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.
Transportation in Vietnam
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:
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
