How to get around Vietnam by private car — a visitor’s guide
Your options after you land, and why most visitors end up in a private car
You have four ways to move once you clear customs at Tan Son Nhat: the airport taxi rank, a ride-hailing app, an intercity bus, or a private car with a driver booked in advance. The taxi rank is fine for a short hop into District 1 and miserable at midnight when three flights land together. Ride-hailing works inside the city and almost never accepts a four-hour run to the coast. Buses are cheap and leave when they want to.
A private car with driver is the option that scales with your trip. One vehicle, one driver, your timetable. You decide when to stop for coffee, the luggage never leaves the boot, and no other passengers are collected on the way. For a couple it costs more than a bus; for a family of four it is usually cheaper than four bus tickets plus two taxis at each end — and it takes hours less.
Choosing the right size car — the mistake visitors make most often
Pick the car by luggage, not by headcount. A 4-seat car (Toyota Vios, Honda City, Hyundai Accent) carries four adults and two large suitcases comfortably. A 7-seat car (Mitsubishi Xpander, Toyota Veloz Cross) seats seven on paper, but we book a maximum of six passengers, because the third row has to fold down for the bags. If an operator promises you seven passengers and seven suitcases in a 7-seat car, they are planning to put your luggage on your lap.
Travelling with surfboards, golf clubs, a wheelchair or a pram? Say so when you book and we will size the car around it. Groups of eight or more need a 16-seat van, and groups travelling together across several days usually prefer two 7-seat cars to one van — more comfort, same money.
Petrol or electric
We run both, and they cost the same. The VinFast VF 5 (4 seats) and Limo Green (7 seats) are near-silent and have no fuel smell inside, which is why passengers who get car sick ask for them on the winding mountain road up to Da Lat. If you have no preference, say so and we will send whatever is free — it makes no difference to the price.
Airport transfer from Tan Son Nhat, step by step
Send us your flight number when you book. The driver tracks the flight, so a three-hour delay at two in the morning costs you nothing extra and the car is still waiting. He stands in the arrivals hall with your name on a board, takes the bags, and walks you to the car park.
This is the single booking most worth making before you fly. The first night is when you are tired, offline, carrying everything you own, and least able to negotiate in a language you do not speak. Arranging the transfer in advance costs the same as arranging it on the day, and removes the one part of the trip that routinely goes wrong.
The day trips and routes visitors book from Ho Chi Minh City
Vung Tau is the nearest beach, around two hours, and works as a day trip with the driver waiting while you swim and eat. Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are about four hours — sand dunes, seafood, kitesurfing — and are worth an overnight. Da Lat is six to seven hours of mountain road into cool air, pine forest and coffee farms; bring a jacket even in July.
Westward, Can Tho in the Mekong Delta is roughly three hours, and the floating market only earns its reputation if you leave Saigon before dawn. Cu Chi tunnels and the Cao Dai temple at Tay Ninh combine into one full day. Nha Trang is a long haul up the coast; most people take the car one way and fly home.
What it costs and what is inside the price
We quote each trip as one figure for the whole car, not per person, and we fix it in writing before you travel. Fuel or charging, motorway tolls and the driver are all included. Nothing is added when you arrive, there is no night surcharge and no weekend surcharge. Parking and entrance tickets at the places you visit are not included, because those depend on what you choose to see.
You pay the same rate a Vietnamese customer pays for the same route. Send the trip through the form at the top of this page and the number comes back in writing, usually within the hour.
Booking, language and what happens on the day
A day ahead is comfortable. Tet, the lunar new year, is the exception — cars across the whole country are scarce and dear, so book weeks ahead if you are travelling then. Same-day requests often work; call rather than use the form.
Our drivers speak Vietnamese. We say that plainly instead of promising English and disappointing you at arrivals. Everything that needs arranging — route, price, pick-up point, changes — we handle in writing with you, and the driver gets your address, flight number and phone number in Vietnamese beforehand. In practice almost nothing needs to be said in the car. If you specifically want an English-speaking driver, ask before booking and we will tell you honestly whether one is free on your date.