Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi

My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a trip to Vietnam and I am looking for suggestions regarding the best way to travel from Hoi An to Hue. It seems akward to go to Danang to catch the train so I would appreciate input about the availability of buses. I read about minibuses but question the saftey factor.

We then plan to take the daylight Reunification Express from Hue to Hanoi. If we were to book soft sleepers, can these be converted to seats or are they just bunk beds? If not, is it better to book soft seat tickets? Where is luggage stored for sleepers and soft seats and is there a major theft consideration for either option?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kristas

Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi

Da Nang is only about an hour%26#39;s drive from Hoi An so it%26#39;s not that awkward to drive there to catch the train. The view from the train is quite spectacular.

Equally spectacular but slightly different is the car trip from Hoi An to Hue through the Hai Van Pass (there%26#39;s a tunnel which is quicker but you won%26#39;t have the view). The advantage of a private car (with driver, which can be hired through your hotel or a travel agency in Hoi An) is that it can stop wherever you like for photo opportunities, food, visits to sites along the way (the Cham Museum in Da Nang is cool if you%26#39;re into cultural history). Just beware of the many ladies trying to sell you stuff at the top of the Hai Van Pass. They can be fairly agressive and if you buy from one they%26#39;ll all expect you to buy from them too.

When we took the Reunification Express HCMC-Hue, the soft sleeper were fixed bunks and you had to sit on the bottom bunks and try not to hit your head on the top bunk. Luggage went under the bottom bunk or in a small space on the top bunk. We weren%26#39;t too concerned about theft, but one of us was always there. I haven%26#39;t seen the soft seats so I can%26#39;t comment, except to say for a day time trip I%26#39;d consider them as the bunks weren%26#39;t great for sitting on (or sleeping, really, for that matter :-) ). Do take food, the train food (not that we ever saw any) is reputed to be pretty ordinary.

Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi

Thank you for the information. Do you have any idea how much a driver would cost from Hoi An to Hue? Do you think the train ride is more spectacular than driving through the pass?

Cheers

We hired a car with the driver to get from Hue to Hanoi - I think we payed around 40USD. Make sure you know the names of place where you want to stop - we expected the driver to show some initiative and tell us about places we passed, but that never came:)! But all in all it was well worth it,as roads are bad in Vietnam and the public transport - slow.

Hey Mickey, I think you meant Hue to Hoi An- Hue to Hanoi would cost you a heckova lot more than $40US!! :-)

I said, ';equally spectacular';... the train goes lower down and you get sweeping views of the sea, the pass is at the top and you can see all around for miles.

:), sorry - Hoi An not Hanoi. I wouldn%26#39;t want to know what drive from Hue to Hanoi is like!!!