How to book a bus to Da Lat from Ho Chi Minh

Do you have a plan to spend the weekend in breathing fresh air in Da Lat city, avoiding a busy life in Ho Chi Minh? Are you hesitating about choosing which bus you can take from Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat city for your forthcoming Da Lat trip?

Da Lat city from the view of Langbiang peak

There are many bus companies providing services for the 239 km route between Ho Chi Minh city and Da Lat city such as Thanh Buoi, Phuong Trang (Futa bus), Limousine, cheap car,…

This article will analyze positive points and negative points of each type of buses so that it’s easy for you to choose a bus to Da Lat which would be most suitable to your demand and your budget.

First at all, after hesitation, I have finally chosen Thanh Buoi bus for my last trip to Da Lat city again because this is a prestigious, famous bus company on the route Ho Chi Minh – Da Lat for a long time (this bus company was established in 2000).

This is also a safe, comfortable bus. The bus operator provides a various type of buses with different prices for each client type. Besides, there are many daily bus trips. Furthermore, Thanh Buoi bus operator provides a night motorbike parking service with an affordable price.

There are currently 4 types of Thanh Buoi bus as follows:

Sleeper bus (Price: 210,000 vnd)

Sleeper bus 34 (Price: 250,000 vnd)

Sleeper seat bus (Price: 270,000 vnd)

Sleeper cabin bus (Price: 340,000 vnd)

Positive and negative points of these types of Thanh Buoi bus for the route Ho Chi Minh – Da Lat

Sleeper bus 

This high-ranking sleeper bus has 41 sleepers, including 3 lines of sleepers, the last row of the bus having 5 sleepers close together. There is no curtain between sleepers. Available services includes free WIFI connection, one water bottle.

Positive points:

• Cheaper than other buses (Phuong Trang bus has one price only, 250.000đ for the route Ho Chi Minh – Da Lat).
• In case you don’t bring much hand-luggage, a sleeper in the middle or first row may help you a better night’s sleep on the night bus. In general, bus space seems large and airy thanks to no curtains between sleeper rows and passengers can move in the aisle of a bus easily.

Negative points:

• In case you book a sleeper at the last row of a bus, it’s sometimes hard to sleep since the sleeper is small and close to another sleeper. You may touch hands of the other person who is lying next to you. If you travel alone and your neighbor is opposite gender. This would be able to make you uncomfortable.
• I remember during my last Da Lat trip, my group of three people had to sleep at the last row of the bus. Luckily next to my sleeper are also women, so I felt comfortable to sleep.
• Also, the width of a sleeper is narrow, just suitable for a full body with two arms along the torso. The upper part of sleeper is quite high, so the body often moves down when the bus is running.
• There is not much space to keep hand luggage. This sleeper bus is suitable for Vietnamese people with an average height.

Sleeper bus 34

Inside a sleeper bus 34

Sleeper 34 is a new high-ranking line of Thanh Buoi bus operator, longer than sleeper bus. Each sleeper is well-equipped with a curtain, a charging port, water serving tray, LCD screen, a personal blanket.

Positive points:

• Having a private curtain for each sleeper, equipped an LCD screen.
• Having a charging port, more modern than a sleeper bus.

Negative points:

• It seems more narrow and less airy in the sleeper bus 34 than a sleeper bus (210,000vnd).
• The aisle in that bus is small and narrow. My height is about 1.6 meters, not too fat, not too thin. However, I had to turn my torso a little bit on the left so that I can go straight to my sleeper on that bus.

• The length and the width of this sleeper 34 is nearly the same size as the sleeper bus. So. it is suitable for Vietnamese people with an average height, but tall and fat people.
• From my experience, I do not like this bus much since its aisle is too narrow to walk and the bus is stuffy. Only one thing I like is that I can put a lot of my hand luggage on the aisle, next to my sleeper when my sleeper was at the last row of the bus. No one walk there so I do not have to be afraid that my luggage was an obstacle to other passengers.

