Can I ask a realistic question. I see a lot of PRIVATE drivers in the comments. For those that took them over going on a group tour was it because of the size of your group or you truly preferred to just have the driver to yourself and not be around other tourist. I’m coming solo so I’m not sure how cost effective it would be for me to do most of my stuff with private drivers. I’m interested in your feedback.
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Normally I travel solo. Spending the day with a group is good and more fun. Did private, is boring.
Question – Are we insured if we use private drivers? I’m assuming yes, if booked via your accommodations?
We found private driver way cheaper than tours. But if i was solo, no way would i feel safe going with a driver by myself unless i created a friendship or hotel recommended.
I can highly recommend Binh. I did that trip with him solo last March and he is very safe driver and his bike is comfortable with a backrest. Was a great day out and very reasonably priced
Hi Tiffany, I have a different perspective. I traveled DaNang, Hanoi and Tam Coc with my husband and 9 yr old son. We had private drivers in DaNang, two brothers and towards the end of our trip when I hadn’t booked them they got us friends of theirs. In Hanoi we used Grab everywhere. Tam Coc a mix of both. Here’s how I found it. I went with a walking disability (two walking sticks to get around as I had limited abdominal core and was still healing from major surgery) using private drivers meant, we could ask them to stop anywhere we wanted on the way to somewhere, ie for food, or to look at a random store, to get money exchanged, to take us to the markets. We could call them and get them to come back to put our purchases in the car. We scoped out different accommodations for our return to Da Nang. I became brave enough with the drivers by my side to do things without my husband and son. I went to Hoi An Memories Show without them. Driver took me from DaNang to Hoi An, shopping, then to the show and back to Da Nang. They helped me carry things or get in and out of car if ever I needed. These drivers spoke minimal English but I had amazing conversations through Google Translate with them. They would help guide me to where I wanted to go, we got to know them and had a good laugh about things despite the language barrier. I asked questions about them, their families, the country or the areas we were in and Google translated for us both playing the answers out loud making it easier for driver and myself son and husband could hear the answers too. We still learnt a lot from them. In Tam Coc The private driver helped communicate the children’s hospital at Ninh Binh, took the instructions from the medical staff and guided us and navigated with us and we used Google Translate for him to explain to us what was going on. We couldn’t have done it without him. Grab was good too but for different reasons. You needed to go from A to B, don’t need someone to wait, price is set and you know they are on the way and can see the car on the app, it’s safe for solo travelers rather than flagging down a taxi, you can hook up to Wise card so most often no cash payment required, you can even tip the driver on the app. What made Grabs difficult is ensuring you put the correct pick up address in. If you don’t and have to find the car you get a penalty fee after 2 mins of the car arriving and you not there. We had this a couple of times because the app location was not synced well to where we were. Once we got the hang of how to book (looking at specific buildings around us and using those addresses rather than current location) it seemed to be more efficient. The drivers won’t do stop offs so if you see something you need to go back another time or forfeit the rest of your journey. They won’t wait for you, once you are dropped they are off and you need to order another grab when ready to go but no pressure of someone waiting ie of having to communicate with someone waiting if we wanted to stay longer we could but on the flip, we had to carry everything we had on us. No leaving bags in car to walk around a monument. And some drivers I found awkward and did not want to communicate so very transactional rather than friendly but some were very cool too so luck of the draw but less of a personal experience. We sometimes had to wait long times to get a grab (when leaving train street and on a Market night as our accommodation was so close it made the cars hard to get in). Smaller towns seemed more expensive for private drivers than Da Nang for us. The private drivers in Da Nang charged us for major destinations and not for waiting time so it worked out very good pricing for all we got done. Sorry if that’s too detailed and long winded but I thought they were both very different experiences. In hindsight I’d have preferred to have found a private driver in Hanoi as well. Have a lovely trip.
I would never use a random driver from Facebook. It’s the same as getting in the car with a random man in my home country, I just wouldn’t do it. Go through Grab. You can also book a trusted driver through your accommodation or a tour. Vietnam is generally safe, but you can never be too safe.
This month will be our first time Vietnam and we will be using a private tours. Before we had our baby we would do group tours but now We have a baby and like the flexibility of being able to come and go as we please and take out places from the schedule we don’t really need to see. If it’s just a driver you are looking for you can maybe check out grab or hotel taxi , a guided tour where the guide stays and walks around with you is different. Worked out really well for us last year in Thailand, Philippines and Bali.
Would you like to experience a motorbike trip to explore Hai Van Pass, Lap An Lagoon, Waterfall, Ancient Village, Beach Fishing Village, Marble Mountains for a full day? Please give me a call. Thank you!
depending on where you are going we have found the motorbike drivers to be a great way to see places. Usually this is arranged through your accomodation and I’m sure you could arrange for a female driver if you’d prefer, my 17 year old had a lovely lady in Tam Coc. They will take you places where you may then join other tourists, on boat trips etc in Tam Coc. The advantage is they wait for you, help buy tickets and show you where to go and point out things on the way. Plus bejng on the back of a bike you feel much more immersed in your surroundings. I feel like maybe you could possibly link up with some people in your accomodation who may want to do the same things as you.
We can leave when we want in the morning and don’t have to go to a hotel pickup site when staying at an Airbnb. We can stay at any place for as long as we want. We don’t want to be forced to follow a herd. With kids it is a lot easier and private. And you don’t get a guide unless you pay for one at the site but you still get to interact with a local.