Transportation in Vietnam

How to move around Vietnam: Transportation

This is a compilation of methods of transportation in Vietnam: airplane, train, bus, motorcycle, bicycle, car, taxi, boat and train.

Ground Transportation

Going around Vietnam on a motorcycle / scooter

The cheapest transportation method to getting around Vietnam, except traveling on foot, is the motorbike, or better to say, the small scooter which drive by millions on the streets of Vietnam (see Vietnam and the motorbikes).

A small Vietnamese scooter can be rented by 5 € per day, the gas consumption is minimal and you can move freely through the streets of Vietnam. This is the favorite transportation method of the Vietnamese people, because it is inexpensive, it allows you to manage easily through any narrow street or road in poor condition. Furthermore, when all the local stores, shops and other imaginable places have a motorcycle parking available.

How to move around Vietnam

Parking a motorbike in Vietnam

Although motorbikes can park on the sidewalk, it is no recommendable to park the motorbike in an unattended area, because friends of someone else property can ruin our holidays.
Parking in small shops is for free, the guard will give us a papel and/or will write down a number on the bike seat using a chalk. Malls and some restaurants, parking carries a symbolic cost of 2.000 VND* (*see Vietnamese currency). On the other hand, if we want to park the bike for several hours, the best option is using a public motorbike parking (it's worth to see and very funny).

Chalk traces on a bike seat in Vietnam

Motorbike Parking - Vietnam

Taxi in Vietnam

Unlike Spain, Taxi in Vietnam are private. The are freelance taxi drivers and several taxi companies. Each company have their own fleet and taxi fares.

Taxi fares in Vietnam

Taking a taxi in Vietnam is very chaep also Vietnamese Taxi don't have any extra charge, the price in the taximeter is the price to pay. The price of the taxi run is calculated on the distance and also the time the Taxi has been stopped. All taximeters have 3 indicators: the price of the ride, the distance traveled and the amount of time the taxi has been stopped.

Taxi in Vietnam

Depending on the Taxi's company and the number of seat of the vehicle, the fare is different (taking a 7 seats minivan than a small 4 seats urban car). The average fare is 12.000VND* per kilometer (*around half dollar, *see Vietnam Currency) .

Trusted Taxi Companies in Vietnam

Although a priori any taxi company is legitimate and safe, these are favorite and trusted taxi companies:

Vinasun
Mai Linh

Bus in Vietnam

Taking a bus in Vietnam is only for adventurous people. Buses in Hanoi are red and yellow, Buses in Ho Chi Minh City are green and white. Depending on the traffic, the bus may take another road or shortcut, doesn't stop in our stop, etc. We can buy the bus ticket directly on the bus, there is also the multiple ticket, which price is more convenient.

Bus Transportation in Vietnam

Bus Airport shuttle from Hanoi Airport Terminal to Hanoi City center

There is bus from the airline Jetstar that covers the route Hanoi Airport (HAN) - Hanoi (city center). That bus is totally orange and it departures from Hanoi Airport domestic terminal. It has several stops in the city center, the last one is Jetstar headquarter (5 minutes away from Hoan Kiem Lake).

Coach Bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Cambodia

Here you will find all related information about the Coach from Vietnam to Cambodia, just in case you may want to drop by the Temples of the Angkor.

Moving around Vietnam by Car

Renting a car in Vietnam

Unfortunately foreign driving license is not valid in Vietnam therefore, you can't rent a car unless you also hire the driver or you get the Vietnamese driving license. It's easier to catch a taxi and negotiate the price with the taxi driver for long distance trips or full days.

Car Transportation in Vietnam

Vietnamese driving license

Just because you are a foreigner and you have a valid foreign driving license, the authorities will automatically skip the theoretical test however you will still have to pass a driving test through the streets of Vietnam. The total price to get the driving license is around 200$.

Biking in Vietnam

Vietnam's climate is tropical (very hot and humid), better to think twice about biking in Vietnam. It's very easy to rent a bicycle (usually in the very same place where you can rent a motorbike), we strongly recommend you electric bicycles.

Biking in Vietnam

Transportation in Vietnam - Moto scooter

Train in Vietnam

Vietnamese Trains are very uncomfortable, we recommend the train just to visit the mountain area of Sapa.

Air Transport and Airlines

Moving around Vietnam by airplane

The airplane is the faster and more comfortable way to move from the north of Vietnam to the central area and the south of the country. These are Vietnam's main airports:

Hanoi Airport.
Danang Airport.
Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Airplanes in Vietnam - Flight transport - Vietnam Airlines

Domestic Airlines companies to flight inside Vietnam

There are 3 domestic airlines companies to flight around Vietnam:

Vietnam Airlines
Jetstar Pacific
Air Mekong

Vietnam Airlines

Top rated airline company of Vietnam and also, the symbol of many travel agencies in the back-packers area. Vietnam airlines prices are usually the highest, but it's the airline which has more routes around the country.

Jetstar: the Vietnames Low Cost airline

We can say Jetstar is like Ryanair in Vietnam, it usually offers the cheapest prices. As a word of advice we will say the price of the flight ticket is 5% cheaper is we pay in Vietnamese Dongs instead of dollars on Jetstar website.

Shipping transportation

You shouldn't leave Vietnam without taking a boat, no matter if it is a Cruise on Halong Bay, a boat in the Perfume River, a fishing boat in Hoi An, a small boat in the Mekong Delta or just a Ferry from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau.

Sailing in Hoi An, Vietnam

Related to transportation in Vietnam

Transporte en Vietnam (versión en Español)
Shopping in Vietnam 5 things you should buy during your stay in Vietnam