1. Where is Van Don?
Van Don is an island district in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. It belongs to the Northeast region of Vietnam and is located in the East and Southeast of Quang Ninh province. Next to Bai Tu Long Bay and next to the world natural heritage Ha Long Bay. About 54 km northeast of Ha Long city and about 208 km east of Hanoi capital.
The sea area of Van Don district has the following geographical location:
- The East borders the Co To island district.
- The West borders Cam Pha city and Ha Long city.
- The South is the sea area off the Gulf of Tonkin.
- The North borders Tien Yen, Dam Ha and Hai Ha districts.
2. How is Van Don unique?
In the middle of the vast blue sea, Van Don district possesses unique natural scenery with more than 600 large and small islands. Of which, more than 20 islands are inhabited.
Van Don district is also blessed by nature with a system of rocky mountains, fertile soil mountains, vast primeval forests and many beautiful sandy beaches and bathing areas. Such as: Son Hao, Ngoc Vung, Quan Lan, Minh Chau, Phuong Dong, … In addition, Van Don is a land with deep historical value with an ancient trading port system and many ancient relics and spiritual works, …
3. When is the best time to visit Van Don?
It seems that traveling to Van Don is beautiful in any season, not only because of the favorable weather. But Van Don also has overlapping mountains, beautiful like a captivating ink painting.
According to the experience of many tourists traveling to Van Don, Van Don island is most wonderful in the summer. At this time, the island stands out and is attractive with the image of clear blue sea water, long stretches of fine white sand, golden sunshine and lush coastal vegetation. It makes you feel recharged with positive energy, full of vitality. In addition, the warm sunny weather is also suitable for many tourist activities. Such as: sightseeing, taking photos, swimming, kayaking, forest trekking, etc.
For tourists who love the bustling atmosphere of festivals or want to learn about traditional cultural values on the island, they can come to Van Don in the sixth lunar month. From the 10th to the 20th of the sixth lunar month is the time of the Quan Lan festival. This is a festival with the purpose of praising the national heroes who sacrificed in the fierce war against the Yuan-Mongol army in the past.
The remaining time of the year is also suitable for traveling, relaxing and admiring the unique beauty of Van Don. However, you need to pay attention to the weather forecast in Van Don. When planning to travel in September and October to avoid the risk of rain and storms that will negatively affect your experience.
4. How to get to Van Don?
With the strong development of infrastructure and transportation networks. You can easily get to Van Don by many means and ways of transportation. From Van Don town, you can go to the islands in the bay by going to Ao Tien international port and taking a speedboat. Below are some suggestions that you can choose from depending on your departure location and your needs and preferences. You can find the route from Hanoi to Van Don on google map here.
4.1 Airplane
Currently, Van Don international airport operates 2 round-trip domestic flights connecting Quang Ninh with Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City. The Van Don – Ho Chi Minh City route is operated with a frequency of 1 flight/day. Meanwhile, flights to Can Tho are operated every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Therefore, if you depart from the South, you will quickly arrive at Van Don airport and continue to travel to tourist destinations by taxi, bus or contracted car service.
4.2 Passenger car
In Hanoi, you can easily reach Van Don by many passenger car routes departing from major bus stations such as: My Dinh, Giap Bat, Gia Lam, Yen Nghia. In addition, for a flexible and convenient travel experience, you can also choose the Limousine car service with inner-city transfers and running the Hanoi – Van Don route. This journey takes about 2.5 – 3.5 hours with many options for ticket prices, time frames, and car companies.
4.3 Private car
Private cars are the most convenient and flexible means of transportation for family and group trips. The journey is quite fast, mainly following the highways with the route Hanoi – Hanoi – Hai Phong – Ha Long – Van Don.
4.4 Motorbike
A motorbike trip is an attractive suggestion for a self-guided tour of Van Don. Departing from Hanoi, you go to Van Don via the route: Hanoi – Bac Ninh – Chi Linh – Uong Bi – Ha Long – Cam Pha – Van Don. When arriving in Ha Long city, you continue your journey along the coastal road, passing through Cam Pha city, towards Ao Tien Van Don port.
