If you are thinking of traveling to Vietnam, you need this information on what 1 month in Vietnam cost us.
We spent an entire month in Vietnam and tracked all of our expenses (our favorite expenses tracking app). After one of our favorite trips in Southeast Asia, we thought we’d share exactly what it cost us to explore a lot of the country in 1 month.
As a note, we are not backpackers, rarely stay in hostels
We’ll cover what we spent in our 1 month in Vietnam, how much it costs to fly to Vietnam, cost of eating out in Vietnam, one trip Vietnam prices, and more!
Read to the end for the total we spent for 1 month in Vietnam!
This post is all about the cost to travel in Vietnam for one month.
1 Month in Vietnam
Itinerary for 1 Month in Vietnam
We traveled from South to North Vietnam for our 1 month in Vietnam. And we traveled rather quickly at first and then slowed up at the end to settle into Hanoi and get to know it a bit. We like traveling slow and fast so this was a good mix for us. We also visited during August. This is peak season for Vietnam so rates may be a bit higher than average (but travel is still recovering after the pandemic). Here’s our general itinerary before we jump into the cost of travel for 1 month in Vietnam.
- Overnight Flight from USA – 1 night
- Overnight Layover in Hanoi – 1 night
- Ho Chi Minh City – 4 nights
- Mekong River – 2 nights
- Reunification Express – 1 night
- Hoi An – 6 nights
- Reunification Express – 1 night
- Hanoi – 13 nights
1 Month in Vietnam Cost
Flights
Total: $914 (with a huge savings from Amex!)
I won’t include flights in our overall budget since everyone is flying from somewhere different. You may or may not be flying from or to the US. I just wanted to share ours since they are a very real expense. We flew from LAX (Los Angeles, CA) to SGN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). It was a 3 segment flight with a 2 hour layover in Tokyo, Japan and an overnight layover in Hanoi, Vietnam. Oddly enough, this flight to Ho Chi Minh City was cheaper than flying the exact route to Hanoi even though we stopped there and had a layover.
>> Note: it is frowned upon (but not illegal) to no-show the last leg of your flight if you wanted to stop in Hanoi. If you have a round trip ticket, they could cancel the return trip, but it depends on the airline’s policy. If you have checked luggage, that may or may not be available to pickup for the layover.
We booked our flight in the American Express travel portal and were able to get Premium Economy for cheaper than an economy seat for the same route. Amex has deals all the time through their Amex Offers. We check it weekly and this one saved us a ton! The offer was for $300 back on a purchase of $1,000 or more through the International Airline Program. This is usually business and first class seats (read: expensive) but we were able to find a Premium Economy flight for only $1,200. With the cash back, we saved $300 and it was less than the $1,000 economy seats (total for 2 tickets).
Amex Offer
- Cost of Flight: $1,214
- Points Earned: 5X points on flights booked direct or in Amex Portal – 6,070 Membership Rewards Points (valued at $0.02 each)
- Amex Offer: -$300
- Total Spent: $914 + $121 in value for Amex Points
>> Apply for our favorite travel card with American Express!
Accommodations
Total: $1,082
Average per Night: $37.31 / night
Accommodations are more likely than not our biggest expense for every country. There is such a range of accommodations options in Vietnam and we booked an array ourselves. We stayed in mostly 3-star hotels, a homestay in the Mekong, an Airbnb studio, and a 5-star resort.
Overall, we spent less than our monthly budget and found great value in the accommodations we stayed at. Our most expensive rate was at the Mekong River homestay which included both breakfast and dinner everyday at $55 per night.
We often opt for more comfortable, higher rated accommodations when given the option so our budget per night is honestly a bit higher than absolutely necessary. If you are looking for hostels and more budget friendly accommodations, you can easily find them! There are also plenty of gorgeous luxury properties available throughout the country if that is more your speed.
