Travel With Me #6 : 14 Days In Vietnam! A Backpacker's Guide!
Recently I visited Vietnam after waiting one whole year to do so! I'd heard so many wonderful things about the country and had to find out for myself! In this post I'm going to outline living costs, budgets and a traveling itinerary that allowed me to see a lot of the country without making my bank account cry!
The best thing about backpacking 'Nam is that it's perfect for budget travellers! Food is cheap and delicious, accommodation can be wonderfully cheap and getting from place to place won't break the bank either!
So, why only 2 weeks? Luckily for many nationalities, the Vietnamese government offer a visa exemption that allows tourists to visit Vietnam for up to 14 days visa free. I am from the UK and we are eligible for this visa on arrival.
That's right, FREE! Contact your countries government website or embassy to find out if you entitled to this perk!
HOWEVER, you do need to have an onward travel ticket out of Vietnam - I did not and had to spend an hour or so hunting down Wifi's and ATM's in order to book the cheapest flight out of the country, a flight that I had no intension of using!
Currency!
The currency in Vietnam is the Vietnamese Dong (₫)
₫10,000= £0.34 | $0.44 | €0.38 | $AUD0.57₫100,000= £3.40 | $4.39 | €3.87 | $AUD5.78
₫1,000,000= £34 | $43 | €38.77 | $AUD57.84
This info is accurate as of 05/07/2017
Costs!
As everyone has a different budget when they're travelling, I'm just going to outline the prices of essentials and non-essentials including food, accommodation and shopping!
FOOD & DRINK:
- Simple Meals E.G Fried Rice, Pho, Noodle Etc: ₫30,000 - ₫80,000
- Western Food, Larger Meals, Classier Restaurants: ₫100,000 - ₫150,000
- Snack Food: ₫15,000 - ₫25,000
- Bottled Water: ₫15,000 -₫25,000
- Smoothies: ₫20,000 - ₫50,000
- Soft Drink: ₫20,000 - ₫30,000
- Local Beer Bottle: ₫20,000 - 50,000
- Imported Beer Bottle: ₫60,000 - ₫80,000
- Vietnamese Hotpot: ₫150,000 - ₫200,000
- Dorm Room In Hostel: ₫130,000 - ₫150,000
- Private Room In Hostel: ₫250,000 - ₫300,00
- Hotel Room: ₫270,000 - ₫350,000
- GuestHouse/HomeStay: ₫120,000 - ₫150,000
- Motorbike Hire Per Day: ₫115,000
- Short Distance Moto Taxi: ₫30,000 - ₫50,000
- Sleeper Bus (8Hours): ₫200,000 - ₫220,000
- Sleeper Bus (12Hours+): ₫300,000 - ₫320,000
- Motorbike Parking: ₫10,000 - ₫30,000
- Laundry (1 KILO): ₫80,000 - ₫100,000
- SIM Card: ₫220,000
- Tailored 3 Piece Suit In Hoi An: ₫1,800,000
- Cheap Clothing: ₫80,000 - ₫100,000
- Food and drink: ₫150,000
- Accommodation: ₫120,000
- Short Transportation: ₫80,000
- Activities (sightseeing): ₫100,000
Itinerary
Days 1 + 2
HO CHI MINH CITY (2 days / 1 night)
DAY 1
Providing that you arrive in Ho Chi Minh reasonably early and aren’t too tired from your journey, get to your accommodation, sort your stuff out then go explore!
ACCOMMODATION TIP: Han Noi Bohemian Hostel
The City is bursting with life, history and friendly people. Here are some things to do!
The Independence Palace (£1.30)
Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica (FREE)
Saigon Central Post Office (FREE)
The War Remnants Museum (£0.50)
The War Remnants Museum is an absolute MUST when you are in HCMC. It's important to learn about the history of Vietnam. Unfortunately the country has suffered immensely, this museum is extremely informative and life changing. It also makes you appreciate how far they have come and blossomed as a nation!
All of these sites can be done one after the other as long as you don’t mind walking between them!
At night time you can head to one of multiple sky bars or straight to Buy Vien Street, AKA the backpacker street. Locals and fellow travellers flood the streets along with food vendors and street entertainers!
DAY 2
Cu Chi Tunnels: 170,000 Vietnamese Dong (£6) will get you an English speaking guide, bus to and from your accommodation and drinking water! These tunnels are the uncomfortably small tunnels that Vietnamese soldiers used to crawl through during the war.
OR
Vietnamese cooking class: 34,000 Vietnamese Dong (£1.30)
At the end of day 2 you should get a night bus from HCMC to Da Lat.
These are around 200,000 - 250,000 Vietnamese Dong and can be booked from the bus station close to Buy Vien Street, from your hostel OR from any tourism shop that are dotted around the city.
