Vietnam is country that got the travelers attention in last 20 years and rightly so as it has so much to offer. Vietnam’s lifestyle, culture, food and landscape varies from bustling Hanoi city that a melting culture pot to heritage town of Hoi An with beautiful Pagodas to picturesque landscape of Cat Ba to vibrant Ho Chi Minh city that it still remembered for the American-Vietnam war. This country has so much to offer to all kinds of travelers and budgeted backpackers.
We first planned our trip to this country for April 2020 but with the first wave of Covid that hit the world in lockdown, we had cancel all the tickets and reservations. Finally after the Covid craze faded across the world, we re-planned our trip to Vietnam for December 2022.
We decided to make a budget trip filled with local homestays and airbnbs to experience the country in its raw form. For our 14 days trip we decided to cover 4 towns covering South, Central and North.
| Article Content |
| Vietnam Blog articles link |
| 14 days Itinerary in Brief |
| Essentials on Vietnam |
| Budget Trip Cost |
Vietnam blog articles to checkout for your planning
Brief itinerary for 2 weeks/ 14 days for Vietnam trip
Read details on things to do in the individual city travel guide.
| SOUTH Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon | Day 01 | Since we landed in Ho Chi Minh in late morning, after check in we straight had lunch and sipped juice while we relaxed from the travel. Evening was spent with general strolling around the area to get ourselves acquainted based on the map given by our homestay lady. We ate some Pho, drank egg coffee at Little Hanoi Ca Phe, and ended our day with some Saigon beer. |
| Day 02 | 1st half we took a bus to travel to China town, where we visited the Ong Bon Temple and strolled around the Bin Tan market sipping bubble tea. Both these places are usually visited by locals so we didn’t face barrage from vendors asking us to step in and make purchase. We had amazing Pho at a local restaurant in the market. We had booked our food tour with our homestay owner for 2nd half which started at 5pm from our homestay and lasted the entire remainder of the evening till about 10:30pm. We had some great conversations during our tour which we continued at a local brewery called Winking Seal which was close to our homestay and on my list. | |
| Day 03 | We had booked ourselves a full-day tour that started at 8 am from homestay to make our first pitstop at the War Museum, Central Post Office, (Notre Dame cathedral which is bang opposite the post office couldn’t be part of this list since its closed till 2023), Independence palace, 2 hours travel to Cu Chi Tunnels wherein we halted at a govt authorised Lacquer painting workshop to see the process, toured the Cu Chi tunnel, and travelled back to homestay by 7pm. After a quick shower and some rest, we went to the crazy street for a relaxed dinner while enjoying. If you have only 3 days, with this itinerary you will cover the major attractions. | |
| Day 04 | In the first half we spent some quiet time reading at Little Hanoi Ca Phe followed by lunch of Pho. In the second half we went on self-assisted craft beer tour around the city which we completely did on walk to exert energy and remain sober ensuring we enjoyed all the breweries we planned for. | |
| Day 05 | We started our day with a Vietnamese coffee at Ca Phe Soo followed by a stroll in the Ben Thanh market as they are bang opposite to each other. Later we took a stroll in Ly Tu Trong street (District 1) checking our local artist shop (fb page) followed by some more coffee at Manki Ca Phe. This day was mainly kept for Ca Phe hopping as we are fond Vietnamese coffee. We ended our day with some relaxed time at the Ho Chi Minh Central park which 200 meters from our homestay. | |
| CENTRAL Hoi An | Day 06 | Wander around the old town, visit temple, enjoy Cao Lao in Central Market and soak yourself in the Hoi An evening by the river front |
| Day 07 | Enjoy an Vietnamese vegetarian meal for lunch at the Central Market. In evening take a lantern boat ride with friends/ family to enjoy starry night sky along with Vietnamese barbeque food | |
| Day 08 | Take a cooking class in morning and enjoy your hand cooked food in lunch. Evening chill by the cafes and enjoy sunset | |
| NORTH Hanoi | Day 09 | Stroll around the Old Quarter and grab lunch at Bún chả Hương Liên where Obama ate. Spend evening by the lake visiting cafes and enjoying the Hanoi vibes. Enjoy hotpot and enjoy night party at the French Quarter |
| Day 10 | Visit Temple of Literature with audio guide. Enjoy a quaint lunch at Ma Xo cafe in Truc Bach and watch the sun go down by the lake. Enjoy Jazz performance at Binh Minh Jazz Club. | |
| Day 11 | Experience the serenity of a Vietnamese Tea Ceremony at Hien Minh Tea House. Enjoy lunch of Pho and relax by the lake. Go coffee shopping at Coffee Vietnam store and buy souvenir in Old quarter | |
| NORTH Cat Ba | Day 12 & 13 | Travel to Ben Beo harbour to reach floating home of Cat Ba and enjoy two days stay with no connectivity with world and internet. Ideal place to do some thinking over life or just to see how life can be without any digital connections |
| NORTH Hanoi | Day 14 | Travel back to Hanoi. Enjoy the last Pho meal and some egg coffee at Cafe Dinh to end the trip on the perfect note. |
Essentials on Vietnam
| Currency: VND (Vietnamese Dong) |
| Sim Card: Viettel |
| Copy of Lonely Planet for Vietnam |
| Flight: Vistara, Indigo, Spice Jet, and Vietjet (Viet Jet is the local airline usually cheapest but at times can be unreliable as they have sometimes rescheduled flights on short notice) |
| Airport City Transfer: Mia Linh Taxi or Vinasun Taxi |
| Tours: Get Your Guide and Free Walking Tour |
Budget Trip Cost
HOMESTAY:
Prices vary from 450000 VND to 1000000 VND per night which will provide you with a compact bedroom, self-sufficient bathroom, and wifi. We did most of our stay bookings through Airbnb and Booking. We chose to stay in a small apartment homestay in Saigon, a House of a Tea Master in Hanoi, a tree house homestay in Hoi An, and floating home in Cat Ba.
You can also book hostels that provide bed in a dorm, common bathroom, and wifi which will be cheaper.
FOOD:
If you have street food then the prices will range from 4000 VND to 200000 VND per dish. Food is relatively cheap when compared to Indian prices.
TRAVEL:
Mode of travel can be local bus if you have time on hand, Grab cabs (they are like Uber of Vietnam) which we found to be bit pricey but good service or hire scooters which could be bit risky given that most of the people in Vietnam have their own driving rules.
OVERALL BUDGET:
| Expense Type | Expense for 2 people (INR) |
| Flight | 74898 |
| Local travel | 9196 |
| Meal | 42525 |
| Stay | 19210 |
| Tour | 29135 |
| Total | 174965 |
Vietnam in Visual
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