drops you at your own door. Check whether a quote is per seat or per vehicle before comparing anything.

Can I still fly in by seaplane? No. Hai Au Aviation ended its seaplane flights over Ha Long Bay from 1 April 2026, as Lao Dong and Thanh Nien reported that March, and by October the airline’s website advertised private jets and no seaplane. Travel pages that still quote a forty-five minute flight from Noi Bai have not caught up with the change.