Vietnam Trip Cost Calculator
Estimate what a Vietnam trip costs from Australia in 2026, covering flights to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, the official e-visa, a realistic daily budget in dong, and the north to south transport costs that catch people out.
Mid-range daily spend: good three or four-star hotel, restaurant meals, local transport and tours.
Only apply through the official Vietnamese immigration e-visa portal. A large number of lookalike sites charge two to four times the official fee for the same document, and some are outright scams. The genuine 90 day single entry e-visa is about USD 25, roughly $40, and is usually issued within three to five working days.
Vietnam uses the dong, and the numbers are large. Roughly 16,000 to 17,000 dong buys one Australian dollar, so a 100,000 dong bowl of pho is about $6 and a 2,000,000 dong hotel night is about $120. Note that the 20,000 and 500,000 notes look similar in low light, which is a common source of accidental overpayment.
Vietnam is the strongest value destination on this list for mid-range travellers. A genuinely good four-star hotel in Hoi An or Da Nang that would be $350 a night in Australia often runs $70 to $110, and a two-person restaurant meal with drinks in Hanoi is regularly under $30.
💰 Ways to save
- Fly the long legs and take the train for the scenic ones. Vietnam runs more than 1,600 kilometres north to south, and budget carriers such as VietJet and Bamboo commonly sell Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City for $50 to $90 one way, which is faster and often cheaper than a 33 hour train. Save rail for the genuinely worthwhile short legs like Hue to Da Nang over the Hai Van Pass, which costs a few dollars and is one of the best train rides in Asia.
- Buy your Ha Long Bay cruise in-country or through a reputable local operator rather than an overseas booking site. The same boat routinely sells for 25 to 40 per cent less when booked directly or through a Hanoi agent, and you can ask specific questions about whether the itinerary uses the crowded main bay or the quieter Lan Ha and Bai Tu Long routes, which matters more to the experience than the star rating on the listing.
- Give a Hoi An tailor three days and two fittings, not one afternoon. The cheap same-day suits that get sold to cruise passengers are made from thin blended fabric and hold their shape for a season. Paying $250 to $400 for a properly fitted wool suit with a second fitting still undercuts Australian prices by a wide margin, and the difference between a rushed job and a good one is entirely in the fitting time you allow.
- Use ride-hailing apps instead of hailing taxis. Grab and Xanh SM show a fixed fare before you accept, which removes both the meter tampering and the fare negotiation that still catches tourists at airports and tourist districts. For short trips a motorbike option costs a couple of dollars, and for airport runs the app price is usually well below the queue outside arrivals.
How we estimate this
## What a Vietnam trip costs from Australia in 2026
Pricing reviewed: June 2026.
Pricing reviewed June 2026. Indicative Australian costs, not a quote.
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Understanding vietnam trip costs in Australia
What a Vietnam trip costs from Australia in 2026
Vietnam offers arguably the best value of any mainstream Asian destination for Australians, particularly in the mid-range. A backpacker in hostel dorms eating street food and using sleeper buses can operate on about $45 a day. A mid-range traveller staying in genuinely good three and four-star hotels, eating in restaurants, taking taxis and doing a tour every few days spends around $95 a day. A comfortable trip with five-star properties, private guides and a boutique Ha Long cruise sits near $200 a day. Across a fourteen night trip that means roughly $2,000 at the lean end and $6,000 or more at the top, including the flight.
Flights from Australian cities
Vietnam is unusually well served from Australia. Vietnam Airlines, VietJet, Jetstar and Qantas fly direct from Sydney and Melbourne to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with Brisbane and Perth generally connecting or running less frequent direct services. Return economy fares typically land between $700 and $950 in the quieter months, rising to $1,200 to $1,600 across the Christmas period, Tet and the Australian July school holidays. Because there are two major gateway cities at opposite ends of the country, an open-jaw booking flying into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh City is often the same price as a return and saves you an entire backtracking domestic leg. Check that structure before defaulting to a standard return.
The e-visa, and the fake sites around it
Australian passport holders need a visa for Vietnam. The standard route is the official government e-visa, which as at time of writing costs about USD 25 for a 90 day single entry, roughly $40, with a multiple entry option at a higher fee. Applications go through the Vietnamese immigration department's own portal, take three to five working days in normal conditions, and require a passport-style photo and a scan of your passport page. The important warning is that a large number of commercial lookalike sites rank highly in search results and charge two to four times the official fee for the identical document. Apply only through the official portal, allow a week or more before departure, and confirm the current requirements on Smartraveller and with the Vietnamese embassy before booking.
