The ride from a Vietnamese airport into town costs anywhere from about 6,000 VND on a city bus to 700,000 VND by car, and the gap between the two is wide almost everywhere. At the median airport in our sample of 13 that has a public bus, the cheapest published taxi or ride-hailing fare is at least 6.7 times the bus fare. At Hue's Phu Bai it is 25 times. Two airports, Vinh and Van Don, had no public bus into town that we could confirm, and Van Don is also the farthest from the place it serves: 49.8 km by road to Ha Long.
How we built this guide: on 3 October 2026 we measured the road distance from each airport terminal to a named landmark in the city it serves with OpenStreetMap routing, and collected bus and car fares from bus operators, airport operators, Grab's airport pages, Green SM's airport price list, Vietnam Airlines' destination pages and Vietnamese news reports. We did not ride these services. Every row in the CSV lists its sources. Dollar figures use Vietcombank's selling rate of 26,170 VND per US dollar on the day we checked.
Methodology
The dataset covers 13 airports serving the places most visitors fly into, from Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat to island and highland airports. All figures are a snapshot taken on 3 October 2026.
Center points. For each city we chose one landmark a visitor would recognize as the middle of town, usually the main market, lake, bridge or square. They appear in the tables and the center_reference column.
Distance. We took the fastest car route from the terminal building to the landmark using the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap data, the same engine behind the directions tool on openstreetmap.org. Where an airport has a separate international terminal (Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang and Cam Ranh), we measured from that one. The round figures Grab and Vietnam Airlines publish are within 4 km of ours, with one exception: Vietnam Airlines puts Phu Bai 8 km from Hue, and we measured 15.2 km.
Bus fares. A public bus here means a scheduled bus anyone can board with a per-seat fare, leaving from the terminal or from a stop near the airport that the source names. We used the bus operator or airport operator first, then government or news reports, then Vietnam Airlines' destination and route pages. We record the published fare band, low and high, and never guess the fare for the airport-to-center trip where a source gives only a band.
Car fares. We record the fare for a standard four-seat taxi or ride-hailing car, airport to center. Our order of preference was the airport operator's posted taxi rates (Cam Ranh only), then Grab's published average from the city center (five airports), then Vietnam Airlines' destination and route pages (six airports). For Van Don, the only source we found was a September 2026 travel guide by Sun Group's Sun Paradise Land. Separately, the fixed_taxi_package_vnd column lists Green SM's published airport-to-city packages, each capped at a stated number of kilometers.
Formulas.
taxi_to_bus_ratio=taxi_fare_low_vnd/public_bus_fare_high_vnd, to one decimal. Because it divides the cheapest car fare by the dearest bus fare, the multiple is a floor.taxi_vnd_per_km=taxi_fare_low_vnd/distance_km, rounded to the nearest 100 VND.
What we left out. Private transfers and shared shuttles sold on booking platforms, motorbike taxis, hotel pickups and night surcharges. Green SM notes that the final cost depends on the actual distance, road tolls and any surcharges.
Which airports are farthest from town?
Van Don, Cam Ranh, Lien Khuong and Phu Cat all sit more than 33 km from the place they serve, and car fares from them start at 250,000 VND or more.
| Rank | Airport (code) | Center point | Road km | Car fare, VND | VND per km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Van Don (VDO) | Bai Chay Bridge, Ha Long | 49.8 | 400,000 to 700,000 | 8,000 |
| 2 | Cam Ranh (CXR) | Tram Huong Tower, Nha Trang | 35.4 | 300,000 to 350,000 | 8,500 |
| 3 | Lien Khuong (DLI) | Da Lat Market | 33.8 | 400,000 to 450,000 | 11,800 |
| 4 | Phu Cat (UIH) | Quy Nhon central square | 33.6 | 250,000 to 300,000 | 7,400 |
| 5 | Noi Bai (HAN) | The Huc Bridge, Hoan Kiem Lake | 28.3 | 250,000 to 350,000 | 8,800 |
| 6 | Phu Bai (HUI) | Truong Tien Bridge, Hue | 15.2 | 250,000 | 16,400 |
| 7 | Can Tho (VCA) | Ninh Kieu Park | 11.8 | 100,000 to 150,000 | 8,500 |
| 8 | Phu Quoc (PQC) | Dinh Cau Night Market, Duong Dong | 9.7 | 120,000 to 180,000 | 12,400 |
| 9 | Cat Bi (HPH) | Hai Phong Opera House square | 8.6 | 80,000 to 120,000 | 9,300 |
| 10 | Vinh (VII) | Vinh Market | 8.0 | 80,000 to 120,000 | 10,000 |
| 11 | Dong Hoi (VDH) | Quang Binh Gate | 7.5 | 120,000 to 200,000 | 16,000 |
| 12 | Tan Son Nhat (SGN) | Ben Thanh Market | 7.4 | 120,000 to 200,000 | 16,200 |
| 13 | Da Nang (DAD) | Han Market | 3.9 | 70,000 to 120,000 | 17,900 |
The per-kilometer column falls as trips get longer. The five shortest trips average about 13,900 VND per km at the cheapest fare, the five longest about 8,900 VND. Da Nang's 3.9 km hop, at about 17,900 VND per km at the bottom of Grab's average range, costs more than twice as much per kilometer as the 33.6 km ride from Phu Cat to Quy Nhon.
