How to get from Tan Son Nhat airport (Ho Chi Minh airport) to Ho Chi Minh city center?
How much does it cost from Ho Chi Minh airport to the city center?
How far is it from Tan Son Nhat airport to city center in Ho Chi Minh?
Are there buses from the airport to Ho Chi Minh city center?…
These are some popular questions that I received from my friends who have visited Ho Chi Minh city for the first time. I was intended not to write this article as there are many available articles about this topic on the internet. However, I am not sure which good articles that can give details and the way to avoid losing much money when taking a taxi from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ho Chi Minh city center.
Furthermore, some friends that I knew told me that he was charged 300.000 VND = 12.65 USD for a distance about 4km from Tan Son Nhat airport to Phu Nhuan district, or another one was charged 500.000VND = 21.10 USD from the airport to district 1. So, that pushed me to write this article today on behalf of a real local living in Ho Chi Minh city and experienced all kinds of means of transportation at Tan Son Nhat airport.
Table of Contents
Distance between Tan Son Nhat airport and HCM city center
The distance from Tan Son Nhat airport to the city center in district 1, in Ho Chi Minh city is about 8km. If you take Ben Thanh market as the main point in district 1, the exact distance is 7.4km. Ben Thanh bus station is a nearly last stop of airport bus from Tan Son Nhat airport.
Tan Son Nhat airport, in Ho Chi Minh city
Currently, there is only Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh city. But in the future, there is still Long Thanh international airport in Dong Nai province, about 40km from Ho Chi Minh city center. This new airport is under construction and the plan of the government is to start to launch this project in August 2023.
How to get from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ho Chi Minh city center
There are 4 ways to take from Tan Son Nhat airport to district 1, in Ho Chi Minh city.
The main shortest route from the airport to Ho Chi Minh city center will start from Truong Son street (in Tan Binh district), Nguyen Van Troi street (in Phu Nhuan district), Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street (in district 3), Pasteur (district 1), Ham Nghi street (Ben Thanh bus stop in district 1).
By airport bus
A public bus is the cheapest way to go from Tan Son Nhat airport to the city center in Ho Chi Minh city. There are 2 buses which run to district 1 from the airport. These are bus no. 152 and bus no.109 which stop at both Tan Son Nhat domestic airport and international airport. The distance between these domestic terminal and international terminal is about 350 meters.
Airport bus no. 152
Airport bus no 152 from the airport to city center in Ho Chi Minh (Photo: Gia Minh)
Bus 152 Route to Ho Chi Minh city center:
Tan Son Nhat airport (international terminal) – Pick up point at line B (domestic terminal) – Truong Son street- Tran Quoc Hoan str. – Hoang Van Thu – Nguyen Van Troi – Nam Ky Khoi Nghia – Ham Nghi (in district 1, Ben Thanh bus station)
The entire route of bus no. 152: Trung Son resident area – Ben Thanh – Tan Son Nhat airport (Khu dân cư Trung Sơn – Bến Thành – Sân bay Tân Sơn Nhất) and vice versa.
- Fare: 5.000 VND/person
(1 USD = 23.700 VND buying exchange rate on 05 Aug 2023)
- Estimated time from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ben Thanh bus stop (district 1): 35 – 40 minutes
- Timetable: 05:30 – 18:30
- Waiting time between each bus: 12 – 21 minutes
Airport bus no. 109
Airport bus no 109 from the airport to city center in Ho Chi Minh (Photo: Gia Minh)
Bus 109 route name: Sai Gon bus station – Tan Son Nhat airport (Bến Xe buýt Sài Gòn – Sân bay Tân Sơn Nhất) and vice versa
- Fare: 8.000 VND – 15.000 VND
- Estimated time from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ben Thanh bus stop (district 1): 30-35 minutes
- Timetable: 05:30 – 22:00 (starts from Tan Son Nhat airport)
05:45 – 22:15 (starts from Sai Gon bus station)
- Waiting time between each bus: 45 – 50 minutes
Bus 109 route to Ho Chi Minh city center: Tan Son Nhat airport – Truong Son – Tran Quoc Hoan – Hoang Van Thu (Tan Binh distr.)– Nguyen Van Troi street (Phu Nhuan district) – Nam Ky Khoi Nghia (Phu Nhuan district and dist.3) – Ham Nghi (dist 1, Ben Thanh bus station) – Le Lai – 23 September park (Saigon bus station, in dist 1)
Bus 109 route to Tan Son Nhat airport: 23 September park (Saigon bus station) – Pham Ngu Lao – Yersin – Tran Hung Dao – Ham Nghi (dist 1, Ben Thanh bus station) – Pasteur – Vo Thi Sau – Nam Ky Khoi Nghia – Nguyen Van Troi – Phan Dinh Giot – Truong Son – Tan Son Nhat airport (international terminal)
A point for passengers to pick up airport bus no.152 and no. 109 to Tan Son Nhat airport from Ben Thanh bus station.
Sai Gon bus station is located at 23 September park in district 1, next to Pham Ngu Lao street and Bui Vien famous walking street.
