Travel in Vietnam is quite convenience with different kinds of transportation, it depends on your schedule and budget to choose which one to take. You can reach most of the attractions by public transportation. I'd tried different ways to travel there and these are kind of special 'Vietnam experience' besides of sightseeing.
Train
This is the safest way to travel in Vietnam but it usually takes longer time than bus. Beside the normal seat, there's also sleeping bed in the train which has 4 and 6 beds to choose from. You can book the meal in advance or just buy it when the crew come with the food cart, exactly like in the airplane. The view along the way is super awesome that I think you should try at least once to travel by train.
Here's the information and details (train route, time and price), check it out: http://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm#.VbXKLPlViko
Bus
There's options for you to travel by bus, you can either choose the normal bus tour which you book it from one place to one place (for those who doesn't have the plan of where to go the next) or the sleeping bus tour.
Sleeping bus is very popular and the bus company provide the route from South to North and vice verse. It's like hop on hop off tour and time flexible as well, for example:
HCMC --> Nha Trang --> Hoi An --> Hue --> Hanoi
When you arrive Nha Trang from HCMC, just check the schedule to Hoi An from the bus company and book it whenever you want. That's means you can departure to the next stop any day you want.
It's faster than train but more expensive. However, you can't have a good sleep as the non-stop honking habit in Vietnam is killing the peace and also some drivers are drive crazily. Sinh Cafe is the most reliable bus company and the Camel is the worst.
Motorbike
This is definitely the craziest way to travel in Vietnam as everyone knows the traffic in Vietnam is super chaos! Yet, it's very convenience and the cheapest way to reach every corner in Vietnam. You'll learn to honk crazily in order to keep you safe. This will be the most adventure experience to travel in Vietnam.
Train
This is the safest way to travel in Vietnam but it usually takes longer time than bus. Beside the normal seat, there's also sleeping bed in the train which has 4 and 6 beds to choose from. You can book the meal in advance or just buy it when the crew come with the food cart, exactly like in the airplane. The view along the way is super awesome that I think you should try at least once to travel by train.
Here's the information and details (train route, time and price), check it out: http://www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm#.VbXKLPlViko
Bus
There's options for you to travel by bus, you can either choose the normal bus tour which you book it from one place to one place (for those who doesn't have the plan of where to go the next) or the sleeping bus tour.
Sleeping bus is very popular and the bus company provide the route from South to North and vice verse. It's like hop on hop off tour and time flexible as well, for example:
HCMC --> Nha Trang --> Hoi An --> Hue --> Hanoi
When you arrive Nha Trang from HCMC, just check the schedule to Hoi An from the bus company and book it whenever you want. That's means you can departure to the next stop any day you want.
It's faster than train but more expensive. However, you can't have a good sleep as the non-stop honking habit in Vietnam is killing the peace and also some drivers are drive crazily. Sinh Cafe is the most reliable bus company and the Camel is the worst.
Motorbike
This is definitely the craziest way to travel in Vietnam as everyone knows the traffic in Vietnam is super chaos! Yet, it's very convenience and the cheapest way to reach every corner in Vietnam. You'll learn to honk crazily in order to keep you safe. This will be the most adventure experience to travel in Vietnam.
Besides these, taxi and mototaxi are for the short ride in the city. You have to bargain with the driver and the price they offer is always 3 times higher. Other than that, you can easily find the tours to some attractions by the hostel/hotel and travel agencies on the street. Group tour is usually higher the price, comfortable way and least experience way to travel. However, some of the tours here are really worth the money, not expensive yet quality local experience. Take some time to survey around and compare, you can always find a good deal.