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Food & Drink
Total: $630
Average per Day: $21.00
I am honestly shocked how low this is just because we ate so well the entire time we were in Vietnam. We ate a ton of local food because it was so darn good and that definitely helped keep the budget down. Grab is available throughout Vietnam so we used that for meal delivery on our working days. It was shockingly cheap. Two Banh Mi sandwiches and sodas delivered were only $5.
We also stayed in an Airbnb with a kitchen for nearly two weeks so we were able to order groceries (again delivery) and cook for ourselves. Groceries for two weeks cost us $160.
Our fanciest restaurant was LaRue in Hoi An and cost us a total of $20 for a few appetizers and drinks. We could easily get a meal at a local restaurant for around $5 or street food at a market for $2 a meal.
Transportation
Total: $555
Average per Day: $18.50 / day
The cost of transportation in Vietnam is honestly fairly cheap. Our category is rather high only because we opted for the super luxury option on the Reunification Express. The 2-Berth VIP 1st Class Cabin didn’t come cheap but for the level of luxury and privacy, it was well worth the cost for us.
- Reunification Express
- Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang: $200 total
- Da Nang to Hanoi: $212 total
The rest of our transportation consisted of short Grab rides through the city. And a handful of days where we rented a motorbike. Typically you can rent a local motorbike for around $7 per day.
Excursions
Total: $222
Average per Day: $7.40 / day
Excursions are some of the best parts of traveling. Since they are clearly targeted toward tourists, they can often be very steep prices. This did NOT seem to be the case in Vietnam. We found all the prices extremely reasonable. Plus, most everything was a fixed price so we didn’t have to negotiate.
Our largest expense was tickets to Ba Na Hills SunWorld. This theme park far exceeded our expectations and with the amount of construction they are doing, is going to only get better. Think of it as a Vietnamese Epcot + French mountain village but for only $35 per person. We loved it but we also are huge Disney fans, so it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
We also took an awesome floating market tour in the Mekong with one of our favorite guides ever, rode a coconut boat, released lanterns in the river, and got 3 outfits custom tailored! We definitely weren’t short any fun during our time in Vietnam.
>> Interested in booking our Mekong River Floating Market Tour? Contact Alex via WhatsApp at +84 94 9720697
Personal
Total: $150
Average per Day: $5 / day
Little miscellaneous things always pop up and we’re always glad when they do in affordable countries like Vietnam. Laundry is always a part of this category and to get laundry cleaned, dried, folded, and delivered was VND 35,000 ($1.50) per kilo. It cost us around $10 to get our typical bag of laundry washed every week and a half or so. We also bought a few Christmas gifts, postcards, and miscellaneous souvenirs or personal care stuff (like a mani/pedi for me – $20).
>> Note: We did not need to get a SIM card while in Vietnam since we have an international data plan. However, they are super affordable. A one-month plan for 30 GB (!!) will only cost around $15 on Viettel.
Total Spend
Total: $2,639
Average per Day: $88 / day
Total with flights: $3,553
Overall, 1 month in Vietnam cost $2,639 for 2 people or $1,320 per person. This total includes accommodations, food and drinks, transportation, excursions, and even some personal expenses. On average, Vietnam cost $88 per day or $44 per day per person! A great deal for a whole month of travel in a gorgeous country.
To give a little context, our monthly budget for world travel is $4,000 per month for 2 people (including flights). Taking out flights, we average a budget of $115 per day for accommodations and all variable expenses (transportation, food, excursions, etc.). Vietnam far exceeded our expectations and kept us under budget for the month without feeling like we left anything out.
We truly felt we got great value here. The local people were so incredibly nice. All of our accommodations were clean and comfortable. And don’t even get us started on the food.
Even if this is higher than your budget, we can guarantee that you will be able to experience Vietnam easily with a lower budget. There are so many wonderful options for accommodations at all price points. You can also opt for more luxurious stays and fancier meals and find exactly what you are looking for. We fell in love with our time in Vietnam and are already planning another trip for next year!
