OUR ONE MONTH VIETNAM TRIP BUDGET FOR 2023
23 Apr 2023 || SOUTHEAST ASIA
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Vietnam, a long coastal slither on the Indochina Peninsula, is one the most popular destinations for backpackers in southeast Asia. Known for being extremely affordable (amongst other incredible reasons to visit), it attracts travellers on a Budget. Packed full of amazing sights, unique food, welcoming people, natural beauty and exhilarating adventures, it is one of the easiest countries to travel as a backpacker on a shoestring, aided in part by the affordability of food, beer, transport and accommodation.
As a kind of ‘budget boutique’, mid-range budget traveller and backpacker, we don’t tend to stay in hostels anymore and like comfy beds and warm showers (as often as possible). We regularly rent motorbikes, eat all different types of food and drink a few beers. This means that if you are intending to visit Vietnam on a shoestring budget, you can go way, way lower than us!
In this post, we detail exactly what we spent during a one month Vietnam trip, during November, including all our costs (minus relevant insurance and international flights).
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MONEY IN VIETNAM
The currency in Vietnam is the Vietnamese dong (VND). Depending on where you are from, this can make you feel a little like a millionaire, as most other currencies convert into many, many thousands of dong. Currently, these are the exchange rates in early 2023:
GBP to VND – 1:28,500
USD to VND – 1:23,500
THB to VND – 1:700
EUR TO VND – 1:25,250
For more up-to-date rates, check out xe.com (or Google).
CASH OR CARD IN VIETNAM?
As the well-known phrase goes, ‘cash is king’ in Vietnam. Few places outside of the airports and larger or western hotels accept any form of credit or debit card. This means carrying cash for most of your purchases.
We never purchased anything directly on credit card. This included hotels, transport, rental vehicles, food and drink. However, if you are in an upscale hotel or restaurant, card would likely be accepted. We do use the Grab app in Vietnam, which is a taxi app like Uber where journeys can be prepaid by credit card.
CARRYING CASH IN VIETNAM
Many people worry about carrying large amounts of cash around, especially if their home country is heavily dependent on credit card.
We suggest using a money belt, or a pouch around your neck, and splitting up your cash into different pockets and bags. Wearing clothing with zipped pockets is always reassuring too. If you carry a bag in the larger cities, wear it cross-body if possible and just be aware.
Saigon has the worst rates of crime in Vietnam and there have been stories of things like phone snatching by passing motorbikes. I personally walk around everywhere with a large camera visibly on display and have never felt uncomfortable doing this.
Everything mentioned here is precautionary only, as we have never been worried in Vietnam about theft or physical crime. Although petty crime happens, it is rare, and statistically more likely to happen in large European cities and much of Latin America.
Exercise any usual precautions and do not let worrying about cash ruin your trip!
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CURRENCY EXCHANGE IN VIETNAM
We rarely use any currency exchange facilities in Vietnam as the ATM fees are very low which eliminates the need to carry around thousands in cash. If you have a bank account that does not charge transaction fees, then it is worth just relying on ATMs for cash. From the UK, we use a Barclaycard Rewards credit card everywhere in world as they charge nothing for ATM cash transactions.
There are reliable ATMs in all the airports on arrival (not so reliably available/functional on land borders though from our experience – bring some cash). On our most recent trip, we arrived in Hanoi international Airport and used the VP Bank ATM which didn’t charge us any transaction fee for a two million VND withdrawal (roughly £70).
If you are on a very tight budget, you’ll want to figure out which bank will give you the maximum withdrawal amount for the smallest fee. So for example, we found:
Vietin Bank – we took out 8 million VND (about £300) and were charged 50k VND fee (£1.70).
Agribank – we took out 2.5 million VND (about £85) and charged 22k VND (76p). Agribank seemed to have unreliable maximum amounts which varied depending on the machine. (Some said 3.5 million or more but wouldn’t always allow it).
If you’d prefer to bring your home currency or GBP/EUR/USD, there were currency exchanges in all the international airports and in almost every town – they give fair rates. Often, you will get a better rate outside of the airport in the city. However, it’s normally a negligible difference unless you need to exchange thousands of pounds/dollars. US Dollars are the easiest to exchange in smaller towns.
We suggest bringing a back-up of about $100 US, in case you ever get stuck in an area with no working ATMs!
