Do I need my own car in Vietnam? What's public transport in Ho Chi Minh City like?

Expert Info

Posted by

on 21 Sep 2016

My girlfriend and I are moving to Vietnam to teach English and we're trying to decide if it's worth saving up to buy our own car while we're there. What's the public transport like in HCMC? Are there enough options to get by without our own car?

Meagan on 22 Sep 2016 - 07:31

Hi Smith,

There are plenty of ways to get around HCMC without a car - in fact, owning one can be inconvenient due to lack of parking in the city. The city's chaotic traffic also does not make for a pleasant driving experience.

Taxis and motorbike taxis are two of the most popular ways to get around HCMC, and there is also a comprehensive bus system.

See Getting Around Ho Chi Minh City for more.

Best of luck with your move.

Meagan

Anonymous (not verified) on 8 Feb 2017 - 17:21

Hello Smith, If your commute is short inside the HCM city (less than 20 km per day) then I would recogmend not to buy a car. You can take city bus for 25 cents/rout, meter taxi about 0.75 usd/km. You also can take Uber and Grab, they are much cheaper (30-50% less) then regular meter taxi during low-traffic hours. At high-traffic hours it is more expensive. If you want to drive once a while to go to places to can rent a car for about 25 usd/ day. If you go more than 20 km a day, then you can think about owning a car, but then you have to deal with heavy trafics, corupting police, parking space at your own place, small accidents (motor bikes will scratch your car). Hope it help

Anonymous (not verified) on 9 Feb 2017 - 07:18

Hi Smith, Bringing a car into Ho Chi Minh City will be very costly. Owning one is nice but driving in the central is quite difficult, unless you hire your own driver. Getting around the city is not that difficult with cabs, Uber, Grab, motorbike caps (xe om), buses or driving your own motorbike if you like.

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