The Transport in Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi Transport- Map

See this interactive Map, with the places mentioned on this page :

  1. Points in Red : Transport (Train and Bus stations + Airport)

On this page :

  1. How to go from Hanoi airport to the City Center ?
  2. How to move inside Hanoi Center ? – The Transport
  3. How to travel outside Hanoi by Train or Bus  – location of the central stations

The main pages about Hanoi :

  1. What to Visit in Hanoi (Tourist Attractions)
  2. Where to Stay in Hanoi (The potential zones for the Hotel)
  3. The Transport in Hanoi (Airport, Bus and Train stations)

How to go from Hanoi airport (Noi Bai) to the City Center ?

The airport is located 23 Km (line distance ) from the town center. See it on the Interactive Map, above.

By Bus

  • The best bus to take from the airport is Bus number 86, because it arrives to the heart of the old quarter of Hanoi. It makes a loop around the central lake (Hoan Kiem) and it has a last stop at the train station of Hanoi (see the train station on the Interactive Map, above).
  • The cost of the bus is cheap :Around 40,000 Dong.
  • Frequency : About every 20 minutes.
  • The line doesn’t operate at night.
  • There are also other lines of buses arriving to the center of Hanoi. There are buses to the central bus stations in town (Kim Ma central bus station (see it on the Interactive Map, above) and to Long Bien central bus station (see it on the Interactive Map, above).
  • To know all the buses arriving from the airport to your destination in town, use Google Maps and Moovit.

By Minibus of the Airways companies

The local airways companies like : VietJet, Vietnam airlines and Jetstar pacific do operate minivans that go to the old quarter of Hanoi. Inform yourself at the airport, if you want to use them. In some cases you can book a place, while you are on the arriving flight. In other cases you can book via their website, when you make the flight reservation.

By Taxi

A metered taxi from the airport to Hanoi center is around 20 dollars.

With Grab (it is like Uber)

It exists in Hanoi with cars and motorbikes, see later on the page.

Buy a Flight Ticket in Vietnam

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or  12Go Asia.  Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.

How to move inside Hanoi Center ? – The Transport

1. Walking

If you choose to live in the old quarter of Hanoi, around the central lake Hoan Kiem (see the page: where to stay), then you can walk to many places of interest and enjoy the lake itself. See the attraction page.
It will take you about 30 minutes of walk to arrive from the lake to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, so you may prefer to use some transport.

2. Taxi

The service is good and cheap, like in Saigon. A typical ride in town could cost 50,000 Dong. Make sure the taximeter is working, in the beginning of the ride.

3. With Grab (it is like Uber)

Uber was bought by Grab in Vietnam. They do the same. It functions with cars and motorbikes. In order to use Grab you need :

  1. A smartphone.
  2. A phone number in order to register (they will send you an SMS with a code ).
  3. Download the Grab application to your smartphone.

It is very easy to use Grab :

  1. You open the application on your smartphone.
  2. The application detects the position you are on the Map (it is better to fill manually a known spot near you, like an hotel).
  3. You fill your destination (you can choose a point on the Map or fill an address).
  4. You choose the way of Transport : motorcycles or cars.
  5. The application shows you the price to your destination and it shows you the motorcycles near you.
  6. You press the button “Book” and you wait a little bit (seconds, usually).
  7. The application tells you that a driver has accepted your reservation and he is on his way and you see the driver’s name and license number. You now see on the map only 1 motorcycle, the one that is your driver. He usually arrives within 2 minutes to pick you.

saigon

4. Motorbike -Taxi

Option 1 :The company Grab
The Grab service is was mentioned before. It exists also with motorbikes in Asian countries.

Option 2 :The freelancers
They will address you on the streets. It is much less interesting than using Grab, because they drive dangerously, they ask for higher prices and they try to bring you to places you didn’t ask and you need to explain to them about the destination and they don’t really speak english.

5. Bus

To get information about the bus lines in Hanoi :

You need a smartphone + Internet connection in Vietnam.
Bangkok

  1. Use the free application for smartphones : Google Maps. It’s easy, you type the name of your destination. Google shows you the place on the map. Then you see the option “how to arrive”. You choose the way of transport (walking, driving or public transport). If you choose “public transport”, it will show you the buses available from your location. There are still no GPS on the buses of Hanoi, so the application will not show you in “real time” the countdown for the bus arrival.
  2. Use the (free) application for smartphones : Moovit. It is similar to Google Maps but it has a different interface. It shows you the bus lines and the bus stops on a the map. Very useful.

See later where are the central Bus stations, in Hanoi.

6. Rent a Motorbike

It is possible to rent a motorbike, everywhere in Vietnam, and also in Hanoi. I personally avoid to rent one in Saigon and Hanoi because the Grab-Moto service is very efficient in these cities and because the traffic is crazy and it is difficult to park.

If you do rent a motorbike, you should park it only in a regulated place with a guard, to which you pay a small fee (usually 5000 Dong). There are theft of motorbikes in Vietnam.

It is also better to be equipped with an International moto driving licence, because sometimes the police is giving small fines (and also for the case of an accident) :

7. Touristic Bus

There are 2 main companies operating an Hop-On Hop-Off city tour :

Yellow buses :

And red buses :

They sometime, even meet :

You can buy a ticket, here on Viator or in place, in the many kiosks.
(There are many organized  excursions from Hanoi).

Hanoi Electrical Bus Tour

It is also a type of touristic bus. They use “golf style” electric cars.

You can find their office on the north side of the lake.

8. Rickshaw

I don’t know if people use it as a way of transport, or for fun, but it exists in Hanoi.

How to travel outside Hanoi by Train or Bus  :

Train :

See the location of the train station on the Interactive Map, above. The station is located about 1 km to the left of the central lake. You may use the train to travel to Sapa, Halong-Bay or to the cities to the south like Hue, Danang and Saigon.

Note that for Halong Bay (Haiphong city), you may catch the train from a small train station located in the north of the old city (I have marked it on the Interactive Map, above).

Buy a Train Ticket in Vietnam

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or  12Go Asia.  Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.

Buses :

See the location of the 3 Central Bus stations on the Interactive Map, above.

As a tourist, you may not need these stations because you will probably buy a bus ticket from a private company and these companies are collecting the passengers from the hotels or from a location in the old quarter.

For long distances in Vietnam, it is common to take a night bus. Some of the buses are equipped with beds (sort of).

Buy a Bus Ticket in Vietnam

  • You can book Flights, Trains and Buses inside Vietnam with the site Baolau or  12Go Asia.  Choose the Origin city and Destination city and it will show you All the available Transports to destination.

The main pages about Hanoi :

  1. What to Visit in Hanoi (Tourist Attractions)
  2. Where to Stay in Hanoi (The potential zones for the Hotel)
  3. The Transport in Hanoi (Airport, Bus and Train stations)

More on Vietnam :

  On Thailand :

Other Stuff :

If you find incorrect data on this page, like a restaurant that has closed or a big river that has moved or you want to tell me something, please write me to contact.

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