Every travel blog throws out a round number for a Vietnam trip and calls it a budget guide. I wanted the actual breakdown, what I genuinely spent, category by category, on a ten-day trip, so here it is, no rounding things down to make the number look better than it was.
The Visa
The visa cost less than I expected. Indian citizens need an e-visa for Vietnam, and the online application runs around 25 US dollars, roughly 2,000 rupees, processed within a few days. Compared to some of the more paperwork-heavy visas out there, this was refreshingly simple and cheap.
Flights
Flights ate the biggest single chunk of the budget. Round-trip fares from major Indian cities to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City generally run between 25,000 and 40,000 rupees, depending heavily on how far ahead you book and which city you’re departing from. I booked about six weeks out and paid closer to the higher end, a lesson in booking earlier next time.
Accommodation
Accommodation turned out cheaper than I’d budgeted for. Decent mid-range hotels in cities like Hanoi, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City run somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000 rupees a night, and hostels drop that considerably lower if you’re traveling on a tighter budget. I mixed both across the trip and averaged out closer to 2,000 rupees a night overall.
Food
Food was genuinely one of the cheapest parts of the entire trip. Street food, pho, banh mi, spring rolls, cost as little as 100 to 200 rupees per meal, and even sit-down restaurants rarely pushed past 500 to 600 rupees for a full meal. I ate well, often, and still spent less on food across ten days than I’d have spent on a few restaurant meals back home.
Getting Around Within Vietnam
Internal transport added up more than I expected. Trains between cities, like the overnight route from Hanoi to Hue, cost around 1,500 to 2,500 rupees depending on the class of berth. Domestic flights between farther-apart cities, useful for saving time, ran higher, sometimes 3,000 to 5,000 rupees one way if booked reasonably close to travel dates.
Halong Bay, the One Splurge
Halong Bay cost more than a typical day trip, and I don’t regret it. An overnight cruise, including meals and activities, ran somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 rupees depending on the boat and cabin category. It’s not cheap by Vietnam standards, but it’s genuinely one of the trip’s highlights, and I’d budget for it specifically rather than treating it as an optional add-on.
Everything Else
Miscellaneous costs, museum entries, motorbike rentals, the occasional cocktail on a rooftop bar, added up to more than I tracked carefully. I’d estimate somewhere around 300 to 500 rupees a day if you’re doing a reasonable mix of sightseeing and casual spending.
The Total, Added Up
Adding it all up, flights, visa, ten nights of accommodation, food, internal transport, and the Halong Bay cruise, I landed somewhere around 70,000 to 85,000 rupees total for the trip, excluding shopping or anything beyond the essentials. That’s genuinely on the lower end compared to other international destinations Indians commonly travel to, and it’s a big part of why Vietnam’s popularity has grown so quickly. If you’re trying to budget your own trip, I’d plan around 75,000 rupees as a realistic middle ground, comfortable but not lavish, with room to adjust depending on how much you prioritize splurges like Halong Bay versus keeping things lean throughout.
Plan Your Vietnam Trip With VedRaahi
Getting the visa sorted early, booking flights at the right time, and knowing where it’s worth spending a bit more, like Halong Bay, versus where you can genuinely save, all shape how far your budget actually stretches.
VedRaahi’s Vietnam trips from India include visa guidance, well-timed flight bookings, and an itinerary that balances the splurges with the genuinely affordable stretches of the trip.
Plan your Vietnam trip from India today and travel without any budget surprises. Contact VedRaahi to customize your itinerary and travel dates.
For visa requirements and updated entry guidelines, the Vietnam Immigration Department’s official website is a reliable reference before you go.