Weather by region, because there is no single national season
Vietnam stretches more than 1,600 kilometres and has three distinct climate zones, so a single best month does not exist. The north, including Hanoi, Sapa and Ha Long, has a cool and sometimes drizzly winter from December to February, a pleasant spring in March and April, a hot humid summer, and a good autumn in October and November. The centre, including Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, is best from February to May and is genuinely difficult from September to November, when typhoons and flooding regularly close Hoi An's old town. The south, including Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong, is dry from December to April and wet from May to November, though southern rain tends to be short afternoon storms rather than washouts. The best all-country compromise windows are March and April, or September if you are willing to gamble on the centre.
Transport costs and the north to south problem
Getting between the ends of the country is the line item most people underestimate. The Reunification Express train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City takes over 30 hours and costs roughly $60 to $110 in a soft sleeper, while a VietJet or Bamboo flight covers the same distance in two hours for $50 to $90. For most itineraries flying the long legs and using rail or road for scenic short hops is both cheaper and better use of your holiday. Within cities, ride-hailing apps make transport almost trivially cheap, with motorbike trips costing a couple of dollars and car trips rarely more than $10. Sleeper buses are the backpacker default at around $15 to $30 per leg, though comfort varies enormously.
Where the money actually leaks
Vietnam's headline prices are low enough that the losses come from a handful of specific traps rather than general expense. Airport taxi overcharging remains common, so use an app with a fixed quoted fare. Ha Long Bay cruises are heavily marked up on overseas booking platforms compared with the same boat sold locally. Cheap tailoring in Hoi An made in a single afternoon is usually poor fabric and poor fit. Some hotels quote in US dollars and apply an unfavourable internal exchange rate when you pay in dong. And the very large denominations of the dong lead to genuine mistakes, since a 500,000 note and a 20,000 note are easy to confuse when you are tired.
Building a realistic figure
Set your flight first, ideally as an open-jaw between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Then budget accommodation by city, because a beachfront four-star in Da Nang and a boutique in Hanoi's Old Quarter price quite differently. Allow $25 to $40 a day for food if you are mixing street food and restaurants, which is generous in most of the country. Add your domestic transport as a discrete line, then add the two or three set-piece experiences most people want, typically a Ha Long or Lan Ha cruise, a Mekong or Ha Giang trip, and tailoring in Hoi An. Those experiences, not daily living costs, are what move a Vietnam budget, which is a very different shape to a Japan or Singapore trip.
Frequently asked questions
How much spending money do I need for two weeks in Vietnam?
Excluding flights and accommodation, about $500 covers two weeks of street food, local transport and a few entries at the budget end. A mid-range traveller eating in restaurants, using ride-hailing apps and taking three or four tours should budget $1,000 to $1,400, and a comfortable trip with private guides and a boutique cruise is $2,500 or more. Vietnam is largely cash-based outside hotels and larger restaurants, so plan on carrying dong.
Do Australians need a visa for Vietnam in 2026?
Yes. Australian passport holders generally use the official government e-visa, which at time of writing costs about USD 25, roughly $40, for a 90 day single entry, with a higher fee for multiple entry. Apply only through the Vietnamese immigration department's own portal, since many commercial lookalike sites charge several times the official fee. Allow at least a week before departure and confirm the current position with Smartraveller and the Vietnamese embassy.
When is the best time to visit Vietnam?
March and April are the strongest all-country windows, giving reasonable conditions in the north, centre and south at once. Avoid September to November in the centre, when typhoons and flooding regularly affect Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, and avoid Tet, the lunar new year in late January or February, when transport sells out, prices spike and many businesses close for around a week.
Is it cheaper to fly or take the train from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City?
Flying is usually both cheaper and vastly faster. Budget carriers commonly sell the route for $50 to $90 one way in a two hour flight, while the Reunification Express takes more than 30 hours and costs roughly $60 to $110 in a soft sleeper. Rail is worth it for short scenic legs such as Hue to Da Nang over the Hai Van Pass, which costs only a few dollars.
How much does a Ha Long Bay cruise cost?
A one night cruise on a decent mid-range boat typically runs $180 to $320 per person including meals, transfers from Hanoi and activities, and luxury vessels run well beyond that. The same boat is frequently 25 to 40 per cent cheaper booked locally or directly than through an overseas platform. Consider Lan Ha or Bai Tu Long Bay routes, which are far less crowded than the main Ha Long channel for similar money.
How much should I budget for a suit in Hoi An?
A properly tailored wool suit with two fittings runs roughly $250 to $450 in 2026, and shirts are typically $30 to $50 each. Same-day suits sold for under $150 are almost always thin blended fabric with a single fitting and will not hold their shape. Allow at least three days in Hoi An if tailoring matters to you, since the fitting process, not the sewing, is what determines the result.
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