Cost of My Four Weeks in Vietnam

After my month in China, I knew I needed to spend a month somewhere less expensive. I love Vietnam so it was a pretty easy choice. How much do I love Vietnam? Words cannot express. The food! The food…it is amazing. I could eat Vietnamese food every day for the rest of my life and die happy. I think it’s all the garlic and rice vinegar and fish sauce? Not sure but I love it all. Also, the people! Everywhere I went in Vietnam, people were so happy to see me. (And have me write a TripAdvisor review…)

Vietnam is a great destination — it has something for everyone. There are big cities like Ho Chi Minh/Saigon, UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Hoi An, and beaches likes Nha Trang and Da Nang and Phu Quoc. And it’s all distinctly affordable if you stay away from the big luxury hotels. You should visit! And soon! Here’s how I used my time and spent my money.

One Week by the Beach in Nha Trang

After a month of go-go-go in China, I just wanted to hang out on a beach somewhere. So Nha Trang it was. I flew from Xi’An to Guangzhou where I spent a wonderful few hours in the amazing Guangzhou airport lounge thanks to my Priority Pass membership — and then onward to Nha Trang. In Nha Trang, I stayed at the Aaron Hotel, which is pretty close to the beach and main shopping mall. While not luxurious by any stretch, it was nice and clean and the staff were super sweet and friendly. There was also a small rooftop pool which was nice. I liked this hotel for the price and the staff (they hugged me goodbye) and the location. Also, the speedy WiFi! (Another thing I love about Vietnam.) The hotel probably isn’t for everyone, but if you are on a budget, it’s a great pick. Also, I loved the more Vietnamese-style breakfast, served in the cramped little dining room. It made me feel like we were all in this together. Hah. This is a solid 3 star hotel.

In Nha Trang, I went for a long walk on the beachfront path each morning — I like the beach in Nha Trang a lot. There are lots of loungers to rent where people will bring you fresh coconuts.

There’s a lot of seafood in Nha Trang and I ate a lot of it. I also drank a lot of Vietnamese coffees in a few of the beachfront cafes, got a few massages, and bought some random stuff like instant Vietnamese coffee (G7 and it’s AMAZING). Nha Trang is an interesting place in that it’s one of the few direct flights to Southeast Asia from Russia so I had to keep reminding restaurant staff that I was “Amerikanski” and ask for the English language menu instead of the Russian menu. Also, I found that what I really wanted was the menu for the Chinese tourists because that’s where they keep the good stuff. (The Russian menu has borscht on it. English menu is all fish and chips. The Chinese menu is full of fresh vegetables. Morning Glory all day every day! Maybe there was a Vietnamese menu too but when I would ask for the local menu, they’d hand me the one in Chinese so I went with it.)

One thing about Nha Trang that I didn’t like…construction. The streets are pretty hazardous because there are new hotels going up everywhere. And there are no sidewalks. So central Nha Trang is not the most fun place to walk around. Add pouring rain for most of my stay and well…

Total cost of my stay including transfers: An amazing $325.76!! Dude, I need to spend more time in Nha Trang. We all do!

One Week with UNESCO Charm in Hoi An

After Nha Trang, I flew to Da Nang for Hoi An. (Hoi An is a 30 minute to one hour drive from Da Nang airport, depending on traffic.) In Hoi An, I stayed at the Silk Luxury Hotel, conveniently located right outside the old town. It is a very nice hotel with a nice (but cramped) swimming pool and an uninviting gym. (The pool is fine once you’re in it. It’s just the seating that’s cramped.) It’s a pretty affordable hotel through for the quality and the service levels. This was a 4 star hotel. Everyone knew my name by Day 2 and was just super friendly and charming. And honestly, the location is perfect if you want to visit the Old Town frequently…just a five minute walk, really.

In Hoi An, I went for long walks through the Old Town every morning during the traffic free hours between 9 and 11, but I started to love getting there just a bit earlier to hang out at some of the corner “cafes” (little red stools on the street really) drinking Vietnamese coffee with everyone before we all headed off to work.

In the evenings, I would return to the old town around sunset and watch as colorful lanterns floated slowly down the river. (Seriously!) During my afternoons, I worked for the most part but I also found time to get some clothing made which was a super interesting process. (The right fabrics and necklines are everything.)

Words cannot fully express how much I love Hoi An. I really want to go back!! You should go. Go go go.

Total cost of my Hoi An stay including transfers, a few meals, and laundry service: $557.47

5 Nights by The Beach (Again) in Da Nang

After Hoi An, my hotel drove me up the road to Da Nang where I stayed at the Paris Deli hotel which was not bad but not my favorite place either. (Small rooms.) The hotel probably considers itself 4 star but I’d put it more in the 3 star category given the rooms.

The Paris Deli is close to the beach so surprise — I spent my mornings taking long walks along the beach. The beach in Da Nang is really vast…it goes on forever. I didn’t do much in Da Nang unfortunately because of work but I know a lot of people think it’s great so  maybe one day I will go back to figure it all out. (I tried to hire a driver to get me to that golden hands bridge in the mountains that you see everywhere on the internet but it was ridiculously expensive for one person and going on a tour meant an 8 hour commitment and spending 8 hours on a tour bus is not my idea of fun.)

Total cost of my stay in Da Nang including transfers and a few meals and drinks: $499.89 In general, I kinda feel this was a bit pricey and meh for what I got. Just on a per night basis, I got much more for my money at the Silk Luxury hotel in Hoi An which was a much nicer hotel. If I go back to Da Nang, I’ll stay somewhere else. And actually, I’d stay closer to the river than to the beach. The river seems to be where all the action is.

