Budget/Backpacker Travel Guide: Hcmc
Experience authentic local culture on a shoestring budget with hostels, street food, and public transport
Daily Budget: 350,000-1,050,000 VND ($14-42) per day
Complete breakdown of costs for budget/backpacker travel in Hcmc
Accommodation
150,000-400,000 VND ($6-16) per night
Dorm beds in the Pham Ngu Lao backpacker enclave and fan rooms in family-run guesthouses where you'll hear motorbikes at all hours and share bathrooms with half a dozen nationalities. Bare-bones private rooms are available at the lower end of the mid-range, often smelling faintly of incense from the temple next door. Expect noise. Pack earplugs.
Browse budget/backpacker accommodation →Food & Dining
100,000-300,000 VND ($4-12) per day
Three meals a day from the streets of Hcmc: a steaming bowl of pho for breakfast with its anise-scented broth, a plate of broken rice topped with grilled pork at a com tam stall for lunch, and a banh mi stuffed with pate and pickled daikon in the evening. Open-air noodle houses, market food courts, and plastic-stool eateries are your dining room. Eat cheap. Eat well.
Transportation
50,000-150,000 VND ($2-6) per day
Public city buses that weave through Hcmc's grid of districts, Grab motorbike rides for short hops, and your own feet for the walkable core of Districts 1 and 3 where the pavement stays warm underfoot well into the evening. Walk everywhere. Save cash.
Activities
50,000-200,000 VND ($2-8) per day
Free pagoda visits where incense smoke curls through the dim interior air, the haunting quiet of the War Remnants Museum, the colonnade-shaded walk through the former French Quarter, and Reunification Palace with its cool tile floors and preserved 1970s war rooms. Budget travelers in Hcmc rarely exhaust the free and near-free options. Stay busy. Spend nothing.
Currency: Vietnamese Dong (VND)
Money-Saving Tips
Eat at street-level com tam and pho stalls that locals eat at rather than restaurants facing the main tourist corridors. The food is cooked in the same woks, smells just as good, and typically costs 60 to 70 percent less for the same dish. Save money. Eat better.
Use the public bus network for cross-district journeys in Hcmc. Routes cover most major areas at a fraction of what a Grab car charges for the same distance, and outside rush hour the service is usable. Cheap ride.
Walk between sights in Districts 1 and 3, where most major attractions cluster within a reasonable radius. Distances that look long on a map are often 10 to 15 minutes on foot, and you will smell the street food, feel the warm evening air, and stumble across better discoveries than whatever you were heading toward. Walk more.
Book day trips to Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta through backpacker-district group tour desks rather than through hotel concierges. The transport and guide are usually the same. The commission markup at the hotel level is not. Shop around.
Drink iced Vietnamese coffee from pavement cafes rather than imported-brand coffee shops. The local version is stronger, colder, dramatically cheaper, and one of the things Hcmc does better than almost anywhere else in the world. Skip Starbucks.
Eat breakfast at a street banh mi cart rather than paying for hotel breakfast. A proper banh mi loaded with all the fillings is one of the city's great meals and costs almost nothing. Bargain bite.
Visit during the wet season if budget is the priority. Accommodation rates soften noticeably, the afternoon showers are usually short enough to plan around, and the city is noticeably less crowded. Cheaper season.
Common Budget Mistakes to Avoid
Taking unmetered airport taxis negotiated on arrival at Tan Son Nhat instead of booking a Grab ride or a pre-arranged transfer. The markup on curbside fares can be substantial, and the apps show you the full price before you confirm. Avoid rip-offs.
Eating every meal in air-conditioned tourist restaurants in central District 1. The markup over nearby street food typically runs 100 to 200 percent for similar or inferior versions of the same dishes, and you miss the most rewarding part of eating in Hcmc. Overpriced.
Booking all day tours through guesthouse or hotel desks without comparing prices at the backpacker-area tour shops nearby. Hotel-desk commissions can add 30 to 50 percent to a tour running from the same operator with the same minibus. Compare prices.