Ho Chi Minh City on $20 a Day
Saigon is one of the most affordable major cities in Asia — here's how to comfortably budget $20 a day for guesthouses, street food, and Grab.
Ho Chi Minh City — still widely called Saigon — is one of the cheapest major cities in Asia to travel, and the backpacker area around Bui Vien makes it especially easy to keep costs low. Guesthouses are plentiful, street food is everywhere and excellent, and Grab makes getting around the sprawling city fast and cheap.
With the right choices, $20 a day is a realistic budget — lean, but a genuinely comfortable base that still lets you eat extremely well and see the city's history and markets.
Daily Budget Breakdown
🏨 Where to Sleep for Under $9 a Night
Bui Vien and the surrounding Pham Ngu Lao area form Saigon's backpacker district — dense with cheap guesthouses, and genuinely convenient for reaching District 1's main sights on foot or with a short Grab ride.
| Option | Avg. Price/Night | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Guesthouse Room | $7–$13 | A simple private room, widely available around Bui Vien and Pham Ngu Lao |
| Hostel Dorm Bed | $4–$8 | The cheapest option and easy for meeting other travelers |
| Budget Hotel | $14–$20 | A private room with more consistent amenities if you want a bit more comfort |
Agoda
Strong deals on guesthouses and hostels around Bui Vien and District 1.
Search Hotels on Agoda →Booking.com
Good for filtering by area and comparing guesthouse reviews.
Search Hotels on Booking.com →🥖 Eating Well for Under $7 a Day
Street food and small local restaurants are the backbone of eating in Saigon, and they're both the cheapest and often the most interesting option — a good banh mi cart or com tam stall regularly outperforms restaurants charging five times as much.
Banh Mi Carts
A fresh baguette sandwich, packed with fillings, from a street cart. Avg. 20,000–30,000 VND.
Com Tam Stalls
Broken rice with grilled pork, a Saigon classic served everywhere at local prices. Avg. 30,000–45,000 VND.
Ca Phe Sua Da
Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk — strong, sweet, and cheap from any street-side stall. Avg. 15,000–25,000 VND.
🛵 Getting Around Cheaply
Grab is by far the easiest way to get around Saigon's sprawling, motorbike-dominated streets — cheap, upfront-priced, and available as either a car or motorbike option, with the motorbike being the faster and cheaper choice for shorter hops. District 1's main sights are walkable from a Bui Vien base, but crossing between districts is much easier with a quick Grab ride than on foot given the city's traffic and heat.
⚖️ $20 vs. $55 a Day: What Actually Changes
It's worth being clear about what a $20 budget does and doesn't get you. You'll sleep in a Bui Vien guesthouse rather than a District 1 hotel, eat almost entirely from street carts and com tam stalls rather than restaurants, and rely on Grab rather than private drivers.
Nearly tripling the budget to around $55 a day mainly buys back comfort — a nicer District 1 hotel, a couple of proper restaurant meals, and room for a guided Cu Chi Tunnels day trip. The core experience of Saigon — the food, the history, the energy — is available at either budget; $55 a day just removes some of the trade-offs.
🏛️ Free and Cheap Things to Do
Notre Dame Cathedral & Central Post Office
Free to view from outside, and among the most photographed colonial-era buildings in the city.
War Remnants Museum
A modest entry fee for one of the most affecting and important museums in the country.
Ben Thanh Market
Free to wander, with cheap food stalls throughout — a full sensory experience at no entry cost.
Bitexco Skydeck Sunset
A paid observation deck, but the surrounding riverside area offers free skyline views if you'd rather save the fee.
🧾 Sample $20 Day Budget
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Guesthouse room | $8 |
| Breakfast (banh mi) | $1 |
| Lunch (com tam) | $2 |
| Dinner (street food) | $2 |
| Transport (Grab rides) | $3 |
| War Remnants Museum entry | $1 |
| Ca phe sua da | $1 |
| Miscellaneous | $2 |
| Total | ~$20 |
Booking a District 1 hotel by default and eating regularly at restaurants aimed at tourists on Bui Vien Street are the two easiest ways to blow through a $20 daily budget — a guesthouse and street food deliver a better experience for less.
📱 Useful Apps and Tools for Budget Travel
Grab is essential for rides and food delivery, with fares shown upfront before booking. Google Maps handles walking and general navigation reliably. A currency converter app is genuinely useful given how many zeros are in the Vietnamese Dong — it's easy to misjudge a price at a glance, especially early in a trip.
Most street stalls and smaller shops deal in cash only, so it's worth keeping small-denomination Dong on hand for everyday spending.
