Before you look any further
Why not just rent a scooter at your hotel, or on the corner?
You can, and plenty of people do. But rental scooters here are often old and poorly looked after, and the ones hotels rent out tend to be among the oldest. Here is the honest difference.
Petrol scooter, shop or hoteleBike Tam Coc
Price per day
About 150,000 VND, plus petrol
250,000 VND motorbike, 150,000 e-bike, per day. Nothing on top
Getting it
Whatever the hotel has left, or find a shop, haggle and ride it back yourself
Delivered to your hotel in the morning, collected in the evening
Knowing where to go
A key and a wave. The rest is up to you
A guide on your phone: your day planned, the story of every place, help with one tap
Your passport
Often kept at the shop as a deposit
A photo. The passport stays with you, and there is no security deposit
Driving licence
Required by law for anything over 50cc, which is nearly every rental scooter
Not needed, for either ride
The bike itself
Often years old and poorly maintained: weak brakes, lights that do not work, tyres worn so thin they can blow out
As good as new, from September 2026
Fuel
The fuel gauge often does not work, so you guess what is left. And you return it full, if you can find a petrol station
No petrol at all. The motorbike does about 80 km on one battery, a day around Tam Coc is 30 to 60
Speedometer
Often disconnected, so you see no speed and nobody knows how many kilometres the bike has really done
A digital display on the motorbike shows your speed and battery, and it is limited to 49 km/h
On the road
Engine noise and fumes, and an old engine can overheat on a hot afternoon
Silent. You hear the birds and the river