5. Sightseeings at Van Don
Van Don tourist area not only welcomes visitors with beautiful beaches, but also has spiritual cultural tourist destinations for visitors to calm down in a peaceful, sacred space.
5.1 Quan Lan Beach
Van Don has Quan Lan Beach located in Bai Tu Long Bay with wild beauty and fresh, pure air. Quan Lan Beach is located in Minh Chau island commune and Quan Lan commune, Van Don district. This is one of the hottest tourist destinations in Quang Ninh province in recent years.
5.2 Quan Lan Communal House
Quan Lan Communal House is a communal house built to worship the Tran Dynasty general – Tran Khanh Du. This is a general who made great contributions in the resistance war against the invading Yuan-Mongol invaders. In addition, Quan Lan Communal House also worships Duong Khong Lo and the Four Holy Ladies, deities admired and praised by local people.
5.3 Ngoc Vung Island
If you come to Van Don, don’t forget to visit the beautiful Ngoc Vung Island. This place has many beaches with beautiful scenery, smooth white sand, pleasant weather and peaceful space. The beaches on Ngoc Vung Island are not yet well known, so they are especially suitable for tourists looking for a beautiful and quiet beach.
5.4 Cai Bau Pagoda – Truc Lam Giac Tam Zen Monastery
Cai Bau Pagoda or Truc Lam Giac Tam Zen Monastery is one of the tourist attractions in Van Don, built on the foundation of Phuc Linh Tu Pagoda. This pagoda dates back to the Tran Dynasty, about 700 years ago. This is also one of the famous beautiful spiritual tourist destinations on Van Don Island.
5.5 Son Hao Beach
Son Hao is a beach located between Quan Lan Beach and Minh Chau Beach. This is a beach with a slightly sloping terrain and quite clear sea water. However, when the sea level rises, Son Hao Beach narrows and becomes quite small. Therefore, tourists traveling to Van Don should pay attention to this and choose the right time, when the sea level has not risen high, to have fun and swim at Son Hao Beach.
5.6 MoonStone Beach
MoonStone Beach or Round Stone Beach, Sky Stone Beach,… are names that are very familiar to many tourists when traveling to Van Don. The stone beach is located in Son Hao village, Quan Lan commune, with a length of nearly 1 km, hundreds of meters wide, stretching from the water’s edge to the foot of the hill. This place is famous for its image of a beach with tens of thousands of smooth, round, and oval stones that resemble the moon and the sun.
5.7 Bai Tu Long National Park
Bai Tu Long National Park is a national biosphere reserve with a diverse ecosystem and many preserved historical relics. This place has a system of floating islands with earthen and rocky mountains and evergreen tropical forest vegetation. Thanks to that, it creates a wonderful living environment for many species of animals.
In addition to the majestic natural scenery, Bai Tu Long National Park also has many beautiful caves such as Cai De Cave, Soi Nhu Cave and pristine beaches creating a unique, poetic landscape.
5.8 Ba Mun Island
Ba Mun Island is likened to a rough gem in the middle of Bai Tu Long Bay, about 1 hour by boat from Cai Rong Port. The island has a unique terrain with many hills, high mountains and the shape of a schist island. This is a great destination for you to admire the majestic, magnificent natural scenery and enjoy the fresh, pristine air. In addition, when coming to Ba Mun Island, do not forget to explore the rich primeval forest with diverse flora and fauna.
5.9 Phuong Dong Tourist Area
Phuong Dong Van Don Urban Area is an ideal destination for tourists to experience relaxation and entertainment. The destination owns a beach stretching over 3km, embracing Bai Tu Long Bay with a charming landscape. The urban area also integrates many utilities and entertainment services to help visitors have diverse experiences such as: water park, water music square, beach stage, food street, … In addition, the rural market area of Phuong Dong is also a unique destination, attracting a large number of tourists.
