Vietnam on a budget in 10 days: sleeper buses and the whole country

Vietnam is the best-value country in Southeast Asia and this is the arithmetic. Sleeper buses and trains instead of flights, a Ha Long day boat instead of an overnight cruise, street food throughout, and an honest note on which of those three savings you will regret.

Southeast Asia
10 days
≈ AED 1,800 / person
The length of the country on sleeper transport, with the full cost written down

Researched & checked by Nitesh Parasher Last verified 2 November 2026

Before you go

Vietnam rewards a small budget more than almost anywhere. A bowl of pho costs less than a coffee, a guesthouse double is a few dollars, and the sleeper bus that covers 700km overnight costs less than a taxi across a European city.

The ten-day route covers Hanoi, Ha Long and Hoi An at mid-range. This one runs the length of the country on sleeper transport for a little over half, and adds Hue and Saigon because the overnight legs make them free in time.

Three savings, and one of them you will regret. Street food: no regret, it is the best food here. Sleeper buses: tolerable, and they buy you a night’s bed. A Ha Long day boat instead of an overnight cruise: this is the one. The bay at dawn with no other boats is the thing people remember, and a day trip does not get it.

Figure VND 12,500,000 (≈ AED 1,792) per person. February to April, with the regional caveats below.

Before you go: the admin

Entry

An e-visa is available to most nationalities, applied for online, valid up to 90 days.
Some nationalities are visa-exempt for short stays.
Apply on the official government portal only — lookalike sites charge several times the fee, and on a budget trip that matters.
Last checked: 30 October 2026.

Where the money goes, and does not

Beds: a clean private double in a guesthouse is a few dollars a night in Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An. Hostels exist but the private room is barely more.
Food: pho, bun cha, banh mi and com tam from a street stall cost almost nothing, and bia hoi — fresh draught beer poured from a keg on a street corner — is among the cheapest beer on earth.
Transport is the real decision. A sleeper bus the length of the country costs a fraction of the flight, and the reunification railway’s soft sleeper is more comfortable for not much more.
What is not cheap: entry to the big sites, Ha Long cruises, and anything sold through a hotel desk.

Sleeper buses, honestly

The beds are flat, numbered bunks, shoes off at the door, and they are built for Vietnamese frames. Over about 180cm it is a long night.
Book the upper deck at the back for space, the front for less movement.
They stop at roadside halts at unsociable hours.
The reunification express train is the civilised alternative — a four-berth soft sleeper costs more than the bus and much less than flying, and the coast between Hue and Da Nang is one of the great rail views in Asia.
Take the train for the Hue to Da Nang leg at least. It is three hours and it is the point.

Money

Count the zeros. The 20,000 and 500,000 notes are similar colours and this is the commonest tourist loss in the country.
Cash everywhere. Draw from bank ATMs, not the standalone machines.
Agree taxi fares or use Grab. Metered taxis in Hanoi and Saigon include some that are not honest ones.

Day by day

Day 1 — Hanoi

Arrive and stay in the Old Quarter.
16:00 — Hoan Kiem lake and Ngoc Son temple. The lake road closes to traffic at weekends and becomes a street-games area, which is the best free evening in the city.
18:00 — Bia hoi corner at Ta Hien. A glass costs less than bottled water.
19:30 — Bun cha from a plastic-stool place.

Day 2 — Hanoi, free and cheap

08:00 — The Temple of Literature, a small entry, and the calmest hour in Hanoi.
10:00 — The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex — the mausoleum itself is free, closed on Mondays and Fridays and for maintenance in autumn. Long trousers, no shorts.
13:00 — Rest.
17:00 — The water puppets. A modest ticket and about fifty minutes, and it is the one paid thing in Hanoi worth queueing for.
Train Street is now intermittently closed by the authorities for safety. Do not force it.

Day 3 — Ninh Binh, by local train and bicycle

07:00 — The local train or a public bus to Ninh Binh, about two hours, for very little.
Hire a bicycle at the guesthouse.
Trang An or Tam Coc — a rowed sampan through flooded limestone caves, the boats are government-priced and the rowers use their feet. Tip them; they are paid badly.
Mua Cave’s 500 steps give the view over Tam Coc. Small entry, big reward.
Stay in Ninh Binh, which costs half of Hanoi.

Day 4 — The Ha Long question

The honest version: a day boat from Hanoi is a long bus ride, four hours on the water and a bus back. It costs a fraction of the overnight cruise and it shows you the karsts.
What it does not show you is the bay at dawn, which is the part people describe afterwards.
If you can stretch once on this trip, stretch here.
Cat Ba Island is the budget alternative worth knowing — take public transport to Cat Ba, stay in a cheap guesthouse, and take a local boat into Lan Ha Bay, which has the same scenery and a fraction of the boats.
Evening — the sleeper bus or train south to Hue.

Day 5 — Hue

Arrive early. The Imperial Citadel — a walled palace city, UNESCO-listed, heavily damaged in 1968 and being restored. The entry is the largest single ticket of the trip and it is worth it.
Afternoon — the royal tombs by hired bicycle or motorbike taxi along the Perfume River. Tu Duc and Minh Mang are the two to do.
Hue’s food is the best in Vietnam and almost nobody says so — bun bo Hue, banh khoai, com hen.

Day 6 — The Hai Van Pass to Hoi An

Take the train from Hue to Da Nang. Three hours along a cliff coastline — sit on the right going south — and it costs a few dollars.
The motorbike option over the Hai Van Pass is the famous one. Only do it with a licence and a helmet, and not in rain.
From Da Nang, a local bus or shared ride to Hoi An.
Evening — the lantern-lit old town. The old town ticket covers a set number of heritage house entries; you can walk the streets without it.

