Traveling around Vietnam can be extremely cheap. Extremely expensive. Or anywhere in between. Budget, bare-bones backpackers can probably get around on $10-$15USD per day or less. If you want to pamper yourself by staying in 5-star hotels and eating at the finest restaurants, you can blow through $150USD per day. Then there’s everything in between.
We chose the $30 per person, per day number after personal experience and research. This budget will allow travelers to stay in private rooms all the time (usually in hostels/guesthouses), typically with air con and often with cable television (cable is often just a byproduct of the private, a/c rooms). This budget assumes you will take buses and trains from the north to the south (or vice versa).
Street food is a great way to save on the budget, but don’t just eat there to save a buck. Do it because it is delicious. $30US per day will afford you the opportunity to eat out often and drink some beers and cocktails as well, which always makes that budget number soar, even in a country like Vietnam. As far as activities, when we there in 2008, we didn’t say “No” to anything because of cost – we pretty much did what we wanted on our $30/person/day budget. Following is a breakdown of how you, too, can travel around Vietnam on $30 per day, and we’ll offer tips, advice, and practical information for those of you who want to do it on less and more than that.
Photo credits: Allen Zhao, Michelle, archer10, all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission.
