This post was updated in April 2020.
Traveling in Vietnam is awesome: the people are friendly, getting around is easy and the food is delicious. Plus, travel in Vietnam is not expensive at all! Curious about the costs of a trip to Vietnam?
Check the infographic for our Vietnam travel budget and a detailed breakdown of our Vietnam costs.
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Vietnam travel budget
How much does it cost to travel Vietnam: important facts and figures
• I traveled with my husband, all Vietnam travel costs are for the two of us together.
• We spent a month in Vietnam, traveling from the North to the South, you can find our itinerary here.
• I quote prices in Vietnam Dong (VND) as well as € and $. Obviously the exchange rate varies from day to day, but when we were in Vietnam (March/April 2015) €1 was approx. 25000VND and $1 was around 22200VND.
• In total, we spend 44 million VND / (€1764 / $1986 in the 30 days we were in the country. This comes down to a budget per day of 1.470.000VND / €59 / $66 per day. This includes all expenses in Vietnam plus transportation costs for the trip from Phu Quoc, (Vietnam) to Kampot (Cambodia). It does not include the plane ticket from Manila to Hanoi.
Our Vietnam budget is divided into four categories
1. Accommodation: 18% of our daily travel budget
2. Transportation: 22% of our daily travel budget
3. Food&Drinks: 39% of our daily travel budget
4. Paid activities: 17% of our daily travel budget
These categories add up to 95%, the other 5% is attributed to the $45 1-month single entry visa that we bought to enter Vietnam ($90 for two people, which comes down to $3/€2,7/66700VND a day).
1. Best budget accommodation in Vietnam
During our one month trip in Vietnam we spent 7.852.250VND / €314 / $354 in total on accommodation, which comes down to 261.742VND / €10,50 / $11,80 per day. We stayed in private rooms with our own bathroom, often breakfast was included!
In the table below you can find the places I stayed at (only the ones I recommend!), you can find more details about the accommodation in our Vietnam itinerary.
| Hanoi | Hanoi Serenity Hotel | €27/$30 | Agoda | Booking |
| Tam Coc | Tuan Ngoc Hotel | €15/$17 | Agoda | Booking |
| Hue | Charming Riverside Homestay | €12/$13 | Agoda | Booking |
| Hoi An | Jolie Villa Homestay | €10/$11 | Agoda | Booking |
| Hoi An | Sac Xanh Homestay | €8/$9 | Agoda | Booking |
| Dalat | Cam Ly Homestay | €10/$11 | Agoda | Booking |
| Ho Chi Minh | Thao Nhi Hotel | €14/$16 | Agoda | Booking |
| Phu Quoc island | Kinh Bac Hotel | €21/$24 | Agoda | Booking |
2. Cheap transport in Vietnam
In total we spent 9.480.000VND / €379 / $427 on transportation, on average 316.000VND / €12,60/ $14,20 per day.
Check our complete itinerary to read more detailed information about getting from A to B. We traveled by night train, taxi, plane, bus, bike and more!
3. Cost of food and drinks in Vietnam
In total we spent 17.145.000VND / €686 / $772 on food and drinks, on average 571.500VND / €23/ $25,70 a an average travel day.
The food in Vietnam is fantastic! Everything is fresh, you can add spices if you like, eat soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner and find delicious smoothies on every corner. Banh Mi was another favorite of mine.
4. Activities in Vietnam
The fourth component of our Vietnam cost of travel is the activities we did during our trip.
In total we spend 7.613.000VND / €305 / $343 on paid activities, which comes down to 253.767VND / €10,20 / $11,40 a day. Activity costs include things like museum tickets, tours, bike rental, etc.
Vietnam on a budget: in conclusion
These are the most important costs to take into account when you are traveling in Vietnam. As you can see Vietnam is a very budget-friendly destination and totally worth a trip!
I found Vietnam an intriguing country with a very interesting history, beautiful temples and pagodas, friendly people and delicious food.
You can download the infographic with all the information about our Vietnam trip budget below. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!
