Public transport - cheap way to travel Vietnam

Budget tours usually attract a large number of travellers as they provide visitors a chance to travel at the cost as low as possible. Cheap package tours to Vietnam is a good way for budget visitors to keep the tour cost down, instead of booking day trips and excursions separately you are recommended to book a tour package including all transfers, accommodation, tours and meals.

Join group tour is a smart way to keep the budget low, although it is not very comfortable to travel with other people with fixed itinerary, sharing the meals and transports however you will have a chance to share information and tips from other fellow travellers, and naturally you have a safer feeling to travel with a group.

If join group tour is not what you are interested in and want to discover the places by yourself while keeping the cost within your budget you can travel independently using the cheapest services for your accommodation and transport.

In this part we will give you some suggestion about public transport system in Vietnam

Public transport system in Vietnam is pretty good, public buses are always available at the station, in Hanoi alone there are 4-5 main bus stations like My Dinh, Nuoc Ngam, Luong Yen and Gia Lam stations, it cost about 5-8 usd for journey within 200km, from Hanoi to Halong Bay costs 6 usd, the buses depart from My Dinh and Luong Yen which provide journeys to the north, Luong Yen station is just 10 minutes by taxi from Hanoi centre while My Dinh is about 40 minutes, from Luong Yen you can catch a bus to Halong, it takes 5 hours to reach Halong city and the bay area is just 5 km from the bus stop. As Halong is one of the main destinations in the north the buses are pretty available, the bus is clean and airconditioned, try to avoid small minivans as they usually stop many time on road to pick up more passengers and there is little room in these vehicles.
To get to Sapa budget travellers are recommended to take the night train, it will save your time and energy, public buses run from Hanoi to Lao Cai everyday however there are only 2 trips a day and they start very early in the morning at 4 and 5 oclock in the morning, and after a lengthy journey 11 hours you will reach Lao Cai town and then catch a short drive 30 km from Lao Cai to Sapa, although the road from Hanoi to Lao Cai has been upgraded several times it is still very bumpy in outside city areas.
Some transport companies also offer overnight bus service to Lao Cai at 20 usd/person, the vehicle is big and clean, each passenger has a small bed with 2 bottles of water, at the moment this service only available at weekends when tourists take their holiday to Sapa.
Mai Chau used to be a hot destination in north Vietnam, Mai Chau is located in Hoa Binh province, in early 1990s a lot of tourists travel from Hanoi to Mai Chau to visit ethnic minority poeple, trekking and stayed in the village homestay. To get to Mai Chau from Hanoi you need to catch a public bus to Son La, as Mai Chau is at the end of Hoa Binh province territory, the bus to Hoa Binh will stop at the city centre and you will need to take another journey from Hoa Binh to Mai Chau 80km, fares for bublic bus from Hanoi to Son La is 6-8 usd depending on types of vehicle, most buses depart from Thanh Xuan station which is about 30 minutes taxi from Hanoi centre, most buses depart in the morning before 10 oclock, some other buses depart from My Dinh leaving around midday