Vietnam to Cambodia by Bus in 2026: Routes, Fares and Border-Crossing Essentials

The bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh covers 230 km in 6-8 hours, and the border stop is the reason for the range. Direct departures run daily from roughly 06:00 to 22:00, leaving from Mien Tay station and from city-center limousine pickup points. If you are staying near the city center, the limousine pickups are more convenient than riding out to Mien Tay. The earliest buses are the most dependable; an afternoon departure can easily stretch toward the 8-hour mark when Bavet immigration is busy.

Fares fall in a predictable US$18-30 range. Kumho Samco and Mai Linh Express tend to sit near the top, while Phnom Penh Sorya Transport and Lien Hung offer the lower end. You can book through the operators' official websites or through Baolau, 12Go Asia, and Vexere, which show live availability. Buying in person at Mien Tay also works and usually matches the online price, but the 06:00 and 07:00 departures sell out first.

A 'direct' ticket means you have one booking, not one bus. At Moc Bai, everyone exits with luggage, walks 100-500 m through no-man's land, clears Cambodian immigration at Bavet, then boards an onward coach arranged by the operator. Allow 1-2 hours for the border procedure, and keep a printed copy of your Cambodia e-Visa; both exit and entry stamps are required. The Moc Bai/Bavet crossing is open 07:00-22:00, so the border stop itself is straightforward during daytime departures.

Schedule gaps appear around Khmer New Year in mid-April and during major Vietnamese holidays. Weekend mornings also bring peak queues at Moc Bai/Bavet, so early departures are worth booking in advance. If you choose a budget ticket, confirm at purchase whether it includes the transfer across the border or only drops you on the Vietnamese side.

Not every bus from Vietnam enters through the Moc Bai-Bavet pair. If you're coming up from the Mekong Delta, the Tinh Bien (Vietnam)-Phnom Den (Cambodia) crossing handles coaches from Châu Đốc and Cần Thơ. There, the two border posts sit closer together, but the sequence is exactly the same: exit Vietnam on foot, cross the buffer strip, enter Cambodia on foot, then re-board. The same platforms that sell Vietnam train tickets, such as Baolau and 12Go Asia, also sell these bus connections; they may package the border transfer into a single through ticket, but the walking steps are unchanged.

Cambodia's e-Visa, issued through evisa.gov.kh, is accepted at the Bavet and Tinh Bien land crossings, the two checkpoints most Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh buses use. Eligibility depends on your passport, so check the list before you pay. If you qualify, the e-Visa processes online in about three business days. The e-Visa fee is set by the Cambodian government and is not necessarily the same as the visa-on-arrival fee; visa-on-arrival charges and exemptions can change, so confirm the current official amounts on evisa.gov.kh or with the Cambodian embassy rather than assuming they match. The border is open daily from around 07:00 to 22:00, so a morning departure leaves room for the process.

From Can Tho, direct buses to Phnom Penh cross at Tinh Bien and take about 5 hours. The checkpoint is open daily from 07:00 to 22:00. For travelers already in the Mekong Delta, this route avoids the detour back to Ho Chi Minh City and the crowded Moc Bai/Bavet border on the main HCMC-Phnom Penh corridor.

Chau Doc is closer to the Cambodian border. Buses from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh use Tinh Bien, while hydrofoils provide a separate connection, running along the Bassac River to the capital. Cambodia's e-visa, available at evisa.gov.kh, is accepted at Tinh Bien. Carry a printed copy so you can get both the Vietnamese exit and Cambodian entry stamps.

Ha Tien is the place to aim for if your first Cambodian stop is Kep or Kampot. Buses from Ha Tien connect directly to both coastal towns, so you do not need to turn up in Phnom Penh first. The Ha Tien crossing is much less busy than Moc Bai, where queues commonly peak on weekend mornings. You still need the same entry requirements.

Whichever route you take, book a through-ticket that includes the border transfer. When the bus stops at Tinh Bien or Ha Tien, you exit Vietnam, walk to the Cambodian side, and reboard the same vehicle or a connecting one. Check current schedules on Baolau, 12Go Asia, or at the local bus station, and allow extra time around Khmer New Year in mid-April and Vietnamese public holidays because departures run less often. Confirm that the booking platform shows live availability, and if you are crossing on a weekend morning, arrive at the border early.

Most travelers book the Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh bus without checking whether the ticket includes the border transfer, and that mistake usually surfaces at Moc Bai. A through ticket covers both sides of the crossing: your bus stops at the Vietnamese checkpoint, you exit Vietnam, walk 100 to 500 meters through no-man's land, clear Cambodian immigration at Bavet, then board a connecting coach. Budget 1 to 2 hours for the border stop. The full journey is 230 km and takes 6 to 8 hours, with buses running roughly 06:00 to 22:00 daily and typical fares of US$18 to 30.

Book through the operator's own site or through an aggregator with live availability. Kumho Samco, Mai Linh Express, Phnom Penh Sorya Transport, and Liên Hưng all sell tickets online; Baolau, 12Go Asia, and Vexere compare schedules across them and show whether a fare is a through service. In Ho Chi Minh City, you can buy same-day departures in person at Mien Tay station or at city-center agent offices. Some premium minivans offer border assistance, but you still have to pass both immigration posts in person. Before paying, check that the ticket is a through ticket with a border transfer. A ticket that only runs to Moc Bai leaves you to find a separate local bus on the Cambodian side on your own, and that is the classic way to get stranded between the two posts. The same logic applies to the Can Tho to Phnom Penh route via Tinh Bien, which takes about 5 hours.

Plan around the calendar as well. Cambodian Sangkran falls in mid-April, and schedules thin out during Khmer New Year and around Vietnamese public holidays, so book a few days ahead in those windows. Border queues peak on weekend mornings, when tour groups and cross-border shoppers arrive at Moc Bai and Bavet together. The checkpoints are open daily from 07:00 to 22:00, so an early weekday departure gets you through before the line forms.