Lotte
Thank you Craig:-)
Mellissa Williams
That is much cheaper than I expected. The food looks lovely and fresh and accommodation looks well priced.
Nastia
Nice summary. I am planning to go to Vietman to visit a friend of mine who is working as a teacher there, so it’s really helpful to learn how much I am ging to spend!
Lotte
That’s awesome Nastia! Have a great trip in Vietnam, it’s a wonderful country:-)
Megan
This is a great breakdown. Always appreciate having this perspective before I travel somewhere. Thanks for sharing.
Lotte
Very welcome and thank you for your nice comment:-)
Stefan
Now that is impressive! $33 pp per day – nice one guys. We ended up flying instead of bus/train which upped costs a bit for us (we averaged $43 pp per day). Otherwise, incredible country where you get so much for your money. Hoi An our favourite.
Lotte
Haha thanks Stefan, $43 isn’t bad either:-) We did some flying, from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh and from Ho Chi Minh from Phu Quoc but these were pretty cheap flights. The rest was trains and busses which definitely helps with budgeting! I loved Hoi An as well, spent a week there and still didn’t wanted to leave;-)
Melody Pittman
Wow, I really need to quit vacationing in Europe. Our US money goes so much further in Asia. Thanks for the info. I would love to visit Vietnam.
Lotte
Haha Europe is beautiful as well, but I loved Vietnam. It’s really easy to travel around, the people are superfriendly and the food… I would fly there tomorrow just for the food!
Mitch
Oh dear, 66$ per day for 2?! Vietnam used to be much cheaper 7 years ago when we were there. But I guess, it also depends a lot on the type of accommodation you use and the places you eat at.
Lotte
$66 per day for a couple, so $33 per person. I can imagine it was a lot cheaper 7 years ago;-) But I didn’t think it was that expensive, it was about the same price level as Laos, Philippines and Malaysia.
Laura
This is really useful. I like to see how far money can go in a country, to see how affordable it is to travel long term there. Vietnam is very affordable.
Lotte
Thank you, I am glad you find it useful:-) I think so too Laura, Vietnam is very affordable and a great country to travel long term! 1 month was great but there is so much more to see…
Tatiana
You get great value for your money in Vietnam – I was impressed how many guesthouse were offering great and clean rooms for only 20USD… And the food! Amazing!
Lotte
Totally agree Tatiana! I was amazed about the excellent value for money of the hotel rooms. And I would fly back tomorrow just for the food…
Joe Ankenbauer
Excellent article and very informative! This will be very helpful!
Lotte
Thank you Joe!
Jennifer Melroy
You did a good job at saving money. I have never really looked into the costs about daily travel. I should really track these things more.
Lotte
Haha I did Jennifer, I just didn’t want to have to go back to the Netherlands before my unpaid leave was up because I ran out of money;-)
Kevin
Lotte I am so impressed with your detailed breakdown of costs, you must have recorded every cent! I am taking 30 days to backpack Vietnam so your guide has been fascinating reading, very informative and interesting. Thank you x
Lotte
Haha thanks Kevin, I did exactly that;-). But happy to hear my slight OCD has been helpful in your travel planning, have a great trip to Vietnam!
Amanda
Nice post! I’m planning to go to Hanoi on January to experience the winter, and the snow perhaps:p.
I’ll be there for 4 days, would it be enough if I bring 8.5 million dong? The budget for accommodation and the ticket will be calculated separately. I’ll travel solo:).
Thanks!
Lotte
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for reading the post! In my opinion 8,5 million dong should be more than enough, especially if you won’t use that money for accommodation or your flight. Food is very cheap in Vietnam, but if you plan on doing a cruise in Halong Bay it will cost you around 80 USD. If you don’t have enough money you can always get cash from an ATM. Just make sure you have a couple of different bank cards (Maestro Card and Mastercard).
Have a great trip!
Lotte
Alice
Awesome blog Lotte!!! This is informative & especially relevant for a traveler on budget. Thank you so much. 😀
Lotte
Thank you Alice, happy to hear that!