How to Get to Hanoi from Kunming

Vietnam is located in the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula, which boarders China to the north, neighboring with Laos and Cambodia to the west and east and south facing the South China Sea with the coastline of over 3260 km. Vietnam is most affected by Chinese culture history and the only country who accepts Confucianism in all Southeast Asian countries.

Vietnam is rich in tourism resources, combining oriental mystery and romantic French style. There are five scenic spots listed as UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Hanoi is peaceful and quiet, filled with socialist characteristics; Ho Chi Minh City is full of French style as many French architecture left and preservee. Halong Bay is known as “ Guilin on the Sea” . Nha Trang is a fascinating and charming coastal city. Mina is a paradise for kite surfers. In addition, there are various agricultural products in Vietnam and they are also very cheap. the price index is also low, so it is very suitable for tour.

Many tourist plan to visit Vietnam before or after China tour. This article is going to introduce the transportation from Kunming, China to Hanoi, Vietnam.

vietnam landscape

(Vietnam Landscape)

Kunming to Hanoi By Air

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh International Airport is the main external transport hub, which has aviation service with the world's 20 countries and regions. China's Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming has direct flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City flights every day. But if you are flying to Hanoi from kunming, there is only one airplane departs at 14:15(Beijing time) and arrives at 14:45 (Hanoi time) every day with the airline carrier is the China Eastern Airline which is one of China's main airline cooperations.

Kunming to Hanoi By International Train

Travel from Kunming to Vietnam by train, depart station in Kunming is Kunming Railway Station (not Kunming South or North Railway Station), it is a big station functioning as a transportation hub in Southeast China, therefore, arrive there at least 30 minutes early is advised in order to get through all the security gates and check points.

The arrive station is called Hekoubei station(河口北站), a small Chinese station locates on the China side of the China-Vietnam border from where you need to deal with the customs on both sides of china and Vietnam.

how to get to hanoi from kunming--route on map

Kunming Railway Station to Hekoubei Station

So far there are 4 trains depart for Hekoubei every day. The earliest train departs at 8:00 and last departs at 18:15, with the durations vary from 4h27m to 6h48m. Below is a timetable for trains from Kunming to Vietnam.

Hekoubei Station to Customs--Lào Cai International Border Gate

After you get out of the Hekoubei Station(河口北站), you will find there are buses parking and waiting at the station heading to 老街(Chinese)/Lào Cai (Vitenamese)–a Vietnam city bordering with Hekou County, Yunnan, China.

You could take these buses to get to the Lào Cai International Border Gate which is the terminal of the bus.
The bus will not start until 8:00 though you could find them parking there since 06:00 every day.
Ticket fare for this bus is 2 RMB.
You could also take/share a 20-minutes-taxi ride to there, normally taxi drivers in this situation won’t run the meter and cost will be about 30 RMB if you are the only passage or 10RMB if share taxi with others.

Customs Procedure

After you get off the bus, you should be able to see the Hekou Entry and Exit Inspection Center P.R.C( called the Lào Cai International Border Gate on the other side connected to Vietnam by a bridge), where to deal with the Exit documents and the international certification of vaccinations or prophylaxis at the Chinese side.

The office time of Chinese inspection center is from 08:00 to 23:00.
The vaccination certification is proceed on first floor, cost is 32 RMB.
Second floor is lead to exit bridge.
Since Vietnam time is one hour slower than China time, you may need to change your watch after you pass the border.
When you are dealing entry procedures in Vietnam side, sometimes it can be tricky as the Vietnam staffs would ask some small “fees” for stamping your documents to let you pass.
After you get out of the building and touch Vietnam finally, there will be quite a few private currency exchangers coming to you asking about do you want to convert some Vietnamese currency. Be alert to them and do count their money note by note if you have to change some.

From Customs to Transportation Center of Lào Cai

You could take a taxi to the Lào Cai bus center --SAO VIET which is just at left-hand side next to Lào Cai train station-- Ga Lào Cai. The cost for taxi will be around 50,000 VND, (Viet-namese Dong, about 15 RMB).
You could also walk there if you have a Google Map Guiding you efficiently; it is just 15 to 20 minutes walk.

Bus from Lào Cai to Hanoi

Buses heading to Hanoi depart from 06:00-23:00 every day, with frequecy of about one hour and duration about 5 hours. The ticket fare would be around 220,000 VND (about 60 RMB).

Trains from Lào Cai to Henoi

Train from Lào Cai to Hanoi are mainly over sleep trains, normally they would start selling ticket at 18:00, below is the time table for trains from Lào Cai to Hanoi and vice versa.

how to get to hanoi from kunming--train time table for lao cai to hanoi and vice versa

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Other trains from China to Vietnam

There is a Train T5 from Beijing to Hanoi. The train travel to China's Pingxiang Port, where the customs need to clear Customs, then transit Vietnamese train to Hanoi from Dong Dang (the same port). It departs at 10:51 from Beijing every Monday and Friday and arrives in Hanoi at 11:30 every Wednesday and Sunday. Train T6 departs Hanoi at 14:00 every Tuesday and Friday and arrives in Beijing at 17:18 every Thursday and Sunday. It takes approximately 48 hours and the soft sleeper fare is about CNY 1,100 per person per way. It will have a stop in Guilin and Nanning.

Besides, there are trains from Nanning, China to Hanoi, Vietnam every day. Train T8701-MR2 departs from Nanning at 18:45 to Gia Lam Railway Station of Hanoi. The train MR1-T8702 departs from Hanoi to Nanning at 21:40 every day. It takes about 10 minutes. The train fare for soft sleeper is around CNY290 per person per way.

Therefore, if you hope to take a train to Hanoi, you can take a train from Kunming to Nanning first. There are many trains between both cities daily. Then transit an international train for Hanoi. International train ticket booking will request passenger’s passport copy.

Kunming to Hanoi By Bus

Guangxi and Yunnan are connected with the northern provinces of Vietnam. There are dozen of ports opened on the border of China and Vietnam, in which there are 3 main land ports. They are Dongxing, Pingxiang in Guangxi and Hekou in Yunnan.

There are international buses each day from Nanning, Beihai to Hanoi or v.v.. Local travel agencies can buy the bus tickets. Besides, there are buses from Hekou to Lao Cai of Vietnam daily.

Therefore, if you would like to travel from Kunming to Hanoi, you can take a bus from Kunming East Bus Terminal to Hekou first. There are 3 buses daily from Kunming to Hekou and they are at 10:00, 11:40 and 19:30. It takes about 10 hours for driving. Therefore, if you take the buses on the day, you need to stay in Hekou for one night. Then clear Customs next day to Lao Cai of Vietnam, where you can take the train or bus to Hanoi.

Kunming Eastern Bus Terminal (昆明东部客运站）
Phone number:+86 871-638 336 80

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