Chí Linh travel guide
Côn Sơn's pine stairway and the Kiếp Bạc temple to Trần Hưng Đạo
A hilly town between Hanoi and Hạ Long, visited for the Côn Sơn pagoda and the Kiếp Bạc temple, now part of a UNESCO listing. Come in spring or autumn for the festivals and mild weather. One day is enough. Costs are low, and many passports enter visa-free.
Chí Linh is a hilly corner of the Red River Delta between Hanoi and Hạ Long, where six rivers meet near the Phả Lại power station. Vietnamese come for two shrines: Côn Sơn, the pagoda and mountain retreat of the 15th-century scholar Nguyễn Trãi, and Kiếp Bạc, the temple to General Trần Hưng Đạo, who turned back the Mongol invasions. In 2025 both became part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing alongside Yên Tử.
At Côn Sơn a long stone stairway climbs through pine forest from the pagoda to the summit, a steady climb that rewards an early start. Kiếp Bạc is a short drive away on the river. Spring brings the Côn Sơn festival and crowds of pilgrims, while the Kiếp Bạc festival in the eighth lunar month marks the general's death anniversary.
Sao Đỏ, the town centre, is practical rather than attractive. Golfers come for Star Golf, one of the older courses in the north.
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Two great national shrines, a forest stairway and a golf course.
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Best time to visit Chí Linh
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Comfortable for the climb, and the main festival seasons.
Hot and humid with storms; climb early.
The Côn Sơn spring festival in the first lunar month and the Kiếp Bạc festival in the eighth lunar month draw very large crowds; weekdays outside these weeks are far calmer.
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Getting there
Highway 18 from Hanoi's Gia Lâm side toward Hạ Long
Chí Linh lies on Highway 18, the old road from Hanoi through Bắc Ninh to Uông Bí and Hạ Long, about 80 km east of the capital, which makes it an easy detour on a Hạ Long trip. Fly into Noi Bai (HAN), then come on by car or hire a car and driver in Hanoi for the day. Coaches heading for Hạ Long and Quảng Ninh from Hanoi's eastern bus stations run along Highway 18 through Sao Đỏ, the town centre, and drivers will drop you there; from Sao Đỏ a taxi covers the last few kilometres to Côn Sơn or Kiếp Bạc. During the spring and autumn festivals extra buses and a great many private cars fill the road, and the final stretch to the shrines can crawl.
- Noi Bai (HAN)
- Nearest airport; car or taxi east via Bắc Ninh
- Hanoi to Hạ Long coaches
- Pass through Sao Đỏ on Highway 18
- Private car from Hanoi
- Simplest for a day trip that combines both shrines
- Ask a Hạ Long tour driver to stop here on the way out; Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc fit into a morning without leaving Highway 18 far behind.
Getting around
Taxis linking Sao Đỏ, Côn Sơn and the Vạn Kiếp riverbank
Chí Linh's sights are spread out, and no useful local bus links them. Côn Sơn is a few kilometres from Sao Đỏ, Kiếp Bạc about the same distance again on the river at Vạn Kiếp, and the Chu Văn An temple sits on Phượng Hoàng mountain to the north, so plan on a taxi. Grab and local taxi firms work in Sao Đỏ, and the easiest plan is to keep one driver for a few hours, because finding a new car at each shrine can be hard outside festival days. Once at Côn Sơn, everything is on foot: the stairway, the forest paths and the summit.
- Taxi or Grab
- From Sao Đỏ; book a return or keep the driver waiting
- On foot
- The Côn Sơn stairway and summit trail
- On festival days, park well before the gates and walk; traffic near both shrines backs up for hours.
Know before you go
What makes Chí Linh worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The pine stairway at Côn Sơn, cool and quiet on a weekday morning.
- Kiếp Bạc by the river, the temple of Vietnam's most revered general.
- Festival days, when the hills fill with pilgrims and incense.
Good to know
- The Côn Sơn climb is steep, so wear proper shoes and bring water.
- Cover shoulders and knees at both shrines.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Chí Linh, month by month
Chí Linh has the northern delta's four seasons, with cool, drizzly months around the spring festival at Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc. Tap a month for averages.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Chí Linh (Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology, via Wikipedia).
Up Côn Sơn's pine stairway, down to Kiếp Bạc on the six rivers
One day in Chí Linh covers its two great shrines, Côn Sơn in the early morning and Kiếp Bạc by late morning. Reach Côn Sơn by 7:00 for Chùa Hun, an old centre of Trúc Lâm Zen, and the shrine to Nguyễn Trãi, the 15th-century scholar who retired to these hills and wrote poems about their pines.
Then take the long stone stairway up through the forest. Near the top are the flat rock called Bàn Cờ Tiên, the Fairy's Chessboard, and broad views across the delta; stop at the Jade Well on the way down.
