Are there bus route maps for Saigon?

Go to the bus terminal opposite the Ben Thanh market and ask. They'll give it out for free. Note: the map is not drawn to scale so it is not a measurement of distance.

I saw the same map download-able from the net somewhere but am too late to search for it now.

Bus fare is cheap. You can go to the airport for 4000 VND instead of the usual 150-200 000 VND by taking the taxi from downtown.
However, the buses are frequently overloaded and dirty. Thieves work there as well.

Anatta is right, you can go to the Ben Thanh Bus Station.Ask the bus ticket seller who are sitting near the door for the map. Its for free. I take the bus almost everyday so I bought the blue stub from the ticket seller and it costs 90,000vnd for 30 tickets. You can use the ticket until December 31st.If you have no ticket, you can pay while on the bus and it costs 4000vnd for each ticket,depending on your destination.When you give the ticket from the conductor, they will give you another ticket to show the inspector.Dont lose it, or else you will have to pay again once the inspector comes and ask.
The bus is dirty and smelly sometimes,especially the ones that goes to the outskirt of the city. Just bring a mask.Most of all be watchful of your belongings.
Message me if you need more help re: bus routes in HCMC.I will try my best to help you.

There is a on-line map < http://mappery.com/Ho-Chi-Minh-Bus-Map >. But LoveLife's map link (below is better. < http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn/admin/Image … -04-24.jpg >.

Bus routes can be changed at the whim of a driver; drive times are very variable. In fact the whole TP HCM bus system is miserable.

Bus stops are marked but often regulars persuade drivers yo watch out for them at different places. Some routes that can't be changed by the driver - so these are good sections to use.

Buses have different system stop and start times.

And watch out for pickpockets!

There are some 'Private' public buses such as to the Lotte Mart in Q7 and there is another to Phu My Hung, Q7.

Mien Tay Bus Station (Regional)
Mien Tay Bus terminal serves the MeKong Delta provinces from Tien Giang, Ben Tre to the last cape point of the country: Ca Mau.

Mien Dong Bus Station (Regional)
Mien Dong Bus Terminal, located at 292 Dinh Bo Linh street of Binh Thanh district (Tel: 083-899-1607) is about 7km away from the city center and is one of the busiest terminals in Ho Chi Minh City. It serves Vung Tau, Phan Thiet/Mui Ne, Da Lat, Nha Trang, Dak Lak or even to Ha Noi.

annawang wrote:

You can use the ticket until December 31st.If you have no ticket, you can pay while on the bus and it costs 4000vnd for each ticket,depending on your destination.When you give the ticket from the conductor, they will give you another ticket to show the inspector.

Sometime, they give you a grace period, so this year the bus company did extend the expiration date until 31th March, if I remember correctly.

Do insist on the receipt. Sometime, the bus ticket seller, seeing that you are a foreigner, just ignores to give you one to pocket the money.

If you buy a book of tickets, keep the tickets in the stub and tear out them in front of the ticket conductor. If you tear out from before, they will either refuse your ticket or ask to see the stub!!.

Also, there are TWO kinds of ticket books. One for students and one regular. Don't buy the one for students, unless you are one. Sometime they sell you the wrong book!!!!

I used to go to work, to shool,... by bus. I used to come to this site for Saigon bus route information. The site is in Vietnamese. Here is the site and the bus route map that the site has.
http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn/
http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn/admin/Image … -04-24.jpg

lnigalis wrote:

I guess that says it all. Don't want to take the taxi anymore but I seriously need to know where I am going. LOL

Thanks much all!! It looks like an interesting adventure indeed. LOL

Jaitch wrote:

There is a on-line map < http://mappery.com/Ho-Chi-Minh-Bus-Map >. But LoveLife's map link (below is better. < http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn/admin/Image … -04-24.jpg >.

So both are the same, right?

ipporek wrote:

Jaitch wrote:

There is a on-line map < http://mappery.com/Ho-Chi-Minh-Bus-Map >. But LoveLife's map link (below is better. < http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn/admin/Image … -04-24.jpg >.

