Are you planning to spend a month or longer traveling through Vietnam but don’t know how much to budget for your trip? Then use our popular expense report to help you identify the average costs of visiting Vietnam on a modest budget.
In this guide we share the exact numbers for everything we spent for an entire month. We also break down our expenses into categories to show you where it’s easy to overspend. So let us help you see more of Vietnam by making the most of your resources.
Our Experience
We spent a month in Vietnam as part of our 18 month honeymoon around the world in 2018. But when we traveled, there was very little information available about how much it would cost to travel through Vietnam which inspired us to create this guide. So the first thing we did was a lot of research and created a travel budget.
Our estimated budget was around US $3,000 for two people to travel for 30 days. This worked out to be around US $50/day per person. It’s a comfortable amount for Vietnam and allowed us room for the occasional splurge. We broke down our expenses into categories including flights, public transport, accommodation, food, activities/tours and miscellaneous. Read more about us.
Let’s take a look at the figures:
1. Flights
Flights in Vietnam and throughout southeast Asia offer fantastic value for all types of traveler. The key is to remain flexible on dates and times of day. But depending on where you’re originating, this may be a large chunk of your budget. We were already in Taiwan so flights weren’t a large cost for us, but we booked last minute and our flights could have been cheaper had we booked a few months or weeks ahead.
Internal flights in Vietnam are also extremely affordable for those who prefer to fly or plan to travel longer distances. You’ll have to make a decision on how to get around once you arrive, but we’ll cover this more in depth later. We only took 2 flights, one into Vietnam and one out at the end. Here are the flights we booked:
- Inbound: Koahsiung, Taiwan to Hanoi
- Outbound: Da Nang to Bangkok, Thailand
And with prices:
We also traveled with our Osprey Farpoint 40L backpacks as carry on for most of this trip and it really helped to keep costs down because we didn’t have to pay checked baggage fees. Our flights cost about US$ 150/person accounting for about 10% of our estimated target budget of US $3,000.
READ: How to book cheap flights every time
2. Public Transport
Depending on where you want to go, getting around Vietnam can be difficult. We think infrastructure and facilities drastically need improving if Vietnam intends on growing its tourist economy. The long narrow country is most commonly traveled by train or sleeper bus. Personally, we chose to travel by sleeper bus because it was cheaper and more convenient over short distances.
We liked how the bus always took us directly to the next stop on our itinerary, whereas the train often required a bus or taxi transfer (such as Tam Coc, Phong Nha, Hoi An). For most of our transport, we booked with with 12Go Asia. Here’s our cost breakdown:
Overall, we were pleased with how low we kept transport costs in Vietnam. Sleeper buses aren’t always the most comfortable but they provide incredibly cheap services offering unbeatable convenience. You can read about our sleeper bus experiences here.
We spent a total of US $126.93 on buses which allowed us to see almost all of northern and central Vietnam. But we spent a total of US $16.77 on taxi’s. One of those taxi’s was from Halong City to Halong Pier, which cost us US $6.88 for a 5 mile ride. Compare that with the US $21.50 bus from Halong Bay to Ninh Binh (Tam Coc), a 4 hour journey covering 135 miles.
So we’d highly recommend using Grab because it’s essentially the Uber of southeast Asia. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really around in 2018 for our trip, but it’s the best way to get around now. Since then, we’ve used it in many other Asian countries and you’ll know the price before you ride which eliminates you being overcharged as a tourist.
READ: How to plan a trip in a few easy steps
3. Accommodation
We spend a lot of our budget on hotels because we prefer hotels over hostels and shared rooms as a married couple. But accommodation is affordable in Vietnam and luxurious rooms aren’t too far out of even the most budget conscious travelers price range.
The challenge is not getting over excited by what your money can buy. To keep prices down, you have to quell that thirst for luxury even at those cheaper prices. Here’s an overview of what we spent on hotels in each city:
During our trip, we booked all our hotels on booking.com or negotiated in person. Since we traveled in October, it was high season in the north, but rainy season as we got closer to central Vietnam. We also spent 7 nights in Hanoi because we needed a few days to catch up on some work, but in hindsight we would have spent this time in a different rural location.
Two of our biggest expenses were trekking in Sapa with a local guide and booking a Halong Bay cruise. However, we felt these were two experiences we did not want to miss. We also splurged in Halong Bay the night before our cruise but we needed it after a killer overnight sleeper bus from Sapa to Halong. To balance, we took a cheaper but still amazing Halong Bay cruise.
READ: Tips for booking cheap hotels for travel
4. Food And Drink
Another category we often overspend in is food. But part of the travel experience is trying new foods. You can keep food costs low in Vietnam, but eating local dishes. However, if you want traditional western dishes, healthy options or MICHELIN star experiences, this will inevitably cost you more. Here’s what we spent:
Almost US $300 in 7 days in Hanoi looks astronomical but we ate at 3 high quality restaurants with friends and spent US $74 just on drinks. We also had a boozy Halong Bay cruise that totaled US $51 because alcohol is not typically included in the booking price.
In Hanoi, we averaged US $42/day but compare that to US $26/day in Hoi An and US $18/day in Phong Nha. Another regret we have is not booking a food tour because this is a great way to learn about local cuisine including how to make it yourself. So here are some highly rated experiences:
5. Activities And Tours
All travelers have to sleep, eat and get around, but pricey excursions is where you can easily break your budget for 1 month in Vietnam. These costs quickly get out of hand, especially if you book several high quality tours during your trip.