OUR VIETNAM TRIP BUDGET
This section provides some insight into what we spent our money on during a month in Vietnam, divided into categories. There’s a bit of detail about what our expenditure was on and how yours might differ.
VIETNAM BUDGET - TRANSPORT
We spent a full month in northern Vietnam, journeying between Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Giang, Cat Ba and Ninh Binh. All these locations were transited exclusively by bus, some of which were overnight/sleeper buses.
We took fewer buses than a typical month-long Vietnam trip which traverses from north to south (or the opposite). This means that our public transport costs might be slightly lower than more traditional routes with more stops (although we thoroughly recommend slowing down and just visiting the north and central Vietnam if you have a month – it’s a big country!).
⋅ Motorbike rental in Vietnam ⋅
We hired motorbikes in every place we visited apart from Hanoi. These varied from 100k VND per day in Cat Ba, 120k VND in Tam Coc (Ninh Binh), to 500k VND in Ha Giang (which included insurance).
The rule of thumb in Vietnam with motorbikes is that you usually get what you pay for. Our cheaper bikes were really bad – lights didn’t work, unreliable fuel gauge, faulty speedometer etc. They were also just a bit wobbly! The Ha Giang motorbike was far more expensive but brand new, bigger and with decent helmets. Two helmets were included in all the rentals however the quality varies (sometimes you would be just as safe if you put a coconut on your head).
Gas was reasonable at about 23k VND per litre. The scooters/motorbikes are generally efficient so we spent very little.
⋅ Taxis in Vietnam ⋅
The Grab taxi app is widely available in Vietnam. It is cheap, reliable, safe and easy – just download it to your phone. It functions like Uber, where you can pay on the app with a predetermined price and route. However, be aware that you will not be able to set it up until you are in a country where Grab is available (lots of southeast Asia use it). This means it will look like Grab is not working until you arrive.
On previous trips, the only scammy behaviour we ever experienced in Vietnam were from taxi drivers, so we’d recommend utilising Grab whenever it is available. Grab also do motorbike taxis – these are especially good value if you are a solo traveller in Vietnam.
We got three Grab taxis while in Vietnam, all in Hanoi (we have previously used them elsewhere though, such as Saigon and Danang). The first was from the airport and cost 417k VND including tolls. The second was from Westlake to the Old Quarter and cost 70k VND. The final one was from My Dinh bus station to the Old Quarter and was 135k VND. Our drivers were friendly and helpful.
⋅ Buses in Vietnam ⋅
As mentioned above, we exclusively took buses this trip. These buses generally cost around 200K-400K per person per journey, depending on distance. Check out our post about overnight/sleeper buses in Vietnam if you’d like to know more!
⋅ Trains in Vietnam ⋅
Vietnamese trains are quite affordable and are a great budget alternative to buses if you are navigating the length of the country (we have taken these on previous trips, but not this current one). They have better views and can be a bit more fun for parts of your journey! For long journeys, avoid the hard seat options. We learnt this the difficult way!
These can be booked online, check 12GoAsia for representative prices for your route.
VIETNAM BUDGET - ATTRACTIONS
Our one-month Vietnam budget didn’t include many paid attractions. However, elsewhere in Vietnam, you may choose to include more activities that cost.
For example, if you wanted to do a food tour in Saigon, go up the cable car in Ba Na Hills, do an Easy Rider tour on the Hai Van Pass, visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, do a Mekong Delta tour, or maybe ride a quad bike in Mui Ne, you’ll likely spend more than we did.
⋅ Our Costs ⋅
We tend to avoid organised tours as much as possible; these are the few things we couldn’t avoid paying for:
Lan Ha Bay Cruise – most people who visit northern Vietnam will include a trip to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Halong Bay. This is often a huge expense on a Vietnam backpacker budget.
We opted for a stay in Cat Ba and a day trip to Halong Bay and Lan Ha Bay, with kayaking included. This was a fantastic budget option which we were extremely happy with. If you want to know more details about our trip, check out our Lan Ha Bay cruise guide.
Tam Coc Boat Ride – in Ninh Binh, one of the leading attractions is a boat trip through the soaring limestone karsts and head-height caves. There are two options – one in Tam Coc and the other Trang An. We would recommend the Trang An option as the rower for the Tam Coc one was a bit scammy and unpleasant, insisting on a tip which was far more than the ticket price. She was also incredibly rude.