Day 7 — Hoi An, cheaply

07:00 — The old town empty. This costs nothing and is the best hour.
09:00 — Hire a bicycle — flat, free of hills, and the rice paddies start five minutes out.
An Bang beach is fifteen minutes by bike.
A cooking class is the one splurge here and the market-plus- boat ones are good value.
Tailoring is the trap. It is good and it is not cheap by Vietnamese standards. Set a figure before you walk in.

Day 8 — South overnight

Morning in Hoi An, then the sleeper bus or train south.
The Da Nang to Saigon leg is long — about 17 hours by train, longer by bus. The train is the one to take for this distance.
Book a soft sleeper, lower berth.

Day 9 — Ho Chi Minh City

The War Remnants Museum — a small entry and a serious couple of hours. It is one-sided and it is also unflinching about what happened; go anyway.
The Reunification Palace and the Central Post Office, which is free.
Ben Thanh market for lunch, and the backpacker streets around Bui Vien for the cheapest beer in the country.
The Cu Chi tunnels are a half-day out and the public bus gets you there for a fraction of a tour price.

Day 10 — Out

The 109 bus runs from the centre to Tan Son Nhat for almost nothing.
Morning — a last banh mi and a ca phe sua da.
Allow margin. Saigon traffic is its own weather system.

Costs and practicalities

Best time to visit

February to April, because the country has three climates.

February to April — the only window that suits the north, the centre and the south at once. The months to book.
May to August — hot everywhere, the centre good for the beach, the north humid and stormy.
September to November — central Vietnam’s wet season. Hoi An floods most years, sometimes into the old town.
December and January — Ha Long cold and often fogged in, and the karsts you came for may be invisible. The south is excellent.
Tet, the lunar new year, falls between late January and February. The country closes, transport sells out and prices spike. Check the date before booking anything.

Travel tips

Take the train for Hue to Da Nang even if you bus everything else. It is the best three hours in the country.
Consider Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay instead of a Ha Long day trip — same karsts, far fewer boats, cheaper beds.
Count the zeros on banknotes.
Book the e-visa on the official portal only.
Bia hoi, not bottled beer.
Use Grab rather than hailing a taxi in Hanoi and Saigon.
Tip the Trang An rowers. They are paid very little.
Over 180cm, book the train rather than the sleeper bus.
Check the Tet dates. Everything stops.
Cross the road at a steady pace without stopping.

What this trip actually costs

Two people, 9 nights, guesthouses and sleeper transport, international flights excluded:

Item	Cost
Guesthouses and hostels, 9 nights	VND 7,200,000 (≈ AED 1,032)
Street food and bia hoi, 10 days	VND 5,000,000 (≈ AED 717)
Sleeper buses and trains the length of the country, two people	VND 4,600,000 (≈ AED 660)
A Ha Long day boat rather than an overnight cruise, two people	VND 2,400,000 (≈ AED 344)
Entries, Trang An, Hue citadel, My Son and museums	VND 3,600,000 (≈ AED 516)
Local transport, bicycles and transfers	VND 2,200,000 (≈ AED 315)
Total for two	VND 25,000,000 (≈ AED 3,585)

Roughly VND 12,500,000 (≈ AED 1,792) per person for ten days, against about 21 million on the standard route.
The sleeper legs do double duty — they are transport and a bed, and dropping them costs both.
Entries are the line that surprises people. Hue’s citadel and the museums are not cheap, and they are the things worth the money.
Upgrading the Ha Long day boat to an overnight cruise adds roughly six million for two and is the upgrade to make if you make one.
Travel insurance is not in this figure and should be.
Hotel picks here are chosen on location, not on commission — always check prices and recent reviews before booking.

What to pack

A padlock for hostel lockers and sleeper-bus luggage holds.
Earplugs and an eye mask. Sleeper buses have neither dark nor quiet.
A light layer — buses and trains are heavily air-conditioned.
Rain protection in any month.
A refillable bottle and a way to treat water, or budget for bottled.
Mosquito repellent. Dengue is present.
A Type A/C adapter, 220V.

Part of a bigger trip?

Vietnam in 10 days is the same country at mid-range.
Vietnam in 14 days adds the Mekong delta.
Hanoi in 2 days and Ho Chi Minh City in 2 days are the city versions.
Thailand on a budget is the same idea next door.
Vietnam and Cambodia in 12 days adds Angkor.

FAQ

How cheap is Vietnam really? On this itinerary, about 1.25 million dong per person per day — beds, food, transport and entries included. It is the best value in Southeast Asia, and the reason is that food and accommodation are genuinely inexpensive rather than that you are seeing less.

Sleeper bus or train? Train, if you can. It costs more than the bus and much less than flying, the berths are more comfortable, and the Hue to Da Nang stretch along the coast is one of the great rail journeys in Asia. Over about 180cm the bus bunks are a long night.

Is a Ha Long day trip enough? It shows you the karsts and it is a long bus ride for four hours on the water. What it misses is the bay at dawn, which is what people remember. If you upgrade one thing on this trip, upgrade this — or go to Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay instead, which is cheaper and quieter than either.

What should I not skimp on? Travel insurance, the Hue citadel ticket, and the e-visa fee — pay it on the official portal rather than to a lookalike site charging several times as much.

When is the cheapest time to go? Outside Tet and outside the February-to-April window. The trade is that something will be compromised: Hoi An floods in autumn, Ha Long fogs over in winter, and the north is stormy in summer.

Prices and entry rules change, and what you need depends on your passport; last checked 2 November 2026, so confirm with the embassy or your airline before booking.