by Bert Archer
Last updated: 9:30 AM ET, Wed April 29, 2026
TravelPulse Quebec Managing Editor Bert Archer spent time riding the rails in Vietnam and compiled these need-to-know tips. Bookmark this page to share with your clients heading on a Vietnamese adventure by train.
1) Two beds are better than four, four are better than six; bottom bunks are always better than top (they get the table).
2) Seats are crowded but not uncomfortable. Though there are bare feet everywhere, be warned.
3) The dining cars look like a Soviet-era diner; it is important that you have a beer here.
4) The QR code ordering system seems cool, positioned as it is to get you local delicacies from the various stations you pass through. It does not seem to work however, so you’ll have to rely on the carts coming by with cool stuff every once in a while, including corn on the cob.
5) Get a window seat, the scenery is gorgeous.
6) It’s much, much better than buses.
7) Seats around 350k dong, four beds between 475k and 750k per bed (based on the sample route of Da Nang to Dieu Tri).
8) Unlike many Asian and South Asian travel websites, the Vietnamese rail site is simple, works well, and does so in Vietnamese and English.
9) If you’re travelling in a foursome, the four-bed cabins work well as a sitting room without anyone ever having to climb up to a top bunk.
10) There may be little sweet glutinous rice snacks sold in pyramid-shaped cardboard packets. You may have to buy them in packs of 9. It is important than you do so. They are very good.
11) The 2-bed cabins are hidden in the 4-beds cars. You just have to go looking on the site, car by car.
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