Riding a motorbike

You are probably not legally allowed to ride

Almost everyone here gets around by motorbike. It is cheap, it is easy, and it is how the city works. It is also where foreigners get seriously hurt and seriously out of pocket.

To ride legally you need two things. Your own licence from home, and an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention with the motorbike category on it.

So you can do everything you thought was right, pay for an official permit at home, and still be riding illegally here. And a car licence is not enough. If your licence does not cover motorbikes at home, it does not cover them here.

Checked 2026-08-02

What that actually costs you

Your insurance stops existing. Ride without a licence Vietnam recognises and your travel and health insurance usually stop covering you. Whatever caused the crash. Even if someone else drove into you. A serious motorbike injury here means a hospital bill and possibly a medical flight home, and those run into tens of thousands of dollars.

The fines also went up sharply. Decree 168/2024 came into force on 1 January 2025 and raised traffic penalties across the board. There are more cameras and more checks, and Da Nang is one of the places where the police check most. Riding without a valid licence can mean a fine of around 5,000,000 VND and your bike held for 10 to 15 days.

Checked 2026-08-02

Can you get a Vietnamese licence?

Sometimes, and it is worth knowing where you stand. If you qualify you can swap a foreign licence for a Vietnamese one without taking a test. The fee is 135,000 VND, and the whole thing usually costs between 500,000 and 1,100,000 once translation is counted. It takes about eight working days.

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So be honest about which of these you are. If you have residency, convert your licence in your first month: it is cheap and there is no test. If you are on a tourist visa with a 1968 permit that covers motorbikes, you are fine, carry both documents. If you are on a tourist visa without one, you cannot currently ride legally. That is the honest answer.

What actually happens out there

We are not going to pretend the rules and the street are the same thing. Most people riding around this city do not hold a licence that covers them, and that includes plenty of Vietnamese riders. Some rental shops will ask to see one. Plenty will not.

So if you are reading this thinking you must be the only one, you are not. But everyone does it does not put your insurance back. The crowd around you is not the thing that pays your hospital bill. Nobody in that crowd is covered either.

What happens at the roadside varies, and we are deliberately not going to coach you through that moment. Not out of squeamishness. It is that you would be following a script, in a language you do not speak, with an officer who may not be doing what the script assumed. That turns a fine into something much bigger. Be polite, be calm, produce what you have, and do not get clever.

The honest summary: the fine is survivable and annoying. The hospital bill is the one that changes your life. Judge the risk on the second one.

Renting a bike

Checked 2026-08-02

Unless you already ride, get the automatic scooter. It is what the whole city is on, it is easier in traffic, and it is cheaper.

Where you rent changes the price. Shops in the touristy stretches charge more than shops a few streets inland, for the same bike. It is the same pattern as apartments and food. The tourist-facing version of anything costs more, and walking a few streets back is worth money every time.

• Brakes, both of them.
• Lights, indicators, horn.
• Tyres, including how worn they are.
• Photograph every existing scratch and dent before you ride away. This is what stops a damage argument at the end.
• Ask what happens if you get a flat, and who pays.