Note
- Please note that this bus timetable may be subject to changes from time to time.
- Destination in district 1:
For those who stay at hotels in district 1, in Ho Chi Minh city, you can get off the bus no.109 and 152 at Ben Thanh bus station (near Ben Thanh market). Then, you can take a Grabbike around there to head to your hotel. Many Grab-bikes or ‘’Xe om’’ are around Ben Thanh bus station. Just getting off the bus, there will be some Xe-om driver coming to you to ask where you want to go. Normally, the fare for 2km – 3km is about 20.000 vnd – 30.000vnd (= 0.8usd – 1.4 usd).
Ben Thanh bus stop (Ham Nghi bus stop), in dist 1, in Ho Chi Minh cirty
For those who stay around Bui Vien famous walking street, De Tham street, Tran Hung Dao street, Pham Ngu Lao street, Cong Quynh street, Co Giang street, Le Thi Rieng street, you can get off the bus no.109 at the last bus stop Saigon bus station at 23 September park. Besides, you can walk from Ben Thanh bus station to Bui Vien walking street in case you ride a bus no.152 from Tan Son Nhat airport because it is not too far, just 1km between these two points.
Bus map to pick up the bus you want at Ben Thanh bus stop in dist 1, Ho Chi Minh city.
From the bus map above, you can see number 1 (red) is where you can pick up the airport bus no.152 and no.109 to go to Tan Son Nhat airport and this is the point where the airport bus from Tan Son Nhat airport drop you at Ben Thanh bus station. By the way, the bus driver is very flexible, he can drop you on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street, district 1 before turning right to Ham Nghi street if you want.
The route of airport bus no 152 and no.109 to Tan Son Nhat airport at Ham Nghi bus stop (Ben Thanh bus stop) in district 1, Ho Chi Minh city
- Destination in Tan Binh district:
For those who booked hotels in district Tan Binh (near Tan Son Nhat airport), you can take a grabbike.
- Destination in Phu Nhuan district:
For those who stay in Phu Nhuan district, you can get off the bus 109 and 152 at some bus stops on Nguyen Van Troi street or Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street; or you can take Grabbike. It is just around 3.8km from Tan Son Nhat airport to Phu Nhuan district.
Positive points of a public bus
- It is extremely cheap to go to the city center in Ho Chi Minh city from Tan Son Nhat airport.
- It has more space to keep your big luggage.
- You have a large view to see streets in Ho Chi Minh city.
- It is very convenient when taking bus out of peaking hours (such as from 08:30 -16:00) because it runs fast.
Negative points of a public bus
- It is slower than taking a taxi/Grab
- You must wait for 10 – 20 minutes if your bus has just been leaving.
- During peak hours (07:00-08:30; 16:30-18:30), there is extremely traffic jam all over the city center in Ho Chi Minh city when most of people commute to work. So, it takes quite long to get a bus from the airport to the city center of vice versa. In case you are no rush, you can take a bus from the airport.
- Besides, taking a bus in the afternoon after 7pm is sometimes a challenge and it takes too much time to wait for the next bus coming and sometimes it does not come.
I had a bad experience when trying to ride a bus in the evening at 7pm. I saw on a HCM bus application and knows that there will be a coming bus to the airport during next 20 minutes. But after that time, then 10 minutes more, it still did not come and, on the application, it shows a next bus in more 25 minutes. Then, I thought maybe there is something wrong. Luckily, there were a couple waiting the bus. So, we talked and decided to book a Grabtaxi directly to the airport instead of waiting the airport in desperation. The cost was only 110.000vnd = 4.64 USD (in May 2023) for Grabtaxi from Ben Thanh bus station to Tan Son Nhat international airport. It was so cheap when we shared the fare. However, I really love to take the bus in the daytime (except during peak hours) because the bus is not crowded and it runs very fast and cheap.
Setting up Ho Chi minh city Bus application
A screen of Bus application in Ho Chi Minh city
There is currently a bus application on smartphone so that you can easily to find a bus near around you. This bus application is in both English version and Vietnamese version. It is a very simple, useful application to track the bus, know arriving time, bus number for the route you want to go….
A way to set up Bus HCMC application
- Step 1: Search Go!Bus TPHCM on App Store or Android, then press Install to install on your smartphone.
Search Go!Bus TPHCM application to set up
- Step 2: The Go!Bus TPHCM application is default by Vietnamese. So, you first need to change it into English.
At the right corner of the screen, you click on a symbol Thêm (=More) , then click a purple, white symbol Cài đặt (Settings)
- Step 3: Click the first symbol “Ngôn Ngữ” (=Language) and choose English, and choose Đồng ý (Agree). If you don’t want to change, choose “Hủy” (=No)
- Step 4: Click Close button to turn back to the main page of the Bus application, then you can use it to find the bus you want to take.
By hire car/bike services
Gojek driver on the street in Ho Chi Minh city (Photo: Gojek website)
Another option you can take from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ho Chi Minh city center is to book hire car/bike services including Grabcar, Grabbike,Be, Gojek.