Sleeper cabin bus

Sleeper cabin bus (Photo: Thanh Buoi bus website)

Sleeper cabin bus is a high-ranking sleeper bus with a soft, comfortable bed, including 22 sleeper cabins with a length 1785cm, a weight 670cm. The bus has two lines of sleepers. A sleeper cabin features a curtain, a long pillow, a pillow, private television, a lamp.

Positive points:

• Sleeper cabins are convenient, large, cool, comfortable because of a large and long sleeper up to 1785 cm long; good night’s sleep.

An aisle inside the sleeper cabin bus

Negative points:

• Its fare is quite expensive.

Sleeper seat bus

Sleeper seat bus (Photo: Thanh Buoi website)

Thanh Buoi sleeper seat bus comprises 25 deluxe sleeper seats; 28 sleeper seats meeting the deluxe aviation standard with maximum declination of 160 degrees, each row has 3 sleeper seats, well-equipped touchable induction screen with an FUNTORO entertainment system at each seat with a very large film and music library, an earphone jack, free WIFI, wooden floor.

Positive points:

• Totally comfortable for over 180cm tall people since their legs can be straight.
• It’s cheaper than sleeper cabin bus.
• From my experience, I like to get a Thanh Buoi sleeper bus from HCM to Da Lat by a sleeper costs 210.000vnd in the middle row of the bus because it’s an airy bus with a cheap price and also has a good night’s sleep. For a return bus from Da Lat to HCM, I like to get a Thanh Buoi sleeper cabin bus since I can really sleep well and can bring a lot of carry-on luggage put on a sleeper cabin, especially I can go to work at 7:30am after the bus arrive at 4:00am. .

Notices when waiting for a transit bus to your hotel in Da Lat

For the route Da Lat – Ho Chi Minh, Thanh Buoi bus often picks you up at your hotel one hour before the departure time. According to a bus driver, the weekend is always a peak time, many tourists flock to come back to Ho Chi Minh so that they can be back to work on  Monday morning. So he has to pick you up earlier as usual. That’s why you have to pack your luggage earlier in order to not to leave anything at the hotel and that you are not be hasty.

Some ways to book Thanh Buoi bus to Da Lat city

Online bus ticket booking to Da Lat

Website of Thanh Buoi bus operator to buy bus tickets online

You can buy bus tickets online at the following link: https://thanhbuoibus.com.vn/home
Some information including an email, a telephone number, year of birth are required when booking bus tickets online and advance payment is also compulsory. You can pay by domestic cards or credit cards.

Positive points:

• Actively choosing departure time, departure date and a sleeper at your discretion based on available sleepers.

Negative points:

• • You must pay in advance. It takes much time to input information, especially when buying bus tickets online for a group. It would be probably much time to receive a refund in case of cancellation of tickets.
  • There is only Vietnamese version in the website despite there is an English language switch button. It would be hard for foreigners to access this website.

  Notices:

  • This website only allows to book a bus ticket online for a departure date after 2 days from the time of booking.
  • For example, today is on 20 march, so the earliest departure date you can book online is on 22 march. In case you would like to depart on the day of booking or a day after, you should call directly its switchboard or go directly to its bus office/ bus station.
  • Sometimes bus tickets on that day are sold out, you can call directly its switchboard or go directly to its bus office/ bus station to check any available bus tickets.

Book bus tickets via the switchboard of Thanh Buoi bus

Thanh Buoi bus office at Dien Bien Phu street, HCM ciy.

In Ho Chi Minh city, the switchboard of Thanh Buoi bus is 1900 6079
In Da Lat, the switchboard of Thanh Buoi bus is 1900 1905
Hotline: +84 918 91 91 89

This is a convenient bus booking way that I like most because it’s simple, quick and I don’t have to input much information required on the website when buying online bus tickets.

Also, it’s also very convenient when booking a group of more than two people since an operator just requires information of one person only to keep contact.

