Here you can also pick up a free bus map, or just download the BusMap app on Google Play. If you decide to take the bus around the city, and especially if you are staying in District 1 we can recommend going to Ben Thanh Station. Traveling around Ho Chi Minh City by public bus will only cost you 5000 VND for short distances!īen Thanh Station, Mien Dong Station and the Cholon Station are the three main hubs for buses. Public Busįor those looking to not spend unnecessarily much, or be environmentally friendly the public bus in Saigon is an excellent option. Since you are going to overpay anyway you might as well do it the safe way 5. The best way to avoid getting scammed is to have your hotel take care of this for you. Make sure you are not getting taken away from the area you are intending to go to! Google Maps is your best friend while traveling. You are going to overpay for the ride as a tourist, but 50,000-100,000 for a ride around District 1 is “reasonable”. If you decide to get one of these rides out of curiosity or for Instagram photos, make sure to agree upon a sum before getting on the ride. From here they will ask for outrageous sums to bring you back to for example District 1. One of the more common scams is that the driver will give you a great price for a ride, and then bring you to some remote area instead of your destination. Since this is largely a tourist attraction around District 1, you need to be aware that you could get scammed. Just be wary of the drivers that yell at you to use their service. Cyclo, a three-wheeled bikeĬyclo can be a fun tourist activity to try out in Ho Chi Minh City. Avoid highways and always insist on getting a helmet. So it is best to use it sparingly and for shorter distances. The motorbikes can snake their way between cars, and drive to the front of the lines.īut please be mindful that you’re way more prone to injuries when riding a motorbike in HCMC. Xe Om is best used during the hours with heavy traffic, as the scooter ride will be significantly faster than using a car or bus service. This gives you some leverage to bargain with. Here’s a good tip: Bring out your phone with Grab, and show them how much it would cost to use the app instead of their service. Most of the Xe Om drivers will speak very limited English, so you need to be very clear.Īlso, since there is no meter, or app (unless you use Grab for a motorbike!) to track the fair cost, you will need to haggle a bit to not get taken advantage of. If you wish to hire a motorcycle driver, simply tap him on the shoulder and tell him with very simple words where you are going. This is not because they are sunbathing, but waiting for customers. When visiting HCMC you will see a lot of local Vietnamese having a nap on their motorbikes in the sun around the city. Grab is usually cheaper than Taxis, and certainly a better option than a taxi for a tourist since you avoid most of the opportunities to be taken advantage of. You don’t need to bring out your wallet ever while using Grab. Don’t do this, as you may end up eating a cancellation fee.Īlso, keep all transactions (like additional costs for highway fees) in the app itself. The only thing to watch out for with Grab is if the driver asks you to cancel the booking while in the car. Then you put in the location you would like to leave from and where you would like to go and get a quote. Simply download the app, and create a new account. It is the South-East Asian equivalent to Uber. Grab is the most convenient and safest way to get around Ho Chi Minh City. Very reasonable compared to western standards. The cost for a taxi is 13,000 VND as a base fee, and then an additional 12,000 VND per kilometer. Like we mentioned in our airport guide yesterday, if you use any other company than Vinasun or Mai Linh, the chances of getting scammed are a lot higher.Īnd always try to bring small notes so you get all your change back, or your driver may try to keep it! This goes for everybody living in the city, but if you don’t know what to watch out for, it is a lot easier for you to fall victim to one of the scams. ![]() Since you are new, or a tourist in Ho Chi Minh City there is a much larger chance that some the local drivers will try to scam you. How to get around Ho Chi Minh City Safelyīefore you go wild and try out all the Cyclos and Xe Oms you can find in District 1, we want to address a few concerns. There are 6 ways to get around in Ho Chi Minh City:īefore heading into traffic there are a few facts you need to know about before using transport like the motorcycle taxis and regular taxis in HCMC. After researching online and testing out the various transport options around Saigon we decided to create this guide for you. Before visiting Ho Chi Minh how to get around was one of our main concerns.
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