In case you travel alone with a big luggage, Grabbike or Bebike driver can drive you with all stuffs but it’s quite tired sitting behind the driver with the big luggage.
Fare of Grab/Be booking services
Uniform of GrabBike (Photo: Grab website)
Normally, the fare of Grabcar from the airport to district 1 (Tao Dan Park or Ben Thanh market) for 7.2km is about 130.000vnd -140.000vnd (= 5.5 usd – 6usd). But at peak hours, the fare is higher (7.5usd – 10usd). You can pay in cash or debit directly your bank account via e-purse of the car/bike booking application at a destination.
Pick-up points of hire car/bike services
- The distance from Tan Son Nhat international airport to the pick-up point of hire car services is about 500m. This pick-up point is often on the 5th floor of TCP garage- Tan Son Nhat, private car/ motorbike parking. It takes about 8 minutes to walk.
- Going to the pick-up point of GrabCar/Becar is easy
Map from Tan Son Nhat international airport to Grab/Be car parking
As the map above, when you get out of the Arrival gate (1) of Tan Son Nhat international airport, turn right and straight ahead (just follow people walking), you will go to Tan Son Nhat domestic airport (2). Until you see Arrival gate of domestic terminal, turn left, and go straight.
You will see a big construction, that is a car parking (3) . We will see Highland coffeeshop (4) outside. Go along and pass this coffee shop, then turn left to go inside the parking. On your left hand, you see many people are gathering with luggage and trolleys in front of lifts. That are the lifts leading to the 5th floor. If not, you can use stairs behind them to walk to the 5th floor.
- In case you cannot set up the Grab/ Be application, you can go directly to Grab bike/BeBike parking outside the TCP garage- Tan Son Nhat. Grab/Be motorbike drivers often gather around the place (5) where leads to the main gate to the TCP parking.
- Just choose drivers who wear uniform of green Grab or Yellow Be,.. You can negotiate the fare before sitting on their bikes. The popular fare for Grab/Be bike from Tan Son Nhat airport to district 1 (about 8km) is about 60.000 vnd – 80.000 vnd (2.5 – 3.5 usd) depending the peak hours.
Positive points of hire car/bike services
- It is cheaper than traditional taxi in low peak hours but often more expensive in high peak hours.
- It is surely quicker than the buses.
- If you are luckily, you can experience some new beautiful, spacious cars. 🙂
- You feel comfortable when taking the Grab/Be taxi for a short distance 3km – 8km. The drivers are always happy, smile no matter what the fares are because they are depending on your comments to them on the application after the trip.
Uniform of BeBike (Photo: Be website)
Negative points of hire car/bike services
- Two elevators leading to the 5th floor is always crowded by trolleys and people because most of local people often drive motorcycles to the airport and park overnight there until they come back. It took me about 25 minutes to wait for the lift and made a long queue before the lift. In case you do not have heavy luggage, you can walk to the 5th
- You need to have a Vietnamese phone number so that the driver can contact you to inform where he is parking his car. If not, you can chat with him via that application.
- Sometimes, some drivers complaint for a long trip but the fare is cheap. That makes you uncomfortable
By traditional taxi
A white Vinasun taxi is running pass to Post Office in Ho Chi Minh city
At Tan Son Nhat airport, there are many types of taxi. However, two prestige, famous traditional, old taxis in Ho Chi Minh is Mailinh taxi and Vinasun taxi. I often choose one of two these taxis in case I do not book Grab car. I do not believe these other taxis because I can not be sure that they use a correct, fix kilometer tools on their car or not.
A green symbol of Mailinh taxi, in Ho Chi Minh city (Photo: Mailinh website)
Positive points of traditional taxi
- It is faster than buses
- The taxi pick-up point is next to Arrival gate at Tan Son Nhat international airport.
- It is very convenient for you to take traditional taxis.
- The fare is sometimes cheaper than Grab taxi/Be taxi during peak hours.
Negative points of traditional taxi
- Some traditional taxi drivers often complaint when you do not take a long trip in Ho Chi Minh city, for example for a distance over 10 km.
- I remembered I took a traditional taxi two times from Tan Son Nhat airport to Reunification Place in district 1 with the fare of 110.000 VND (=5 USD) for a long time ago. But on the way, I was very uncomfortable because he always complained about me such as the trip was short. He told he must wait for a long queue at the airport to pick up customers and he must pay fees, bla bla…. I understand that but it is not my fault to take a short trip.
- Therefore, from that time, I decided to drive my motorbike to the airport and park overnight there and take it back when I come back. Besides, my current favourite means of transportation to the airport and vice versa are buses and grab bikes/cars. 🙂
In summary, I listed all means of transportation from Tan Son Nhat airport to Ho Chi Minh city center that you can take in Ho Chi Minh city. I hope that with this article, you will not be overcharged too much for a short distance and you can save more money for your trip in Vietnam and you will not experience unpleasant feelings when taking a wrong driver.
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