Vietnam Travel Cost: How Much I Spent in One Month

After getting the news of my landlord kicking me out of my London apartment I was living in for 5 years, I decided to move my stuff into storage and travel to Asia. I spent a whole month in Vietnam and it is seriously the cheapest place in the world! I spent less in a month here than I spent on my rent alone in London. For context, I was paying £2,000 (~$2,586 USD) for rent and utilities in a 1 bedroom flat in London.

My Vietnam travel cost in one month was £1,589 GBP ($2,051 USD) on everything (aside from flights). So I spent less than my rent alone in London on hotels, food, transportation, and activities. That averages to $68 a day.

I went mid-range for my style of travel and you could definitely do it a lot cheaper than me. It really amazed me how budget-friendly Vietnam is. 6 months later I have yet to come back to London and settle into a new flat – the thought of how expensive rent is here hurts!

Are you surprised by how affordable Vietnam is? Now let’s delve into all the details in this post.

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Before you go:
🇻🇳 Join my FB group for Vietnam tips + Solo travel advice
🛂 Americans, Australians, among many otehr nationalities need to apply for the required visa here to enter Vietnam ahead of time.
🧷 Travel Insurance with SafetyWing in case of any accidents. Better safe than sorry!
📱Mobile E-sim card with Airalo to stay connected while traveling without the hassle of changing out your sim card!
💜 Best time to visit Vietnam: The best time to visit Vietnam is from November to April when the weather is generally dry and cool in the north and warm and sunny in the south.

Vietnam Travel Cost: Daily and Monthly Breakdown

I traveled solo to Vietnam and this is how much I spent in a month. If you were traveling with someone and could share the cost of accommodation, the monthly budget would be reduced to around $1,492 a month or $49 a day.

Expense	Monthly Cost	Daily Average Cost
Flights	$600	$20
Visa	$25	$0.83
Accommodation	$1,119	$37
Food and Drink	$508	$17
Transportation	$180	$6
Activities	$164	$1.67
Miscellaneous	$55	$1.83
Total (Excl. Flights)	$2,051	$68

Vietnam Travel Cost: Pre-trip Budget

The biggest cost you’ll have is probably the flight to Vietnam depending on where you’re flying from.

The average cost to fly to Vietnam

Below is an average flight cost from common destinations across the world:

• US: $700 – $1,200
• Canada: $700 – $1,200
• UK: $600 – $1,000
• Australia: $400 – $800
• New Zealand: $500 – $900
• Germany: $600 – $1,000
• France: $600 – $1,000
• Japan: $300 – $600
• Singapore: $100 – $300
• India: $300 – $600

Visas

One mistake I made when traveling to Vietnam was not getting the visa ahead of time. I thought you could get it on arrival as an American, but no, you can’t. I had to delay my flight and wait til my visa arrived.

Check if you are required to have a visa to visit. If you’re American or Australian you will have to. Apply for your visa a minimum of one week ahead of your trip. It took 3-4 business days for mine to arrive and could be even longer.

The correct place to apply for the visa is linked here.

The cost of the visa is $25.

Travel Insurance for Vietnam

I’d highly recommend getting travel insurance for your visit to Vietnam. This will protect against medical expenses, accidents, stolen items, and. more. I use SafetyWing and it costs around $56 for the entire month. You can also get shorter coverage of course too.

How much does accommodation cost in Vietnam?

Hotels in Vietnam are SOO affordable. I stayed in gorgeous places for $30 a night! I mean GORGEOUS! I loved how affordable it was. This is your biggest cost outside of flights and it isn’t bad! So you can definitely go way cheap or stay in nice places for $30 a night.

Hostels start at literally $2 a night and depending on where you are in Vietnam you can find standard private rooms for $10/night.

There are many homestays in Vietnam that are all so affordable. A homestay means what you think – you’re staying with a local family and you will have your own private room so it’s similar to a hotel.

In one month in Vietnam, I spent $1,119 on accommodation. That’s $37 a night on average. You can definitely do it way cheaper than me!

