How and where to buy bus tickets in Vietnam as a tourist?

You can buy bus tickets in Vietnam in several ways, each with its own pros and cons. Here are the main options:

Ways to buy bus tickets in Vietnam: comparison

Where to buy	Pros	Cons	Our comment
At bus station ticket offices	Lowest prices. You can choose a seat. See the bus.	No single ticket office. Need to go around all windows and ask. Often far from the center.	Best option for budget travelers. Arrive 1-2 hours before departure or a day before.
At the carrier's office (Futa, Hung Thanh)	Official prices. Often free transfer to the bus station/from the hotel.	Need to find the office. Only work with their own routes.	Our favorite, especially Futa Buslines. Free transfer is a huge plus.
At a travel agency or hotel reception	Convenient, no need to go anywhere.	Price is higher (markup 10-50%, sometimes double!).	Use only for price comparison. Always double-check the price!
Online aggregators (12go.asia, Baolau.com)	Convenient search by destinations. Can buy in advance. Has reviews.	Mainly work with foreign cards. Small markup. Not all local routes in the database.	Great for planning and booking popular tourist routes.
Carrier websites (futabus.vn)	Official prices and schedule.	Often only in Vietnamese/English. Online payment may not work with Russian cards.	Ideal to check the schedule, then buy the ticket at the company's office.

For online purchases, verified sites are 12go.asia and Baolau.com. If you need an option with payment by Russian card, you can try Trip.com.

We advise reading our detailed guide where we covered all the nuances: All about buses in Vietnam.

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