Is Vietnam Expensive? Holiday Costs and Spending Money in 2026

Q: Is Vietnam expensive?

No — it is one of the cheapest long-haul holidays from Europe. An average day costs about £35 per person for food, transport and activities, and a mid-range hotel room about £32 a night. The flight is the biggest single cost: return fares from London average £560–£855 depending on the month.

Q: How much spending money for 2 weeks?

For 14 days at a mid-range level, budget about £485 per person for food, transport and activities, or £535 with a 10% buffer. If your hotel is not prepaid, add about £225 per person for a mid-range double room shared for 14 nights. Flights and insurance are paid before you go.

Q: Is Vietnam cheaper than Thailand?

Yes, on the ground. An average day without a hotel costs about £35 in Vietnam against £36 in Thailand, and a mid-range hotel £32 against £40 a night. Flights from Europe to Bangkok are often cheaper than to Vietnam, so compare fares for your dates.

Q: Pounds, euros or dollars?

Pay in Vietnamese dong. UK and EU cards work in hotels, restaurants and Grab, and ATMs give dong. If you bring cash, US dollars and euros are easy to change at banks and gold shops in the cities; pounds are taken in fewer places. Always choose dong, not your home currency, at ATMs and card terminals.

Q: How much is food?

Street pho or banh mi costs about £1.30, lunch in a café £2.90 and dinner for two in a restaurant £18. A Vietnamese iced coffee is £0.70 and a beer in a café £1.00. Food usually takes about half of the on-the-ground budget.

Q: Cheapest area?

Hanoi and the north: an average day there costs about £29 per person, and a 3-star hotel £26 a night. Of the beach resorts, Da Nang is the cheapest, especially in spring. Phu Quoc is the most expensive, at around £44 per person per day.

Vietnam is one of the cheapest holidays from the UK: about £35 per person per day for food, transport and activities. A mid-range hotel room costs £26–£44 a night, and return flights from London start at £390. The north and the centre are cheapest; Phu Quoc and Nha Trang cost more in high season.

Per day£35per person, mid-range, without hotel

Hotelfrom £26mid-range room per night

Flight from Londonfrom £390return, economy (KAYAK, 7 October 2026)

Prices checked 29 September 2026 · Exchange rates on 8 October 2026: £1 = 34,045 ₫, €1 = 28,891 ₫ · How we calculate

Work out your trip cost

Spending money for 7 and 14 days

7 days£245per person: food, transport, activities · with a shared mid-range room £355

14 days£485per person: food, transport, activities · with a shared mid-range room £710

Mid-range level, average of five cities. Flights, insurance and visa are paid before you go — add them in the calculator.

On this page

Typical prices
Vietnam vs London
Daily budget
Trip cost calculator
Money on the ground
When it is cheaper
How to save
FAQ
How we calculate

Prices in Vietnam: food, transport and activities

Item	Price, ₫	Price, £	Note
Food and drink
Cappuccino in a café	50,000 ₫	£1.50
Vietnamese iced coffee from a street stall	25,000 ₫	£0.70
Pho or banh mi from a street stall	45,000 ₫	£1.30	banh mi is cheaper — 25,000–30,000 ₫
Lunch in a café	100,000 ₫	£2.90
Dinner for two in a restaurant	600,000 ₫	£18	with drinks; about 1.5 times more on Phu Quoc
Beer, 0.5 l, in a café	35,000 ₫	£1.00	twice as much in bars on tourist streets
Water, 1.5 l, in a shop	12,000 ₫	£0.40
Mangoes, 1 kg, at a market	50,000 ₫	£1.50	cheaper in season (April–June)
Transport
Grab car, 5 km	70,000 ₫	£2.10
Grab bike, 5 km	30,000 ₫	£0.90
Scooter rental, per day	150,000 ₫	£4.40	you need a motorcycle (A) licence and an International Driving Permit
Petrol, 1 l	21,000 ₫	£0.60
Sleeper bus between cities	300,000 ₫	£8.80	overnight, 8–10 hours
Flight Ho Chi Minh City — Hanoi	1,800,000 ₫	£53	low-cost, one way; double at Tet
Accommodation, per night
Guesthouse	350,000 ₫	£10
3-star hotel	800,000 ₫	£23	about 1.5 times more on Phu Quoc
4–5-star hotel	2,000,000 ₫	£59	beachfront resorts from 4 million ₫
Activities
Massage, 1 hour	300,000 ₫	£8.80	twice as much in a hotel spa
Day tour	900,000 ₫	£26	Ha Long Bay from Hanoi from 1.2 million ₫
Museum or park entry	50,000 ₫	£1.50
SIM and extras
Tourist SIM with data	250,000 ₫	£7.30	30 days
Laundry, 1 kg	30,000 ₫	£0.90

Checked 29 September 2026. Pounds and euros at the exchange rate on 8 October 2026; your bank's rate will be slightly worse.