5.10 Cap Tien Temple
Cap Tien Temple is also known as Co Be Cua Suot Temple, a temple belonging to the Cua Ong temple relic system and about 2 km from Cua Ong temple. Legend has it that this is the place to worship the daughter of Tran Quoc Tang. The temple is hidden under the cool shade of large trees and has a unique location with a terraced architecture on the cliff, facing the sea. The temple is visited by many tourists, worshipers, visit the sacred Tien well and enjoy the peaceful, poetic space.
5.11 Cai Rong Fish Market
Cai Rong Fish Market is located next to the wharf of Cai Rong port in Cai Rong town of Van Don island district. The market starts operating from early morning with the bustling atmosphere of buyers and sellers mixed with the sound of ships and boats returning from offshore carrying fresh seafood.
When visiting the fish market, you can buy all kinds of fresh seafood at affordable prices such as: crabs, shrimps, crabs, mantis shrimps, sea worms and sea fish such as: birds, shrimps, crabs, octopuses, and sea fish such as: birds, shrimps, crabs, etc.
5.12 Van Yen Ecotourism Area
Van Yen Ecotourism Area, located at the end of Dai Mo village, Van Yen commune, Van Don district. This is a great destination for those who are looking for a peaceful, relaxing space. With a large area of up to 33.02 hectares, the tourist area promises to bring a memorable resort experience in the cool green campus amidst the vast mountains and forests.
5.13 Minh Chau Beach
Minh Chau Beach belongs to Quan Lan island commune. But it is located separately on an island with an altitude of more than 3m above sea level. This location is located further away from the other beaches so it is quite quiet. The beach is gentle, the ground is hard, the water is the clearest among the beaches on the island, attracting the attention of many tourists.
5.14 Bai Tu Long Bay
Bai Tu Long Bay is voted as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. The charm of this bay comes from the majestic beauty of nature and interesting culinary experiences.
6. Specialties when traveling to Van Don
When talking about delicious dishes when traveling to Van Don, we cannot fail to mention fresh seafood and specialty cakes of this island. These dishes are suitable for enjoying on the spot, and are also meaningful gifts for relatives and friends after a vacation with many interesting experiences.
6.1 Van Don seafood
Famous fresh seafood that you can find at Van Don market include squid, oysters, geoducks, … and especially sea worms. Dishes made from these seafood are not only delicious but also have high nutritional value. Therefore, when traveling here, you should buy seafood at Van Don market and cook it yourself or go to restaurants in the area to enjoy.
6.2 Squid cake
Squid cake is not only available in the Van Don tourist area, but the squid cake here is especially delicious. The secret to making Van Don squid cake special is that the type of squid used to make the cake is selected from fresh squid caught directly by fishermen in the HaLong sea area. Van Don squid cake is often eaten with white sticky rice, sticky rice or rice rolls.
6.3 Van Don sea cucumber
Another attractive type of Van Don seafood is sea cucumber. There are many delicious dishes made from sea horseshoe crab such as sea horseshoe crab salad, sweet and sour stir-fried sea horseshoe crab, sea horseshoe crab blood pudding, stir-fried sea horseshoe crab with lemongrass and chili, steamed sea horseshoe crab, grilled sea horseshoe crab cartilage, stir-fried sea horseshoe crab with vermicelli, fried sea horseshoe crab eggs, stir-fried sea horseshoe crab eggs with betel leaves, etc. All of these dishes are very delicious and easy to eat, so try them once when you have the opportunity to come to Van Don.
6.4 Gật Gù Cake
Gặt Gù Cake is made from rice flour, rolled into a cylinder, eaten with fish sauce simmered with chicken fat and fragrant fried onions. This is a simple, rustic dish but has become a specialty of Quang Ninh. Tourists traveling to Van Don can stop by Tien Yen town to enjoy and buy Gặt Gù Cake as gifts.
