Transport

For the city: Grab – Be – Gojek

Grab is the Uber of Vietnam. In this application you can hire motorbike taxis, cars with driver or taxis. you can Also ask for food, shopping, and much more. It is an application that is truly useful in Vietnam, and can help you save money. For example, the last time I was at the airport in Hanoi, I was offered to go to the center by taxi for 600k (25€). With the app Rec I paid 300k (12,6€).

Be or Gojek is an application similar to Grab, and can be a good idea to download them to compare pricing, or if one gives you problems. In addition, a new application is Xanh SM. This application works only with cars and motorcycles electric company Vinfast. These transports are very comfortable, and sometimes the price of this application is cheaper than that of other companies as Grabm Be or Gojek.

One reason added for using these companies is that they can also be useful to avoid becoming a victim of scams. There are “pirate taxis” that lead the taximeter souped-up and just cobrándote several times the price they should be. Grab offers a fixed price, so there is no danger of scams.

✅ Often cheaper than taxis.
✅ You can order food at a reasonable price.
✅ You are avoiding the possibility of being scammed.

📌 Some travellers have commented that they had difficulty receiving the message of verification of Rec. It is therefore advisable to buy a SIM card able to receive calls.
📌 In some cities, such as Ho Chi Minh, the driver charges a small surcharge for the toll of the airport.
📌 These applications often offer options and discount when you book the transport.
📌 In these applications, you can pay by card or cash.

BusMap for urban Buses

Busmap is a true gem. In Vietnam, the vast majority of city buses cost 7.000 VND (0.3€) and this application makes it easy to understand what bus to catch to go to each place, the frequency, schedule, etc., in Addition, it is in English! and many of the functions of the app work even without the Internet. I personally almost always I move by Hanoi in Grab or on a bike, but if you want to live an authentic experience and cheap, take a bus can be a wise option to experience the city in a different way.

▶ Buses / trains between cities Baolau– Bookaway.com

Baolau is one of the best applications for you to find and book bus and train cheap in Vietnam. This website is born from the dream of two pioneers of the technology Spanish, with the intention of making the transport in Vietnam more accessible. Offers fewer options than Vexere (more below), but only works with the best companies. If you have any questions regarding your trip, you can contact them by e-mail and, in my experience, respond the same day (sometimes even 1 or 2 hours after you write to them).

On the other hand, Vexere is a platform vietnamese very well-known for search, compare and book bus tickets, limousine, train or even ferry in Vietnam and, in some cases, to neighbouring countries. Has very good customer service, but working with businesses better and worse, which makes the experience may not be always optimal. It is a platform 100% vietnamese.

▶ Flights – Skyscanner

To fly, Skyscanner is a classic so helpful in Vietnam as in the rest of the world. In this app you will be able to find flights companies both vietnamese and international and easily compare prices, durations, etc., in Addition, allows you to find the cheapest flights within the same month and given to possible new routes that you can that you had not raised to the hour of riding your itinerary.

Accommodation

▶ Booking.Com

Booking.com and Agoda are the two applications of booking accommodation most commonly used in Vietnam. between them, Booking.com it is my favorite, because it has a good variety of accommodation, often with discounts or small rewards, and will show the final price of the accommodation , from the moment that you are looking for on the page. Agoda, however, only teaches you the cost of one night and, when I have tried to use it, some of the accommodations that seemed cheap ended up to be quite expensive. Because of this, Booking it is my main tool for finding accommodations in Vietnam.

Orientation and the pursuit of tourist places

▶ Google Maps

Google Maps is an essential application, not only because it helps you to get to your destination, but also because you offers surgerencias of places to visit as well as reviews of people who have visited those places, and the opportunity to save the places that call you more attention,. For example, when I came to a new city I look for “tourist places” to find different places to visit in the city, which is really comfortable.

Online shopping in Vietnam

▶ Shopee – Lazada – Tiki.vn

Shopee, Lazada and Tiki are like the Amazon of Vietnam: allow you to search for products, buy and receive them in a reasonable time. I’ve bought all kinds of objects in these applications, and in general my experience has been very good. The two I recommend are Lazada and Shopee because they are in English, and are more intuitive, although Tiki has the advantage of having to send in 2h of some products in cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.

I recommend not to buy in these pages, products of technology, especially if the price of the products is too good to be true (there are fake and of poor quality). In addition, I recommend you to look into the reviews of the products and the stores that sell them, and desconfiéis of any shop that doesn’t have many ratings.

Tours

▶ Viator, Civitatis, Get Your Guide

Viator, Civitatis and Get Your Guide are the 3 webs most popular book tours in Vietnam (each has its application). These platforms allow you to find a good variety of tours, including reviews and ratings. Platforms comoe stas allow you to understand how well is each tour before you buy it, without going blind, as often happens when you take a tour through a hotel or a travel agency.

Contact

Zalo and Facebook Messenger

Zalo is the equivalent of WhatsApp in this country. Zalo is very useful to contact any business or establishment that includes a mobile number. For example, I often I used Zalo to contact accommodations through their mobile number, or book a table at a restaurant.

On the other hand, Facebook and Messenger are applications that do not go out of fashion in Vietnam. The majority of businesses have pages on Facebook, and often you can contact them directly through the application. For instance, I’ve used the app to contact with restaurants, massage parlours, and even with my company mobile.

Google translator

The Google Translator is one of the most useful apps in Vietnam. With this application you can not only traducir from your tongue directly to the vietnamese, but also has a function to toto point the camera to signs or labels in vietnamese and receive your translation simultaneously to get an idea of the meaning.

I recommend that if you’re trying to say something to a vietnamese and you use Google Translate don’t try to read the message in vietnamese, but you show it, as to pronounce vietnamese is more difficult than it seems.