Cat Cat Village – this was an abomination. It is a ’cultural village’ in Sapa but was an abysmal, unethical experience that we wouldn’t wish on anyone. If you want to know more about why we absolutely wouldn’t recommend it, check out this post about our trip to Cat Cat Village.
Hang Mua Viewpoint – this short but steep hike was well worth the small entrance fee. The views are spectacular and if you go first thing in the morning, you’ll have the place nearly to yourself. This is one of the premier things to do in the Ninh Binh area – do not miss it if you have the chance to visit.
VIETNAM BUDGET - FOOD AND DRINK
As vegetarians, it was a little trickier in Vietnam to find affordable versions of the most budget street foods like pho. This means our food budget is likely to be higher than for somebody who is a bit more flexible with their diet.
For example, we would often pay 60k VND for stir fried vegetables and rice, whereas a meat eater could get a big bowl of bun cha or pho bo for less than 40k VND, easily, around Hanoi.
One tiny benefit of being vegetarian are the banh mi sandwiches, which are frequently cheaper if you only have egg and no meat (these options are widely available everywhere). Typical prices for a vegetarian banh mi are 15k-25k VND (52-86p each). For ones with meat, add 5-10k VND.
If you frequent nicer restaurants, it will obviously cost more, so your choices will depend on how shoestring your budget is. Even these restaurants will not break the bank though. Our most expensive meal ever in Vietnam was in the tourist centre of Hoi An and cost 840k VND (£30), including about six dishes, desserts and a tonne of cocktails! Worth every penny too.
⋅ Alcohol Costs in Vietnam ⋅
This is where your Vietnam budget really shines! Beer is famously cheap, especially in Hanoi where Bia Hoi (daily brewed beer) vendors can be spotted on many of the corners around the Old Quarter. For around 3-5k VND a glass and up, you can have yourself a freshly brewed local beer! In local stores, a standard, mass-manufactured Vietnamese beer such as Beer Saigon and Beer Hanoi will cost around 15k VND. At bars in the tourist areas, they are priced around 25-35k. It’s all very affordable if you fancy a beverage.
Vietnam also produces wine in the highlands around Dalat. This means some wine is not crazy expensive (although we can confirm that it is not always that good either).
Vietnam is also currently going through a kind of renaissance with craft beers. They’re slowly appearing everywhere and some of them are truly excellent. In all the major cities and towns, you’ll be able to find a unique brew, some for as little 70k VND. Heart of Darkness is our favourite – it’s exquisite.
VIETNAM BUDGET - ACCOMMODATION
Hotels in Vietnam are very affordable, probably the best value we’ve seen across southeast Asia. This is where most of our money goes – for the amount we spent, we always had hot water, soft beds and aircon where it was necessary. We paid anything between 200k-900k per room depending on our preferences on the day.
Breakfast was always included with our hotel. This appears to be standard across Vietnam, which we love for our Vietnam budget. This might be an obvious statement, but we also noticed that the more we paid for our room, the more substantial the food we got for breakfast (also higher quality).
Hostels are popular in certain areas of Vietnam. For example, places in Ha Giang and around the loop often had incredibly cheap communal dorm beds. If you are travelling with a friend or partner though, budget double rooms are more common and often cheaper.
We always paid for rooms in cash as hotels often apply a three percent credit card fee. Some were booked in advance through Agoda or Booking.com, others were walk-in prices.
Airbnb and Couchsurfing are less popular in Vietnam but available.
VIETNAM BUDGET - MISCELLANEOUS COSTS
Sim cards were our only extra cost on this Vietnam trip. We got our most recent ones from the arrivals area in the international airport in Hanoi. There were lots of stands with people offering various packages with different networks. This is also the same in Saigon (we got sim cards from there a few years ago).
This time, we each got a sim card with Viettel, which we chose after research suggested it had the best signal in more rural areas. We bought 60Gb data for 30 days which cost 250k VND. It worked perfectly and the signal was excellent, even in remote regions like the mountains around Ha Giang.
Total ONE MONTH VIETNAM TRIP BUDGET
Here are the exact expenses for our one month (30 day) Vietnam trip for two people:
Attractions – 2.495 million VND (£89)
Taxis and buses – 5.182 million VND (£185)
Motorbike hire (with gas) – 3.7 million VND (£111)
Food and drink – 11.695 million VND (£420)
Accommodation (30 days) – 21.311 million VND (£761)
Miscellaneous – 0.6 million VND (£21)
