In Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, I visit the Saigon Independence Palace, War Remnants Museum, Ben Thanh Market, Tao Dan Park, and a ton of other places. I eat a whole lot of Vietnamese food and street food, including the famous Bánh Mì Huỳnh Hoa, hang out with a bunch of locals, get a bed in a hostel dorm, and of course, drink dark & rich Vietnamese coffee and a couple Saigon beers – all for less than 20 bucks!
I tried, but couldn’t spend 20 dollars in a single day in Ho Chi Minh City (20 USD = 445k VND).
Where I stayed: The Hangout Hostel (the sister hostel of The Hideout Hostel Saigon). The Hideout is for the travelers who really know how to party, whereas The Hangout is a little more chill and relaxed.
Both hostels had super friendly staff, offer great pub crawl adventures, and a dorm bed for only 5 bucks, INCLUDING breakfast and a beer! You can’t beat that deal.
How I spent my money in one day (20 USD = 445k VND):
Hostel dorm bed – 112k VND
Breakfast – FREE with hostel
Post card – 7k VND
Stamps (to USA) – 15k VND
Independence Palace – 30k VND
Lunch (banh da ca ro) – 40k VND
Iced coffee – 20k VND
Water – 10k VND
War Remnants Museum – 15k VND
Tao Dan Park workout – FREE
T-shirt at Ben Thanh Market – 80k VND
Dinner (banh mi) – 33k VND
Banana smoothie – 25k VND
Beer at hostel – FREE
One more beer – 30k VND
TOTAL COST: 417 VND ($18.70)
Top Comments:
- It’s great for us who can’t or aren’t brave enough to venture out in the world like you do to show us what we’re missing out on life. Thank you for taking us on your fabulous tours!
- One thing I like about Vietnam is that it is a great inexpensive exotic vacation (not biased because I am of Vietnamese descent). I have not been back in almost ten years since Asia is such a big continent, and my goal is to have my passport stamped with various Asian countries on every page. I traveled alone, and I had no agenda when I went to Saigon.
- I always wondered about the coffee. I usually just down it in one gulp, or let the ice melt
- Love your vids.Always something for everyone to enjoy.You could actually keep travelling around the world! Plenty of folk following 🙂
- Another great video, Kevin! I’m really starting to get jealous of your budget adventures–more, more! 🙂
- Another Awesome video. I can’t stop watching just like the food ranger, the both of you have excellent videos. You have earned a life time subscriber for as long as you put these videos out I will watch.
- I look forward to the $20 a day video on London. Night 1, you’l be sleeping under a cardboard box in a shop doorway and very hungry lol
- I haven’t been back to my Saigon since 2007 and I can see it’s grown so much. Kudos to those who opened businesses to tourists, it looks booming. I have to go back soon.
- From my month travel through south Vietnam I can tell its easy to keep on $20/day or less budget nearly all the time! I didn’t even stay at hostels – look for Nha Nghi – guesthouse prices differ from 100 to 250K VND per room depending on location and your negotiation skills. Rooms have TV, fridge, kingsize bed, wifi, just it’s not as fancy as hotels. If you travel in two you actually save more than in hostel 🙂 Furthermore nearly all the time I had rented scooter 1400km in total 🙂 for 100K/day if you’re tough negotiator and rent for more than week. Eating seafood every day..but you could have streetfood – usually pork cutlet with rice and soup that comes in a plastic bag for 25K! Banh mi – OMG this thing you can have never enough price 15-35 K depending how rich is the stuff inside but always yummy. Also as a person coming from country with best and cheapest beer I drank it constantly as the price was same as home, dont worry about scooter riding and beer there is nearly no police..just stay away from Mui Ne, there are cops constantly stopping foreigners trying to find some way to make you pay..even though I had no international driving license it cost me just 1,2M VND and I could continue on my way 🙂 Also when you see some locals in restaurant drinking home spirit they brought themselves in plastic bottles don’t hesitate to have some with them. If you’re lucky as me they invite you home and and eventually sell you some really bargain! The most friendly people I ever met, off course be aware of scammers in tourist places. Viet is just one great country, recommending to everyone!
- Hey Kevin! Been planning my budget trip to Ho Chi Minh and this comes in very handy! And bravo for your trips in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. You covered most of the must-visit places with just $20!
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