Halong bay located in north – east of Vietnam. It’s about 160 km from Hanoi capital. If you get there by private transport, it may take about 3 hours and half including couple of short breaks. If you take a local bus, time could be varied.

By local bus

• Luong Yen bus station (Ben xe Luong Yen) – The closest one from Hanoi center.

• Giap Bat bus station (Ben xe Giap Bat)

• Gia Lam bus station (Ben xe Gia Lam)

To avoid the rip off or confusion, you are advised to go directly to ticket booth in bus station to purchase your ticket. Get your ticket and don’t forget to ask the bus number and you should be on time for your bus that mentioned on your ticket.

Time: Buses departure from Hanoi’s stations above once in 15 minutes. From 6am to 6pm daily.

Price: 60.000 VND per ticket / one way ( roughly 4 USD per ticket one way )

Local bus station from Halong:

• Bai Chay bus station  (Ben xe Bai Chay)

By Air

There are unique transportation to Halong Bay by Helicopter. It is recommended to arrange in advance by local tour operators from Hanoi. Options are buying a single tickets that departs on Saturdays or charter option based on your request. Flight time will be around 45 min to Halong Bay, some packages may included cruise of 4 hours plus seafood lunch and another 15 min fly around the bay before back to Hanoi by the same day.

By a package tour

Common way to go with a full package from tour operators or cruise operators from Hanoi. Price bases on the level of cruise you take and time you spend. The range is from 50 USD to 500 USD per person for 2 days 1 night or 2 nights.