hi guys. i planning a trip to hanoi. i saw people are going on a 5days trip and their itinerary have
1. halongbay
2. sapa
3.ninh binh
i think i only able to cover sapa and halongbay.
so my question is.
1.sapa take train, ride there(if renting a bike) or grab/private veh?
2. do i need do a covid test before i went to hanoi?
how much money do i need to bring?
5 days to cover ha long bay, Sapa and Ninh binh is SUPER tight and rush.
Firstly, there are not many flights from Singapore to Hanoi and the flight timings are not very good.
SIN to HANOI
- 9:15am SIA
- 1:25pm Vietnam Airlines
- 2:25pm Bamboo Airlines
- 2:55pm VietJet
- 3pm SIA
- 3:55pm SCOOT
HANOI to SIN
- 8:10am Vietnam Airlines
- 8:30am Bamboo Airlines
- 9:35am VietJet
- 11:30am SCOOT
- 12:35pm SIA
- 6:35pm SIA
Flight duration is roughly 2.5 to 3 hrs, excluding possible take-off delays, possible long waiting time at the Hanoi Airport Immigrations and even longer waiting time for your check-in luggages.
(Note: I have experienced waiting up to 1 hour for my check-in luggage, even though mine came with "Priority" Luggage tag)
So, let's say you take the 9am SIA from SIN to HANOI... No take-off delays. everything was smooth and you reach around 1130am Vietnam Time (Vietnam is 1 hour behind Singapore)...
Short 20mins wait at the Immigrations.
Average 30min wait for your luggage.
By the time you stepped out to the Hanoi Noibai Intl Airport Arrival Hall, it is probably around 12:30pm-1:00pm.
What's next?
You can either:
a) Travel up to Sapa
but take note that the travel route is very long, because Sapa is up in to mountains. Going up to Sapa takes 5 to 8 hours, coming down is another 5 to 8 hours.
Private car will be around 6 hrs per way. Total 12.
Train will be around 8 hours per way. Total 16.
Even the local Vietnamese don't ride up to Sapa themselves, they rather hire a private car or take train.
Total time spent on the road,, either 12 hrs or 16 hrs.
b) Travel east to Ha Long Bay
From Noibai intl airport, it will take around 4 hours, depending on traffic conditions.
Back to Hanoi city, it takes around 2.5 to 3 hrs, depending on traffic conditions.
Total time spent on the road, 7 hrs
c) Travel south to Ninh Binh
From noibai airport to Ninh binh, it will take around 2.5 to 3 hours, depending on traffic conditions.
back to Hanoi, it takes around 2.5 hours depending on traffic conditions.
Total time spent on the road, 6 hrs
With the amount of time spent on the road, I hope you understand why I say it is definitely possible to hit all these places within 5 days, as long as you are alright with spending so much time on the road and so little time enjoying the gems of each place