One Week in Crazy Busy Hanoi

I spent time in Hanoi back in 2014 and I swear to God I was the only tourist there. It was really weird. I walked around that lake in town and saw no one except the people cutting the grass. Honestly, watch my video above from 2014 and notice the absence of tourists. (I took a golf cart ride around town back in 2014.)

5 years later and man how things have changed. (I should have taken another video.) Hanoi is overrun with tourists and now the old town is full of tourist tat. It’s not a bad thing — economic growth through tourism is a good thing — but it’s just different.

In Hanoi, I stayed at the Hanoi Marvelous, a nice centrally located hotel with lovely, lovely staff. Rooms were a bit dark — in the old quarter, the buildings are narrow and long so there aren’t many windows — but you couldn’t ask for nicer people. Each time I left the hotel by car, they all came out and waved me goodbye! I was more of a tourist in Hanoi than I was in Da Nang, taking a food tour and a history tour and generally just exploring a bit more to make up for my pretty uneventful five days in Da Nang The hotel calls itself a 4 star hotel but I’d probably put it more in the 3 star category. This was a fine stay but I’d be tempted to try somewhere else next time.

Total cost of my stay in Hanoi: $728.76 including transfers, tours, and a few meals at the hotel.

2 Nights in Beautiful Halong Bay

From Hanoi, I headed out to Halong Bay.

After a lot of research, I decided on Orchid Cruises. They are billed as 5 star but they are more like 3.5 to 4 stars. Everything has potential but it’s just not there yet. It’s one of the nicest cruise ships on Halong Bay so I definitely recommend that you check it out but it just didn’t have that luxurious feel that I was after. (My Yangtze River cruise on the other hand was much more five star.) I think I will write more about this cruise in a later post so stay tuned.

In general, I loved cruising Halong Bay. I mainly just sat out on my balcony and read books and enjoyed chatting with the other passengers who were from all over the world. I did a few of the cruise activities but honestly the highlight of each day was the “Floating 7-11s,” basically women in rowboats who would come alongside our cruise ship every evening and attempt to sell us beer, wine, and Pringles. One woman I swore just tried to stare deeply into my eyes for five minutes repeating “Pringllllles….Pringlllles…” It was pretty entertaining.

Total Cost of My Cruise: Ouch. $679.98 (This included all meals and excursions. If I was traveling with someone, it would have been half the price. Cruises are a bad deal for most solo travelers.)

Other Costs Including Those Pesky ATM Fees…

In Vietnam, you can only take small amounts out of ATMs. Most ATMs limited me to $80 a day, but in Hanoi, I was finally able to take out $100! So I recommend that you use no-foreign-transaction fee credit cards wherever credit cards are accepted to avoid ATM fees. Apparently, the ATMs in Saigon are more generous and let you take out more than $100. Beyond the costs I’ve already mentioned above, I spent about $700 in cash in Vietnam which was all on massages, facials, food, drink, tips and ATM fees. (The ATM fees are killing me. Why Krista? Why!!) I also took three flights: one to Vietnam from Xi’An, one from Nha Trang to Da Nang, and one from Da Nang to Hanoi. These cost $675 in total which includes hefty baggage surcharges for my — gasp — 40 kilos in luggage. (Don’t judge. I know you’re judging.)

Regrets…I Have a Few…

I really wish I had visited Sapa but I was worried about Internet access and I had a lot of work to do. 🙁 Next time.

Total Spend in Four Weeks

About $4200 all in, or about $150 a day.  Pretty much what I budgeted for myself going into this whole adventure. Note I am also working from the road so it’s important that I have a desk and high speed internet wherever I stay– hotels are where I live and my work schedule is too unpredictable to rely on internet cafes. In hindsight, I could have picked a cheaper Halong Bay cruise but my thing is that the last place you want to be alone and miserable about your accommodation is on a boat! Also, I had to pay for two people  on the cruise even though I was one person which is kinda sucky. Oh and I forgot to mention…I celebrated Thanksgiving by myself in Hanoi at the Melia Hotel which was hosting a Thanksgiving Buffet (WITHOUT GREENBEANS!!!!). That wasn’t cheap…dinner and one glass of wine was $80…but I didn’t really fancy bun cha for Thanksgiving so I’m glad I did it.

Ah, crucial detail…I booked the Silk Luxury Hotel and the Paris Deli Hotel on Hotels.com, using the non-refundable rate which got me a decent discount. (Sorry, it was ages ago so I don’t remember how much it was but enough that it made sense to do it.) I don’t recommend booking a non-refundable rate like this unless you are sure of your plans but it’s a nice way to save money. Also, Hotels.com gives you 1 night free for every 10 nights booked so that was another reason I did it.

The Verdict

You should go to Vietnam!! It’s amazing!!! And if you do it right, it’s pretty cheap!! You could totally get away with decent two and three star hotels in Vietnam and save a bundle. The food is especially delicious and especially affordable. Go go go go go.

Why I’m Writing about The $$$, Honey

I don’t think people talk about how much stuff costs on the internet enough. Everyone’s like, “Look at my amazing over- water bungalow in the Maldives!” Do you know how much that shi*t costs? I’ll tell you because I just spent the last week looking at resorts in the Maldives. Like $5000 A WEEK. And that’s before you’ve eaten anything! Crazy stuff.

If you haven’t already, check out my posts on my costs in Thailand and China.

Check out Some of My Other Vietnam Posts

• Getting a Visa to Vietnam
• The Best Tours in Saigon
• My Review of the Intercontinental Saigon
• Instagram Fun in Hanoi
• My Review of the Sofitel Hanoi