Vietnam: Where Your Travel Budget Goes Further Than Expected

You can browse dozens of “international destinations to visit on a budget” lists and will almost always find Vietnam on them.

I can personally attest to this: My wife and I have been full-time travelers since leaving the US in 2019, and to date, we’ve visited 44 countries. Some have been more challenging—and some have been more expensive—but Vietnam is easily in the top tier when it comes to affordability.

While travel may be a bit trickier to reach Vietnam—flight times from the US can range from 14 to 20 hours and cost about $1,000, depending on where you live—you more than make up for it once you arrive.

Keeping Vietnam’s cost-effectiveness in mind, my suggestion is to make time to truly immerse yourself in this historic country with a complex past, ideally allowing a few weeks if your schedule permits.

A paradise for budget-conscious travelers

Because your money goes so far in Vietnam, the country is one of those rare destinations where slowing down becomes financially feasible.

On my 90-day tourist e-visa, I found myself averaging about $25 a night. In Hoi An, a city close to Da Nang, I stayed at a newer homestay directly across the river from “Old Town” and paid $539 for the month. That’s $18 per day, inclusive of utilities and Wi-Fi. In the smaller towns of Quy Nhon, the cost was only $11 a night, and I even stayed at a hostel (with three roommates I never saw) in Nha Trang for $7 a night! If you stay longer in one place, it can easily come out to less than $500 per month. The beauty of “longer stays” is that a 30-day commitment offers a significant discount, and owners are even open to negotiating better prices.

Because your money goes so far in Vietnam, the country is one of those rare destinations where slowing down becomes financially feasible.

That flexibility pays off even more if you want to spend time near the water. With more than 2,000 miles of coastline, Vietnam is a water lover’s dream. The country is known for its long strands of white, sandy beaches, and you’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat the crowds to get to them. Before sunrise, the beaches already have swimmers, meditators, and exercisers starting their day.

From Ha Long Bay in the north, with its famous limestone pinnacles rising out of the South China Sea, to Da Nang on the central coast, down to Nha Trang in the south, you can find affordable lodgings at all these spots that will beat almost every other country.

And once you have your lodging sorted, daily expenses stay just as manageable. Don’t worry about the cost of eating, because Vietnam offers some of the best, healthiest, and least expensive food anywhere in the world. Starting your day with a bowl of pho, filled with chicken or beef, will set you back about $2, and a complete dinner for two can be had for less than $15. Fish, rice, and noodles are staples of Vietnamese dishes, and this is one of the easiest countries to live for vegetarians and vegans.

Vietnam offers some of the best, healthiest, and least expensive food anywhere in the world.

Getting around is also easy and budget-friendly, with regional flights through several airlines, such as Vietnam Airlines, VietJet, and AirAsia (my favorite). Plus, Vietnam is well-connected, with a coastal railway that goes from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to Hanoi in the north, covering more than 1,000 miles. Seats on trains start at just $5, and you can get soft, hard, or berth accommodations for reasonable prices. You could travel 500 miles for less than $20.

Champagne taste, beer budget

If you appreciate the finer things in life but often find them unattainable, Vietnam may solve that problem. Vietnam offers high-end resorts at prices more affordable than almost anywhere else in the world.

While living in Da Nang, my wife and I visited several world-renowned resorts, including the InterContinental and the Four Seasons. Their amenities are on par with any place you might find in the US or Europe—but guests will find them at less than 50 percent of Western prices.

Since Asia and the Far East are known for their more Zen approach to life, wellness travel has flourished throughout the region in recent years. What surprised me most was not just the quality of the experiences, but how affordable they were compared with similar resorts elsewhere. In North America or Europe, a luxury wellness retreat with private accommodations, daily spa treatments, and personalized health programs can easily cost several hundred dollars per night. In Vietnam, those same amenities often come at a fraction of the price.

Vacation values

We recently toured Namia River Retreat in Hoi An, where every villa is detached and comes with its own private pool. Daily wellness programs are included, and guests can choose from spa treatments ranging from mud baths and acupressure sessions to a full menu of massage therapies. Everything within the resort revolves around natural health and relaxation. My acupressure treatment uncovered painful areas I didn't even know existed, and the experience left me feeling completely renewed. What would be considered an ultra-luxury wellness escape in many parts of the world feels remarkably attainable here.

The value continues along the nearby waterfront in Da Nang. Fusion Resort features one of the largest spas in Asia, along with suites offering up to three bedrooms. Saltwater indoor pools, steam rooms, light therapy, and 26 treatment rooms create the kind of environment designed for true restoration rather than just another busy vacation. Comparable wellness resorts in destinations such as California, the Caribbean, or the Mediterranean often charge two to three times as much for a similar experience, making Vietnam an exceptional destination for travelers seeking both luxury and value.

Whether you are a long-term traveler staying for weeks or months or a tourist visiting for a short stay and looking for higher quality and more amenities, Vietnam offers a lot of bang for the buck.