Vietnam vs London: everyday prices

Everyday prices in Vietnam and London
What	Vietnam	London	Difference
Cappuccino	£1.50	£4.30	3× cheaper
Beer in a bar (pint in London, 0.5 l in Vietnam)	£1.00	£7.00	7× cheaper
Lunch at a cheap restaurant	£2.90	£20	7× cheaper
Taxi, 5 km	£2.10	£17	8× cheaper

London: Numbeo, London (average prices, October 2026), checked 7 October 2026; taxi = £4.20 start + £3.99 per mile × 5 km. Vietnam: the price table above, checked 29 September 2026.

How much money do you need per day in Vietnam?

Daily budget per person
Level	Without hotel	With hotel (double room, shared)
Budget	£18	£25
Mid-range	£35	£51
Comfort	£69	£110

Budget — street food and canteens, Grab bikes, a guesthouse or hostel.
Mid-range — cafés and a couple of restaurant meals a week, Grab cars, a tour every few days, a 3-star hotel.
Comfort — restaurants, taxis and transfers, tours and massages most days, a 4–5-star hotel.

Hanoi is the cheapest of the five cities: its street food is the best in the country, and a guesthouse in the Old Quarter costs £12 a night. Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are about a tenth more expensive; Da Nang has lots of new beachfront hotels that get noticeably cheaper out of season. Nha Trang is built around package tourism, so cafés on the seafront charge more than those a block inland. Phu Quoc is the priciest: it is an island, food is shipped in from the mainland, and a mid-range hotel costs £44 a night.

Vietnam trip cost calculator

Example

2 adults, 10 nights, Nha Trang, mid-range, from London in November.

Turn on JavaScript to enter your own dates, city and number of travellers.

≈ £2,830for the trip

≈ €3,330

≈ £130 per person per day

Flights≈ £1,42050%
Hotel≈ £32511%
Food, transport, activities≈ £77527%
Insurance≈ £361%
SIM / eSIM≈ £15<1%
Buffer≈ £2559%

Spending money on the ground: ≈ £855 / 29,000,000 ₫ · how to pay

Money on the ground: cards, ATMs and tipping

UK and EU cards work in Vietnam: Visa and Mastercard are taken by hotels, malls, chain cafés, Grab and most city restaurants. Street food, markets and small guesthouses are cash only. (checked 7 October 2026)

For your trip, budget about £855 for spending on the ground.

Withdraw dong from ATMs rather than bringing a lot of cash. Vietnamese banks add their own fee of roughly 22,000–66,000 ₫ per withdrawal (some charge around 3% of the amount), and a single withdrawal is often capped at 2–5 million ₫ — so take out larger sums less often.
Check your own bank's overseas fees before you go: a debit or credit card with no foreign transaction or cash withdrawal fees saves a few per cent on everything you spend.
Decline dynamic currency conversion (DCC). When an ATM or card terminal offers to charge you in pounds or euros at a "guaranteed rate", choose dong — the conversion rate offered is usually several per cent worse than your bank's.
Keep small notes: 10,000 and 20,000 ₫ notes are needed for street food, scooter parking and markets, where change for 500,000 ₫ is hard to get. The 20,000 and 500,000 ₫ notes look alike — count your change.
Grab can be paid by card in the app or in cash to the driver; the fare is fixed in the app, so there is nothing to haggle over.
Tipping is not expected but appreciated: 5–10% in restaurants, 50,000–100,000 ₫ for a guide or driver on a day tour, about 50,000 ₫ after a massage.

When is Vietnam cheaper?

Jan: high prices
Feb: high prices
Mar: average prices
Apr: average prices
May: low prices
Jun: average prices
Jul: average prices
Aug: average prices
Sep: low prices
Oct: low prices
Nov: average prices
Dec: high prices

higher prices average lower

The most expensive time is Tet, the Lunar New Year (late January or February): for about two weeks hotels and domestic flights cost more, some cafés close and trains and buses sell out. December and January are busy in the south too. From Europe, flights are dearest in July–August and around Christmas, when school holidays push fares up. Hotels are cheapest in May, September and October, when the centre gets rain and hotels in Nha Trang and Da Nang cut prices.

Weather and seasons by month →

How to save money in Vietnam

Eat where Vietnamese people eat: plastic stools and a menu in one language mean prices about half those of cafés with photo menus.
In cities, book a Grab bike instead of a car: it costs about half as much and is quicker in traffic.
Travel between cities by sleeper bus or the Reunification Express train — cheaper than flying, and an overnight trip saves a hotel night.
Buy tours from small local agencies rather than at your hotel: the same itinerary is often a third cheaper.
Compare arrival airports: return fares to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang often differ for the same dates, and an open-jaw ticket saves backtracking.
Go to Phu Quoc and Nha Trang outside the December–January peak: hotels there drop their prices more than in Hanoi.
Buy water in big bottles at Circle K or WinMart rather than at your hotel.

Vietnam holiday costs: FAQ

Is Vietnam expensive?

No — it is one of the cheapest long-haul holidays from Europe. An average day costs about £35 per person for food, transport and activities, and a mid-range hotel room about £32 a night. The flight is the biggest single cost: return fares from London average £560–£855 depending on the month.

