Getting around Saigon: Grab, metro and buses

Short answer: ride-hailing apps do most of the work, Metro Line 1 is now a genuinely useful spine from the centre to Thao Dien and Thu Duc, and buses fill the gaps if you're patient.

The short version

Metro Line 1 opened on 22 December 2024: 19.7 km and 14 stations from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien [1].
Single trips cost VND 7,000–20,000 by distance, a day pass VND 40,000, a three-day pass VND 90,000 and a monthly pass VND 300,000 [1][2][3].
Grab is the default app, with Be and the all-electric Xanh SM as the main alternatives. Book in the app rather than hailing on the street.
Tan Son Nhat (SGN) is the airport for now. Long Thanh, about 40 km east, is targeted to open for commercial flights in late 2026 [4].
Vietjet flies direct between Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane [5], and Vietnam Airlines sells fares to five Australian cities [6].

Ride-hailing: how most expats move

If you lived in Sydney or Melbourne you probably used Uber. In Saigon, Uber left years ago and Grab took over. It does motorbike taxis (GrabBike), cars (GrabCar), food and parcels, and you can pay by card, in cash or with an e-wallet.

The main apps

App	What it's good for	Things to know
Grab	Everything: bike, car, food, delivery	The default; works with an Australian card
Be	Bikes and cars, often a little cheaper	Vietnamese-owned; worth comparing at peak times
Xanh SM	Electric cars and bikes from the VinFast group	Quiet, clean cars; easy to spot in teal
Metered taxis (Vinasun, Mai Linh)	Airport rank, when apps surge	Check the meter is on [7]

Prices move with demand and rain. A short GrabBike hop in the centre usually costs less than a coffee in Australia, and a car across town costs a fraction of an Uber at home. We haven't quoted fares because they change by the hour; check the app.

Bike or car?

GrabBike is fast because it slips through traffic. It's also the riskiest option. Smartraveller suggests avoiding motorbike taxis unless you have a helmet that meets Australian standards, because the helmets drivers carry give little protection in a crash [7]. Plenty of Australians keep their own helmet by the door for exactly this reason.

Smartraveller also says to match the plate and driver details in the app before you get in [7]. In the rain season, from roughly May to November, a car is the sane choice: afternoon storms flood streets in the low-lying parts of the city within minutes.

Metro Line 1: what it does well

Saigon waited decades for this. Line 1 runs from Ben Thanh Market through the Opera House and Ba Son (the three underground stations), then rises onto a viaduct past Van Thanh Park and Tan Cang, crosses the Saigon River and runs on through Thao Dien, An Phu, Rach Chiec, Phuoc Long, Binh Thai, Thu Duc, High Tech Park, National University and Suoi Tien Terminal [1].

For Australians, that's the useful bit: the expat strongholds of Thao Dien and An Phu are now one short ride from the old District 1. No more crawling across the Saigon Bridge in a car.

It's popular. The line carried about 20.6 million passengers in 2025, averaging around 56,000 a day [1].

Fares and tickets

Ticket	Price (2025–2026)	Notes
Single trip, cash	VND 7,000–20,000	Depends on distance [1][3]
Single trip, cashless	VND 6,000–19,000	Slightly cheaper [1]
One-day pass	VND 40,000	Unlimited travel that day [2][3]
Three-day pass	VND 90,000	Three consecutive days [2][3]
Monthly pass	VND 300,000	VND 150,000 for students [1][2]

Since July 2025 the line uses smart cards. Machines at every station sell single-trip cards, day passes and rechargeable cards, and take cash notes from VND 1,000 to VND 200,000 [3]. Each card carries a refundable deposit: VND 15,000 for a single-trip card and VND 35,000 for passes and rechargeable cards. A rechargeable card holds up to VND 5 million and is paused if you don't use it at least once every 30 days [3]. The operator planned bank-card and e-wallet payment from launch, naming Napas, Visa, Mastercard, JCB, VNPay and MoMo [2]. Check at the gate which options work on the day.

How to ride it the first time

Get to a station. Ben Thanh is under the big roundabout by the market; Thao Dien and An Phu stations sit beside the Hanoi Highway.
Buy a card at the machine. A day pass is the easy start.
Tap in and tap out. Single-trip cards are valid only on the day you buy them [3].
Get your deposit back at the fare adjustment machine when you've finished with a card [3].
Connect by Grab or bus. Grab bikes wait at most exits, and city buses stop near several stations.

Line 1 is planned to extend beyond Ben Thanh, with the full route eventually reaching about 40.8 km [1]. For now it's one line, so it works if you live or work along it.

Buses and the river bus

The city bus network is huge and cheap, and almost nobody we know uses it every day. Buses get stuck in the same traffic as everyone else, and stops are signed in Vietnamese. That said, Google Maps shows bus routes, which helps if you want to give it a go.

The bus most Australians actually use is the airport service. Route 109 links Tan Son Nhat with the centre, and it's a cheap, air-conditioned alternative to a car when you're travelling light. Check the current route and fare before you rely on it.

The river bus (Saigon Waterbus) runs along the Saigon River from Bach Dang pier near the centre towards Thu Duc. It's more of a scenic ride than a commute, and its timetable has changed over the years, so check before you go.

The airports: Tan Son Nhat now, Long Thanh soon

Tan Son Nhat (SGN)

Tan Son Nhat sits inside the city, in the north-west, which is wonderful when the traffic is clear and painful when it isn't. Give yourself extra time in the late afternoon peak and in heavy rain. The international terminal has a Grab pick-up zone and a taxi rank; walk past anyone offering a ride in the arrivals hall.

Long Thanh (LTH)

The new Long Thanh International Airport is in Dong Nai province, about 40 km east of the city [4]. After a Prime Minister's inspection in March 2026, the government said it aims to start commercial flights in the fourth quarter of 2026 [4]. Long-haul international flights are expected to move there first, with domestic and short regional routes staying at Tan Son Nhat for now [8]. These are targets, not guarantees.

What that means for you:

Check the airport code on every ticket. A trip could land at LTH and leave from SGN, roughly 40 km apart [8].
Allow for the road. There's no rail link yet; you'll reach Long Thanh by car or bus via the expressways [4][8].
If you live in Thao Dien, An Phu or Thu Duc, you're on the right side of the city for Long Thanh.

Flights home to Australia

Direct flights make Saigon one of the easier Asian bases for Australians. Vietjet moved all its Australia flights to Ho Chi Minh City in late 2025, with daily services to Melbourne and Sydney and five weekly flights to Brisbane [5]. Vietnam Airlines sells fares from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide [6]; check whether your date is nonstop or goes via Hanoi or another hub.

Practical tips:

Book Tet travel early. Vietnamese Lunar New Year, usually late January or February, fills planes and pushes up fares.
Watch the bag rules. Low-cost fares often don't include checked luggage.
Know what you can't bring into Australia. Dried meats, fresh fruit and many herbal products from Saigon's markets get stopped at the border. Declare food if in doubt.
Register your travel on Smartraveller and keep the Australian Consulate-General's number handy if something goes wrong [7].

If you want company for the airport run, a split car home after a big night, or someone to tell you which metro exit to use, join Cooee Vietnam, our Facebook group for Australians in Vietnam.

Getting around Saigon: Grab, the new metro, buses and flights home