Day 3
DA LAT (1 Days / 1 Night)
After arriving off your night bus in the early hours of the morning after an undoubtedly comfortable sleep… hire a motorbike and get exploring!
ACCOMMODATION TIP: King Kong Hostel (AKA Kim Cuong) is a great place to stay to meet new people. There's a huge social area and they even host big dinners as a chance for everyone to get to know each other! They offer dorm rooms as low as £4 and private rooms for £12! Book them via HostelWorld or Booking.com
Da lat itself is a small town famous for being a romantic getaway but it’s perfect for tourists and backpackers alike! It's surrounded by gorgeous waterfalls, interesting architecture and huge open roads to zoom down!
Visit the nearby waterfalls
Rainy Day = Impressive Waterfall + Muddy Water[/caption]
Weasel Coffee Farm
I Chose Not To Ask How It Was Made... Tastes Great Though! Enjoy the scenery
Other things to do in Da Lat are:
- The Crazy House - A famous building in the heart of Da Lat that has an architectural design that you need to see to believe!
- Maze Bar - It's exactly what it sounds like... good luck getting out after a few drinks!
- The Night Market - Cheap and delicious food accompanied by market stalls
Day 4
Bus from Da Lat to Hoi An - 15 hours (Mine was longer)
Unfortunately because some places are based so far apart, you have to take an entire day to travel from one to the other!
Book a bus with your accommodation or at the bus station. My bus left at around 9am. The journey goes via Nha Trang, a very popular party town that i recommend avoiding if you have limited time in Vietnam!
The bus stops in Nha Trang at around 5pm and you transfer to another bus that goes to Hoi An - it took nearly 3 hours for our transfer bus to arrive, sigh! But once you're on it, it runs through the night to Hoi An, arriving at 6am!
"
Vietnamese sleeper buses are notorious for being uncomfortable. I could barely fit my legs in!
Days 5 + 6
HOI AN (2 Days / 2 Nights)
Hoi An is my favourite place in Vietnam! I booked 2 nights but ended up staying 5, oops!
ACCOMMODATION TIP: The Golden Lantern Homestay is an incredible place to stay! Your room is a boutique bamboo hut, the family cook huge banquet feasts of amazing Vietnamese food and it's an easy distance away from the beach. They are all private rooms and cost between £15 to £30, but split between 3 or 4 friends the price soon looks a lot more appealing! Book them via HostelWorld.
Day 5
Explore the old town! ( £4.10 )
The old town is a small area within Hoi An which is home to endless amounts of places to explore. From uniquely designed temples, the famous Japanese Bridge, Tailor shops, historical houses and an never-ending supply of quaint restaurants and cafes! Pay just 120,000 Dong and you have access to everything!
The Japanese Bridge
Suit up! Get a tailor made suit, handbag, pair of shoes, wallet, ANYTHING.
At night head to the canal in the old town, have some food or release a lantern!
Like to party?
Sunflower Hotel: Wander over to the Sunflower Hotel in the evening, whether you're a guest there or not, this is the place to party! For just 100,000 Dong you can have unlimited refills on beers and spirits for 2 hours!
Why Not? Bar: After you've made the most of your free drinks, boogie on down to Why Not?, a night club with extremely cheap drinks and a decent atmosphere. Every one ends up here and the party doesn't stop until you do!
DAY 6
An Bang Beach: Hire a scooter or get a taxi to An Bang beach! The sand stretches as far as the eye can see and the ocean is a great place to cool off from the sun.
Restaurants line up down the shore line as well as food vendors offering cheap food and cold beers.
Spend the entire day here or venture down at 2pm most days to join in with the volleyball!
DAY 7
DA NANG (1 day / 1 night)
In the morning get the bus or a taxi from Hoi An to Da Nang.
This town boasts one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Enjoy it for the day, head out for some yummy dinner on the shoreline and kickback with a beer and some friends!
In the morning you can get a bus or a taxi to the nearby town of Hue. It should take around 2 to 2 and half hours to get there! Buses can be booked via the bus station or your accommodation!
DAY 8
HUE 1 Day / Night bus to Hanoi
Hue is a nice little town but definitely isn't worth staying a night for!
The Imperial City! (£5.20)
The ancient Imperial City is a MUST when you're in Hue. The grounds are massive and go on and on and on! You definitely get your moneys worth, wandering around the stunning green gardens, discovering hidden walk ways through the old buildings and even feeding the Koi fish.
Waterside Market! ( FREE )
Walk on down to the riverside in the afternoon or evening to catch some live entertainment, eat some deliciously fresh food, get lost amongst the market stalls or just admire the view across the river.
Night Bus To Hanoi ( £8.50 / 12 Hours )
Staying the night in Hue would be a waste of time so make use of the sleeper bus. It will save you money on accommodation and also keep your journey moving forward!