How much more does a car cost than the bus?
At the median airport with a bus, the cheapest car fare is at least 6.7 times the top bus fare.
| Airport (code) | Bus route | Bus fare, VND | Cheapest car fare, VND | Car is at least |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phu Bai (HUI) | 02, 07, 10 or 11, from the airport junction | 7,000 to 10,000 | 250,000 | 25.0 times |
| Cat Bi (HPH) | 09 or 18, from the side gate | 7,000 to 8,000 | 80,000 | 10.0 times |
| Tan Son Nhat (SGN) | 109, from Terminal 3 | 8,000 to 15,000 | 120,000 | 8.0 times |
| Lien Khuong (DLI) | Airport bus | 40,000 to 50,000 | 400,000 | 8.0 times |
| Da Nang (DAD) | 02, 11, 12 or R16, from the gate | 6,000 to 10,000 | 70,000 | 7.0 times |
| Can Tho (VCA) | CT-09 | 15,000 | 100,000 | 6.7 times |
| Cam Ranh (CXR) | 18 | 50,000 | 300,000 | 6.0 times |
| Noi Bai (HAN) | 86 | 50,000 | 250,000 | 5.0 times |
| Phu Cat (UIH) | Airport bus | 50,000 | 250,000 | 5.0 times |
| Dong Hoi (VDH) | B1, B2 or B4, from a stop about 1 km away | 8,000 to 35,000 | 120,000 | 3.4 times |
| Phu Quoc (PQC) | 11 or other island routes | 20,000 to 50,000 | 120,000 | 2.4 times |
| Van Don (VDO) | None confirmed | 400,000 | No bus to compare | |
| Vinh (VII) | None, per Vietnam Airlines | 80,000 | No bus to compare |
A car fare covers the whole car, so the multiple shrinks fast for groups. At Noi Bai, four people sharing a 250,000 VND car pay about 62,500 VND each, close to the 50,000 VND bus fare. At Phu Bai, the same split still leaves each person paying about six times the top bus fare.
Where is the bus a real option?
The bus works best where it leaves from the terminal itself and publishes its fare and hours: Noi Bai, Cam Ranh and Can Tho, plus Tan Son Nhat with one extra step.
- Noi Bai. Bus 86 costs 50,000 VND (about $1.91) on the operator's site. Its timetable lists 26 departures from Terminal 2 between 06:40 and 22:15, reaching the stop it labels Hanoi Old Quarter 42 to 73 minutes later. Our Noi Bai airport guide covers the stops.
- Cam Ranh. Bus 18 costs 50,000 VND and takes 50 to 60 minutes to central Nha Trang, per the airport's transport page and Khanh Hoa's tourism portal. Our Nha Trang guide covers where to stay.
- Can Tho. Route CT-09 starts at the airport and runs from 05:30 to 17:30 every 30 to 40 minutes, Dai Bieu Nhan Dan reported in September 2026. Trips under 20 km cost 15,000 VND in the April 2025 fare table.
- Tan Son Nhat. Bus 109 runs about 9.3 km to the Saigon bus station near Ben Thanh, taking about 45 minutes, per VOH. It leaves from domestic Terminal 3, so international arrivals first ride the inter-terminal shuttle that VOH also mentions. Trips over 5 km cost 15,000 VND, per Mekong ASEAN. Our Tan Son Nhat guide explains the terminals.
