Doing Hanoi for Less: The Budget Playbook

Hanoi is already inexpensive by most standards, which is precisely why travellers overspend here: when everything feels cheap, nobody bothers optimising. Do it properly and the city becomes remarkable value, a place where the best meal of your trip costs less than a coffee at the airport you flew in from.

The quick facts

• Capital of Vietnam, on the Red River in the north of the country
• Currency: the Vietnamese dong. Carry small notes for street food and markets
• Most comfortable months: roughly October to December, and March to April
• The core sightseeing zone (Hoan Kiem Lake, the Old Quarter, the French Quarter) is walkable end to end

Stay one street back

The Old Quarter's headline streets charge a premium for their own noise. Move one or two lanes off the busiest strips, or base yourself in the French Quarter near the Opera House, and rates fall while walking times barely change. West Lake, north of the centre, is greener and quieter and suits longer stays, though you should factor in the ride back into town each day.

Eat on plastic stools

This is the rule that matters most. Hanoi's street kitchens are specialists: one family makes bun cha, another pho, another banh cuon, and many have been doing exactly that for decades. Pho for breakfast, a banh mi mid-morning, bun cha for lunch and a glass of bia hoi in the evening will cost a fraction of one sit-down restaurant meal and usually taste better. Choose the stall with the queue and the fast turnover.

Free, or close to it

Walking the Old Quarter's old guild streets is the city's best free attraction, and the lakeside at dawn, full of tai chi, badminton and joggers, costs nothing at all. On weekend evenings the streets around Hoan Kiem Lake are closed to traffic and turn into an enormous pedestrian party. Around that, the Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison Museum and Ngoc Son Temple are all low-cost tickets. If you make one splurge, make it a water puppet performance.

Getting around

Ride-hailing apps cover both cars and motorbike taxis, and they are cheaper and far less stressful than negotiating on the street. Public buses are cheaper again, including the express airport routes, which cost a small fraction of a private transfer. In the Old Quarter itself, walking wins: traffic makes short rides pointless.

Where money quietly leaks

Three classics: cyclo rides taken without an agreed price, friendly strangers steering you into a particular shop, and Ha Long Bay cruise deals sold on the street. Agree every fare before you sit down, and book bay trips through your accommodation or an established operator instead.

Tip: Change money at a bank or a licensed exchange rather than the airport counter, and count the notes before you walk away. The number of zeros on Vietnamese dong catches out almost everyone on day one.