6.5 Mantis shrimp vermicelli
When coming to Van Don, you must definitely try Mantis shrimp vermicelli. Mantis shrimp vermicelli is a popular seafood in the Van Don sea area, while other regions often call it “mantis shrimp”, “mantis shrimp” or “hammer shrimp”. Mantis shrimp meat has a sweet, fragrant and fatty taste, and is used to make many dishes with high nutritional value such as garlic mantis shrimp, steamed mantis shrimp, grilled mantis shrimp with salt and chili, salt-fried mantis shrimp, sweet and sour tamarind mantis shrimp, etc., but the most popular is still mantis shrimp vermicelli.
6.6 Sea crab
Sea crab is a type of crab that often lives in crevices near the sea, has 2 very large claws and firm meat. The meat of the crab is concentrated in the 2 claws, and can be processed in many ways such as: porridge, steamed, tamarind fried…
6.7 Van Don oyster floss
Van Don oysters are famous for their sweetness and firm meat, and are one of the seafood that you must try. Besides familiar dishes, oysters are also processed into floss, which has a characteristic chewy, fatty and sweet taste. You can enjoy oyster floss with sticky rice, rice or white porridge.
2. Accommodation when traveling to Van Don
When traveling here, you can refer to some of the following accommodations:
7.1 Resorts:
- Minh Chau Beach Resort. Address: Ninh Hai village, Minh Chau commune, Quang Ninh province.
- Hung Lam Resort Quan Lan. Address: Son Hao village, Quan Lan commune, Van Don district, Quang Ninh province.
7.2 Hotels
- Van Don Hotel. Address: Phuong Dong tourist area, Van Don town, Quang Ninh
- Mai Quyen Hotel. Address: TL 334, Ha Long, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Viet Linh Hotel. Address: Zone 8, Cai Rong town, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Hoang Grand Hotel. Address: Zone 9, Cai Rong town, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Lien Lan Hotel. Address: Zone 5, Cai Rong town, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
7.3 Guesthouses:
- Khiem Oanh Guesthouse. Address: Provincial Road 334, Cai Rong, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Bai Tu Long Guesthouse. Address: Provincial Road 334, Cai Rong, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Huong Que Guesthouse 1. Address: Zone 8, Cai Rong Town, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Vuong Quan Guesthouse. Address: Bai Dai, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Thanh Dat Guesthouse. Address: 1 Provincial Road 334, Cai Rong, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
- Van Nam Guesthouse. Address: Provincial Road 334, Cai Rong, Van Don, Quang Ninh.
8. Some important notes when traveling to Van Don
To make your trip to Van Don safe, fun and complete. You should refer to some necessary notes below:
- Summer in Van Don has quite harsh sunlight, visitors should prepare sunscreen, umbrellas and wide-brimmed hats when traveling.
- Bring water and some snacks if you have to travel long distances and replenish your energy when necessary.
- You should book hotels and travel services at least 2 months in advance if you go to Van Don during peak season.
- If you travel by motorbike, you need to ensure a steady grip, carefully check the vehicle before departure and comply with road traffic safety laws to ensure a safe trip.
- Before using or buying anything, you can bargain to avoid being overcharged.
- Make sure your camera or phone is always fully charged and has a waterproof case so you can have great photos of your trip.
Van Don with its pristine beauty and diverse travel experiences is an ideal destination for your vacation. When coming to the beautiful island district, you can admire the majestic beauty of Bai Tu Long Bay. You can also enjoy the blue sea, white sand, explore nature in the primeval forest. And do not forget to visit Cap Tien Temple, the sacred and ancient Cai Bau Pagoda, …
Hopefully, the useful information that Origin Vietnam – a professional tour operator, shares through the above article. It will help you feel more convenient and easier when planning your upcoming memorable tour Vietnam. We will also accompany you on the journey to explore the Van Don, Quang Ninh with exciting activities and you will have unforgettable memories.
