Ha Long Bay
Vietnam
Two thousand limestone towers standing in jade water, best seen from a bunk on a boat
Photo by Marina Lobato on Unsplash
Photos by Ryan Waring, Paul Macdonald, e~ lane and Lewis J Goetz on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Vietnam
October to December, and March to April (summer brings typhoons, winter brings fog)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 320mm in Aug
Where it is
20.91°N, 107.18°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Take a two-night boat rather than a day trip, and pick Lan Ha over the main bay
- Kayak into a lagoon at first light before the fleet moves
- Climb Ti Top for the view, early, with everyone else
- Eat cha muc in Ha Long city, where it is made
- Stay a night on Cat Ba and walk in the national park
Ha Long Bay travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Vietnam
Good valueChange in Hanoi, where the gold shops give better rates than any bank. On the boats everything is billed to the cabin and settled by card at the end; the tender-boat vendors want cash.
ATMs & cards
Draw in Hanoi before you come. On the coast, TPBank and Vietcombank machines have the highest limits; most Vietnamese machines cap a withdrawal at two million dong and charge for each, which adds up fast.
Avoid these
- the machines on the cruise piers
- hotel lobby machines
Use these instead
- TPBank
- Vietcombank
- BIDV
Most Vietnamese machines cap a withdrawal at two million dong and charge for each; TPBank allows more. Draw in Hanoi before you come.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Vietnam
SafeSafe, and the risks are about the operator rather than the place. Boat standards vary enormously and the cheapest tours cut corners on safety equipment — check the licence class and read recent reviews rather than the brochure. Typhoons close the bay between June and September, sometimes for days. Kayak inside the arches only with a guide.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the cheapest cruise boats — safety equipment varies enormously between operators — check the licence class
- the bay in typhoon season — June to September, when sailings are cancelled at short notice
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Vietnam visa rules
No visa neededup to 45 days
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$25 single entry, $50 multiple
The e-visa is open to almost every nationality and is usually issued in three working days. Apply only through evisa.gov.vn.
e-Visa requiredup to 90 days$25
Vietnam’s e-visa is open to nearly all nationalities.
How to get it: Apply at evisa.gov.vn, upload a passport photo and a photo of the passport page, and print the approval to show at the gate.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Vietnam
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies for longer stays
- Japanese encephalitis for long rural stays
Getting treated
International hospitals and clinics in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City are good, English-speaking and inexpensive compared with Europe. Public hospitals are cheap, crowded and rarely English-speaking. On Phu Quoc the facilities are basic and serious cases go to the mainland.
Dengue is common in the rainy season. Malaria is not a risk in the cities or the usual tourist areas. Traffic injuries are by far the most common reason visitors need a hospital.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodSeafood, obviously — but the specific thing is cha muc, squid cakes pounded by hand in Ha Long city, eaten with bread or rice. On the boats the food is decent and included; ashore in Hai Phong, banh da cua crab noodles are worth the detour.
Getting around
Limited- GrabWorks here
- BeWorks here
- Xanh SMWorks here
- UberNot here
Be the Vietnamese one · Xanh SM all-electric, cars and bikes
- From the airport
- Tan Son Nhat to District 1 150,000–250,000 ₫
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper and settled in advance. Street taxis in Vietnam are where the meter games happen.
Grab covers Hạ Long city. The bay itself is the cruise boat, booked in advance, and the transfer from Hanoi comes with it.
Time zone and your working day
Asia/Ho Chi Minh — 11 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 22:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 22:00–06:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Vietnam
Why these are Vietnam's numbers and not Ha Long Bay's
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 2.3× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fast. Enough to work from a cafe or a beach on a hotspot all day. Mobile runs at 2× the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Ha Long Bay, so these are medians for all of Vietnam. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Vietnam, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Vietnamese
- HelloXin chàosin CHOW
- PleaseLàm ơnlam URN
- Thank youCảm ơngam URN
- Yes / NoVâng / Khôngvung / khom
4 more phrases
- Excuse meXin lỗisin LOY
- How much is it?Bao nhiêu tiền?bao nyew TYEN
- The bill, pleaseTính tiềnting TYEN
- Cheers!Một hai ba, dô!mot hai ba, yo
Tonal, so the same syllable said flat means something else entirely. Nobody expects you to get it right and the attempt lands well regardless.
Religion
Folk religion and Buddhist, officially atheist state
Most Vietnamese practise ancestor veneration at home regardless of what they call it. Remove shoes and hats at temples, and do not photograph people at prayer.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Cross roads slowly and steadily without stopping — the scooters flow around you, and hesitating is what causes accidents
- Remove shoes entering homes and temples
- Use both hands to give and receive
- Haggle in markets, cheerfully, and accept that a small foreigner premium is normal
Don't
- Do not touch anyone’s head, and do not point your feet at people or altars
- Do not show public affection beyond a hand on an arm
- Do not photograph military sites or personnel
- Do not leave chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice
Where to stay in Ha Long Bay
No Holistay rentals in Ha Long Bay yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Ha Long Bay on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Noi Bai HAN
2h 30mfrom the airport· 147 km as the crow flies
2h30 by shuttle on the new expressway.
Also worth pricing: Van Don VDO — much closer and much quieter, with few flights.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
