Access HanoiHà Nội · Hanoi

Getting Here & Onward

Đến & đi · ARRIVING AND LEAVING

Noi Bai is 25-30 km out with no rail link, Hanoi has more than one station, and the coaches leave from four edges of the city.

The concourse at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi
Photograph by David McKelvey from Brisbane, Australia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A train crossing Long Bien Bridge with a cyclist on the walkway beside it
Photograph by David McKelvey from Brisbane, Australia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Noi Bai is a long way out, and that is the whole story

Hanoi's airport sits roughly twenty-five to thirty kilometres north of the centre, across the Red River. In free traffic that is around forty minutes; at the wrong hour it is considerably more. There is no rail link and the metro does not go there, so every arrival is a road journey and the only question is which one.

  • Ride-hailing app. The price is fixed before you get in and there is no conversation about it. Follow the signs to the app pick-up area rather than accepting an offer in the arrivals hall.
  • The airport bus. Public services run between the terminals and the city — the 86 towards the Old Quarter and the railway station is the one visitors use. Cheap, slow, and it stops where it stops. Check the current fare and last departure at the desk; both change.
  • A hotel transfer. Costs more than the app and is worth it on a night arrival with luggage and no local number.
  • ⛔ Never take an unsolicited offer of a taxi inside the terminal. This is the oldest arrival problem in Hanoi and it has not gone away.
The market building seen from the street with motorbikes parked outside
Photograph by shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

The two stations, and why it matters which one

Hanoi's main railway station — Ga Hà Nội — is on Lê Duẩn, ten minutes south-west of the lake, and is where trains south towards Ninh Bình, Huế and Saigon start. Trains east to Hải Phòng and north towards Lào Cai use platforms on the other side, or the smaller stations at Long Biên and Gia Lâm across the river.

⚠️ Your ticket names the station. Two stations that sound alike are a genuine trap here, and the crossing to Gia Lâm takes longer than people allow. Read the ticket, then leave earlier than you meant to.

The barriered street beside the track after the cafés were cleared
Photograph by Shyamal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Buses onward

Long-distance coaches leave from bus stations on the edge of the city, not from the centre: Mỹ Đình to the north and west, Giáp Bát and Nước Ngầm to the south, Gia Lâm to the east. Which one you want depends entirely on where you are going, and getting to the wrong one costs an hour. Confirm the station when you book, not at the kerb.

⭐ Sleeper buses are the standard way Vietnamese travellers cover long distances, and the berths are flat rather than reclining. They are also built for people shorter than about 1.75 m.

Where people go next

Ha Long Bay, Ninh Bình and Sapa are the three that empty Hanoi's hotels every morning, and each one asks a different question of your schedule. That is the subject of Day Trips & Nearby, and of the longer plans in Itineraries.

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