At the other seven airports with a bus, our only source for it was a Vietnam Airlines page, with no timetable. At three of them the bus does not stop at the terminal. Vietnam Airlines sends riders at Phu Bai to the airport junction on the highway, at Cat Bi to a side gate, and at Dong Hoi to a stop about 1 km away. With a suitcase, that walk counts.
Where do you need a car?
Plan on a car at Vinh and Van Don, and expect high car fares at Lien Khuong even though a bus exists.
Vinh. Vietnam Airlines' Hanoi to Vinh page says no bus runs from the airport to the center and puts a taxi at 80,000 to 120,000 VND. The good news is distance: Vinh Market is 8.0 km away by road.
Van Don. This is the long one, 49.8 km to Bai Chay Bridge. A September 2026 Sun Paradise Land guide puts a taxi or hired car at 400,000 to 700,000 VND (about $15 to $27) for 50 to 70 minutes, and Green SM's airport package is 580,000 VND for up to 55 km. Free bus routes 14A and 14B linked Ha Long with the airport from 2019, per Dien dan Doanh nghiep, but the 2026 guide only says they used to run and asks travelers to check. If you are heading to the bay from Hanoi instead, our Hanoi to Ha Long Bay guide compares the road options.
Lien Khuong. A bus exists at 40,000 to 50,000 VND, but Vietnam Airlines' Da Lat page puts a taxi at 400,000 to 450,000 VND, the highest starting fare in our data alongside Van Don. The airport only reopened on 19 August 2026 after more than five months of runway repairs, per Mekong ASEAN. Our Da Lat guide and Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat guide cover the rest of the trip.
What happens if you land late at night?
Expect to need a car: the few airport buses that publish hours stop by late evening. Noi Bai's last bus 86 leaves Terminal 2 at 22:15, Tan Son Nhat's bus 109 runs from Terminal 3 until 22:40, and Can Tho's CT-09 stops at 17:30. The rest publish no timetable.
Fixed packages take some guesswork out of a late arrival. Green SM lists airport-to-city packages at six of our airports, from 189,000 VND for the first 20 km in Hanoi (then 9,500 VND per km) and 205,000 VND for up to 15 km at Hue, to 580,000 VND for up to 55 km at Van Don. Its 350,000 VND Cam Ranh package matches the rate the airport posts. On short trips such as Tan Son Nhat, an ordinary app fare is far cheaper than the 400,000 VND package.
Tip: Book the car in an app or at the official taxi desk, and check the plate before you get in. Our Vietnam safety guide covers taxi scams.
Key facts at a glance
- Van Don's terminal is 49.8 km by road from Bai Chay Bridge in Ha Long, per OpenStreetMap routing.
- Bus 86 from Noi Bai costs 50,000 VND, and its last departure from Terminal 2 is at 22:15, per the operator's timetable.
- Cam Ranh airport posts a 300,000 VND four-seat taxi fare to Nha Trang, per Cam Ranh International Terminal.
- Grab puts the ride from central Da Nang to its airport at 70,000 to 120,000 VND for 3 to 5 km, per Grab.
- Vietnam Airlines says no bus runs from Vinh airport to the center, per its Hanoi to Vinh page.
Limitations
Source quality varies, and the CSV names the kind of source behind each figure. Vietnam Airlines' pages are undated, label prices as reference only, and sometimes disagree with each other or with other sources. Its two Phu Quoc pages give different bus fares. Its Nha Trang page lists an airport bus at 65,000 VND, while the airport itself posts 50,000 VND for bus 18. We set aside its Van Don taxi figure of 70,000 to 80,000 VND as implausible for a trip of about 50 km, and its 8 km distance for Phu Bai.
Grab's figures are averages from the city center, and app fares rise with demand, at night and in rain. Bus fares are published bands, so our multiples are floors, not exact ratios. Can Tho's 15,000 VND fare comes from an April 2025 table, and the full-route fare has risen since, so the short fare may have too. Distances are routing estimates from one terminal to one landmark; your hotel may be nearer or farther.
Airports change quickly. Lien Khuong was closed from 4 March to 19 August 2026, and Vinh closed for repairs in 2025 before Vietnam Airlines planned to resume flights on 19 December 2025, per Mekong ASEAN. Check fares and bus hours on the day you travel, and see getting around Vietnam for the trips beyond the airport.
