Ha Long city: Bai Chay, Hon Gai and the evening ashore

Ha Long is a working city built on coal, port trade and tourism, spread along the shore facing the bay. A channel splits it in two. On the western side is Bai Chay, the tourist district: hotels, the beach, the Sun World complex and the international cruise port. On the eastern side is Hon Gai, the older town and administrative centre, with the market, Bai Tho mountain and the Quang Ninh Museum. The 903 m cable-stayed Bai Chay bridge joins them.

The name has its own history. The town was called Hon Gai until it was renamed Ha Long City in 1993. Since the 2025 reform that removed the district level of government, the former city area has been divided into wards of Quang Ninh province, including Bai Chay, Hong Gai, Ha Long and Tuan Chau. Signs, maps and people still say Ha Long for the whole urban area, and so does this guide.

Bai Chay can feel like a resort built ahead of its visitors: wide roads, large hotels, quiet on weekday evenings out of season and crowded on summer weekends. Hon Gai feels more like an ordinary Vietnamese town. For a first-time visitor the two halves work together: Bai Chay for the seafront and cable car, Hon Gai for the market and the view.

Bai Tho mountain, a limestone hill in the centre of Hon Gai, is known for poems carved into the rock by the fifteenth-century king Le Thanh Tong and later by Trinh Cuong, and for the view over the bay and the bridge. The Quang Ninh Museum, a modern three-block building on the seafront, covers the region's nature, its history and the coal industry; adult entry was 40,000 VND when last reported.

Ha Long's food is seafood. The city's signature speciality is chả mực, squid cakes traditionally pounded by hand in a stone mortar with pepper and fish sauce, then fried; one family sold them at Ha Long market from the 1950s. Very early in the morning, roughly 2 to 4 am, fishing boats land their catch at an early seafood market in Hon Gai. On the Bai Chay side, a night market at Ha Long Marine Plaza on Hoang Quoc Viet Street was reported open from 6 pm to midnight, with grilled seafood, snacks and souvenirs; many stalls take cash only.

Ha Long city has a summer from May to October and a winter from November to April. The annual mean is about 23°C; June is warmest at around 28.6°C on average and February coolest at about 16.7°C, with humidity averaging over 80%. Spring and autumn are most comfortable for walking. The beach and the water park are summer attractions, which is also the storm season: when Typhoon Wipha passed in July 2025, the cable car, the water park and the museum closed and reopened the day after.

Hotel and restaurant prices are not listed: they swing widely between a winter weekday and a summer weekend. Check before you go.

• If you are sleeping aboard a boat: the city adds little to an overnight trip except an evening walk.
• If you want old streets and historic buildings: Ha Long is a modern city, and Hanoi does that far better.
• If you are travelling straight on to Cat Ba: a night there puts you closer to Lan Ha.
• In winter if you came for the beach or the water park: both are summer attractions.