How much does Vietnam actually cost?

What Vietnam actually costs, by travel style

Most guides quote a single number for Vietnam, which is why they're usually wrong for the trip you're actually planning. A backpacker sleeping in six-bed dorms and eating at plastic-stool street stalls is not on the same trip as a couple booking a beachfront resort in Phu Quoc, and the gap between them is roughly 9x — not the 20–30% swing you'd expect from a normal price range.

Working from current hostel, restaurant and transport pricing across the ten cities on this site, three travel styles cover almost everyone:

None of that includes your international flight into Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang, which typically runs $500–900 return from Europe or the US East Coast, $250–450 from Australia, and $120–250 from most of South and Southeast Asia. Flights swing so much by season and booking window that folding them into a "per day" figure just hides the real number — better to check them separately for your dates.

Accommodation: what you get at each price point

A dorm bed in a well-reviewed hostel runs $5–9 a night in most cities, $10–15 in Phu Quoc and central Hoi An where land is tighter. Private rooms in the same hostels, or a basic guesthouse with AC and an ensuite bathroom, land at $12–20. This is the tier where reviews matter more than the price tag — Hanoi's Old Quarter in particular has a wide spread between rooms that are genuinely quiet and ones that face a karaoke bar.

Mid-range covers 3-star hotels and well-rated boutique guesthouses, $28–45 a night for a double. At this level you're usually getting breakfast included, a pool in beach towns, and staff who'll book your onward bus or train for a small fee. Hoi An and Hue are the best value here — the same room that costs $45 in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City is often $30 in the old imperial capital.

Above that, 4-star hotels start around $55–80, and proper resorts — beachfront in Nha Trang or Phu Quoc, or a hillside retreat outside Da Lat — run $90–250 depending on season. Anything with an infinity pool and a name you recognize from international chains is usually $180+.

Food: cheaper than most people expect, at every level

This is where Vietnam pulls ahead of its regional neighbors. A bowl of pho from a street stall is $1.50–2.50. Banh mi is $1–1.50. Bun cha — grilled pork with noodles, Hanoi's signature dish — runs $2–3.50 at the places locals actually eat at, versus $6–8 at anywhere with an English menu taped to the window. A plate of com tam (broken rice) in Ho Chi Minh City is $1.50–2. Draft beer — bia hoi — is famously $0.30–0.50 a glass in Hanoi's Old Quarter.

Eating well on the street costs $6–10 a day across three meals. Step up to sit-down local restaurants and you're at $12–20 a day. Western food, hotel restaurants, or anywhere with white tablecloths jumps to $20–40 a meal — Vietnam's fine dining scene in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is real, and priced closer to a mid-size European city than to the street food next door.

One habit worth building early: prices at stalls without a menu posted are sometimes quoted higher to obvious tourists. It's rarely a large gap — a few thousand dong, under $0.50 — but watching what the table next to you paid, or asking "bao nhieu tien?" before you order, closes it.

Getting around: trains, buses, flights and Grab

Vietnam is long and thin — Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is over 1,600 km by road — so how you move between cities matters more to your budget than almost anything else on this list.

The Reunification Express train runs the full north-south spine, with soft-sleeper berths costing roughly $25–45 depending on distance — Hanoi to Hue overnight is around $28, Hanoi to Da Nang around $35. It's slower than flying but saves a hotel night and the scenery through the Hai Van Pass is worth the extra hours on its own. Open-tour bus passes (The Sinh Tourist and similar operators run the best-known one) let you hop on and off along the coast for $6–15 per leg, and are the default budget choice for most backpackers doing Hanoi-to-Saigon overland.

Domestic flights on VietJet, Bamboo Airways or Vietnam Airlines run $25–60 one-way if booked 2–3 weeks out, and are often cheaper than an overnight sleeper once you count the hotel night you save — genuinely worth comparing rather than assuming the bus is always cheaper.

Within a city, Grab (the regional Uber equivalent) is the default — a short cross-town ride is $1–3, a longer one to an airport $5–10. Renting a scooter yourself is $5–8 a day and opens up places Grab doesn't reach, particularly around Da Lat and Sapa's countryside, but it comes with real traffic risk in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City that's worth being honest with yourself about before booking one.

A sample 10-day route: Hanoi to Ha Long Bay to Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City

This is the route the calculator above starts you with by default, because it's the one most first-time visitors actually take — it hits the north, center and south without doubling back, and ten days is enough to not feel rushed at any of the four stops.

At mid-range spending, this route lands around $850–950 per person for the ten days on the ground — before your international flight and the Ha Long Bay cruise itself, which is usually booked separately at $60–140 per person depending on the boat and whether it includes kayaking or a cooking class. Run your own travelers, style and exact nights through the calculator above to get a number specific to your trip.

Six ways to bring the number down without a worse trip

• Travel February or June–August. April (Reunification Day, end of month) and the weeks around Tet (Lunar New Year, usually late January–February) push hotel prices up 20–30% and book out domestic transport — plan around both if your dates are flexible.
• Book the sleeper train instead of a hotel night. An overnight berth does double duty as transport and accommodation — a real saving, not just a convenience.
• Get an e-SIM before you land. Airport SIM counters mark up 2–3x versus buying online in advance; a 20GB/30-day e-SIM is normally $8–12.
• Eat where the motorbikes are parked outside. A packed stall with no English menu is almost always both cheaper and better than the tourist-facing restaurant next to it.
• Negotiate at markets, not at restaurants. Ben Thanh Market and Hoi An's market stalls expect it — starting at half the quoted price is normal. Restaurant menu prices are fixed and haggling there reads as rude.
• Withdraw larger amounts, less often. Most Vietnamese ATMs charge a flat 30,000–55,000 VND fee (roughly $1.20–2.20) per withdrawal regardless of amount, so five small withdrawals cost five times what one larger one does.

Plan by trip length

Not sure how many days to plan for? Each length below comes with a sample route already loaded into the calculator.

City-by-city cost guides

Every city on the calculator above has its own guide — how many nights it actually needs, specific neighborhoods and price anchors, and what's worth paying extra for there.

Visa and entry costs

Most nationalities need an e-visa to enter Vietnam, applied for online before you fly — it costs $25, is valid for 90 days single-entry or $50 for 90 days multiple-entry, and takes 3 business days to process on the government portal, longer if you use a third-party visa service that adds its own fee on top. Apply directly through the official e-visa site if you want to avoid paying a markup for something that doesn't need one.

A handful of countries — including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and a few others — get visa-free entry for stays up to 45 days, so it's worth checking your specific passport before budgeting for a visa at all. Land border crossings from Cambodia or Laos accept the e-visa the same way airports do, though a few smaller crossings have had issues with it in the past — arriving by air is the safer default if this is your first trip.