The Vietage by Anantara is a luxury railway carriage that provides train journeys through Vietnam. Currently, you can travel either from Da Nang/Hoi An in the north to Quy Nhon and/or Nha Trang to the south. You can also start your journey in the south and head north. In April, we had the opportunity to ride the luxurious Vietage from Quy Nhon to Da Nang and share information about our experience to help you decide if it is something you want to do.

Getting Around by Train in Vietnam:

Taking the train in Vietnam, most notably, on some part of the “Reunification Express”, is a popular activity for some tourists. The “Reunification Express” is the main railway line that travels north-south over 1,726 kilometres in Vietnam that takes approximately 30 hours. From speaking to travels who completed the 14 hour journey from Hanoi to Danang, it is an interesting experience to see the landscape, but the standards, even in “first class” are not what most north American travelers expect. The reason we mention this, is because The Vietage, is actually a luxury railway carriage attached to the Vietnam Railways Reunification Express train cars. You get to do parts of the “Reunification Express” route, but much more comfortably, and much quicker. Depending on the route, it’s about 4-6 hours.

Cost of the Vietage:

The cost to take The Vietage is more expensive than taking domestic flights within the country and doesn’t save that much time, but, it is a unique experience worth splurging for if you can. The cost to take the train varies based on route and timing: it’s between $315-$420USD per person. Capacity is limited to 12 people per journey, and sleeper booths are more expensive and need to be reserved in advance. We ended up booking a package with Anantara that offered 2 nights stay in Hoi An, and The Vietage fare, which was more economical than booking everything separate.

This was our first luxury train experience, and we found it very comfortable. This is a mode of travel we will consider in the future when available!

Our Experience:

After spending a few days relaxing in the Quy Nhon area, we boarded The Vietage from Diêu Trì train station heading north to Danang. The train was scheduled to depart around 19:00 and arrive around 00:30 at the Danang train station.  On our arrival to the train station, we wandered a little before the staff met us and whisked us to a café where we could wait for the train, and offered us light refreshments, like fruit and nuts, and passionfruit juice. Eventually, they want to build a lounge, but for now, the café they rent is the waiting room. We did not ask about restrooms, but if they are available, they might be very basic.  

The train was a little late, which is common, but we were boarded and our way pretty quickly! Onboard, we were some of the only guests, and almost felt like we had the train to ourselves. As a result, we were able to use one of the vacant sleeper booths to rest. As we took our seats, we were offered welcome drinks and some ice cream to start.  

As part of the service on The Vietage, you are served a 3 course meal, unlimited drinks, and can get a 15 minute massage. The food was spectacular, and we are happy we skipped lunch to enjoy it! You need to pre-order your meal choices a few days in advance though, to allow the catering company to prepare it.

As we were traveling during the evening, we did not get to see as much of the scenery as we would have liked. Even at night though, you get to see some of the towns, the crossings, the crossing guards, and homes that dot the railway line. We would recommend reversing the journey, and heading to Quy Nhon after visiting Danang and Hanoi to experience the train during daylight to see the scenery. By the time we realized The Vietage existed, it was a little late for us to switch our itinerary to visit Danang/Hoi An first.

It was actually very easy to sleep on the train, despite some of the rocking. The train itself is a little slow, and reached a maximum speed of 80 km/h. During the journey, we enjoyed speaking to the staff, trying different cocktails, and resting. The massage was a chair massage, and while it was good, it would have been better before eating all that food. Try to book your massage before dinner if you can! Before we knew it, the train arrived in Danang, and it was time to disembark.

Incorporating The Vietage into your Vietnam Trip Itinerary:

Upon our arrival into Danang, we booked a transfer to the Anantara Hoi An to spend a few days there. Anantara has hotels in both Quy Nhon and Hoi an, and offer train and hotel packages. Anantara does not currently have any hotels in Nha Trang, but you can consider a wide variety of hotel options there that are either in the city, or more secluded and only accessible by boat. We would recommend the InterContinental DaNang for a city hotel located near the beach, and L’Alya Ninh Van Bay for a secluded resort accessible by boat (these are the two options we had considered booking in Nha Trang).

We recommend looking into the package options, especially staying in Quy Nhon, as it was a really nice and low-key beach experience. We stayed at the Zannier Bai Han So, but the Anantara Quy Nhon option also looks nice. Overall, we were very happy with this itinerary, as it allowed us to experience a variety of things during our 2 week trip. You can find out more about our itinerary in this post “Planning a Trip to Vietnam: Our luxurious itinerary!“.