Vietnam 8 hour Overnight Train

When planning out our trip around Vietnam, we came across some methods of transportation we had never done before and decided to be a little adventurous and try them out! Up first was an 8 hour overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai - which is the closest you can get by train to our final destination of Sa Pa!

We booked all of our Vietnam adventures through a tour company called, Friends Travel Vietnam and I would highly recommend using them! Our travel days were seamless thanks to them thinking through all of the details on our behalf.

For instance instead of going straight to the train station, they had us check in at a hotel next door. Then an employee from that hotel escorted us through the massive train station to our train and directly to our cabin. I have no idea how we would have been able to locate it on our own - so we were so thankful for her!

Once we got there it pretty much met the expectations we had! We booked a first class cabin which was a small room with 4 bunks, a small table and they provided some snacks and water. The restroom was public and, not so nice. But lets just say I have seen worse, haha.

The train ride itself went well! The train definitely sways and moves a lot as you ride, so we all woke up a few times during the night but overall we got decent rest. We were woken before our stop by the attendant saying,”coffee?!” - which I think is an intentional wake up call.

We enjoyed our time and I think for this trip I preferred it over an airplane only because our girls were able to sleep during the journey which helped our first day in Sa Pa to go really well!!!