Day 9
HANOI (1 Day / 1 Night)
After arriving fresh and ready in Hanoi at 6am you can spend the day walking around the city, visiting the multiple quaint cafes, restaurants and parks. Especially the Hoan Kiem Lake, it's very hard to miss and it's beautiful!
Military History Museum (40,000Dong): If you want to touch up your knowledge of Vietnamese history before you leave, for just over £1 you can visit this fantastic museum!
Book a bus or a tour for Ha Long Bay from your hostel or a tour shops, they leave around 6/7am in the morning and take around .4 to 5 hours!
Day 10 + 11 + 12
SAPA (1 Day)
Take the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai Station for ₫155,000 then a public bus from Lao Cai to Sapa for around ₫40,000.
Sapa is a a mountainous town high up in Northern Vietnam, the town itself is lacking in personality but the surrounding areas are beautiful!
There's plenty of waterfalls to visit!
This is Silver Waterfall, it's absolutely huge and only cost ₫20,000
Love Water Fall is next on the list! Again, this is a huge waterfall and the hike to get there is amazing!
There's also great scenery like this when you're driving around Sapa's surrounding areas!
You can also grab some delicious food from the restaurants in town or even by the road side!
HA LONG ( 2 days, 1 night)
Ha Long Bay is without a doubt the most popular and regularly visited place in, unless you've blindly agreed to go to Vietnam, you definitely know what to expect!
Tour packages
Tours can be organised everywhere in Ha Long Bay and come in many forms. Popular options include 2 days 1 night and 3 days 2 nights. The 3 day package costs £50 but there are many companies operating scams so be careful!Castaway Tour!
Castaway tour is pretty much designed and set up for you to get absolutely drunk on a boat and then continuing to get drunk on a beach. Sweet! Not so sweet if you are on a tight budget though as this drinking spree will set you back $200! Obviously if you fancy getting involved in this booze cruise, you are going to have to trim time off of another location in Vietnam but that's up to you!Days 13 + 14
HANOI (2 Days / 1 Night)
Depending on what time your flight is out of Hanoi, you might want to give yourself 2 days back in the city in order to rest and eat in time for your onward journey!
This gives you more time to explore the city and learn more about the culture, the food and the people!
Hoàn Kiêm Lake
The famous lake in Hanoi city! Take a walk around it and enjoy everything it has to offer!
Ngoc Son Temple!
STREET FOOD
One of the greatest things about Vietnam is the food and Hanoi is the place to be! Walk through market streets and alleys and try everything and anything you can find, it's all good!
YUMMY!!
World Famous Egg Coffee!!
This is a must try when in Vietnam! I personally can't drink a whole mug of this because after a while it gets sickening but it's definitely tasty! You can also add chocolate to it.
So that's it!
Vietnam is an incredible country and I hope this has helped boost your confidence in getting around it in only 2 weeks!
What do you think? Would you do it differently? Which is your favourite place in Vietnam? I'd love to hear!
Don't Forget Guys!
You can keep up-to-date with all of my travels on my INSTAGRAM and my YOUTUBE !
Travelling more of South East Asia? Click HERE for more related posts!
KEEP TRAVELING!
Thank you for postng this. I have always wanted to visit other asian countries. I hope to travel here one day as well after hearing positive comments about Vietnam from you.
You're welcome! it's my pleasure to post travel guides for people who want to see the world!
Asia is my favourite place in the world! I hope you get the chance to visit Vietnam, send me the pictures when you get there!
Thanks for the encouragement. Will do. I am looking forward to more of your blog. Hope you have fun in what you do! More power to you and to steemit
you're welcome! I will post more soon so make sure you follow me to keep updated :)
hi, I am kr-newbie and live in South Korea.
I went to HOCHIMIN last month!! I love vietnam food :)
Your post is really helpful and good! I will follow you. Let's share good information and photo and so on.
Hi Kr-newbie! 여보세요 :)
I hope you had fun in Ho Chi Minh! Vietnam is one of my favourite countries and the food is delicious! But you are from Korea.. the food is delicious too!
Thank you for following me, I ill follow you back.
Have you ever come Korea? Yes! Korean foods is really delicious. and there are many kinds of foods. If you have plan to come to Korea, Please inform me!! I will let you know many nice restaurant!
No I have not been to Korea yet! I want to go soon. But i love Korean food!
If I come to Korean I will let you know!
OK!!! Please let me know :) Have a good day~
You too!
Sapa looks amazing!!!
you're right! It is amazing! I hope you can visit one day!
The search engines will certainly find this one. Found you from fb. Thank you for the effort you put.
wow thank you for the support! Who knows, it would be good if the search engines found my post! I hope you found this interesting and helpful, you should check out my other posts on my travels! :)
Awesome guide
Thank you ben!