Most independent travellers land in one of two bands. A careful backpacker day is €35 to €45: a dorm or cheap double, three meals from street stalls and local spots, a couple of coffees, local transport, and one paid activity every other day averaged out. A comfortable mid-range day, with a private boutique room and sit-down dinners, is €75 to €140. Luxury starts around €250 and has no ceiling.
The single biggest lever is where you sleep and eat, not how far you travel. The same mid-range day costs roughly €105 to €170 in central Hanoi or District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, and roughly €55 to €100 in Hue or a Mekong town. That is a swing of up to two and a half times for the same style of trip, so if the budget is tight, spend your nights in the smaller places and pass through the big cities.
Food barely moves the needle. A bowl of phở or bún chả on plastic stools is about €2, a rice plate is €1.50, a Vietnamese coffee is €1, and a glass of bia hơi is well under €1. A full day of eating street food, three meals and snacks, comes to €6 to €10. Where the money actually goes is activities: a Ha Long overnight cruise, a Sapa trek or a cooking class each cost more than two or three days of food, so plan those first and let the daily spend fill in around them. Do not overbook the paid experiences, because two or three good ones across two weeks is plenty.
Sources
- Vietnam travel guide, Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, accessed