For example, one night on a Halong Bay cruise can cost anywhere between US $100-400. Likewise in Phong Nha, there are incredible looking adventure cave tours that can cost up to US $3,000/person. The good new is most tickets for museums, pagodas and historical sites are quite cheap so it’s the bigger attractions that will add up. This is what we did:
Our biggest expenses were:
- The Fansipan cable car in Sapa but totally worth the money
- Touring Paradise Cave and Dark Cave in Phong Nha which was a little overpriced but worth it for the convenience
- Our Hai Van Pass personal guide and bike hire which was worth every penny
We thought the best value attractions were:
Another great way to save some cash is by booking tickets with Klook. We’ve really come to love Klook because they often sell tickets for attractions cheaper than you can get on site so it’s always worth checking. Here are popular options in Vietnam:
Klook.comTravel Tip: Identify your biggest tour or attraction expense first and then create your remaining budget around this.
6. Miscellaneous Costs
Miscellaneous expenses have a greater sting in the tail than a threatened scorpion. There’s nothing worse than thinking you’ve done really well, only to discover that you forgot about the US $10 laundry bill or US $5 shampoo replacement. It can add up, trust us! So we highly recommend you keep track of these expenses too.
Fortunately in Vietnam, miscellaneous costs can be kept relatively low. You won’t need to leave big tips after meals, there are no taxes on most purchases, bike and moped rentals are extremely reasonable and gas is cheap. Here’s our snapshot:
Our massage costs could have been avoided but US $28.81 was worth the splurge for both of us to have an hour massage. We also spent US $28.46 on laundry which isn’t too bad for the entire month considering we only had 40L each. The majority of our miscellaneous costs were buying clothes, totaling US US $87.75 including two beautiful tailored rompers for Kristen in Hoi An.
The Morgan Conclusion
Although we planned to spend the full 30 days in Vietnam, we ended up cutting it off by a few days at the end to make a total of 27 days. We were in Hoi An, exhausted from non-stop sightseeing and traveling. Our original intention was to continue South to Dalat and Ho Chi Minh City. But we found a great flight from Da Nang to Bangkok and decided to tag on a couple of days in Hoi An as we loved the city, rather than rush the rest of southern Vietnam.
So this analysis represents 27 days of expenses and we’ll take an average daily spend. Then add 3 of the daily average to the total to make a 30 day expense report.
Our total cost for 27 days was US $2697.25. Therefore, our daily average spend was US $99.89. Add 3 x US $99.89 to $2697.25 representing the 3 remaining days and our total cost for 1 month traveling in Vietnam was US $2996.92.
We hit the nail on the head with our projected budget for Vietnam. Honestly, we gave ourselves a big buffer and secretly expected to fall short of US $3,000. But in hindsight, it’s easy to see where we could have saved which includes food. However, we had a great trip and met so many like minded people in restaurants.
Take a look at the chart below to see how much we spent in every category for one month traveling in Vietnam:
Our expected costs were based on a couple traveling somewhere between a low to mid-range budget as backpackers. However, if you already know you’ll be traveling on a shoestring budget, you’ll have to spend less than we did each day. Prices are very similar if you choose to travel south to locations such as Dalat and Ho Chi Minh City.
One of our biggest regrets was not putting more towards a big cave adventure in Phong Nha. While we enjoyed Dark Cave and Paradise Cave, we would have rather experienced a multi-day adventure into one of the larger caves. But travel is all about pushing yourself outside your comfort zone and we discovered we love adventures!
Prices have increased slightly since our trip in 2018, but Vietnam is still a cheap travel destination if you’re coming from the US, UK, Europe or Australia. One of the biggest challenges you’ll face is having to negotiate prices for everything so we’d recommend reading our tips for visiting Vietnam prior to your trip.
More From Vietnam
- Amazing places to visit in Vietnam
- Best things to see in Hanoi
- How many days do you need in Hanoi?
- Hanoi and Halong Bay transportation guide
- How to spend a few days in Sapa
- Activities you can’t miss in Ninh Binh
- How to drive the Hai Van Pass by motorbike
- Unique experiences to have in Phong Nha
- Best way to get from Da Nang to Hoi An
- Our 3 week northern and central Vietnam itinerary
- How to spend ten days in Vietnam
Want more Vietnam content? Head over to our Vietnam Travel Guides to see example itineraries, tips and popular city guides.
We hope our Vietnam expense report will help you budget properly for your trip!
Please let us know if you have any questions about planning a trip to Vietnam in the comments below.
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
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Mark and Kristen Morgan are travel, hiking and photography experts. Over the last 6 years traveling full time, they have explored more than 40 countries and 30 US states.
Where Are Those Morgans has been featured in USA Today, Gestalten, Get Your Guide, CityPASS and Condé Nast Traveler along with various other publications. Read more about us.
Hi. Very useful hints! Thank you, Wondering why spending seven nights in Hanoi would not be repeated? Too big a city? Boring? Or time spent better elsewhere. Janet
Hi Janet, Hanoi is great but you only really need 2 or 3 days at the most. Your time would definitely be spent better in more rural parts of Vietnam like Tam Coc and Phong Nha, or more quaint cities like Hoi An. Have a great trip!