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You are here: Home / Southeast Asia / Vietnam / Vietnam Travel Budget: How Much It Costs To Travel Vietnam

Vietnam Travel Budget: How Much It Costs To Travel Vietnam

April 6, 2020 by Lotte 26 Comments

Traveling in Vietnam is a fantastic experience! 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.

This post contains affiliate links.
Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Halong Bay Vietnam

Vietnam travel budget

Table Of Contents
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  • Vietnam travel budget
    • Vietnam on a budget
    • How much does it cost to travel Vietnam: important facts and figures
    • Vietnam budget travel
    • 1. Best budget accommodation in Vietnam
    • 2. Cheap transport in Vietnam
    • 3. Cost of food and drinks in Vietnam
    • 4. Activities in Vietnam
    • Vietnam on a budget: in conclusion

Vietnam on a budget

Read all about the costs of traveling in Vietnam(accommodation, transport, food&drinks and activities).

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.

Vietnam Dong

Vietnam budget travel

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).

Fisherman in Vietnam

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.

HanoiHanoi Serenity Hotel€27/$30AgodaBooking
Tam CocTuan Ngoc Hotel€15/$17AgodaBooking
HueCharming Riverside Homestay€12/$13AgodaBooking
Hoi AnJolie Villa Homestay€10/$11AgodaBooking
Hoi AnSac Xanh Homestay€8/$9AgodaBooking
DalatCam Ly Homestay€10/$11AgodaBooking
Ho Chi MinhThao Nhi Hotel€14/$16AgodaBooking
Phu Quoc islandKinh Bac Hotel€21/$24AgodaBooking
Accommodation Dalat Vietnam

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.

  • Vietnamese Food

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 rice fields

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!

Vietnam budget breakdown

This post was updated in April 2020.

  • A detailed budget breakdown about the costs of travel in Vietnam (including accommodation, transport, food & drinks and activities). Find out exactly how much a 1 month trip around Vietnam costs and download a convenient budget breakdown infographic on Phenomenal Globe Travel Blog.
  • A detailed budget breakdown about the costs of travel in Vietnam (including accommodation, transport, food & drinks and activities). Find out exactly how much a 1 month trip around Vietnam costs and download a convenient budget breakdown infographic on Phenomenal Globe Travel Blog.

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Filed Under: Vietnam

About Lotte

About Lotte - author of Phenomenal Globe Travel Blog
Previous Post: « 10 Days In Thailand: A Detailed Thailand Travel Itinerary
Next Post: The Perfect 2 Week Malaysia Itinerary And Travel Guide »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lotte

    October 24, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    Thank you Craig:-)

    Reply
  2. Mellissa Williams

    February 6, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    That is much cheaper than I expected. The food looks lovely and fresh and accommodation looks well priced.

    Reply
  3. Nastia

    February 6, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 6, 2016 at 7:50 pm

      That’s awesome Nastia! Have a great trip in Vietnam, it’s a wonderful country:-)

      Reply
  4. Megan

    February 6, 2016 at 6:31 pm

    This is a great breakdown. Always appreciate having this perspective before I travel somewhere. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 6, 2016 at 7:49 pm

      Very welcome and thank you for your nice comment:-)

      Reply
  5. Stefan

    February 7, 2016 at 12:01 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 7, 2016 at 12:05 am

      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;-)

      Reply
  6. Melody Pittman

    February 7, 2016 at 5:31 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 7, 2016 at 9:29 am

      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!

      Reply
  7. Mitch

    February 7, 2016 at 12:15 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 7, 2016 at 2:02 pm

      $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.

      Reply
  8. Laura

    February 8, 2016 at 6:42 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 8, 2016 at 11:01 am

      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…

      Reply
  9. Tatiana

    February 8, 2016 at 2:07 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 8, 2016 at 5:27 pm

      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…

      Reply
  10. Joe Ankenbauer

    February 8, 2016 at 7:26 pm

    Excellent article and very informative! This will be very helpful!

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 8, 2016 at 9:03 pm

      Thank you Joe!

      Reply
  11. Jennifer Melroy

    February 9, 2016 at 7:29 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 9, 2016 at 9:08 am

      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;-)

      Reply
  12. Kevin

    February 17, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Lotte

      February 19, 2017 at 3:27 pm

      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!

      Reply
  13. Amanda

    November 2, 2017 at 6:15 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Lotte

      November 2, 2017 at 11:31 am

      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

      Reply
  14. Alice

    November 16, 2018 at 8:39 am

    Awesome blog Lotte!!! This is informative & especially relevant for a traveler on budget. Thank you so much. 😀

    Reply
    • Lotte

      November 16, 2018 at 12:30 pm

      Thank you Alice, happy to hear that!

      Reply

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