So both are the same, right?

both the same but the Mappery server is like molasses on a winters day. The other is the original and gets first updates.

http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn/admin/Image … -04-24.jpg
and many ones but in Vietnamese only

http://map.ebms.vn/routeoftrunk.aspx

interactive map

You can call also 1080 (or 081080 from mobile) to ask the itinerary. I travel around SG every day by bus

Fahasa bookstores sell bus route map costs VND29,500. You might interested to get one. It's portable. ^^

All maps are inaccurate as the bus drivers change routes and times as they feel like depending on traffic.

But at least they stop for running passengers, even making extra stops for the physically challenged / over-laden. In Toronto, the b*stards wait until you almost make it to a stop, then they drive away with a big smile on their faces.

Subway coming soon!

this is the link to the site for the map of the bus routes :

vietnamtravelguy.com/99/guide-to-ho-chi-minh-city-bus-service-saigonbus/

Hello Billafish2 and welcome on board!

Just to inform you that this thread is nearly 2 years old, but we really appreciate your sharing!

This info can be very practical to future members seeking same information.

Regards

Kenjee

I just took the bus for the very first time in Saigon (after having visited Vietnam many times for the past 14 years).

Just wanted to thank everyone who has posted on this thread since it was very helpful (though it might have been more than 2 years).

As previously mentioned, you can get a free map from the station but not quite sure how correct it is (since we were directed to go on the wrong bus).  Not a super big deviation, but still the wrong bus.

The station people are fairly helpful.  But just before you get on the bus, make sure with the driver that you have been properly guided.

In any case, the very first bus I ever got onto, and it broke down about 5 minutes into its drive.  Luckily, there was another one 2 minutes behind after it broke down.

The fare is now 5,000 VND per person.  We were aware that it could possibly sting or to watch out for pickpocketers.  The buses are air conditioned.

For me, this is a good option because instead of paying $3.50 to get from home to the Saigon market every day, I only need to pay $ 0.25.  So for such cost savings, willing to deal with the smell, the wait, and any other possible issues that come along with taking a bus.

Again, thanks to all for these very helpful hints!

I were here just for few days, but can say the buses here are new for me.

Bus no 152 - Trung Son residential area - Tan Son Nhat airport: no conductor, passenger pay to the driver upon enter the bus. Fare: 5,000VND. It's my first time experience a Vietnamese bus driver SPEAK English.
And you need to pay one more ticket for your luggage (the big one which you can't carry on your lap, shoulder, ...)

I rode other buses: no. 62, no. 22 and no.102. Fare is 6,000VND.

You can purchase a set of ticket in advance for a better price: 30 (5,000) tickets for 112,500
                                                                                     and        30 (6,000) tickets for 135,000


The buses which I rode here are not that crowded. (or maybe I mostly travel in non-traffic time)

Many of the bus stops are on google maps. If you click on a bus stop in google maps then you will see which buses stop there, and at what time they will arrive at the stop (they actually mostly arrive on time!). Most buses stop going around 8 pm.
I would really like to know where google maps have the time schedule from, because I can't find it elsewhere.
Also the bus route maps I have found all seems to be outdated, since there is more bus routes in real life, than there is on the map.

As everyone said, there is a good map on buyttphcm. But most of the links here are outdated (even if the link is still valid and shows you a map).

To get the latest version of the map, go to http://www.buyttphcm.com.vn, and click on the "Sơ đồ tuyến" button (left-side of the screen). It's easy, even if you don't speak vietnamese (like me). And there's more to this site, like bus schedules and everything, if you're not afraid of clicking randomly around until you get something interesting

There's also Google Maps as @Holgeroth says, it helps to see where are the bus stops. However most of the time it doesn't say which bus go by.

You can also give a try at Open Street Map, then click on the "Layer" button (right-side of the screen) and choose "Transport Map". At the moment you can see some bus lines and bus stops, but once again it's far from complete.

For those living in District 7...

Here is the Lotte Mart Shuttle Bus Map. Unfortunately, it's low resolution... I bet the best is to go to the Lotte Mart and pick up the real map.

I also found a Phu My Hung Bus Map, but they had the weird idea to make it using Flash (a plugin for the web browser), and it doesn't work on my laptop. Pretty much useless, but maybe you'll be luckier than me.

Apparently there's also a mobile app named BusMap, but since I don't have a smartphone, I can't tell how good it is, and if you can have it in english or not. Maybe someone out there already tried it ?