Getting around Hanoi: public transport, passes and taxis

Prices are 2026 estimates in đồng; a short hop means 2–4 km inside the centre. Everything below assumes you are staying in or near the Old Quarter or Hoàn Kiếm.

The Old Quarter is a grid of 36 streets roughly 1 km across, and most of what a first-time visitor wants sits inside it or along the west shore of Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Distances are short; the difficulty is traffic, heat and pavement space used by parked motorbikes. Cross at a steady pace and let the scooters flow around you rather than stopping mid-lane.

Cyclos (three-wheeled pedicabs) and electric buggies run short tours of the Old Quarter. Agree the price and the duration before you get in, and confirm whether it is per person or per vehicle. They are a sightseeing ride, not transport.

Ride-hailing is the simplest option for visitors. Grab is the best-known app, with Be and the electric-taxi operator Xanh SM as local alternatives. You enter the destination, see the fare before you accept, and pay in cash or by card in the app. Motorbike rides are much cheaper and faster in jams; cars are better in rain and with bags.

If you take a street taxi, use a large metered company and insist the meter runs. Taxis waiting outside stations and major sights are the ones most likely to quote a flat, inflated price. Note the car number and keep the receipt if you leave anything behind. At night, ride-hailing is still the safer default because the trip is recorded in the app.

Hanoi's bus network is dense and cheap, but route numbers, one-way streets and stops with no English signage make it hard for a short visit. Fares are paid to the conductor on board. Buses are most useful for long, straight runs — for example along the lake's south side or out to a specific address — rather than for criss-crossing the centre.

The metro is the easiest fixed-route option where it runs. The Cát Linh–Hà Đông line heads west from the city, and the Nhổn–Hà Nội station line serves the western suburbs and the area around the railway station. Both are cheap, air-conditioned and unaffected by traffic. Check the current map and station names on the operator's site before you rely on a line.

A sightseeing day inside the centre is cheap. Two or three short ride-hailing hops plus a bus or metro ride usually lands under ₫200,000 (about US$8) per person. A car with a driver for a full day outside the city is a different scale — see the country guide for day rates and for intercity options such as the train to Ninh Bình or Hải Phòng.

Traffic in Hanoi is heavy but slow, which makes short trips predictable and long ones not. Build slack into any fixed appointment, especially in the morning and late afternoon peaks. If you are heading to the airport, allow the full 35–60 min window plus buffer, and read the airport transfer page for the terminal and pickup details.

For Ninh Bình, the train from Hanoi station is the comfortable choice and takes roughly two hours; buses and private cars run the same route. Hải Phòng and the coast are reachable by train or expressway bus, and Hạ Long Bay trips usually start with a shuttle from the Old Quarter. Book Tết-season travel weeks ahead — trains and coaches sell out.

For anything longer, compare the plane, the Reunification Express and sleeper buses in the country guide before you commit.