Taking the Heritage Train from Danang to Hue

Many people consider the train ride from Danang to Hue going over the Hai Van mountain pass to be one of the most beautiful train trips in the world. I took the trip in August 2026 and share my experience below. I hope it helps provide valuable information to someone considering this trip.

There are two types of trains that leave from Danang to Hue. The Heritage Train (rather than the regular Reunification SE trains) is the one I took as the coaches are specially decorated in red and gold, the seats are newer and comfier, and there are cultural performances and specially curated Hue food in the dining car. You can purchase tickets yourself through the official Vietnam Railways site, through a reputable third party ticketing service, or through a tour operator like Klook. If already in Vietnam, you can also purchase the tickets in person at the train station.

I bought a round trip ticket on the HD2 (leaves Danang 7:05 am) and returning on the HD3 (leaves Hue at 2:30 pm). I printed out the boarding pass (which looks like the following):

Vietnam Railways recommend arriving at the station 30 minutes early. I arrived 35 minutes earlier -- with memories of trying to find the right gate at Boston's huge South Station and running to make the train. But Danang Station was very small, and I realized I had plenty of time. There was a small seating area that had restrooms and a small snack shop on the end. 

While waiting, I used the restroom and bought a banana from a shop (10K dong for one) and boarding started around 6:40 am. We had to step down from the platform down to the tracks several feet below - so if you have mobility issues, you will need assistance to cross the train tracks and board the train. We panicked a little when I realized that I left my passport at the hotel -- so was hoping that my ID or credit card was not needed. So I was glad when the gate attendants simply glanced at my boarding pass and didn't even scan the QR code before waving me through or letting me board the train. We never had to show our tickets or any other documents beyond the initial cursory check at the gate -- but of course, we would make sure to have our boarding pass, our passports and the credit card used to purchase the ticket just in case.

When we found our seats, the windows were located on the right side. However, the conductor soon came by and asked us to swivel our seats around. This meant that that the window were on the left side and we would be facing the mountain (not the coast) on our way to Hue. For more information on how to book the seats with the windows facing the coast, see my previous post. I also lost the free water bottle provided as I put it in the seat pocket in front, but with the swivel - I ended up facing a different seat. 

All in all, the seat had a generous recline and tons of leg room. It took me a few minutes to find a socket to charge my phone but finally located it high above my head. Above the coat hangers and between the windows (which had curtains). The overhead luggage storage (which were only on one side of the train) worked well with our carry-on bags but many people had trouble lifting their full sized luggage above their heads. The tray tables had a hole in them - which made sense as items placed on the trays had a tendency to fall off unless they were wedged tightly in the hole. There were toilets (with the bum gun and toilet paper) at one end of the coach and also water dispensers. We were able to move between coaches by pressing a button on the left to open the doors at each end. The savvy passengers who were not on the "right" side of the train quickly made their way to the dining coach and grabbed seats with a view before the train even left the station.

The dining cart offered some dishes from Hue. These included: Banh Loc, Banh Nam, Nem Lui, Banh Bao Man, Banh Mi Bot Chuoi Xanh and Banh Bao Ngot. We tried the Banh Loc (tapioca dumplings with dried shrimp) and the Nem Lui (minched pork skers). They had some foods freshly steamed and warmed in a rice cooker and some that looked like they had been left out at room temperature for a while. Unsurprisingly, the items fresh out of the warmer tasted a lot better. Some items do run out - which are identified by a yellow sticky on the menu. 

While we were in our seats, we got offers to purchase a Vietnamese hat and also a foot bath. This was the most interesting part. The train attendants would fill up wooden foot baths with some salts and a mix of hot and cold water so you could could soak your feet at your seat. Not something I would ever expect Amtrak to offer.

We started going uphill and cross the Hai Van Pass during the initial part of the trip. While the views were beautiful, be prepared to see a lot of electric lines along the way.

There was one stop along the way on the Heritage Train at Lang Co where we could exit the train and stretch our legs. There were also some passengers that left the train entirely as the area is an area known for natural beauty. There were also some food vendors on the platform -- we saw one of the famous Banh Bao, Banh Bao Dey vendors on a motorcycle with wood burning stove on one side and buns in the other.

This stop is also a technical stop as there is only one track on much of the route. So the southbound trains also stop at this station on the 2nd track at the same time to avoid head-on collisions. So the stop was scheduled for 10 minutes, we ended up waiting 30 minutes for the southbound train who was late. Of course, once we were late, that meant the schedule was all messed up and we had to wait a few times at stations with multiple tracks to avoid head-on collisions from other southbound trains sharing the same track.

The cultural performance on our specific train consisted of a woman on a single string zither called a Dan Bau, and a man playing a lute with only 2 strings (Đàn nguyệt). The performers also allowed a group to do some Karaoke (which was excruciating).    

Because of the delays waiting for southbound trains, we didn't roll into Hue station till almost 11:30 am. The Hue station was a madhouse with the entry road filled with waiting taxis. We were also accosted by drivers who promised to take us to all the Hue sites.. This would be very convenient if we were simply looking for a private driver or a taxi. However, we were stubborn and booked a Grab -- which meant that our Grab driver couldn't get into the station (because of the gridlock of taxis) and we had to walk out to the street to meet him.