How much spending money for 2 weeks?

For 14 days at a mid-range level, budget about £485 per person for food, transport and activities, or £535 with a 10% buffer. If your hotel is not prepaid, add about £225 per person for a mid-range double room shared for 14 nights. Flights and insurance are paid before you go.

Is Vietnam cheaper than Thailand?

Yes, on the ground. An average day without a hotel costs about £35 in Vietnam against £36 in Thailand, and a mid-range hotel £32 against £40 a night. Flights from Europe to Bangkok are often cheaper than to Vietnam, so compare fares for your dates.

Pounds, euros or dollars?

Pay in Vietnamese dong. UK and EU cards work in hotels, restaurants and Grab, and ATMs give dong. If you bring cash, US dollars and euros are easy to change at banks and gold shops in the cities; pounds are taken in fewer places. Always choose dong, not your home currency, at ATMs and card terminals.

How much is food?

Street pho or banh mi costs about £1.30, lunch in a café £2.90 and dinner for two in a restaurant £18. A Vietnamese iced coffee is £0.70 and a beer in a café £1.00. Food usually takes about half of the on-the-ground budget.

Cheapest area?

Hanoi and the north: an average day there costs about £29 per person, and a 3-star hotel £26 a night. Of the beach resorts, Da Nang is the cheapest, especially in spring. Phu Quoc is the most expensive, at around £44 per person per day.

How we calculate

Flights — the average return fare for the chosen month, times the number of travellers. Hotel — the price of a room of the chosen level in the chosen city, adjusted for the season, times the number of nights and the number of rooms. Spending on the ground — the daily cost per person times the number of days (nights plus one). Visa, insurance and SIM — per person. On top of that comes a buffer as a percentage of the total.

Children under 12 — 0.6 of an adult's spending on the ground: a child under 12 spends about 60% of what an adult spends on the ground: children's portions, free or reduced entry, shared transport with parents (editorial estimate from menus and price lists).
Double room — a standard room sleeps two, so rooms = people / 2, rounded up.
10% buffer by default — a 10% buffer covers exchange-rate swings, tips and unplanned spending; prices between neighbouring cafés and districts usually vary within that range.
Season — in peak season hotels cost about a quarter more than on ordinary dates, and 10–20% less in low season.
Visa — UK, German, French and Dutch passports get 45 days visa-free (Vietnam Government Resolutions 44/NQ-CP and 229/NQ-CP); Irish passports need an e-visa of about US$25. The calculator adds the e-visa for departures from Dublin and for any trip longer than 45 days.
Insurance — travel insurance covering Asia; editorial estimate for a single-trip policy bought in the UK or EU, checked 7 October 2026: about £1.60 per person per day. GHIC is not valid outside Europe — get travel insurance.
SIM — local tourist SIM or eSIM with data for a month: about £7.30.
Exchange rates — official Bank of Russia rates on 8 October 2026, converted to pounds and euros: £1 = 34,045 ₫, €1 = 28,891 ₫. The European Central Bank does not publish a dong rate.

Flight fares used in the calculator (return, economy, per person; checked 7 October 2026):

From	Cheapest found	Cheapest month, average	Most expensive months, average	Source
LondonLondon — Vietnam	£390	September: £560	July: £855, December: £855	www.kayak.co.uk
ManchesterManchester — Vietnam	£500	September: £695	July: £1,140, December: £1,090	www.kayak.co.uk
BirminghamBirmingham — Vietnam	£535	June: £790	July: £1,170, March: £1,070	www.kayak.co.uk
EdinburghEdinburgh — Vietnam	£490	September: £610	December: £1,210, July: £925	www.kayak.co.uk
DublinDublin — Vietnam	£375	September: £600	July: £1,140, December: £935	www.kayak.ie
AmsterdamAmsterdam — Hanoi	£480	May: £570	July: £945, August: £800	www.kayak.co.uk
FrankfurtFrankfurt — Ho Chi Minh City	£555	January: £665	July: £890, December: £840	www.kayak.co.uk
ParisParis — Hanoi	£485	January: £645	July: £980, August: £965	www.kayak.co.uk

Return economy fares per person from KAYAK route pages, checked 7 October 2026: «cheapest month» and «most expensive months» are KAYAK's average return prices over the past 12 months; «from» is the cheapest return found by KAYAK users in the last days. Month-by-month data is not published, so the calculator uses the cheapest-month average for that month, each peak month's own average for peak months, and for all other months the midpoint between the two — an editorial estimate. Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris have no country-level KAYAK page; their figures are for the busiest route (to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City) and are shown in pounds as published on kayak.co.uk. Dublin is in euros (kayak.ie).

Sources for prices on the ground:

YuSMP Travel editorial estimates from café and street-food menus, massage and tour agency price lists in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc and Da Nang — 29 September 2026
Grab fares for a 5 km ride in a city centre — 29 September 2026
Hotel room rates for the coming months — 29 September 2026

This is an estimate, not an offer. Real prices depend on the season and your choices.