Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Caves Tour Summary

What is Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park?

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park is known for its beautiful karst landscapes and caves. The main points are as follows

• World Natural Heritage Site: Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2003. The park contains unique karst formations, caves, underground rivers, and rich ecosystems that are admired for their beauty and natural diversity.

• Karst landscape: The area is covered with karst landforms consisting of massive limestone boulders. This topography has contributed to the formation of underground rivers and caves, creating an amazing landscape.

• World’s Largest Cave: Within Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is the world’s largest cave, Son Doong Cave. The cave is known for its staggering size and beauty, making it an attractive destination for cavers and tourists alike.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is an attractive destination for nature lovers and adventurers to enjoy the natural beauty and diversity of Vietnam.

Unfortunately, you should not expect to be able to visit the Sơn Đoòng Cave, the largest cave in the world. I also wanted to go there, but I had to give up the idea because of the high price and the need to use a specialized tour company due to the limited number of people allowed in the cave per year.

How to get to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is located in the mountains of central Vietnam near Laos.

It is honestly difficult to reach because it is about 400 km in a straight line from the capital Hanoi, 300 km from Da Nang in central Vietnam, and 200 km from Hue, a major city in the central region.

More details are presented below.

How to get there 1: Take the Vietnam Unification Railway to Dong Hoi → Join a tour

This will be the way we actually did it.

There is no train service near Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, and the nearest station is Dong Hoi, 50 km away. Therefore, we took the Vietnam Unified Railway from Da Nang to Dong Hoi and joined the Phong Nha-Ke Bang tour from there.

Tickets for the Vietnam Unified Railway can be purchased online.

More information about the tour will be presented later.

How to get there 2: Fly to Dong Hoi → Join a tour

The nearest city to Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park is Dong Hoi, which has an airport.

We didn’t actually use it, but it is located 6-7 km north of the center of Dong Hoi and is a very user-friendly airport.

Unfortunately, no international flights are open as of 2024. It appears that only flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are accepted.

However, it is only an hour or two away from both major cities in Vietnam! In this light, it can be said that Phong Nha-Ke Bang is easy to get to, even though it is far away.

How to get there 3: One-day tour from Hue

As mentioned above, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is about 200 km away from Hue, but there are actually day tours available from Hue.

There are some negatives, such as the fact that it takes more than 4 hours one way from Hue, and therefore, if you join the tour from Hue, you can only visit Paradise Cave.

However, since you do not have to go through Dong Hoi, it will be easier to make an overall itinerary for your trip to Vietnam. If you have limited time for travel in Vietnam, I think it is a good idea to take a tour from Hue.

Personally, I think you should go to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park even if you can only visit Paradise Cave. So I would recommend taking a tour from Hue.

More details about the tour will be presented in the next section.

About Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Tours

In conclusion, I think it is easy to arrange a tour of Phong Nha-Ke Bang using Klook.

Klook is a service that allows you to apply for optional tours around the world online, and we actually applied for a tour of Phong Nha-Ke Bang via Klook.

At the time of writing (January 2024), only tours from Dong Hoi were available, but tours from Hue may become available during the tourist season and other times.

The tour I signed up for included pickup from Dong Hoi, “Paradise Cave” → lunch (lunch included) → “Phong Nha Cave”.

Tourist caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang

So which caves are open for sightseeing? Let me introduce two caves that I have actually visited.

Paradise Cave

Paradise Cave is the most major cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park that is open to the public. And, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is one of the most beautiful spaces in the world.

There are wooden scaffolds to make it easier to walk, but being a cave, it is slippery due to water dripping from the ceiling.

This spectacular view lasts about 40 minutes.

Personally, the best peak of my Vietnam sightseeing was here at Paradise Cave!

Phong Nha Cave

The greatest feature of the Phong Nha Cave is the boat ride to the inner part of the cave.

After about a 30-minute boat ride from the landing, Phong Nha Cave opens its wide mouth.

The boat is motorized up to the cave entrance, but once inside the cave, it changes to a rowing machine, so it is very quiet.

The unrealistic boat ride through the large river flowing inside the cave was like being on a ship moving through a galaxy.

Phong Nha Cave can be explored on foot.

After a 30-minute boat ride from the cave entrance, we were disembarked at a landing inside the cave.

This cave, like Paradise Cave, was very spectacular on foot.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Tourist Hours

In the case of the optional tour from Dong Hoi that I requested, the tour starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at around 5:00 p.m. in Dong Hoi city.

If you choose to visit only one of the caves, it may be possible to visit only in the morning, but in that case, you would have to arrange for a Grab or other means to get there on your own.

Also, as mentioned briefly earlier, the tour from Hue will likewise take a full day.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Summary

In 2023 I traveled to two countries, Vietnam and Indonesia, and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was the best place of them all.

Because of its beauty, I would recommend this place to many people.

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a place that few people plan to visit in Vietnam.

It would be a shame for everyone not to go! If you are planning to visit Vietnam, please incorporate it into your travel plans.

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