Here’s how much I spent on accommodation by location:

Destination	Hotel	Nightly Cost
Hanoi	Sunline Hotel	$54
Ninh Binh	Tam Coc Lion Kings	$25
Hoi An	Alsahar Boutique Villa	$25
Hue	Pisces Hotel	$23
Da Nang	FIVITEL King	$27
Ho Chi Minh City	Homestay TITO	$30
Mekong River Delta	MID NIGHT	$15

Read my full post on hotels in Hoi An for more amazing places to stay!

Ha Long Bay Cruise Cost

I didn’t do a cruise on the Ha Long Bay when I visited so if you opt to do this, it is on the pricier side.

Typical prices are as follows

• Budget Overnight Cruises: $80 – $150 per person
• Mid-Range Overnight Cruises: $150 – $250 per person
• Luxury Overnight Cruises: $250 – $500+ per person

How much does food and drink cost in Vietnam?

Food and drink in Vietnam is really cheap and amazingly good! You can eat from street food vendors or at a restaurant all so affordably.

Food & Drink Cost Breakdown

• Street Food: $1.50 per meal
• Local Restaurants: $3-5 per meal
• Western Restaurants: $10-15 per meal
• Coffee and Smoothies: $1-3
• Alcohol: $2 for a beer, $5-7 for cocktails

During my month in Vietnam, I spent $508 on food and drink. That’s an average of $17 a day. I probably had at least one coffee a day included as I was OBSESSED with the coffee scene.

How much do tours and entrance fees cost in Vietnam?

I visited a variety of museums and did a few excursions in Vietnam.

In one month, my total for activities was $164.

Here’s how much it cost me for all these activities:

• Hue Imperial City & Tombs Combo Tickets $17 (420K VND)
• Hue to Hoi An transfer with stops at Marble Mountain & Hai Van pass: $51 (1.3M VND)
• Hoi An Boat Tour & Lantern Release $8 (203K VND)
• Hoi An Lantern Making Class $10 (253K VND)
• Mekong River Delta Tour: $45 (1.1M VND)
  ** Read my full review of the Can Tho Market
• Hanoi Street Food & Train Street Tour: $24.00 (608K VND)
• Hanoi Water Puppet Show: $9 (228K VND)

Read more great things to do in Hoi An, how to spend 4 days in Hanoi, and how to spend 2 days in Hue

How much is transportation in Vietnam?

Taxis/motorbikes

Vietnam has a rideshare app called Grab which is similar to Uber. You can ride on the back of a motorbike or get in a taxi for really low prices.

If you rented your own motorbike, it would be cheaper but I didn’t feel comfortable doing this as the traffic and driving is pretty manic in Vietnam.

I spent $135 total on taxis/motorbikes. On average I spent $2 per ride during my time in Vietnam.

If you were to rent your own motorbike, it would cost : $5-10 per day.

Bus/limousine Transfers:

I did a few bus transfers during my time in Vietnam. For example, from Hoi An to Hue which is a 3-hour drive, and from Hanoi to the Mekong River Delta.

Each of these limousine transfers cost me around $9 (240K VND). You can book transfers on Klook.

I spent roughly $180 on taxis and bus transfers during the month I visited Vietnam.

Domestic Flights:

You’ll also need to factor in flights from one city to another.

I booked these flights during my time in Vietnam and here were the costs. I was a bit last minute so you might find better deals.

I spent $292 on 2 domestic flights within Vietnam.

• Hanoi to Da Nang: $100
• Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City: $192

Miscellaneous Charges

During my time in Vietnam, I got massages, my nails done, and did some shopping. Here’s how much some of that cost me.

• Manicure: $10
• Massage: $15
• Dresses: I bought beautiful dresses for $4 each (as pictured above)!
• Tailor-made clothing: I had a beautiful dress recreated and customized in Hoi An for $60

Hopefully, this post gives you a better idea of how much to budget for a trip to Vietnam!

You may also like these posts!
🗺️ Best Places in Vietnam
📅 Vietnam 3 Week Itinerary
🇻🇳 Hanoi 4 Day Itinerary
🚂 Hanoi Train Street
☕ Best Hanoi Coffee Shops
☕ Best Hoi An Coffee Shops
🏞️ The best things to do in Ninh Binh
🏮 The Best Things to Do in Hoi An
🚤 Best Things to Do in Hue
🏨 Where to Stay in Hoi An
💖 Solo Travel Guide to Vietnam