Driving is a preferred way to explore Vietnam, as public transport services outside of large cities are usually overcrowded or non-existent.

Understand

Cars and motorized scooters are typically the preferred means of travel for visitors. While rail services exist, Vietnamese rail services are usually late, thus a car is preferred to get around outside of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or other large cities. Generally, English proficiency tends to be poor among the emergency services including the police, thus knowing a bit of Vietnamese may be useful.

Road network

The total length of the Vietnamese road system is about 222,179 kilometres (138,056 miles) with 19.0% paved, mainly national roads and provincial roads (source: Vietnam Road Administration, 2004). The national road system length is 17,295 kilometres (10,747 miles) with 27.6% of its length paved. The provincial road system is 27,762 kilometres (17,251 miles) of length with 23.6% paved. The road network is relatively well developed, but is usually in poor condition.

Vietnam's road system is classified according to the administrative hierarchy:

• National roads (quốc lộ, abbreviated QL) are administered by the central government. They are marked by white milestones with red tops. On direction signs, they were historically denoted by white on blue markers, but since 2015 are denoted by black on white markers.
  • Expressways or freeways (đường cao tốc, CT) are denoted by black on yellow markers on direction signs. Guide signs along expressways are green, in contrast to the blue guide signs along surface roads.
• Provincial roads (tỉnh lộ or đường tỉnh, TL or ĐT) are managed by provinces. They are marked by white milestones with blue or green tops. On direction signs, they are denoted by black on white markers.
• District roads (hương lộ or đường huyện, HL or ĐH) are managed by rural districts. They are marked by white milestones with brown tops.
• Commune roads (đường xã, ĐX) are managed by communes.
• Urban roads (đường đô thị, ĐĐT) are managed by cities and towns.
• Certain service roads (đường chuyên dùng, ĐCD) may be marked by white milestones with yellow tops.

Car rental

International Driving Permits are recognised in Vietnam. However, the concept of renting a car to drive yourself is almost non-existent, and when Vietnamese speak of renting a car, they always mean hiring a car with a driver. (After a short time on local roads with their crazy traffic, you will be glad you left the driving to somebody used to it.) Vehicles for rent are widely available. Tourists can hire vehicles through hotels and tour agents found in every tourist area. International car brands have started to surface. Budget Car Rental, for example, offers chauffeur-driven services in Vietnam. Hiring a small car for a day trip returning to the point of origin costs around US$60 for 8 hours (though the price changes with the cost of fuel). (If you shop around and bargain hard for the lowest possible price, you will probably get an older, more beat-up car. If you are paying more than bare minimum, it's worth asking what sort of car it will be, and holding out for something comfortable.) Few drivers speak any English, so make sure you tell the hotel or agent exactly where you want to go, and have that communicated to the driver.

It's also possible to hire a car and driver for inter-city travel, at somewhat higher cost. A small car from Saigon to the beach resort of Mui Ne, a 4- or 5-hour trip depending on traffic, costs about US$70, and Dalat to Mui Ne about US$90. Long-distance travel by car may be a good choice for several people travelling together, as it provides a flexible schedule and flexible access to remote sites. Although a network of paved roads exists in Vietnam, long-distance road travel in Vietnam by whatever means (bus or car) is slow, with average speed less than 50 km/hour. Highway 1, the north–south backbone of the country, is a two-lane road with very heavy truck and bus traffic. Similarly, the main road of the north-west - the so-called Hanoi (Noi Bai) - Lao Cai Expressway is, in reality, merely a good two-lane paved road, with speed limits varying from 60 to 80 km/h, reduced in many places to 40 km/h due to road work (as of 2017). Tolls on this "expressway" are pretty hefty, but motorists pay them, because the alternative is using local roads, which in some sections are not paved at all.

In general, describing Vietnamese driving habits as atrocious would be an understatement. Road courtesy is non-existent and drivers generally do not check their blind spots or mirrors (in fact, many vehicles have had their wing mirrors removed). Vietnamese drivers also tend to use their horn very often to get motorcyclists and cyclists out of their way. In addition, most roads do not have lane markings and even on those that do, drivers generally ignore the lane markings. As such, driving yourself in Vietnam is not recommended and you should leave your transportation needs in the hands of locals.

Road rules

As a former French colony, traffic in Vietnam drives to the right. If you come from a country that you are used to driving on the left, please concentrate at all times so that you do not accidentally veer into the wrong side.

Default speed limits in Vietnam are 50 km/h (31 mph) in urban areas (60 km/h (37 mph) on roads with physical divider), 80 km/h (50 mph) in rural areas (90 km/h (56 mph) on roads with physical divider), and 120 km/h (75 mph) on the expressways, however, much of the rural highway network (save the expressways) are hardly safely drivable over 50 km/h (31 mph) due to poor maintenance. Speeding is rampant due to lack of traffic enforcement.

Do not use your honk in your car from 10PM until 5AM. This rule is in place to prevent nuisance.

Helmets are mandatory for both driver and passenger in motorcycles.

Road signs

Vietnamese road signage follows international conventions and are a mix of road signs used in Europe and Greece.

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  Like Greece and Poland, warning signs are yellow triangles with a black symbol.
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  Regulatory signs are a red circle with a slash for prohibitions...
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  ...and a blue circle for mandatated actions.
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  Speed limits are posted in km/h.