Hanoi on a budget

Daily budget and trip cost

AMZBooking estimates per person in US dollars, excluding flights, reviewed October 2026. Accommodation is the biggest variable; prices rise in peak months.

Typical prices

Approximate prices in Hanoi, October 2026. They change; use them for planning, not as quotes.

Money-saving tips

• Street food and bia hơi stalls give you excellent meals for a few dollars a day.
• Use ride-hailing apps to see fares in advance and avoid haggling with drivers.
• Check banknotes carefully: 20,000 and 500,000 VND notes look similar, as do 10,000 and 100,000.
• Carry small notes; street vendors often cannot change large ones.
• Very low-priced Ha Long Bay tours often cut corners on boats and food; compare reviews before booking.
• Museum entry tickets are inexpensive, so you can see the major collections for very little.

Free things to do

• Old Quarter guild streets — Each street in the Old Quarter once specialised in a single trade, and many still do: tin boxes on Hàng Thiếc, paper offerings and lanterns on Hàng Mã, silver on Hàng Bạc.
• Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ba Đình Square — The granite mausoleum stands on Ba Đình Square, where Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam's declaration of independence in 1945, and holds his embalmed body.
• One Pillar Pagoda — A small wooden shrine set on a single stone pillar in a lotus pond, designed to resemble a lotus flower rising from the water.
• Trấn Quốc Pagoda — Hanoi's oldest pagoda, founded in the 6th century and moved to a small island in West Lake in the 17th, is reached by a causeway.
• Long Biên Bridge — Built by French engineers between 1899 and 1902, this steel cantilever bridge of more than 2 kilometres over the Red River was bombed repeatedly during the American War and patched up.
• Đồng Xuân Market — Hanoi's largest covered market occupies a building first opened in 1889 at the northern edge of the Old Quarter.

All free things to do in Hanoi.

Where to stay on a budget

Eating well for less

• Beef phở — Specialist phở shops in the Old Quarter, especially around Bát Đàn and Lý Quốc Sư streets; most open early and close once the broth runs out.
• Bánh cuốn — Breakfast stalls where you can watch the rice sheets being steamed on cloth over boiling water, common around the Old Quarter.
• Bánh mì — Stalls and small shops throughout the Old Quarter; ask for 'bánh mì chay' at places that offer a vegetarian filling.
• Hanoi fried spring rolls — Served alongside bún chả at most grill stalls, and as a starter in family restaurants.
• Sticky rice — Morning stalls and street vendors across the Old Quarter; ask for mung bean and shallots only if you want it meat-free.

Getting around for less

The Old Quarter, Hoàn Kiếm Lake and the French Quarter are walkable, though pavements are often blocked by parked motorbikes. For longer trips most visitors use ride-hailing cars and motorbikes, which are inexpensive and show fares upfront.

Questions travellers ask