"Vietnamese travel agencies offer what’s called an “Open Bus Ticket”. It allows you to travel from Ho Chi Minh City in the south all the way to Hanoi in the north (and probably vice versa), with various stops in between. The more stops, the more it costs. You can choose a sleeper bus or a sitting bus. Sleeper busses are more expensive.
The busses are all supposed to have AC and toilets onboard. Unfortunately, the toilet thing is hit and miss (sometimes you’ll get one and sometimes you won’t) and the AC could be very cold or very weak."

Night Bus

          Travelling by bus - in Vietnam, the cheapest and most convenient way of transportation for foreign travelers. The bus system is well developed and covers almost the whole country. If you don't know how it all works, which bus or which route you should take, remain calm and read this page.

Interprovincial buses
Every province in Vietnam has its own large bus terminal, which are mainly in big cities like Hanoi (My Dinh Bus Station, Giap Bat Bus Station), Ho Chi Minh City (Mien Tay Mien Dong). Here you can catch buses to all the tourist destination of your choice, but also to other provinces in Vietnam. Remarkably, interprovincial buses are of high quality and good service with large, comfortable chairs. What you should do, is to buy a ticket to your destination at a registered office inside the terminal. You should show you ticket later on to the conductor of the bus. There is no restriction on the size of your luggage.

Mien Tay Bus Terminal (Ho Chi Minh City)

The price of your ticket depends on the distance, the route and the type of chair that you have chosen. Tourists can ask travel agents to purchase tickets in advance, or you can even book tickets by phone or Internet. It is true, that a bus ticket by Internet is not very popular. You can do this only with a few large bus companies, such as Hoang Long. If you want to travel to one of the smaller provinces and there is no direct route to your planned destination, it is advisable to travel to one of the bigger cities to take the bus right there. Hanoi is that northern provinces, Hue or Da Nang central provinces and Ho Chi Minh City to southern provinces). There also ride in Vietnam Sleep Buses that travel long distances. In these buses, you can sleep, as on a bed. For example between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Look at the bottom of this page for some pictures.

Local buses
In Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and a number of major tourist destinations, are local buses for the population and foreigners. These buses depart also from the main terminals, before driving through the city. These buses belong (as in the province) to private enterprises. Passengers can catch the bus at bus stops, which are spread out throughout the city (and the province). You can buy a ticket from the conductor of the bus. Although the ticket is really cheap (under VND 10 000), the service is not great. If you have bad luck, there's no sitting place in the bus, because it is busy. Or you have a conductor, which can't speak English. However, the local bus is an interesting option to get to know the people and get acquainted with the locals.

Tips

• Only buy bus tickets from registered offices of major bus companies in the terminals. Some well-known names of these companies are: Hoang Long, Viet Thanh, Sinh Cafe, Hanh Cafe and Mai Linh. Avoid keeping a bus along the way, This is for your own safety (the buses can drive around as long until they have enough passengers. This can take hours!
• Ask ahead of time the price before you get on the bus. It may happen that you are paying too much. The ticket price is the same for everyone.
• Take a piece of paper and a pen with you. Then you can write down your destination or ask any questions. A language barrier could cause problems.
• Keep an eye on your luggage, important papers (passport) and your purse, especially if you use public and local buses.
• Don't hesitate to ask the conductor, the driver or even your fellow passengers for help if there is something going wrong. Vietnamese people are very friendly; they are certainly willing to help you.

Night Buses

 

 

SLEEP BUSES
Route Sleep Buses from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh	Fare (2016)
Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Nha Trang - Ho Chi Minh Open Bus	50 $
Hanoi - Ninh Binh - Hue - Hoi An - Nhatrang - Ho Chi Minh Open Bus Tour	55 $
Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Nhatrang - Mui Ne - Ho Chi Minh Open Sleeper Bus	55 $
Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Nhatrang - Da Lat - Ho Chi Minh Open Bus in Vietnam	65 $
Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Nhatrang - Da Lat - Mui Ne - Ho Chi Minh	85 $
Hanoi - Ninh Binh - Hue - Hoi An - Nhatrang - Da Lat - Mui Ne - Ho Chi Minh	90 $
Hanoi - Ninh Binh - Hue Sleeper Open Bus	30 $
Hanoi - Ninh Binh - Hue - Hoi An Daily Open Bus Tour	35 $
Hanoi - Hue Sleeper Open Bus	25 $
Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An	30 $
Hanoi - Hue - Hoi An - Nha Trang	45 $
Route Sleep Buses from HO CHI MINH CITY to HANOI
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne	15 $
Ho Chi Minh - Nha Trang	25 $
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Nha Trang	30 $
Ho Chi Minh - Da Lat	15 $
Ho Chi Minh - Dalat - Nha Trang	35 $
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Nha Trang - Hoi An	40 $
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue	45 $
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Ninh Binh	50 $
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Ninh Binh - Hanoi	55 $
Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi	60 $
Ho Chi Minh - Da Lat - Mui Ne - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Ninh Binh - Hanoi	90 $
Ho Chi Minh - Dalat - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Ninh Binh - Hanoi	75 $