When I made a call to the switchboard by my registered phone number before, I was surprised that they know my name even though I didn’t say my name. They explained that my phone number appeared on the screen with my name because I registered it before.

In case you can’t speak Vietnamese, you can ask a receptionist at the hotel you are staying for bus ticket booking or even you can ask your Vietnamese friends.

Positive points:

• An operator is friendly and enthusiastic
• No need to pay in advance, you just pay cash when on board or in case of out of cash, you can pay by QR code at the bus station.

Negative points:

• You have to pay call charges.

 Notices:

• You can make a call to Thanh Buoi bus switchboard in Ho Chi Minh to book a bus from HCM – Da Lat.
• You should book a bus in advance as early as possible to choose a favorite sleeper and you should request which sleeper you want: in the front row, in the middle or in the last row of a bus. If you forget to mention that, an operator automatically chooses an available sleeper on the bus.
• Besides, you should require where the bus would pick you up for your convenience. Thanh Buoi bus often departs at Le Hong Phong bus station in dist.5, then transits at Hang Xanh bus station (Dien Bien Phu office) in Binh Thanh district. Both stops also have a convenient, clean , cheap motorbike parking. It costs 15.000vnd per day per one motorbike. If you park here from Friday night until early Monday morning, the total amount is 30.000vnd
• Around 3 hours before the departure time, the operator will call you to inform and confirm the information of passenger and the bus you booked.
• For the route Da Lat – Ho Chi Minh: at a frequency of 1 bus, every 60 minutes, the earliest bus starts at 0:00 and the latest bus is at 23:00.
• For the route Ho Chi Minh – Da lat: at a frequency of 1 bus, every 30- 60 minutes, the earliest bus starts at 0:00 and the latest bus is 23:30.
• A bus departing from Da Lat at 10pm often arrives to Ho Chi Minh city around 3:30 am. It takes 5 hours and vice versa.
• For the bus Ho Chi Minh – Da Lat: Passengers should be present at Le Hong Phong office  at least 30 minutes before the departure time or 15 minutes before the departure time at Thanh Buoi bus station.

Book a bus directly at the bus station/ Thanh Buoi office

At a gound floor of Lu Gia bus station in Da Lat city

In Ho Chi Minh city, you can book a bus ticket directly at the following bus station or Thanh Buoi office:

• Le Hong Phong bus station (Head Office)
  266 – 268 Le Hong Phong street, ward.4, dist.5, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
• Mien Dong bus station – Counter 23
• Thu Duc office – Dist. 9:

48C Xa lộ Ha Noi street, group 14, quarter 3, Hiep Phu ward, district 9, Ho Chi Minh city,

• Dien Bien Phu office:

          630 Dien Bien Phu street, ward. 22, Binh Thanh dist., Ho Chi Minh city, Viet Nam

In Da Lat city, Lam Dong province, you can book a bus ticket directly at:

• Lu Gia bus station:

        06 Lu Gia, ward. 9, Da Lat city, Viet Nam

• Phan Boi Chau office:

       49-55 Phan Boi Chau street, ward.1, Da Lat city, Viet Nam

• Bao Loc Office
  139 Tran Phu, Loc Son ward, Bao Loc city, Lam Dong province, Viet Nam
• Hotline: 02633 540 540

Positive points:

• Only present your ID/ passport
• You only choose a bus and give an address of the hotel you will stay in Da Lat so that a transit bus can drop you off.
• Free motorbike parking
• Friendly, enthusiastic tellers
• No need to pay in advance, you just pay cash when on board or in case of out of cash, you can pay by QR code at the bus station.

Negative points:

• It takes time to go to the bus station/ its office to book bus tickets.

In summary, with the 3 ways of booking bus tickets and a comparison between each types of sleeper bus on the route Ho Chi Minh – Da Lat, I hope this article would help you to easily come to a decision in choosing a bus for the your next Da Lat trip.