Budget Vietnam: how much does Vietnam cost?

In this article you will discover the ideal Budget Vietnam. Vietnam is an insane country to travel around in. With beautiful nature and high mountains in the north and the atmospheric town of Hoi An in central Vietnam, there is something for everyone. Discover below the costs for a round trip in Vietnam.

What currency is used in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, payment is made with the Vietnamese dong. To make it easy, we have already converted everything to euros in this article. Below we take you through budget Vietnam. Costs are broken down into activities, accommodation, transportation, food and beverages and other. This is all based on two people. At the bottom of this article you’ll find a handy overview of common expenses in Vietnam. We spent 2 months in Vietnam ourselves, from April to June 2023. On that basis, we were able to prepare a good budget Vietnam.

The exchange rate is usually between 24,500 and 26,000 dong for €1. This table uses an exchange rate of €1 = 25,000 dong.

Cost of accommodation in Vietnam

We always try to spend as little money as possible on accommodation. Since this is often just the place where you sleep and barely spend any other time, we don’t mind a bit of simple sleeping. We have only two criteria: it must be clean and it must be near the center.

In Vietnam, we almost always slept in a double room, a few times in a hostel and twice in a private apartment. On average, we collectively spent €14.50 per night on accommodations, so €7.25 per person. This is a good average for as a couple for budget Vietnam. Are you a solo traveler? Then you will spend between €5 and €10 for a good hostel.

Tip: check out the nicest hostels in Vietnam via the image below!

Activity costs

The cost of activities in Vietnam varies. In general, there are really fun activities you can spend hundreds of dollars on. For example, the five-day motorcycle tour with easyriders cost us over €800. This is a huge amount but it was worth every penny.

Furthermore, the overnight cruise at Halong Bay is of course a big expense but the two-day trekking in Sapa costs only $35 for 2 days. You can go as crazy as you want in terms of activities in Vietnam. It is advisable, however, to set aside some budget for the activities as this will really make your trip through Vietnam a highlight. For us, activities in Vietnam were by far the biggest expense.

Cost of eating and drinking in Vietnam

Vietnam generally has a slightly less delicious cuisine than Indonesia and Thailand, in our opinion. Fewer spices are used and there are fewer “wow” dishes. Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, is a traditional Vietnamese dish served everywhere. Furthermore, the banh mi, a topped baguette, is also a favorite of many travelers. In terms of price, there is a big difference in Vietnam between street food and eating in a restaurant. In a restaurant, you often pay 2 or 3 times as much for the same dish.

In addition, beer is very cheap in Vietnam. You pay an average of €1 for a can or bottle of beer. Even in restaurants. Altogether we spent a total of €20 per day on food and drinks, €10 per person that is. This includes occasional beers and a local dish at least once a day. This is a very low amount, as food in Vietnam is generally cheap.

Cost of transportation

Vietnam is a cheap country in terms of transportation. For an hour on the bus, you pay an average of €2. There are many comfortable sleeper buses in Vietnam where you can travel by day or night. Because the distances in Vietnam are very long, you can often take a night bus which saves you an overnight stay and gives you an “extra” day. Transportation in Vietnam is insanely well organized.

On average, we collectively spent €7 per day on transportation. These are the costs of all the buses AND cabs we took in Vietnam. We traveled all the way from South Vietnam to North Vietnam by bus, and in the cities we often took a Grab or cab.

Other costs

In addition to the above costs, we did some laundry, bought toiletries, tipped and bought SIM cards. A SIM card with 6GB per day for 30 days costs around €10. For laundry, you pay 40,000 dong (€1.60) per kilo almost everywhere. In total, we spent a combined €2.75 per day on other expenses.

The visa for Vietnam costs $25. We had to apply for these twice because we had to make a visa run to Laos in between. That’s why we also lost $100 total for the visas.

Average daily budget Vietnam

After 2 months in Vietnam, we arrive at a daily budget of €34 per person. This is an average amount in Asia. If you do even fewer activities, you can certainly travel through Vietnam on a lower budget. After all, we have already spent €800 for the easyrider tour. In that case, count on about €25 to €30 per person per day. Travelers who want to stay a little more luxuriously will have to expect to pay €40 per person.

Cost summary budget Vietnam

To properly determine your budget Vietnam, we have written down below the common costs of your trip through Vietnam. This will make it easier to set your budget for Vietnam.

Please note that this is an average budget Vietnam: in high season, prices are a bit higher everywhere and in low season, of course, lower.