Late morning. Drive the short way to Kiếp Bạc, the temple to Trần Hưng Đạo, who defeated the Mongol armies in the 13th century from his base at Vạn Kiếp. It stands where the rivers of the Lục Đầu Giang meet, and the riverbank is a calm place to sit after the climb.
Afternoon. If you still have energy, visit the Chu Văn An temple on Phượng Hoàng mountain, dedicated to the teacher whom Vietnamese students still honour before exams. Otherwise, continue east on Highway 18 towards Hạ Long, which is the way most visitors finish the day.
Hill chicken, mung bean cakes and Thanh Hà lychees
Chí Linh's own dish is gà đồi, hill chicken raised free-range on the slopes around town, leaner and firmer than farmed birds. It is usually boiled and served with lime leaves and salt, or grilled, at restaurants on the approach roads to Côn Sơn and Kiếp Bạc, which also cook river fish and festival vegetarian set meals.
Before leaving, pick up boxes of bánh đậu xanh, the crumbly mung bean cakes that Hải Dương is known across the country for, sold in every shop along Highway 18; they are the standard present to take home from a temple trip. Look too for bánh gai, a dark, sticky rice cake made with ramie leaf and filled with mung bean, from Ninh Giang in the south of the province.
If you come in early summer, roadside stalls are stacked with Thanh Hà lychees from the orchards of Thanh Hà district elsewhere in the province, sold by the bunch on the branch. The season is short, roughly June, and worth timing a trip for.
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How we research our Chí Linh travel guide
Chí Linh's temples, festival notes and Highway 18 travel times are checked against the city's Wikipedia entry and Vietnam Travel; visa information comes from the official Vietnam e-Visa site.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Chí Linh.
General
Côn Sơn pagoda with its pine-forest stairway and Nguyễn Trãi shrine, and the Kiếp Bạc temple to Trần Hưng Đạo. The Chu Văn An temple is a third, quieter stop.
A steady climb on stone steps through pines; allow most of a morning up and down with stops. Start early to avoid heat and crowds.
Yes. Chí Linh is on Highway 18 between Hanoi and Hạ Long, so a morning stop fits easily.
Yes. Since 2025 they belong to a listed complex with Yên Tử and Vĩnh Nghiêm, centred on the Trúc Lâm Zen tradition.
The Fairy's Chessboard, a flat rock near the summit with wide views over the delta, the usual end point of the climb.
It stands at Vạn Kiếp, where Trần Hưng Đạo kept his headquarters during the wars against the Mongols, near the meeting of six rivers.
February to April and September to November; December and January are cool but grey. June to August reach 32 to 33C and each bring more than 240 mm of rain, so summer climbs should start at dawn.
Chí Linh's sights are spread out, and no useful local bus links them. Côn Sơn is a few kilometres from Sao Đỏ, Kiếp Bạc about the same distance again on the river at Vạn Kiếp, and the Chu Văn An temple sits on Phượng Hoàng mountain to the north, so plan on a taxi. Grab and local taxi firms work in Sao Đỏ, and the easiest plan is to keep one driver for a few hours, because finding a new car at each shrine can be hard outside festival days.
Timing & weather
Côn Sơn's spring festival falls in the first lunar month; Kiếp Bạc's autumn festival is in the eighth lunar month, around the anniversary of Trần Hưng Đạo's death.
The best time to visit Chí Linh is Feb to Apr, Sep to Nov. Mild weather and the spring and autumn temple festivals.
- Spring and autumn: February - April, September - November (Comfortable for the climb, and the main festival seasons)
- Summer: May - August (Hot and humid with storms; climb early)
Getting there
About 80 km east along Highway 18 via Bắc Ninh, a comfortable day trip by car.
Chí Linh lies on Highway 18, the old road from Hanoi through Bắc Ninh to Uông Bí and Hạ Long, about 80 km east of the capital, which makes it an easy detour on a Hạ Long trip. Fly into Noi Bai (HAN), then come on by car or hire a car and driver in Hanoi for the day. Coaches heading for Hạ Long and Quảng Ninh from Hanoi's eastern bus stations run along Highway 18 through Sao Đỏ, the town centre, and drivers will drop you there; from Sao Đỏ a taxi covers the last few kilometres to Côn Sơn or Kiếp Bạc.
Stay & facilities
Hải Dương's mung bean cakes (bánh đậu xanh) from shops on Highway 18, and Thanh Hà lychees if you come around June.
Visa & documents
Citizens of a number of countries, including the UK and many EU states, can visit Vietnam visa-free for up to 45 days. All nationalities can apply for a single or multiple-entry e-Visa valid for up to 90 days on the official portal.
Health & safety
Vietnam is generally safe. Traffic is the main hazard, and bag snatching from motorbikes occurs in cities.
